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

Current Affairs

🦩 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