sophia rosenfeld. [applause] dr. rosenfeld: thank you, that was such a nice introduction. i feel like i should sit right back down because you have given it all away. it's a great honor to be at the robert c. byrd center for congressional history and education. it is an honor to be here at shepherd university and an honor to be giving the 2019 memorial lecture on what is almost constitution day. one day off, we are close. i especially want to think jim -- thank jim wyatt and the moses family who are here tonight. i also want to thank the audience for coming out on what is a beautiful wednesday evening. it is very kind of you to be here. i will try to be lucid. i will see if i can do that. [laughter] brilliantlyd: lucid. that is a tall order. just lucid will go ok. even though i'm a historian by training and profession, i'm going to begin this evening by talking about the present. we will back up a little while. it probably won't surprise anyone in this room if i start out by saying truth has been having a bad time of it lately, not least about 70 miles to the southeast of

announcer: next we hear from sophia rosenfeld, who is the author of "democracy in truth: a short history." she talks about the long-held tensions among citizens in a democracy to determine what the truth is, rather than relying on an elite class to determine what the truth is for them. the robert