Sophia Rosenfeld

Sophia Rosenfeld is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the author, most recently, of Democracy and Truth: A Short History.

Has the United States Ever Been a Democracy?

Has the United States Ever Been a Democracy? Has the United States Ever Been a Democracy?

Blending history, political theory, and commentary on current events, Jedediah Purdy's new book examines how that the United States continues to fail to qualify as a system defined...

Jan 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial?

Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial? Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial?

In their new book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum argue that a new form of conspiracy thinking is consuming our culture in dangerous and alarming ways. But is it?

Sep 16, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

declaration of independence painting by John Trumbull

What Did Equality Mean for the Founders? What Did Equality Mean for the Founders?

Three new books on the early republic explore the critical, if contested, role equality has played in shaping American political culture.

Apr 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Donald Trump

The Only Thing More Dangerous Than Trump’s Appeal to Common Sense Is His Dismissal of It The Only Thing More Dangerous Than Trump’s Appeal to Common Sense Is His Dismissal of It

The president’s taste for fact-free fantasy is based not in traditional American populism but in authoritarianism.

Mar 1, 2017 / Sophia Rosenfeld

How to Die

How to Die How to Die

Atul Gawande argues that physicians should focus care on the good life—including its very end.

Apr 14, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Free to Choose?

Free to Choose? Free to Choose?

How Americans have become tyrannized by the culture’s overinvestment in choice.

Jun 3, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Liehards: On Political Hypocrisy Liehards: On Political Hypocrisy

Hard truths about lying in politics

Aug 22, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

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