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I want to get back to basics a bit today. I don’t anticipate a bunch of heavy rhetorical theory. I’m not going to dig into a bunch of pedagogy. No, today we’re talking about good ol’ politics and current events. But I don’t think I’m going to say too much, that’s even too controversial. [Read More]

But THIS is a special occasion! Welcome to The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival 2023! The theme of The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival is “Artificial Intelligence: Applications and Trajectories” and it takes place August 28-31.This is the 4th AnnualCarnival, and we hope to grow our list of participants and listenership going forward. The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival has proven to be a successful annual event, and we hope it continues to be. [Read More]

I’m back again! For a while I might be down to an episode every few weeks as I complete my road to recovery. So I am especially thankful that you are accompanying me on that journey. I’ll try to stay as relevant and current as ever.

But to begin our story today, we have to go back in time a little.

In 1868 there was an English court case, Regina v. Hicklin, which set the course for the way we view appropriate public discourse for about a century. This case established the Hicklin test, which said that  all material tending “to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall,” was obscene, regardless of its artistic or literary merit. [Read More]

After our last episode a listener reached out to talk about it. He said he enjoyed it but had a couple of questions or quibbles. Mostly, he wanted to know whether I thought of history as “fact?” [Read More]

Hello, gentle listeners.  It’s been a while. So let me catch you up on a few things.

I had brain surgery on January 5th. And if you think that sounds intense, then you are right. [Read More]