Forgotten Founders II
America at 250: Due Diligence
The story of America’s founding is usually told through the same handful of names: Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin. But the creation of the United States involved a much larger cast—and some of the men who helped shape the country have nearly disappeared from popular memory. In the second installment of our “Forgotten Founders” series, America at 250: Due Diligence examines the lives and legacies of James Wilson and Roger Sherman, two enormously influential founders whose contributions remain far less familiar than those of their more celebrated...
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I Plead the Fifth
America at 250: Due Diligence
“I plead the Fifth.” It’s one of the most recognizable phrases in American law — and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman look at how the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination became intertwined with guilt in the American imagination. Brandeis University professor Thomas Doherty takes us back to the 1947 Hollywood hearings, when the Hollywood Ten refused to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee and ultimately went to prison for contempt of Congress. From there,...
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Forgotten Founders
America at 250: Due Diligence
Everyone knows Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin. But some of the people who played crucial roles in creating the United States have almost disappeared from the story. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Steve Herman and Bill Bernardoni look at two of the most consequential—and most overlooked—figures of the founding generation: John Dickinson and Gouverneur Morris. Historian Dr. Jane Calvert, director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project and author of Penman of the Founding, explains how Dickinson became one of the most famous Americans...
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Whose Religion?
America at 250: Due Diligence
The fight over church and state is back in the classroom. Texas requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. Similar laws have emerged in Louisiana and Arkansas, while states are also considering Bible-based curriculum and school chaplain programs. Supporters argue these policies recognize America's history and religious heritage. Opponents say they cross a constitutional line by putting government behind a particular faith. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman examine how an argument that began before the Constitution was...
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Faith Without Force
America at 250: Due Diligence
Who should decide what Americans believe—and what happens when government takes a side? The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of religion while protecting its free exercise. But the phrase most closely associated with that principle—a “wall of separation between church and state”—does not appear in the Constitution. It comes from an 1802 letter written by President Thomas Jefferson to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman trace the origins of religious liberty from the persecution of...
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The Free Press On Trial
America at 250: Due Diligence
America at 250: Due Diligence goes live from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., for a special hour recorded in the Club's First Amendment Room. As the country marks its 250th year, hosts Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman convene a conversation on the state of a free press, introduced by National Press Club president Mark Schoeff Jr. of CQ Roll Call. The episode opens with a statement from Catherine Herridge, the Emmy Award-winning investigative correspondent who has covered national security and intelligence for ABC, Fox, and CBS. Herridge was held in civil contempt in February 2024...
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Making Friends: Benjamin Franklin and America’s First Public Diplomacy Campaign
America at 250: Due Diligence
Before the United States could win its independence, it had to convince the world that the American experiment was worth supporting. The thirteen colonies had no navy, no national treasury, and little credibility among Europe’s great powers. Defeating the British Empire would require more than success on the battlefield. The revolutionaries needed weapons, loans, trade, diplomatic recognition, and powerful foreign allies. They also had to persuade European leaders and ordinary citizens that a collection of rebellious colonies could become a stable and successful nation. In this episode of...
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The Power of War
America at 250: Due Diligence
Who decides when the United States goes to war? The Constitution divides that responsibility between Congress and the president. Congress possesses the power to declare and fund war, while the president serves as commander in chief. But from the earliest years of the republic, the boundary between those powers has been tested, stretched, and frequently blurred. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman trace the evolution of American war powers from Thomas Jefferson’s campaign against the Barbary powers to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
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One Toke Over the Line: Prohibition, Marijuana, and the Limits of Federal Power
America at 250: Due Diligence
Alcohol prohibition required the Constitution twice—once to impose it and once to repeal it. Marijuana prohibition took a different path, imposed through federal law even as a growing number of states have chosen legalization. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Steve Herman and Bill Bernardoni examine how national prohibition takes hold, what happens when Americans refuse to comply, and how conflicts between federal and state power can reshape the law. Historian Richard Hamm explains how nearly a century of temperance organizing, religious activism, women’s groups, and...
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Power Struggle: Energy, Climate, and the Future
America at 250: Due Diligence
In April 1977, Jimmy Carter told the country that solving its energy crisis would take sacrifice — that the alternative might be, in his words, a national catastrophe. Nearly fifty years later, the crisis looks different. The gas lines are gone. In their place: climate change, an aging power grid, and data centers that are starting to draw more electricity than entire cities. But the underlying argument hasn't moved an inch. Who decides what America builds? Who pays for it? And who has the authority to make that call — Washington, the states, or nobody at all? The Constitution says almost...
info_outlineWho should decide what Americans believe—and what happens when government takes a side?
The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of religion while protecting its free exercise. But the phrase most closely associated with that principle—a “wall of separation between church and state”—does not appear in the Constitution. It comes from an 1802 letter written by President Thomas Jefferson to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut.
In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman trace the origins of religious liberty from the persecution of dissenting Christians in colonial Virginia to today’s debates over Christian nationalism, the Ten Commandments in public schools, and whether the United States should be considered a Christian nation.
Historian John Ragosta takes us back to colonial Virginia, where the Church of England was the official, tax-supported church. Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and other dissenters faced discrimination, violence, and imprisonment. More than half of Virginia’s Baptist ministers spent time in jail, often for preaching without government permission.
Ragosta explains that these dissenters were not demanding freedom from religion. They were deeply religious people who believed government interference corrupted genuine faith. As the American Revolution approached, their political support became essential—and they demanded an end to church taxes, religious restrictions, and state control over marriage, poor relief, and the placement of orphaned children.
Their struggle helped shape the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, and the First Amendment. Ragosta argues that figures such as Jefferson and James Madison saw religious liberty not only as a political principle, but as a safeguard against the persecution and conflict that followed whenever government claimed the authority to define legitimate belief.
Russell Moore, editor of Christianity Today and a former Southern Baptist Convention ethics leader, brings that history into the present. Moore explains why Baptists once stood among the strongest defenders of church-state separation—and why he believes parts of the modern Christian nationalist movement have abandoned that tradition.
Moore considers the debate over posting the Ten Commandments in public schools, the difference between teaching students about religion and imposing religious belief, and the difficult question of who decides which version of scripture receives government approval. He argues that faith spreads through individual conviction and persuasion, not through laws, political power, or state decree.
From imprisoned Baptist ministers and Jefferson’s “wall of separation” to public-school classrooms and the modern Christian nationalist movement, Faith Without Force examines why some of America’s most committed believers fought so fiercely to keep government out of religion.
The separation of church and state was not necessarily created because the founders believed religion was dangerous. Many believed faith was too important to entrust to political leaders—and that once government gained the power to promote one religion, it also gained the power to suppress another.
About the Guests
John Ragosta is a historian and author whose work focuses on religious liberty, religious dissent, and the founding era. His research examines the experiences of Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and other dissenters who challenged established religion in colonial and revolutionary Virginia.
Russell Moore is the editor in chief of Christianity Today and a prominent evangelical author and commentator. He previously led the Southern Baptist Convention’s public-policy and religious-liberty organization.
About the Hosts
Bill Bernardoni is the founder of Bernardoni Media & Marketing and an experienced radio and podcast host, producer, political strategist, and media consultant. His work has included producing national radio programs, developing podcasts and digital media projects, and advising political campaigns and public-policy organizations.
Steve Herman is an award-winning journalist and former Voice of America White House bureau chief. During his decades-long career in international journalism, he has reported from more than 70 countries and covered the White House, diplomacy, national security, natural disasters, and conflicts around the world.
Join the Conversation
Does separating church and state protect Americans from religion—or does it protect religious faith from political power?
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America at 250: Due Diligence is produced with support from the Radio Free America Project and the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media.