The genius and murkiness of the Constitution
6/30/202621 min
What does the Constitution mean to me? That’s a question writer and actor Heidi Schreck asked herself years ago, when she started working on her one-woman play about the Constitution — a document that she loved deeply. Today on the show, we ask the same question as we explore what the historical document means, and how it’s impacted generations of Americans.
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Transcript preview
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Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:23
[instrumental music plays] This is America in Pursuit, a limited-run series from NPR and Throughline. I’m Rund Abdelfatah. Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the US that began 250 years ago. Today, I want to tell you about a woman named Heidi, Heidi Schreck.
Heidi Schreck· Guest0:46
I am an actor, writer, performer, creator.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:50
When Heidi was a teenager in the 1980s, she did something not a lot of kids were doing.
Heidi Schreck· Guest0:55
[bell dings] When I was 15 years old, I would travel the country giving speeches about the United States Constitution for prize money.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:04
Heidi loved the Constitution. She believed it was the greatest political document ever written, and she was damn good at talking about it. Back then, she wore a blue power suit, had very large permed hair, a lot of makeup.
Heidi Schreck· Guest1:20
I would travel to big cities like Denver, Fresno. [laughs] I, uh, I would win a whole bunch of money, bring it back to put in my little safety deposit box for later.