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UNDISTRACTED With Brittany Packnett Cunningham

Have They Even Read the Constitution?, with Melissa Murray

UNDISTRACTED With Brittany Packnett Cunningham

The Meteor, Collective Media

News, News Commentary, Society & Culture

4.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Constitution: So revered! So important! So…really, who knows, because most of us haven’t read it. But law professor and Strict Scrutiny cohost Melissa Murray has, and she sits down with Brittany Packnett Cunningham to discuss her new, essential book on the subject. They get into why the Constitution is a “trauma-informed document,” why SCOTUS’s new voting-rights ruling is so scary and “bonkers,” and why the real secret of the Constitution is that we, the people, have more power than we think. Plus, Brittany is joined by Dr. Brittney Cooper and political strategist Atima Omara for this week’s group chat—on everything from billionaire culture to Devil Wears Prada 2 to Black joy during prom season. Read LaTosha Brown’s article “We Are the Architects Now”: https://www.contrabandcamp.com/p/we-are-the-architects-now Melissa Murray’s The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader is out now: https://bit.ly/42g0KGW Atima Omara’s How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn From Them) https://bit.ly/3Rqswy3 For abortion access visit: INeedAnA.com To subscribe to The Meteor: wearethemeteor.com/newsletters Episode website: stayundistracted.com Follow The Meteor on Instagram and TikTok: @themeteor Follow Brittany on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube: @mspackyetti

Transcript

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0:00.0

We have a Supreme Court right now who believes that even thinking about race is a species of race discrimination.

0:06.8

And specifically, using race to remedy injuries done to racial minorities is racial discrimination against white people.

0:16.1

And that's just bonkers.

0:22.4

Hey, y'all, here's some words that should sound familiar.

0:27.6

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,

0:34.1

that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,

0:38.3

that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

0:43.3

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men

0:48.3

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

0:53.3

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right

1:01.0

of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation

1:08.0

on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,

1:13.2

as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.

1:19.7

Just a little thing called the Declaration of Independence.

1:23.6

The right of the people to alter or abolish it when it becomes destructive to these ends.

1:31.5

And here are some words that may be less familiar to you from our good sisters article,

1:37.1

We are the Architects Now from Latasha Brown. She said, we have always called the men who wrote the Constitution the founders.

1:47.3

But before they founded anything, they were architects.

1:51.9

Someone had to draw the plans, decide what would hold the weight, decide what was non-negotiable.

1:58.3

The founding came at the end of that work, not the beginning.

2:02.6

And that is where we are. We will be the founders of a new nation. I believe it in my bones.

2:09.6

But before we found anything, we have to do the architect's work. And I don't want anyone

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