GWorks Interviews

The Idea

Questions & Answers.

In a government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” it is essential for the governed to have access to governance and those who govern.

GWorks Interviews give readers access to persons with experience in and views on governance, current affairs and connecting the dots. GWorks poses questions—not answers—, inviting the interviewee to explore the contours of their thinking.

Interviews are published in parts and as a "Complete" interview.


The Interviews

Wade Henderson
On the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder race, equality and what happens now

Mr Henderson is the President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

GWorks Interviews: Wade Henderson (Complete)
Part One: A Firm Believer
Part Two: Never Past
Part Three: In Context(s)
Part Four: Faith & Experience


Monica Youn
On campaign finance, governance & the need to build a vision of democracy

Ms Youn was the inaugural Brennan Center Constitutional Fellow at the New York University School of Law and former Director of the Money in Politics program at the Brennan Center for Justice.



GWorks Interviews: Monica Youn (Complete)
Part One: Vision
Part Two: Monologue v. Dialogue
Part Three: Practicalities
Part Four: Spaghetti Dinners


Akhil Reed Amar
On understanding the Constitution—written & unwritten

Professor Amar is the author of America’s Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents & Principles We Live By and Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University.



GWorks Interviews: Akhil Reed Amar (Complete)
Part One: (Un)Written
Part Two: Invitation
Part Three: Extent
Part Four: Limit
Part Five: Meaning


Thomas Mann & Norman Ornstein
On political extremism & fixing a broken political process

Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein are the authors of It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. Long-time political observers, Mr Mann is a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and Resident Scholar, Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Mr Ornstein is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a contributing editor and columnist for National Journal and The Atlantic and is an election eve analyst for BBC News.



GWorks Interviews: Thomas Mann & Norman Ornstein (Complete)
Part One: We Are Not Hegelians
Part Two: Ideology or Bust
Part Three: End Games
Part Four: Inflections


Frank Partnoy
On time, decision-making & the value of waiting

Professor Partnoy is the author of Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, George E. Barrett Professor of Law and Finance and the founding director of the Center for Corporate and Securities Law at the University of San Diego School of Law.



GWorks Interviews: Frank Partnoy (Complete)
Part One: The Two-step
Part Two: On Second Thought
Part Three: Traders
Part Four: Regulating
Part Five: Waiting


Tom Goldstein
On understanding the Supreme Court & its Term

Mr Goldstein is a Supreme Court litigator and co-founder and Publisher of SCOTUSblog.



GWorks Interviews: Tom Goldstein (Complete)
Part One: That Guy With the Web Site
Part Two: SCOTUSblog—Without Papers
Part Three: Courting Media
Part Four: To Your Health
Part Five: Airing|Erring
Part Six: Limits


Steve Coll
On oil & American power in an age of limits & change

Mr Coll is Dean of and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism at the Columbia Journalism School at Columbia University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Private Empire: Exxon Mobil & American Power. At the time of the interview, Mr Coll was the President of the New America Foundation.



GWorks Interviews: Steve Coll (Complete)
Part One: An Age of Limits & Change
Part Two: Chad: A Basic Dilemma
Part Three: Standard Bearers
Part Four: Coherence
Part Five: Valdez|Exxon


Benjamin Wittes
On constitutional value, National Security & technological development

Mr Wittes is a Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, at The Brookings Institution and co-Editor, with Jeffrey Rosen, (please see below) of Constitution 3.0: Freedom & Technological Change. He is a co-founder and the Editor-in-Chief of Lawfare, a blog covering "hard national security choices."



GWorks Interviews: Benjamin Wittes (Complete)
Part One: Imagine That
Part Two: A Different Day
Part Three: Convergence
Part Four: Limiting Principle
Part Five: Conclusions


Lawrence Lessig
On Congress, corruption & political reform

Professor Lessig is the author of Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Faculty Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.



GWorks Interviews: Lawrence Lessig (Complete)
Part One: Bended Like Beckoned
Part Two: Defining Corruption
Part Three: Street Legal: Regulating Wall Street
Part Four: Solving for X
Part Five: Conclusions


Jeffrey Rosen
On constitutional values & technological change

Mr Rosen is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School Professor and co-editor, with Benjamin Wittes (please see above), of Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change.



GWorks Interviews: Jeffrey Rosen (Complete)
Part One: Presenting the Future
Part Two: Public Private Law
Part Three: Reasonable Tech-spectations
Part Four: Controlling Authority
Part Five: Conclusions


Kent Greenfield
On the limits of choice & law

Professor Greenfield is the author of The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits and Professor of Constitutional Law and Corporate Law at Boston College Law School.



GWorks Interviews: Kent Greenfield (Complete)
Part One: Constraints: Biology, Neurology, Culture & Choice
Part Two: Constraints Continued: Power, Markets & Choice
Part Three: Health Care: Choice Implied & Applied
Part Four: A Perfect Game of Choice
Part Five: Conclusion: The Good, the Bad & the Choice


Adam Winkler
On gun ownership & gun control in American history

Professor Winkler is the author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America and Professor of Constitutional Law at UCLA School of Law.



GWorks Interviews: Adam Winkler (Complete)
Part One: Heller
Part Two: A Triumph of Originalism
Part Three: States & Rights
Part Four: Guns, History & Understanding
Part Five: Government, Guns & Race
Part Six: Conclusions


Seth Stern & Stephen Wermiel
On writing the biography of Justice William J. Brennan, Jnr.

Mssrs Stern and Wermiel are co-authors of Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion.



GWorks Interviews: Seth Stern & Stephen Wermiel (Complete)
Part One: The Nomination
Part Two: On the Court
Part Three: The Legacy
Part Four: Thurgood Marshall
Part Five: Writing Justice Brennan


Please note: The following interviews are in print only.


Nicholas de Belleville Katzenbach
On politics, law & public service

Mr Katzenbach was United States Attorney General and Under Secretary of State during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Alabama Governor George Wallace (L) and Nicholas Katzenbach (R) at the entrance to the University of Alabama, 11 June 1963, as Governor Wallace seeks to block integration of the university. (Photo: Warren K. Leffler; Library of Congress.)

GWorks Interviews: Nicholas de Belleville Katzenbach (Complete)
Part One: Some of It Was Fun
Part Two: In Government
Part Three: Service


William C. Perkins
On housing, the economic crisis & advocacy

Mr Perkins, now retired, is the Founder and was Executive Director of the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development.

William C. Perkins (photo courtesy of Mr Perkins)

GWorks Interviews: William C. Perkins (Complete)
Part One: Housing & Advocacy
Part Two: A Governing Role


Shari Robertson & Michael Camerini
On immigration, democracy & documentary film

Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini are documentary filmmakers. Their latest project, How Democracy Works Now, is a 12-part documentary film on immigration in the United States since 2001.

Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini (photo courtesy of Ms Robertson and Mr Camerini)

GWorks Interviews: Shari Robertson & Michael Camerini (Complete)