Introducing Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness

Introducing Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness

Author: National Constitution Center September 11, 2025 Duration: 30:14
In our new podcast, Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflection.  The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history. When America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and self-improvement.  To start our series, Jeffrey Rosen and Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, trace how the meaning of the pursuit of happiness has changed over time. Then, American filmmaker Ken Burns, who has spent his “entire life trying to figure out the United States,” shares how daily self-reflection has given him new perspectives on what the founders faced 250 years ago.    Follow Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness on Apple Podcast and Spotify.  Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr  Explore theAmerica at 250 Civic Toolkit Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube Support our important work:  Donate

Hosted by National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen, We the People is a weekly conversation that digs into the constitutional questions shaping the country right now. This isn't just a history lesson, though historical context is always part of the discussion. Instead, each episode brings together leading voices-legal scholars, journalists, public officials, and advocates-to engage in thoughtful, civil debate. You'll hear genuine dialogue where participants articulate and defend their positions, offering a clearer understanding of the complex legal and philosophical principles at stake. The goal is to move beyond headlines and soundbites, providing a forum where the best arguments from all sides are presented with depth and respect. Tuning into this podcast feels like sitting in on a crucial discussion at the intersection of law, politics, and society, one that illuminates how the Constitution actively influences contemporary American life. Produced by the National Constitution Center, it serves as an essential resource for anyone looking to deepen their grasp of the nation's founding document and its powerful, ongoing role in our public discourse.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

We the People
Podcast Episodes
Amending the Constitution and the Article V Project [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:38
In this episode, the National Constitution Center launches our Article V Project, a new initiative examining the founders’ vision for Article V and an historical look at the use of the Article V process from 1789 to the…
From Pursuit: Silence in Order to Listen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:46
In our 12-part podcast series, Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best and filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflec…
Eric Foner on Our Fragile Freedoms [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:28
In this episode, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Eric Foner joins to discuss his book, Our Fragile Freedoms, a new collection of essays exploring a range of topics, including debates over slavery and antislavery, the Ci…
Walter Isaacson on the Greatest Sentence Ever Written [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:14
In this episode, best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson joins to discuss his new book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, with Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. As we approach the 25…
Are Trump’s Tariffs Lawful? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:55
In this episode, Samuel Estreicher of the NYU School of Law and John Yoo of the UC Berkeley School of Law join to recap the oral arguments from the pair of challenges to President Trump’s tariffs and discuss whether Inte…
Alexander Hamilton: Closet Monarchist or Visionary Nationalist? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:37
This episode is a two-part show on Alexander Hamilton. First, in a new episode of the podcast Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen, historian Stephen Knott, and filmmaker Ken Burns unpack Hamilton’s l…
The Dinner Party that Defined America [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:29
In this bonus episode, we’re sharing a live conversation with Jeffrey Rosen, Joanne Freeman, George F. Will, and Sean Wilentz exploring Rosen’s new book, which is out this week: The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. J…
Do Bans on Conversion Therapy Violate the First Amendment? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:48
In this episode, Stephanie Barclay of the Georgetown University Law Center and Erwin Chemerinsky of the UC Berkeley School of Law join to recap the oral arguments from Chiles v. Salazar and discuss whether Colorado’s ban…