This Constitution
This Constitution is an every-two-weeks podcast ordained and established by the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University, the home of Utah’s Civic Thought & Leadership Initiative.
Co-hosted by Savannah Eccles Johnston and Matthew Brogdon, This Constitution equips listeners with the knowledge and insights to engage with the most pressing political questions of our time, starting with Season 1, focusing on the powers and limits of the U.S. presidency.
Podcasting since 2024 • 45 episodes
This Constitution
Latest Episodes
Season 3, Episode 11 | Not Just Jefferson: How Congress's Red Pen Helped Create the Declaration We Know
Who really wrote the Declaration of Independence? Was it Thomas Jefferson’s carefully crafted vision, or the outcome of an intense, compromise-driven process inside Congress?In this episode of This Constitution, host Savannah Ec...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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27:37
Season 3, Episode 10 | Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr.: Two Visions of the Constitution and Equality
How can the same Declaration of Independence lead Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. to such different conclusions about the Constitution? In this special MLK Day episode of This Constitution, host Savannah Eccle...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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40:03
Season 3, Episode 9 | The Collaborative Origins of the Declaration: Unpacking Jefferson’s Role
Was Thomas Jefferson the sole author of the Declaration? In this episode of This Constitution, Matthew Brogdon sits down with Holly Megson, senior documentary editor on the Quill Project at Pembroke College, Oxford, to trace how the De...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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20:17
Season 3, Episode 8 | The Weaver of Our Foundational Fabric: Justice for John Adams
What if the Declaration of Independence wasn’t just Jefferson’s triumph, but John Adams’s victory too?In this episode of This Constitution, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Matthew Brogdon make the case for giving John Adams his due...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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38:55
Season 3, Episode 7 | The Declaration and Slavery: The Question 1776 Could Not Settle
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson originally wrote a fierce condemnation of slavery into the Declaration of Independence, only for Congress to remove it before signing the final document? And did you know that in 1776, no one was certain wheth...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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27:22
