Rhetoric in Famous Speeches: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd conclude their three-part series in rhetoric by presenting some examples of rhetoric and public discourse.
At the time this is posted, our web site is not fully functional. It will be fixed soon, so that you can find things and make PayPal donations. (1:54)
Dave and Barbara were recently featured in the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s podcast. (2:23)
This show features samples of great recorded rhetoric from the 20th and 21st centuries. Our principle sources were the websites American Rhetoric and The Free Information Society.
A couple of famous “mea culpa” speeches
- Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech (September 23, 1952) (5:16)
- Bill Clinton’s denial in the Monica Lewinsky scandal (January 26, 1998) (10:34)
Calls to action/calls to arms
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s call for war against Japan (December 8, 1941) (12:25)
- Adolf Hitler’s declaration of war against Poland (September 1, 1939) (18:02)
- Winston Churchill’s first speech as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (May 13, 1940) (21:56)
Music bumper from “Grapes” by Evan Stone (24:48)
Speeches at historical events
- John F. Kennedy in Berlin (June 26, 1963) (26:02)
- Ronald Reagan in Berlin (June 12, 1987) (28:31)
- Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial–the “Dream” speech (August 28, 1963) (30:20)
Song: “Speech” by LPG (35:40)
Rude Word of the Week: “broken record,” featuring a broken-record argument between Chris Matthews and Kevin James on MSNBC (Video of the full exchange) (May 15, 2008) (38:01)
Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth. (42:36)
Extemporaneous speech: Joseph Welch versus Joseph McCarthy in the U. S. Senate (Video clip) (June 9, 1954) (45:32)
Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network
Theme music by Kick the Cat
time: 53:22
size: 48.9 Mb
rating: PG (Passing reference to sexual relations in our discussion of Bill Clinton)
by Edward P. J. Corbett. (2:26)
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