Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in Conversation with Ari Melber: A Twentieth-Century Life

Overview

At a moment when the Supreme Court is at the center of some of the country’s most intense debates about democracy and the rule of law — and Americans are wrestling with questions about public trust and the strength of our democratic institutions — what can a life spent inside those institutions teach us about where we are now?

Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer sits down for a conversation about his new memoir, A Twentieth-Century Life — a deeply personal account of what shaped his understanding of America and the law.

Born in San Francisco just before World War II, Justice Breyer came of age amid the optimism of postwar America, in a community of immigrants and established families, Democrats and Republicans, and neighbors of different races, religions, and backgrounds. What connected them was a belief in civic life and in the hard, everyday work required to turn democratic ideals into reality. Drawing on wisdom from women and men like Arthur Golberg, Ted Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor, and other colleagues who helped shape his understanding of the world, Breyer traces his singular life from his childhood in California to his appointment to the Supreme Court. But A Twentieth-Century Life is more than a memoir. At once a love letter to America and a solemn reminder of the promises and values on which this country’s greatness resides, the book speaks directly to the rising generations of the 21st century who must bring the American Experiment into a new era.

What does one generation owe the next in this country? At a moment of profound debate over the Supreme Court, the rule of law, and the institutions Americans depend on, hear Breyer as he reflects on what holds a democracy together, what can pull it apart, and whether the American ideals that shaped his generation can meet the pressures of a new century.