In her own words, Ruth Bader Ginsburg offers an intimate look at her life and career, through an extraordinary series of conversations with the head of the National Constitution Center. This remarkable book presents a unique portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing on more than twenty years of conversations with Jeffrey Rosen, starting in the 1990s and continuing through the Trump era. … through the Trump era. Rosen, a veteran legal journalist, scholar, and president of the National Constitution Center, shares with us the justice’s observations on a variety of topics, and her intellect, compassion, sense of humor, and humanity shine through. The affection they have for each other as friends is apparent in their banter and in their shared love for the Constitution–and for opera.
In Conversations with RBG, Justice Ginsburg discusses the future of Roe v. Wade, her favorite dissents, the cases she would most like to see overruled, the #MeToo movement, how to be a good listener, how to lead a productive and compassionate life, and of course the future of the Supreme Court itself. These frank exchanges illuminate the steely determination, self-mastery, and wit that have inspired Americans of all ages to embrace the woman known to all as “Notorious RBG.”
Whatever the topic, Justice Ginsburg always has something interesting–and often surprising–to say. And while few of us will ever have the opportunity to chat with her face-to-face, Jeffrey Rosen brings us by her side as never before. Conversations with RBG is a deeply felt portrait of an American hero.
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I’ve always held Ruth Bader Ginsburg in high esteem, but this book offered a very personal side of her and I think I fell in love with this feminist icon and just an incredible woman even more. She’s a true trailblazer not only for women’s rights but for true equality among men and women. Her integrity and respect for the judicial process are truly worth admiration. And little personal insights into her private world, expressed with her own words, were simply precious. After reading this (or listening to an audiobook as I did), you will get to know not only a truly iconic Supreme Court Justice but a woman who deserves statues to be erected in her honor and streets named after her. Thank you for your service, RBG! And thank you, Mr. Rosen, for making these wonderful interviews available to us all.
I admit my knowledge and understanding of the Supreme Court is barely adequate, based mostly on headline news and gleanings from my readings in history and biographies.
With some trepidation, I proceeded to read Conversations with RBG, worried it would be ‘over my head.’
I was immediately pleased to find Jeffrey Rosen’s book was informative, with a good sense of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s personality and ideas about “life, love, liberty, and law,” and yet accessible to a general reader like myself. Most of the cases discussed were quite well known, although in Rosen’s chapter introductions there were references to cases outside of my knowledge.
Each chapter is a transcript of a conversation between Rosen and RBG that took place over time, focusing on one aspect of her life or career. The conversations consider landmark Supreme Court cases but also consider the present and future of the Court.
Rosen and RBG bonded over a shared love of opera. Classical music and opera are RBG’s passion, bringing beauty, joy, and therapeutic escape into her workaholic life.
I appreciated learning about her early cases working with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Women’s Rights Project.
RBG endeavored for laws that were neutral in regards to sex, so that men and women had the same, equal protections.
I think that men and women, shoulder to shoulder, will work together to make this a better world.~RBG quoted in Conversations with RBG
All the landmark cases are addressed from RBG’s landmark cases to her dissenting votes. A very interesting chapter concerns RBG’s meeting with Margaret Atwood. Also discussed is how RBG became a cultural icon, memorialized in opera and social media memes.
Rosen asked, “What’s the worst ruling” the current Court has produced, and she answered Citizens United. “I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays fo far from what our democracy is supposed to be.”
I read in the newspaper today that Virginia passed the Equal Rights Amendment, which RBG had supported. Last night I had read about Rosen asking if the ERA might be revived in correlation with the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. RBG replied that because some states withdrew their ratification “it would be better to start over.”
I appreciated RBG’s philosophy of the court being “a reactive institution.” She believes the Court should respect the legislative judgment of Congress.
RBG is hopeful, understanding that the American democratic experiment is an ever-evolving process.
“I am an originalist; I think we’re constantly forming a more perfect Union, which is what the Founders intended. As bad as things may be, there are better than they once were. These are not the best of times, but think of how many bad time’s I’ve experienced in my long lig.e Starting with the Second World War…then Senator Joe McCarthy…Then Vietnam. Somehow, we have gotten over the worst of times.”~RBG in Conversations with RBG by Jeffrey Rosen
I won a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a pivotal figure in American history — a pathbreaking litigator and Supreme Court justice. Conversations with RBG is a fascinating look at the person behind the cases and opinions. Justice Ginsburg’s humor, deep intellect, and warmth shine through in this captivating book.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vantage on American law and politics is without equal. This collection of interviews, conducted over decades, covers her distinguished career as a lawyer, judge, and Supreme Court justice, and gets to the very heart of her understanding of the Constitution, and what’s at stake in its interpretation.
Imagine having a cup of coffee with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and chatting about law, the Supreme Court, marriage, family, music, wins and losses. If that seems unlikely to happen, Jeffrey Rosen’s Conversations with RBG is the best possible substitute.