• public sphere
• the profession

A thoughtful set of reflections by Columbia sociologist Herbert Gans on the notion of a "public sociology." The whole SSRC-sponsored Public Sphere website is a real treasure.

• Jim Aune's blog
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• intimacy
• presidential rhetoric
• public sphere
• sexuality

Music: Willard Grant Conspiracy: Mojave (1999)

Tonight President Obama will hold a press conference in honor of his first 100 days in office. The speech coincides with a current project I am writing today on the tone of presidential public address; I have been arguing for almost a year now that Obama's ability to dispense intimacy without ecstasy with his voice partially explains his rhetorical successes. To this end I have been reading-up on Lauren Berlant's work on public intimacy, and I think her arguments give us something to think about as we watch the president this evening.

• slewfoot's blog
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• counterpublics
• public sphere
• publicity
• publics

Music: And Also the Trees: (Listen For) The Rag and Bone Man (2007)

Communication scholar Bruce Gronbeck is visiting Aus-Vegas this week and wowing everyone with this wit and charm. This morning he guest lectured to my Introduction to Rhetorical Theory class on "what does a rhetorician know, and how?" He presented the students with, I think, one of the most lucid discussions of social construction I have yet to behold.

• slewfoot's blog
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• expertise
• public sphere

If you're not yet reading Language Log, I'd highly recommend that you start. The authors are linguists, and some of the posts are clearly geared toward linguists (just as some of the Blogora content excludes the non-rhetorician). But on the whole, they have some interesting stuff.

• Jim Brown's blog
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