James M. Masnov Appearance on KYKN's "Newsmakers" Radio Broadcast

Listen to the full interview...

James M. Masnov recently appeared for the full hour on KYKN’s “Newsmakers at Noon” radio broadcast. He discussed several timely issues and brought some historical perspective along the way. Listen to his full conversation with hosts Denise Quinn and Hunter Newton here.

*Note: during the discussion, the history and motivation for the Twenty-Fifth Amendment is mentioned. James states that he is not as clear on the history of later amendments, but guessed that 25A was likely introduced and ratified in the 1960s or so. This is correct, as it was informed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, in order to clarify the line of presidential succession in such tragic moments when the president is killed or discovered to be mentally incapacitated. This comes up during a broader discussion related to the recent presidential debate and new calls by some Democrats for President Joe Biden to step down due to signs of failing mental coherence.

The conversation also covers the state of the republic, the need for a culture informed by civic virtue, President Calvin Coolidge’s incredible words about the Declaration of Independence nearly a hundred years ago, and much more.

[James M. Masnov is a writer, historian, and lecturer. His book, Rights Reign Supreme: An Intellectual History of Judicial Review and the Supreme Court, is available here. His first book, History Killers and Other Essays by an Intellectual Historian, is available here.]