Donald Trump’s reaction to his conviction provides a textbook case of demagoguery – which erodes democratic institutions and can prime an audience for violence. His followers went right along.
‘Fearless’ on stage − and in introspection.
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Introspection, argument, exploring paradoxes: These are hallmarks of great artists, not just philosophers.
President Joe Biden referred to Donald Trump as ‘my predecessor’ 13 times during the 2024 State of the Union.
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Instead of giving Trump’s fascist rhetoric a wider audience, news organizations must simply point out he’s attempting to dehumanize his fellow citizens, create a path to violence and destroy democracy.
Native Americans depicted at the first Thanksgiving feast, in a 1960 film about the Pilgrims’ first year in America.
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A scholar of Native American and Indigenous rhetorics writes about the harm done to Native American nations through colonization and what can be done to reduce it.
President Biden meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on arriving in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Until 1906, no US president had ever traveled abroad in office. Then Teddy Roosevelt demonstrated the power of showing up.
As footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is displayed in the background, former president Donald Trump stands while a song, Justice for All, is played during a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, in March 2023.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump’s legal woes will nourish and strengthen his rhetorical style, and his followers will continue to be persuaded by how he makes them feel, not by reason, facts or critical thought.
Police tape on a door following a stabbing at the University of Waterloo on June 28,. Waterloo Regional Police said three victims were stabbed inside the university’s Hagey Hall, and the suspected attacker was arrested.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
The stabbings at the University of Waterloo remind us that violence for daring to stand in a classroom and speak is still ever-present.
President of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Konneh announcing partial election results in Freetown on June 26, 2023.
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Sierra Leone needs to rebuild public trust in its election by maintaining a completely transparent process.
‘Rhetoric’ has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians’ techniques can actually help foster productive conversations.
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Ryan Leack, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ancient Greek philosophers despised the Sophists’ rhetoric because it searched for relative truth, not absolutes. But learning how to do that thoughtfully can help constructive debates.
Sure, you can try to force people to agree with you – but respectful persuasion is something else.
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The events of Jan. 6, 2021, have been called an insurrection. The same word has often been used to describe the mostly forgotten rebellions against plantation owners by enslaved people.
An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown during a House committee hearing.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
There are genuine political disagreements, and then there are time-worn strategies for selling denial to the public. A sociologist breaks down the patterns.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump rally in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 14, 2022.
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Threats to law enforcement have risen in the aftermath of the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Florida estate. Does ‘message laundering’ by top GOP figures have something to do with it?
An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown as the House select committee holds hearings in June 2022 into the attack.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
It’s easy to consider the erosion of democratic norms in the U.S. as purely political, but it poses serious risks to the country’s economic order. Is democracy in the gallows?
In hackathons, people come together to build more extensive and cohesive datasets.
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“Hackathons” can imply breaching security and privacy. To more accurately reflect their creative and constructive intent, they can be referred to instead as “datathons” or “code fests.”
A family poses in front of their sod house in Custer County, Neb., in 1887.
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The ways Americans talk about firearms is full of contradictions, two communication scholars explain – and that powerfully shapes the country’s approach to gun policy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress on March 16, 2022.
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