Constitutional Chats
Live podcast hosted by Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, and students: Tova Love Kaplan, Jorne Gilbert and Jewel Gilbert
When: Tuesday 10/10/2023 at 2:00 pm ET
Constitutional Chats are hosted by Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, student ambassadors, and experts who join us weekly to discuss hot-topic issues! The audience is not on camera, but you may ask questions!
Meet the Guest
Dr. John R. Lott, Jr.
Dr. John R. Lott, Jr., founder of The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), is an economist and a world-recognized expert on guns and crime. During the Trump administration, he served as the Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Justice Programs and then the Office of Legal Policy in the U.S. Department of Justice. Lott has held research or teaching positions at various academic institutions including the University of Chicago, Yale University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, UCLA, and Rice University, and was the chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission during 1988-1989. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA.
Nobel laureate Milton Friedman noted: “John Lott has few equals as a perceptive analyst of controversial public policy issues.”
Lott is a prolific author for both academic and popular publications. He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and written ten books, including “More Guns, Less Crime,” “The Bias Against Guns,” and “Freedomnomics.” His most recent books are “Dumbing Down the Courts: How politics keeps the smartest judges off the bench” and “Gun Control Myths.”
He has been one of the most productive and cited economists in the world (from 1969 to 2000 he ranked 26th worldwide in terms of quality-adjusted total academic journal output, 4th in terms of total research output, and 86th in terms of citations). Among economics, business, and law professors his research is currently the 15th most downloaded in the world. He is also a frequent writer of op-eds.
Lott can be reached at johnrlott@crimeresearch.org
Meet the Hosts
Janine Turner
Actress Janine Turner is famous for her role as Maggie O’Connell in television’s Northern Exposure. She is the Founder of Constituting America which launched in 2010. She is still acting but is also actively teaching kids about the U.S. Constitution and has given over 540 speeches to classrooms across the country.
Cathy Gillespie
Cathy Gillespie is the Chair of Constituting America, a former Congressional Chief of Staff and former Commissioner of the White House Fellows Commission. She is currently serving as one of 16 private citizens serving on the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, helping organize the celebration of our country’s 250th birthday in 2026!
Tova Love Kaplan
Tova Love Kaplan is a student at Harvard University. She currently serves as the National Youth Director for Constituting America and runs the National Youth Advisory Council. She is a three-time winner of the “We The Future” Contest and is passionate about educating and empowering young people to use their constitutional rights!
Jorne Gilbert
Jorne Gilbert is a recent graduate of Moravian University where he designed a major entitled Dramatic Production and Musical Performance. He used what he learned to further develop the charitable organization Sing For America which he co-founded to produce musicals portraying the art of Truth and Light.
Jewel Gilbert
Jewel Gilbert is Executive Producer of Sing for America, a charity founded by him and his family. Sing for America reveals the Art of Truth and Light through live performance. He is the Operations Director for a new business venture, J. Barker Paving. Jewel holds a BA in Musical Performance/Dramatic