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 Civil War and Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the battle to dismantle it, and modern debates over the Constitution and how to teach American history. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This conversation was originally streamed live on September 24, 2025, as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series.
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Today’s episode was produced by Bill Pollock and Griffin Richie. It was recorded by Greg Sheckler and mixed by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Griffin Richie, Anna Salvatore, Trey Sullivan, and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, is recognized as one of this country’s most prominent historians. His publications have focused on the intersections of intellectual, political and social history, and the history of American race relations. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, his latest books include The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (2019), and Our Fragile Freedoms: Essays (2025).
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Eric Foner, Our Fragile Freedoms (2025)
- Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (2019)
- Eric Foner, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (2010)
- Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (1988)
- Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1963)
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