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]
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Episode 112 – For the Children
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]
Episode 111 – The Search for History
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]
The Search for Art
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]
Episode 106 – Decoder Ring
This week in class we were talking about what the Supreme Court actually does. And, not surprisingly, there were plenty of people who did not really understand it. And that’s okay. I think most Americans don’t. But we were talking about how the SCOTUS reviews laws and decides whether they are Constitutional or not and one student raised her hand and said, “What about ‘The Purge’ law?” [Read More]