Join us during America’s 250th as we uncover the long, fascinating, and critically important history of religious freedom in the United States, considered by many to be one of its greatest innovations. How will a more complete understanding of this particular religious thread in the American tapestry make us better stewards of religion’s and religious freedom’s role in perpetuating the American experiment in self-government?

Season 4, Episode 7 – History of Religious Freedom in the U.S. with Michael McConnell

Guest Bio

Dr. Michael McConnell is the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, and from 2002 to 2009 was Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has briefed or argued many if not most of the religious freedom cases in the Supreme Court from the 1980s until now. Professor McConnell is the author of The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution, and co-author with Nathan Chapman of Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.