Hey, it's Latif from Radio Lab. Our goal with each episode is to make you think, how did I live this long and not know that? Radio Lab. Adventures on the Edge of What We Think We Know. Listen, wherever you get podcasts.

This is America in Pursuit, a limited runrun series from ThruLine and NPR.

I'm Ron Dabed Fet-Dagh.

Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in America

that began 250 years ago this year.

The Declaration of Independence heralded the beginning of the United States and its rupture

from the King of England.

It promised to become a Democratic Republic.

And 11 years after the declaration, the rubber hit the road, and the framers spent months

writing the framework that would govern this new nation,

the Constitution. To this day, the U.S. Constitution is the country's guiding document.

But we've also changed it 27 times over the years, the last time being in 1992.

And those 27 amendments say a lot about how our country has evolved,

who we say we are, and who we want to be. So today, Ramtin and I are going to take you back

to the first edit to the Constitution, the First Amendment, the right to free speech.

There is such a big gap in some ways between what the

average American understands the First Amendment to say and to protect and what the law actually

says. And in addition to that, the law is actually extremely confusing and changing every minute.

The First Amendment remains one of our most cherished and confusing rights. We'll

explore why that is and the story of how it all began after a quick break.

This message comes from 48 hours with the 48 hours post-mortem podcast.

Host Anne Marie Green joins producers and correspondence to discuss key evidence, dead ends,

...