Amended! Podcast Launches About The First Amendment

The United States Constitution has 27 amendments. These changes, which have been ratified over the course of U.S. history since 1788, begin with the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments, ratified in 1791) and conclude with the 27th Amendment, which was ratified in 1992.

Of those 27, the first two give people the most trouble. We got some help last week with Voxtopica, a leader in non-profit and public affairs podcasting, with the launch of Amended! Liberty’s Guide to the First Amendment. Produced in collaboration with The Frick Initiative at Washington University in St. Louis, and hosted by professor, political analyst, and TV chef Liberty Vittert Capito, Amended! is a new educational podcast that explores the truths and common misconceptions about the First Amendment.

Across the series, host Vittert Capito breaks down each right enshrined in the First Amendment, tracing its history while examining how it is interpreted, challenged, and defended in modern America. Through expert interviews and real-world examples, the podcast tackles questions at the center of today’s public debate: what the government can and can’t say about religion, when speech is protected or restricted, and what protections the press has when reporting on powerful institutions.

“At a time when nearly everything we say or do can be amplified, scrutinized, or misunderstood, the First Amendment is both more relevant and more confusing than ever,” said Vittert Capito. “Amended! isn’t about telling people what to think. It’s about helping them understand the rules of the road and the history that paved the way for our freedoms.”

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees some of the most fundamental rights that shape American society today. Yet, many of us struggle to fully grasp what these freedoms truly mean in our daily lives. This first episode of Amended! delves into its five freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

It examines the historical context of the Bill of Rights, how these rights have evolved over time, and how significant Supreme Court cases have shaped their interpretation.

If You Were in Charge welcomes a new co-host

Kavita Nandini Ramdas, senior advisor to the International Planned Parenthood Federation and former head of the Global Fund for Women, joins host Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, founder of ICAN and a peace strategist who has worked with women in conflict zones for over thirty years.

The show launched officially on February 24th and featured guests including Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Ben Cohen, Alex Crawford, and Anasuya Sengupta.

If You Were In Charge defines itself as a radical leadership podcast about people, power, and possibilities from ICAN and ADA. The crisis in Iran and the web of men exposed in the Epstein scandal

In a world increasingly led by autocratic superpowers, exploiting fear and uncertainty, the premise of If You Were In Charge is simple: for every major problem out in the world, there are ordinary people finding extraordinary solutions. This podcast focuses on those who know the truth of poet June Jordan’s words, “we are the ones we have been waiting for.”

Kavita Nandini Ramdas is a globally recognized advocate for gender equity and justice and a Senior Strategic Advisor to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, is a peace strategist, founder, and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN). Iranian-British, she has spent nearly three decades working on global conflicts, peacebuilding, and crises with governments, the UN, and local civil society.

Kavita and Sanam, long-time friends presenting a podcast together for the first time, are on a mission to give voice to those creating a more joyful, free, and, dare we say it, “feminist” future. Sanam’s daughter, Soleh will also join as an occasional guest offering her Gen-Z reality checks and insights.

“We’ve spent years identifying solutions to major issues, building movements, advocating for policy change, and imagining what we would do differently,” says co-host Sanam Naraghi

Anderlini. “But the truth is, we can’t wait for the politicians. Everywhere you look, it’s ‘we the people’ leading the change for good. They just don’t get the media attention.”

“We want to showcase those who don’t wait for permission,” says co-host Kavita Ramdas. “These are people who are rewriting what leadership looks like. Collective, creative, and rooted in care rather than control.”