On today’s page, Chullin 35, the rabbis discuss the ritual status of the garments of an am ha’aretz—an ordinary person who is not meticulous about the laws of ritual purity. What begins as a technical legal discussion quickly opens onto a deeper question about the relationship between experts and everyone else. The daf preserves a surprisingly sharp tension between learned scholars and ordinary people, one that remains deeply familiar today. Can a society thrive without the constant push and pull between expertise and common sense? Listen and find out.