“Common Sense” Is Destroying Democracy (w/ Sophia Rosenfeld)
Current Affairs18 Apr 2025

“Common Sense” Is Destroying Democracy (w/ Sophia Rosenfeld)

🦩 This episode originally aired on April 4, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Sophia Rosenfeld is a distinguished historian and the author of Common Sense: A Political History. She joins Nathan to discuss how the idea of “common sense” has been used as a political weapon—from Thomas Paine to Donald Trump. Rosenfeld explains how appeals to common sense can both empower ordinary people and shut down dissent, why the term has become central to right-wing populism, and how it helps mask deeply ideological claims as obvious truths. She also reflects on her new book, The Age of Choice, and the hidden politics behind the freedoms we take for granted.

0:00-6:04 How Trump uses "common sense" as a political weapon

6:04-16:15 How "common sense" is used to make radical ideas normalized

16:15-21:03 How "common sense" undermines expertise

21:03-27:57 What are the origins of "common sense?"

27:57-32:33 How "common sense" can be manipulated for good

32:33-39:25 The politics of “choice” and why freedom of choice isn’t always liberating

39:25-44:34 Is “common sense” real, or just a rhetorical tool?

🧠 Common Sense: A Political History https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Political-Sophia-Rosenfeld/dp/0674057813

🧠 The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691164717/the-age-of-choice?srsltid=AfmBOoqca43cL20XoW5ImlNs1_bkxT9eIkiK_I08g7sKYOv9yWo0yvE0

Episoder(600)

Ed Wood and the Politics of Bad Taste (w/ Will Sloan)

Ed Wood and the Politics of Bad Taste (w/ Will Sloan)

Will Sloan is a film critic and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Jacobin, and the Toronto Star. He is the co-host, with Luke Savage, of the podcast Michael and Us, which examines poli...

21 Jan 43min

The Coup In Venezuela Is An Assault on the Whole World

The Coup In Venezuela Is An Assault on the Whole World

Donald Trump's overthrow of Nicolás Maduro sets a terrible precedent that severely erodes international sovereignty. Can other countries depose any leader they accuse of a crime?🇻🇪 Read the article:...

6 Jan 18min

How Zohran Mamdani Defeated the Democratic Establishment

How Zohran Mamdani Defeated the Democratic Establishment

In the fall of 2024, Zohran Mamdani was a long-shot challenger taking on New York City’s political establishment. Today, he’s the mayor. In this early interview with Current Affairs, recorded shortly ...

2 Jan 31min

Michael Pollan Is Lying to You About "Ethical" Meat

Michael Pollan Is Lying to You About "Ethical" Meat

John Sanbonmatsu is a professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the author of The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves.The book is a response...

1 Jan 40min

What the Government Shutdown Actually Revealed for Democrats (w/ Ettingermentum)

What the Government Shutdown Actually Revealed for Democrats (w/ Ettingermentum)

Joshua Cohen is a political theorist and writer of the Ettingermentum Substack: an exceedingly thorough and insightful resource for anyone hoping to understand what the hell is going on in American po...

27 Des 202550min

Gaza, Ukraine, and Why Trump’s "Anti-War" Rhetoric Is a Lie (w/ Medea Benjamin)

Gaza, Ukraine, and Why Trump’s "Anti-War" Rhetoric Is a Lie (w/ Medea Benjamin)

Medea Benjamin is an anti-war activist and one of the co-founders of CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She’s spent decades fighting the American military-industrial complex, organizing protests against the i...

19 Des 202547min

Candace Owens and the Decay of the American Brain

Candace Owens and the Decay of the American Brain

How can someone so delusional attract an audience of millions? What does it say about us that Owens is listened to by anyone other than a psychiatrist?🧿 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.o...

16 Des 202528min

MAGA Megadonors Are Recruiting Mayors to Criminalize Pro-Palestine Speech

MAGA Megadonors Are Recruiting Mayors to Criminalize Pro-Palestine Speech

Right-wing megadonors flew mayors to an all-expenses-paid summit in New Orleans, where they pushed a policy framework that codified mainstream criticism of Israel as “antisemitic.”📰 Read the article:...

11 Des 202531min

Populært innen Humor

rss-spartsklubben
papaya
enkel-servering
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
harm-og-hegseth
tusvik-tnne
tore-og-haralds-podkast
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
misjonen-med-antonsen-og-golden
wolfgang-wee-uncut
hanna-de-heldige
jan-thomas-og-einar-blir-venner
rss-snorre-med-gaute
verdens-verste
rss-det-alle-snakker-om-med-siri-og-kim
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
gutta-backer