Why the Constitution is making our politics worse (From the archives)

About this episode

<p><em>This episode originally aired on Sept 18, 2025.&nbsp;</em><br /><br />From <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/apple-news-in-conversation/id1577591053"><em>Apple News In Conversation</em></a>: The Constitution has been amended 27 times, but the last meaningful change was over half a century ago. In historian Jill Lepore&rsquo;s book <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/we-the-people/id6741485295" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution</em></a>, she argues that the near impossibility of amendment in recent decades underlies many of today&rsquo;s political crises, from polarization to battles over the courts. Lepore spoke with <em>Apple News In Conversation</em> host Shumita Basu about the history of constitutional revision and why the amendment process matters for the future of American democracy.</p>