Not Your Grandma’s Parchment
You’re at a cocktail party that’s going downhill fast. The music’s too loud, the punch is too weak, and suddenly, everyone is looking to you, the party animal, to say something— anything— to bring this ill-fated gathering back to life. What in the world will you say? Now I will give you the magic words: HEY GUYS LET’S TALK ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION.
I’m joking. Please do not follow the above advice. The Constitution, of course, has a reputation for being a dry topic and a document that’s outlived its relevance— which is why bringing it up at a party might be a dicey social move (unless it’s a Constitution party!). But the Constitution’s much, dare I say, sexier than you realize— not the least because it affects nearly every aspect of the way we live, work, relate, and express ourselves. So maybe it’s worth chatting about after all.
This spring, PBS began production on Constitution USA with Peter Sagal, a 4-part documentary series focusing on the Constitution, hosted by Sagal of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me). As I write this, Sagal is criss-crossing the United States on a Harley—from Arlington National Cemetery to Floozie’s Pie Shop— to get at the contemporary importance of that famous document. The full series won’t be released until spring of 2013, but before then we thought we’d offer a sneak peek at what we’re putting together, as well as a space to have a conversation, cocktail-party-style, about what the Constitution really means today. We hope you’ll share your ideas, questions, and certainly any amusing provocative Constitution items you come across— right here in this space.
