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-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.
In the last episode of the series, listeners share some big and small changes that they have made. Plus, Jeffrey Rosen, filmmaker Ken Burns, and scholar Robert P. George explore Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of silence, which he defines as “speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”
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Watch the full performance of the Pursuit of Happiness: Song Cycles by Jeffrey Rosen.
Participants
Ken Burns has been a pioneering force in American documentary filmmaking for nearly half a century. He has directed and produced some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; and, Leonardo da Vinci. His films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including 17 Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards. His latest project is the 12-part series The American Revolution, which premiered on November 16, 2025.
Robert P. George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has served as chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and before that on the President’s Council on Bioethics and as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
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. He is also professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. His newest book, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America, is out in October 2025.
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Credits
Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is produced by PRX Productions for the National Constitution Center. It is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.
Episode 12, Silence in Order to Listen is hosted by Jeffrey Rosen, featuring Robert P. George and Ken Burns.
© 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.
From PRX Productions: Genevieve Sponsler, Courtney Fleurantin, David Newtown, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve, Tommy Bazarian, Pedro Rafael Rosado, and Jocelyn Gonzalez.
From the National Constitution Center: Annie Stone, Griffin Richie, and Bill Pollock.
The Golden Mean: Songs for the Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen. Arrangements by Greg Strohman. Featuring James Martin, Jennifer Blyth, and Greg Strohman.
© ℗ 2025 Jeffrey Rosen. All Rights Reserved.
