Elizabeth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87 on Friday, September 25th. The shockwave this sent through the political sphere was immediate and cannot be overstated. Justice Ginsburg had become an icon in the last decade. As the leading liberal voice on the Supreme Court she had, in many people’s minds, become the leading protector of women’s rights, the rights of People of Color, and the LGBTQ community. In her many opinions and dissents she had been the voice of the marginalized and the long-oppressed and stood up to an increasingly powerful conservative movement that was etching away at voting rights, women’s rights, and was trying to stop the march of gay and trans rights that was sweeping the nation. [Read More]

We have been talking a lot about education recently, both in public and on this podcast. It’s a pretty hot topic. I know I am probably more immersed in these conversations than many people because I work in higher education, but there is no denying the fact that schools are on a lot of people’s minds right now. We’re worried about schools opening because of the spread of COVID. We’re worried about schools NOT opening because of pressure on parents, the economy, and the damage that could do to our kids. We’re worried about both of these things because this is causing us to come together to question what is education and what is the best way to do it? We have realized that education is more than just the transference of knowledge – the education system is the backbone of our economy and in many ways, our society. [Read More]

I was sitting on couch trying to decide what to write about this week. I must have had a puzzled or concerned look on my face because my son asked me what I was doing. I told him I was trying to figure out what my podcast for this week was going to be about. I was lacking in inspiration this time around. As is his wont, my ten-year-old immediately tried to help. [Read More]

In the last two weeks we have seen the conventions of the two major parties play out in very different ways than they have previously. The DNC went full virtual – there were Zoom meetings and music videos and an embrace of new media all the way around. The RNC seemed to want to maintain its traditional “convention” aesthetic. Speakers spoke on a platform at a podium and many of them to big crowds with cheering and shouting. These were political as much as stylistic statements and they resonated with their intended audiences. [Read More]

The Carnival is a collection of podcasts and podcasters who are all interested in rhetoric, but we come at from a variety of ways. Many of my fellow podcasters are interested in the rhet/comp side of things, which I absolutely value and understand – that was my introduction into rhetoric. My B.A. and my M.A. are in English and I spent some time in an English department T.A. -ing freshman comp. But when I switched to Communication Studies there was a shift in perspective. It wasn’t quite a paradigm shift, but it is enough to make a difference in who we perceive these things. In Comm Studies when we think of rhetoric we think of oratory. We share the history of rhetoric with rhet/comp, but around the 18th century rhetoric goes through a shift when it begins to mean writing as much as it does speaking. And in Comm Studies when we say “rhetoric” we mean speaking out loud and when they say “rhetoric” in English departments they mean “written composition.” [Read More]