How to Read The Federalist
From The American Idea by Ashbrook Center
February 18, 2026 · 49 min · Season 6 · Episode 7
About this episode
Chris Burkett joins Jeff Sikkenga to discuss how to read and understand The Federalist Papers in their historical and political context.
The Federalist, or more broadly known as the Federalist Papers, is looked on as the definitive defense of the Constitution as written in 1787, and by that, a clear explanation of its contents and rationale. Whether it’s those things or not, how should you study them? Should you at all? If so, what do you need to know before turning to Hamilton’s Federalist 1? Chris Burkett, Professor of Political Science, joins Jeff to explain the historical and political context around this collection of essays when they were written, and how best we can read and understand them today. Read Chris's outline of The Federalist - this is a great way to conceptualize how the essays are grouped and what topics they address: https://tinyurl.com/ax3p4h5x Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/
People in this episode
Host: Jeff Sikkenga
Guest: Chris Burkett
Topics covered
- Federalist Papers
- Constitution
- Political Science
- Historical Context
- Reading Strategies
Keywords
- Federalist Papers
- Constitution
- Hamilton
- Political Science
- Reading Strategies
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ashbrook Center
Books & works: The Federalist Papers, Hamilton’s Federalist 1
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