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The Democratic Constitution Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Lucas De Hart and Luke Pickrell
The United States is not a democracy. We need a democratic constitution! A media wing of the Democratic Constitution Blog.
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- 6 days ago53 min
Ep. 79: Clyde Barrow on the Life and Times of Charles A. Beard
“Beard resigned and wrote a very scathing letter of resignation, which is still read today. But he was such a beloved figure at Columbia, he actually provoked several days of protests and riots on the campus, of students demanding that he return and not be subject to this inquisition, and several other prominent faculty resigned right in his wake as well because of it.”Clyde Barrow returns to the podcast to talk about Charles Beard, the subject of his 2000 book, More Than a Historian: The Political and Economic Thought of Charles A. Beard. Beard was one of the foremost American intellectuals of the 20th century, and the author of several important books, including An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. Clyde discusses the state of constitutional critique during the early 20th century and Beard’s place within it; Beard’s analysis of judicial review and checks and balances; his relationship with the English Labour Party, the German Social Democratic Party, FDR, and the New Deal Democrats; and why Beard should be understood as a socialist but not a Marxist. I last spoke with Clyde about the radical sociologist C. Wright Mills.
- 1 weeks ago1h 31m
Ep. 78: Richard Wolff on Marxism, Trump, and Political and Economic Democracy
“The argument about the absence of democracy is powerful in one way at the workplace. But it is also powerful in another way, in the general community, where it ought to be pushed much, much harder.”This is my conversation with Richard D. Wolff, a longtime economics professor and host of Economic Update, one of the many programs affiliated with Democracy at Work. Richard and I discuss the lack of democracy in the United States, the need for a new constitution, and why the left should be talking more about both. We also discuss Wolff’s political development, Marxist economics, tariff policy, and the Trump administration’s continued killings in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
- 4 weeks ago39 min
DSA Presentation: Reconstruction and Radical Republicanism
This is the recording of my presentation to East Bay DSA about Reconstruction and Radical Republicanism. Apologies for the rough audio quality.
- May 15, 202610 min
Audio Article: The Voting Rights Rollback Shows We Need a New Constitution
"The Voting Rights Rollback Shows We Need a New Constitution." Originally published on Jacobin on May 6, 2026.
- May 11, 202659 min
Ep. 77: Gil Schaeffer on the Declaration of Independence, Tom Paine, Lenin, and Reconstruction
“America is not a democracy, which means we’re being ruled by a small elite. That is just unacceptable. I think that’s the fundamental basis of a political movement in this country. Everyone knows how much power corporations have. They are the elite, and they keep their power by force. They have the power of laws and the police. Well, democracy says someone else is going to control those laws and police.” “People have been fighting for democracy for a long time. And so the Paine quote—if you don’t have an equal vote, you are a political slave—you are under the domination of a minority. You don’t have equal freedom. Now that was a powerful idea, and it’s still a powerful idea.” “Lenin’s theory of political agitation is central. He had a theory of mass psychology. You expose the unjust treatment in any part of society and demand that the government not be autocratic, that it be democratic. That’s the message.”In this episode, I talk with Gil Schaeffer, the author of many blog articles, including “The Declaration of Independence and Finishing Reconstruction.” We talk about Marx’s claim of an intrinsic connection between individual liberty and private property, and why, in fact, the tie between liberty and private property in the Rights of Man was only contingent; what’s lost by failing to embrace rights talk; the importance of Tom Paine’s Dissertation on the Principle of Government; the difference between fighting for the Principle of a democratic republic and establishing and securing a democratic republic; Lenin’s theory of political agitation; and where DSA and Marxist Unity Group fits into the conversation. Gil mentioned two articles by Mike Macnair—“Modern ancient constitutions” and “For a minimum program!”—as well as the Equal Human and Political Rights and Democratic Republicanism reader and his article in Cosmonaut about Lenin’s class point of view. He also mentioned Richard N. Hunt’s introduction to Marx and Engels and the July 4 Mobilization Against Genocide. I read from MUG’s Points of Unity and mentioned a recent blog article about the Black Panther Party’s constitutional convention in 1970.
- Apr 17, 202653 min
Ep. 76: August Nimtz on Frederick Douglass, Karl Marx, and the American Civil War
In this episode, I talk with August Nimtz, the author of several books, including Marx and Engels: Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough, The Ballot, The Street—Or Both?, and The Communist and the Revolutionary Liberal in the Second American Revolution: Comparing Karl Marx and Frederick Douglass in Real-Time. August covers a wide range of topics, including Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Frederick Douglass’s connections to the British Chartist movement; Douglass as a revolutionary liberal during the Civil War and where his thinking intersected with and diverged from Marx and Engels; the relevance of Martin Luther King Jr.; the distinction between bourgeois and democratic republics; and the demand for a democratic constitution in the United States.
- Apr 10, 202647 min
Ep. 75: Beau J. Baumann on Russell Vought, the Unitary Executive, and the LPE Project
In this episode, I talk with Beau J. Baumann, a legal scholar and the author of the recent article “What Would a Russell Vought of the Left Look Like?” Beau dives into the article, discussing Russell Vought’s influence within the Trump administration and his executive-focused constitutional vision. He also discusses the legacy of the New Deal in the US political imagination, the limits of the Democratic Party, the relevance of the Reconstruction period, and the conversations taking place within (along with the value of) the Labor and Political Economy (LPE) Project. We also bring in Beau’s recent blog post, “The Aftermath.”
- Apr 3, 20261h 3m
Ep. 74: Oliver Larkin on Running for Congress and Fighting for Democracy
In this episode, I talk with Oliver Larkin, an activist, union organizer, and Democratic Socialist running for Congress in Florida’s 23rd District against Jared Moskowitz. Oliver’s campaign website is here.Oliver and I discuss the details of his campaign, including what it means to run as a proud Democratic Socialist and member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We also talk about Florida’s “democracy crisis” and how it mirrors nationwide issues connected to the undemocratic Constitution, the history of Reconstruction and other struggles for universal and equal rights, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (and Tom Paine’s Common Sense), and standing true to one’s principles and convictions when the going gets tough.
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The United States is not a democracy. We need a democratic constitution! A media wing of the Democratic Constitution Blog.
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