No Kings...and No Demagogues: America's Semiquincentennial, part 8

About this episode

The episode discusses the rhetoric and arguments of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and their relevance to contemporary polarized politics.

We discuss the rhetoric and argument of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and apply his lessons and warnings to our polarized politics.

Topics covered

• Thomas Paine
• Common Sense
• polarized politics
• American history
• rhetoric
• democracy

Keywords

• Thomas Paine
• Common Sense
• rhetoric
• politics
• democracy
• American history

More episodes of DIA-Today: Democracy in America Today

• Providence and Politics: America's Semiquincentennial, part 10 · June 13, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Self-Government and Republican Virtue: America’s Semiquincentennial, part 9 · June 6, 2026 · 49 min
• The Causes and Necessity of War: America’s Semiquincentennial, part 7 · April 25, 2026 · 51 min
• The Colonists’ Love of Freedom: America’s Semiquincentennial, part 6 · April 11, 2026 · 50 min
• Appealing to the ‘Immutable Laws of Nature’: America’s Semiquincentennial, part 5 · March 28, 2026 · 56 min
• Executive Power and Persuasion: America's Semiquincentennial, part 4 · March 14, 2026 · 57 min