Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, is a 12-part series hosted by Jeffrey Rosen featuring Ken Burns and leading scholars. It explores how the founders understood personal growth and lifelong learning as essential to the common good, why those ideas matter today, and how you can put them into practice.

In 1771, Thomas Jefferson sent his friend Robert Skipwith a curated reading list. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen, with the help of scholar Eric Slauter and Ken Burns, dives into Jefferson’s recommendations and the importance of deep daily reading. Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

In 1771, Thomas Jefferson sent his friend Robert Skipwith a curated reading list. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen, with the help of scholar Eric Slauter and Ken Burns, dives into Jefferson’s recommendations and the importance of deep daily reading.


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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Explore Jefferson’s daily reading schedule and favorite book recommendations

Episode 4: Industry with Thomas Jefferson’s Reading List

In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a book in English. Her poems show a deep understanding of previous poets, a drive to represent herself and her world in the printed page, and a belief in equality. Jeffrey Rosen, Professor David Waldstreicher and Ken Burns explore how her life highlights the importance of acting with sincerity, no matter how many people may be against you.Now that you’ve learned that the pursuit of happiness means being good, not feeling good, how has that affected your daily life? Send a <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/Pursuit">voice message</a> with your thoughts on this question and we may even include excerpts in our final episode.Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a book in English. Her poems show a deep understanding of previous poets, a drive to represent herself and her world in the printed page, and a belief in equality. Jeffrey Rosen, Professor David Waldstreicher and Ken Burns explore how her life highlights the importance of acting with sincerity, no matter how many people may be against you.
Now that you’ve learned that the pursuit of happiness means being good, not feeling good, how has that affected your daily life? Send a voice message with your thoughts on this question and we may even include excerpts in our final episode.
Stay Connected and Learn More

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr 
Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit


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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Exploring how Wheatley’s life and work show the importance of acting with sincerity

Episode 6: Sincerity with Phillis Wheatley

Thomas Jefferson was well-known for offering advice about industry and frugality to his family members and friends, and he was passionate about expanding public education in America. Unfortunately, he did not always live up to his own ideals. Jeffrey Rosen talks with Dr. Alan Shaw Taylor and Ken Burns on what we can learn from Jefferson’s commitment to education and struggles with debt.  Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
<li>Questions or comments about the show? Email us at <a href="mailto:podcast@constitutioncenter.org">podcast@constitutioncenter.org</a>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Thomas Jefferson was well-known for offering advice about industry and frugality to his family members and friends, and he was passionate about expanding public education in America. Unfortunately, he did not always live up to his own ideals. Jeffrey Rosen talks with Dr. Alan Shaw Taylor and Ken Burns on what we can learn from Jefferson’s commitment to education and struggles with debt. 


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Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr 
Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit


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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Exploring the tensions of Thomas Jefferson's emphasis on frugality and desire to expand public education

Episode 5: Thomas Jefferson’s Debts

John and Abigail Adams formed a partnership fueled by intellectual curiosity, a desire to be the best versions of themselves and many, many letters. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with political historian Lindsay Chervinsky and Ken Burns on how John and Abigail supported each other through the birth of the United States. Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
<li>Questions or comments about the show? Email us at <a href="mailto:podcast@constitutioncenter.org">podcast@constitutioncenter.org</a>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

John and Abigail Adams formed a partnership fueled by intellectual curiosity, a desire to be the best versions of themselves and many, many letters. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with political historian Lindsay Chervinsky and Ken Burns on how John and Abigail supported each other through the birth of the United States.


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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Explore the Adams’ correspondence, deep commitment, and sense of humor

Episode 3: Humility with John and Abigail Adams

In his autobiography at the age of 79, Benjamin Franklin attributed the happiness of his long life to his “evenness of temper,” rather than to his public accomplishments. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with Franklin scholar Stacy Schiff about why he put temperance first on his list of virtues. Then, Ken Burns shares what he takes away from Ben Franklin’s incomplete quest for moral perfection. Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
<li>Questions or comments about the show? Email us at <a href="mailto:podcast@constitutioncenter.org">podcast@constitutioncenter.org</a>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

In his autobiography at the age of 79, Benjamin Franklin attributed the happiness of his long life to his “evenness of temper,” rather than to his public accomplishments. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with Franklin scholar Stacy Schiff about why he put temperance first on his list of virtues. Then, Ken Burns shares what he takes away from Ben Franklin’s incomplete quest for moral perfection.


Stay Connected and Learn More

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr 
Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit


Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Explore Franklin’s “Bold and Arduous project of arriving at Moral Perfection”

Episode 2: Expansive Temperance with Benjamin Franklin

The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history, and when America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and self-improvement. To start our series, Jeffrey Rosen and scholar Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, trace how the meaning of pursuit of happiness has changed. Then, American filmmaker Ken Burns shares how — even as he has spent his “entire life trying to figure out the United States” — daily self-reflection has given him new perspectives on what the founders faced 250 years ago.  Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
<li>Questions or comments about the show? Email us at <a href="mailto:podcast@constitutioncenter.org">podcast@constitutioncenter.org</a>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history, and when America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and self-improvement. 
To start our series, Jeffrey Rosen and scholar Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, trace how the meaning of pursuit of happiness has changed. Then, American filmmaker Ken Burns shares how — even as he has spent his “entire life trying to figure out the United States” — daily self-reflection has given him new perspectives on what the founders faced 250 years ago. 


Stay Connected and Learn More

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr 
Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit


Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate
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Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube

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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Explore what "pursuit of happiness" meant to America’s Founders

Episode 1: In Order to Be Happy

Here’s something that you probably didn’t learn in school: America’s founders spent much of their time reading about how to be better people. And that lifelong quest for self-improvement––in order to be more virtuous citizens––was what they meant by “the pursuit of happiness.” They defined happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good. However, the founders often failed to live up to this lofty goal, and many were honest about their shortcomings. Each episode of Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness expands upon one of the classical virtues that inspired Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson––like temperance, humility, silence, and justice––through the founders’ own writings and through conversations with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns joins host Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, to share their own founders-inspired self-improvement practices.  As we near the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, exploring the true meaning of the “pursuit of happiness” inspires us to reflect on the importance of lifelong learning and how we can change our own lives for the better. Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, is a 12-part series hosted by Jeffrey Rosen featuring Ken Burns and leading scholars. It explores how the founders understood personal growth and lifelong learning as essential to the common good, why those ideas matter today, and how you can put them into practice. Listen to the first episode, “In Order to Be Happy," in your favorite podcast app. New episodes will be released every Tuesday. Stay Connected and Learn More<ul>
<li>Questions or comments about the show? Email us at <a href="mailto:podcast@constitutioncenter.org">podcast@constitutioncenter.org</a>
</li>
<li>Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr </li>
<li>Explore the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/america-at-250">America at 250 Civic Toolkit</a>
</li>
<li>
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<li>Join us for an upcoming <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/americas-town-hall-programs">live program</a> or watch recordings on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAU4X6DUZSt5n6aI74Hw0A">YouTube</a>
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s something that you probably didn’t learn in school: America’s founders spent much of their time reading about how to be better people. And that lifelong quest for self-improvement––in order to be more virtuous citizens––was what they meant by “the pursuit of happiness.” They defined happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good. However, the founders often failed to live up to this lofty goal, and many were honest about their shortcomings. 
Each episode of Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness expands upon one of the classical virtues that inspired Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson––like temperance, humility, silence, and justice––through the founders’ own writings and through conversations with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns joins host Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, to share their own founders-inspired self-improvement practices.  
As we near the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, exploring the true meaning of the “pursuit of happiness” inspires us to reflect on the importance of lifelong learning and how we can change our own lives for the better. 
Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, is a 12-part series hosted by Jeffrey Rosen featuring Ken Burns and leading scholars. It explores how the founders understood personal growth and lifelong learning as essential to the common good, why those ideas matter today, and how you can put them into practice. 
Listen to the first episode, “In Order to Be Happy," in your favorite podcast app. New episodes will be released every Tuesday.


Stay Connected and Learn More

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr 
Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit


Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate
Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen
Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube

Support our important work:
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Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.