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The Problem With The Filibuster

Air Date:
Heard On The Morning Show
U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond speaking to reporters after setting filibuster record
Sen. Strom Thurmond (then a Democrat from South Carolina) talks to reporters minutes after he emerged from the Senate chamber where he spoke a record-breaking 24-hours, 18 minutes, in a filibuster against a compromise Civil Rights bill, Aug. 29, 1957. His wife Jean, who kept a sometimes lonely vigil as one-person audience in the Senate gallery smiles in the background. William J. Smith/ AP Photo

Now that Democrats have a slim majority in the U.S. Senate, many of them are calling for the party to end the filibuster. We talk to a former Senate aide who saw the filibuster kill popular legislation. He argues that it’s a remnant of white supremacy that must be dumped for the good of the country.

Episode Credits

  • Kate Archer Kent Host
  • Joe Tarr Producer
  • Lee Rayburn Technical Director
  • Adam Jentleson Guest

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