Rhetoric Professor Andre E. Johnson

Everything I Do Is Grounded in My Faith

Andre E. Johnson is the Benjamin W. Rawlins Professor of Communication at the University of Memphis. Before joining Zócalo at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis for “Why Isn’t Remembering Enough to Repair?”—the third public program in our two-year events and editorial series, “How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?,” presented in partnership with the Mellon Foundation—he shared stories in the green room about mentorship, preaching, and wide-open Saturdays.

Goodbye to America’s Authoritarian P.T. Barnum  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Good Riddance to America’s Authoritarian P. T. Barnum

A Showman-in-Chief Will Depart, but the Trumpian Spectacle Lives on

Shortly before his supporters stormed the Capitol, interrupting the official congressional tally of the Electoral College votes, President Donald Trump gave a speech at the “Save America” rally. He promised …

It’s Time for the U.S. to Manifest Humility | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

It’s Time for the U.S. to Manifest Humility

America’s Political Crack-Up Is an Opportunity to Learn More From the Rest of the World

Political hysteria has conquered America—and made the United States much more like the rest of the world.

So argued the London-based essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra during a fast-paced and wide-ranging …

Why ‘Treason’ Usually Isn’t Treason | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why ‘Treason’ Usually Isn’t Treason

The Constitution Defines Treason Narrowly. That Hasn’t Stopped the Overblown Rhetoric

The last four years have been a strange time to be a scholar of American treason law. The members of this tiny (and I mean really tiny) group used to …

When Presidential Silence Speaks Louder than Words | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

When Presidential Silence Speaks Louder than Words

What We Can Learn From JFK’s Decision to Abandon a Speech on the Nuclear Crisis

President Trump’s speech before the Republican National Convention (RNC) will provide an interesting coda to a year marred by White House communication blunders. In March, as COVID-19 took over newsfeeds …

Why Does the 2020 Presidential Campaign Feel So Loud and Angry? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Does the 2020 Presidential Campaign Feel So Loud and Angry?

In an Age of ‘Post-Rhetorical’ Politics, Candidates Now Compete, Rather Than Cooperate, With the Media

Presidential candidates have long found ways to take their messages directly to the voters, by avoiding the filter of press coverage. But today, candidates have gone steps further, turning themselves …