Anthony R. Garcia
If you’re a student or teacher of English composition looking to learn more about the discipline, check out the following podcasts, which will introduce you to some respected scholars and interesting ideas in the field.
I think you’ll find that listening to these podcasts will stimulate your own thinking about what writing is and what writing does.
Rhetorical Questions
I love this podcast. It manages to be both accessible and thought-provoking, as it performs rhetorical analysis on contemporary events in politics and pop culture. Dr. Brian Amsden is the producer of the show, which includes personal commentary as well as interviews with experts in communication and rhetoric.
Rhetoricity
Published by Eric Detweiler, Rhetoricity mostly consists of interviews with other writing scholars, who share insights into their work, inviting you to follow up and learn more. In one episode, Eric shared an interview he did with Joyce Locke Carter, whose work inspired me in a number of ways as I began working on this site.
Eloquentia Perfecta Ex Machina
From iTunes description: “A podcast by and for the Writing Program at Saint Louis University. We interview instructors about how and why they use multimodal approaches to the teaching of rhetoric and composition. We also have instructors interview other instructors about the nuts and bolts of particular tools and assignments.” I love that this podcast has been pretty consistent in publishing episodes—which is a bit rare for comp/rhetoric podcasts. Great for hearing ideas about what other instructors are trying in their classrooms, as well as a bit about the theory that informs their pedagogy.
Plugs, Play and Pedagogy
“A playful, collaborative, monthly podcast on teaching writing and rhetoric in the 21st century Hosted by Kyle Stedman, Rockford University.” This is a 12 episode series (unsure whether there will be more) that, like Rhetoricity, exposes you to the ideas of different scholars in the field of composition and rhetoric. Well produced and worth listening to.
Zeugma
Zeugma, from The Digital Writing and Research Lab (UT Austin), ran for three years and published 38 episodes—another great source for interviews and insights into various composition and rhetoric topics.
Mere Rhetoric
Published by Mary Hedengren, Mere Rhetoric focuses almost exclusively on the history and study of rhetoric. Nearly 99 episodes! A great way to get acquainted with some of the most important names in the history of rhetoric and writing scholarship. Mary delivers the material with an infectious enthusiasm.
Why I Write
I recently stumbled upon this one. Sponsored by the NCTE and hosted by C.C. Chapman, #Why I Write is a new podcast that seems in line with many of my personal interests in creating EnglishCompostion.Org , which is to represent writing concerns and writing instruction through various professional lenses. To this end, Chapman interviews writers working in different genres, from fiction to content marketing, giving listeners the chance to hear how writing discourses differ and where they overlap—very much in the vein of The Writer Files. Happy listening!
(To stay informed on podcasts in comp/rhetoric, check out this Facebook page ,which shares posts when new episodes are released)