Class-war rhetoric from Democratic candidates jams working-class voters into a prefabricated progressive agenda, an expert on rural and working-class communities argues.
Articles on Rhetoric
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How invented threats, provocative language and repulsive imagery contribute to declining support for transgender people and other marginalized groups.
Two communication scholars explain how what Americans eat became shorthand for who they are.
In President Donald Trump’s public language, Congress rarely appears as a coequal branch of government. It appears as an obstacle, an audience, a pressure point, a rubber stamp or an afterthought.
A statewide survey finds majorities in farm country at odds with the deportation push reshaping their workforce.
What should we call the words that this ultramodern technology produces? For clues, a professor looks to some of the world’s earliest authors.
For years, Donald Trump’s rhetoric has relied on insult, ridicule, threat and contempt. But the scale of violence in his words during the first week of April 2026 was new – and had a purpose.
For over a century, baseball rejected gambling to preserve the game’s integrity. Now, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says embracing gambling will do the same.
Finding ways to communicate effectively with men about vasectomies is key to persuading them to have the procedure.
Why does Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brag and gloat in his statements about the Iran war? In the MAGA media world, war is a game, a test of masculine fortitude.
By openly saying, ‘This isn’t for you,’ brands signal focus and specificity. That helps the right customers feel a stronger connection.
Campy, exaggerated and partisan, many White House social media posts target the president’s base. But the communications approach may pose a risk to democracy.
Trying to change someone’s mind can seem futile. But there are approaches to political discourse that still matter, even if they don’t instantly win someone over.
Whether AI can ‘think’ is a different question than whether it is ‘intelligent.’
The Bible contains some explicit genocidal narratives, and over time, some religious Zionists have wielded these stories to advocate for the destruction of the Palestinians.
Rhetoric around ‘common sense’ tends to focus attention away from climate action, but it has not always been aligned with a free-market economy.
From the cold war to civil rights to Trump 2.0, award ceremonies have always been stages for activism.
Want to win an election? Talk about values more than policy, tell a compelling story, paint a bright future and find ways to repeat, repeat, repeat.
By warning of the threat oligarchy poses to the country, President Joe Biden tapped into a Democratic Party tradition begun in the mid-19th century.
Politicians like Cicero saw gladiators as vain and self-indulgent, while the true warriors engaged in wars of words.
Top contributors
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Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of Waterloo
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Professor of Communication and Journalism, Texas A&M University
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Spécialiste de la politique américaine, Sciences Po
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Assistant Professor of Writing, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Roger J. Kreuz is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Dean and Feinstone Interdisciplinary Research Professor, University of Memphis
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Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State University
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Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin is a Friend of The Conversation.
Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs, Boise State University
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Assistant Professor Rhetoric and Communication, State University of New York, College at Geneseo
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Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Communication Consultant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Professor of Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Adjunct Professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
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Foundation Member of the First Year College, Victoria University
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Senior Lecturer and Senior Digital Learning Developer, UCL
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PhD Candidate, Department of Comparative Literature and Culture, Queen Mary University of London
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Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College, Cornell University