BONUS: The Blessings of Liberty: Jeffrey Rosen & Ken Burns on America’s 250th

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

As a bonus, today we’re sharing a special episode of The Blessings of Liberty, a new podcast from Open to Debate debater Jeffrey Rosen and our friends at FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, Jeffrey sits down with award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, walking through the Declaration of Independence, clause by clause, to encapsulate the big ideas at the heart of the American story. The Blessings of Liberty is a weekly podcast hosted by Jeffrey Rosen — CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, professor of law at George Washington University Law School, and senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Learn more and subscribe on Substack, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. To continue the conversation, visit Open to Debate’s Substack—share your perspective on this episode and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated insights from our debaters, moderators, and staff. Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and TikTok to stay connected with our mission and ongoing debates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.1	Hi everybody, John Don Van here. And I just want to say, I hope you enjoyed our recent debate
0:36.1	episode titled The Pursuit of Happiness, Virtue or Pleasure.
0:40.5	It featured Jeffrey Rosen from the National Constitution Center.
0:43.9	And Jeffrey has a new podcast I wanted to mention.
0:46.0	It's called The Blessings of Liberty.
0:48.4	It's produced with our friends here at Fire, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
0:53.9	So recently in the podcast, Jeffrey sat down with Ken Burns.
0:57.4	Yes, that Ken Burns, the guy who makes the documentaries.
1:00.3	And they had a conversation that we are quite interested in sharing with you today.
1:04.0	They were celebrating America's 250th anniversary, doing it by walking through the Declaration
1:09.2	of Independence, clause by clause, and exploring the ideas and the history
1:14.3	and the stories behind America's founding.
1:16.8	We hope you find this one as engaging and illuminating as we did.
1:19.8	So, please enjoy.
1:27.3	Hello, friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen.
1:30.8	Senior fellow at Fire and CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center.
1:35.8	And welcome to the blessings of liberty, conversations on the Constitution, history, and the American idea.
	...

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