Talks & Interviews

“Turns out common sense isn’t all that common”
The Colin McEnroe Show | Podcast
- March 6, 2025
President Donald Trump has been using the phrase “common sense” a lot. But it turns out that this is nothing new for politicians. Rosenfeld and others look at how common sense is used in politics. Plus, is there really such a thing as common sense? The interview digs into what it means and if it’s possible to teach it to artificial intelligence.

”A Dialogue about the Past and Future of Democracy”
Omnia Magazine | Print February 17, 2025
Rosenfeld speaks with her colleagues about the role of universities and a liberal arts education today in maintaining and strengthening democracy.

“Trump and Common Sense”
Folha de S. Paulo | Print February 1, 2025
Historian Sophia Rosenfeld sees the President as a man who makes nuances disappear and who tries to sell himself as “of the people.”

“Do Discomfort, Anguish, and Divisive Concepts Belong in the Classroom? A Conversation about Free Speech in Public Schools”
Courageous Conversations
| Podcast March 6, 2024
Since 2020, nearly 20 states have passed legislation prohibiting public school educators from teaching “divisive concepts” or any content that might cause students to feel “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress” because of their race or sex. Sophia Rosenfeld joins the conversation along with other scholars.

“University Discourse”
La Tercera
| Print June 21, 2024
Sophia Rosenfeld discusses “cancel culture” and campus discourse in a new interview.

“Is American democracy in danger today?”
TF1 Television, France
| Television Interview October 26, 2024
Does American democracy seem in danger today?

“Truth and Democracy”
UPenn Omnia
| Print September 30, 2024
Sophia Rosenfeld discusses some of the big questions at the heart of American democracy like whether common sense has changed in the context of politics, how a healthy democracy works, who decides what’s true in democracy, and much more. 

“Confidence with Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld”
Chiesman Center for Democracy at USD | Podcast September 6, 2024
On this episode of Dakota Dialogues, Shane and Julia dive into the implications for truth and democracy in both South Dakota and over time in the US with historian, author, and professor Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld.

“What Can We Talk About? The Free Speech Battle in Our Colleges and Universities”
Crested Butte Public Policy Forum
I Audio Recording July 16, 2024

“What Columbia's crackdown on protesters tells us about free speech on college campuses”
NPR: Created Equal
| Podcast May 1, 2024
Tensions between student-led protesters and university officials at Columbia University on Tuesday led to NYPD officers clad in riot-gear forcibly removing protesters from the Hamilton Hall building, which they had occupied for less than 24 hours. Sophia Rosenfeld joins the show to discuss the protests and universities' responses.

“Are Academic Freedom and Open Expression Under Siege?”
University of Pennsylvania
| Video April 28, 2024
There is sharp disagreement about the meaning and practice of open expression and academic freedom at the University of Pennsylvania and other universities. What exactly do these concepts mean? What rights do they confer? What are their limits? Sophia Rosenfeld moderates a discussion at a University of Pennsylvania Faculty Senate Roundtable with some of the nation’s leading scholars.

“New dialogue series explores open expression and free speech”
Penn Today
| Print February 8, 2024
The inaugural event of the University of Pennsylvania’s “Living the Hard Promise” dialogue series featured a conversation with history professor Sophia Rosenfeld, examining the purpose, history, and challenges of open expression on campus.

“No, Campuses Are Not in Chaos Over Gaza”
The New York Times
| Audio Essay December 20, 2023
In this NYT audio essay, Sophia Rosenfeld shares a model for engaging in tough conversations for anyone looking to have thoughtful discussions about some of the most fraught issues of our era.

“Is Truth the Highest Good of Democracy?”
Tenfourteen
| Video November 14, 2023
At a time when there is talk of “fake news” and “alternative facts”, the question arises as to the role and status of truth in democracy. In conversation with the historian Sophia Rosenfeld, Alexander Görlach discussed truth and probability, science and faith in liberal democracy.

“Lançamento ‘Democracia e verdade’ – Roda de conversa com Sophia Rosenfeld”
Ateliê de Humanidades
| Video February 2, 2023
Book launch for Portuguese edition of “Democracy and Truth.”

“Democracy and ‘Common Sense’: A Conversation with Sophia Rosenfeld”
Library of Congress
| Video January 27, 2023
Kluge Center Director Kevin Butterfield interviews Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the North, Sophia Rosenfeld. This wide-ranging conversation will explore the idea of "common sense" in the political sphere, and what history can teach us about the ways knowledge is created, shared, and validated.

Lectures

“President's Lecture - Sophia Rosenfeld”
ABIM Foundation
- August 9, 2023
Sophia Rosenfeld speaks about trust, expertise, and truth in the fields of modern medicine and healthcare.

“How the Enlightenment Understood Truth — and Why That Matters.”
University of Oxford
- November 18, 2021
Sophia Rosenfeld delivers the 2021 Besterman Lecture at Oxford: Rosenfeld explores the paradoxical nature of Enlightenment thinking about truth and its legacy, including both its risks and its enduring promise.

“Democracy and Common Sense in the Post-Truth Age”
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
- October 15, 2021
Sophia Rosenfeld delivers a keynote lecture that explores the longer story of present perils of “truth” and “common sense,” back to the Enlightenment and the birth of modern democracy, to the rise of expertise and the continued appeal of the common sense.

“Keynote Address at Paris21/OECD Forum”
Paris21/OECD
- October 28, 2019
Sophia Rosenfeld gives the keynote talk at a Paris21/OECD forum, Building Trust in Data. Whereas once, our sources for ‘facts’ about the world were limited largely to official statistics or the work of a small group of academics, today, with only a few clicks of a button we can analyze millions of data points or fact-check a friend’s casual assertion. Moreover, from civil society organizations to armchair evangelists, anyone is capable of accessing a dataset and using it to advance a point of view. What does this mean for official statistics? Sophia Rosenfeld begins the forum with a keynote address on the history of truth and democracy.

“Truth, Lies and Democracy Now: A Historian’s Reflections”
Villanova University
- October 6, 2022
Sophia Rosenfeld delivers a keynote lecture at Villanova’s Lepage Center.

Media Mentions

“From Trump to Macron: How politicians use the ‘common sense’ argument…”
Télérama - February 25, 2025

“Trump and Common Sense”
DC News (Brazil) - February 2, 2025

“Back to ‘Common Sense’: Trump’s Populist Revolution”
Frankfurter Rundschau - January 20, 2025
"Paradoxically, 'common sense' rhetoric thrives particularly well in moments of extreme political polarization because it is designed to create the impression that there is a way to avoid political conflict."

“Elon Musk Is a New Kind of Political Donor”
The Atlantic
- October 24, 2024
“Rosenfeld noted that Musk’s particular combination of wealth and media control is ‘unprecedented.’”

”Elon Musk’s Misleading Election Claims Reach Millions and Alarm Election Officials”
The Washington Post - September 10, 2024
“The great risk in a privatized public sphere,” said Sophia Rosenfeld, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Democracy and Truth: A Short History,” is that the owner, in this case, Musk, “can control both the flow of information and the content of that information to suit their own needs, whether financial, ideological or both.”

“Trump's Most Zealous Campaigner” (German language)
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - October 26, 2024
Articles on “Trump's Most Zealous Campaigner” & “Deepfakes”

Bon sens en politique, un contresens démocratique” [PDF]
Le Monde - November 23, 2024
If the notion of “common sense” has created an ideological terrain favorable to the emergence of liberal democracies, its vague contours today allow unscrupulous political actors, in particular of the extreme right, to use it as a a weapon, as insidious as it is effective, against pluralism and democracy itself.

“Vérité et politique”
Le Monde
- July 9, 2022
Sophia Rosenfeld quoted in Le Monde on truth and politics.

“When the Czarinas Ruled the Front Row”
New York Times
- July 4, 2022
Sophia Rosenfeld quoted in the New York Times Style section.

“Let’s Rescue Truth”
The Boston Globe
- September, 16 2021
Op-Ed writers for the Boston Globe cite “Democracy and Truth.”

“A Political Obituary for Donald Trump”
The Atlantic
- January, 2021
The Atlantic’s George Packer quotes from “Democracy and Truth” in a discussion of the legacy of Trump’s presidency.

“To Speak Truth to Power is Duty of All”
The Indian Express
- August 29, 2021
India’s Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud quoted from “Democracy and Truth” in a recent speech on the need for truth in India’s democracy. Read his full speech here.

“Career Owners: Resolve To Seek Out Your Own Truth This Year”
Forbes
- January 2, 2021
A summary of “Democracy and Truth” that helps contribute to the sustainability of your own career, as well as to a form of democracy that supports sustainable careers for others.