Indeed. This was the model of the RHM symposium that I founded. Smaller means more actual conversations.

been thinking a lot about academic conferences, and I'm not certain who they are for anymore. Maybe it's just me and my career stage, but I certainly don't feel like they are for me. Even the ones that are supposed to be aligned to the work I do.

Totally made me chuckle when it popped up in my feed on LI.

Large room at a conference with a number of people around tables. The photo is taken from up high so that no face is readily identifiable. There is a women dressed in red, while everyone else wears neutral tones of white, blue, tan, black, and brown.

Taken last year in Sonderborg, Denmark. If you know me even a little bit, you'll know who I am in this photo. 😜

#TeamRhetoric, I am putting together a Cs roundtable about the experiences of "Pandemic PhDs" in our field. Here's my CFP -- I am officially inviting paper proposals! If you would, please circulate it to scholars who might be interested in participating.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

a baby is screaming in a crowd of people while sitting in a stadium . ALT: a baby is screaming in a crowd of people while sitting in a stadium .

calculating how many PRWR reps we might have at this poster competition. I want ALL our research to be repped! PRWR students are so creative and critical thinking

YES!! A good survey will likely take 6 months to design and test. And there is a grave misunderstanding of sampling and the severe limitations of listservs.

have done six surveys today. every one of them was absolutely a case study in how not to design a survey. So much poor survey design. So much. Sigh.

The “calculator” fallacy. The “printing press” fallacy. The “inevitable” fallacy. The “prompt engineer” fallacy.

A pox on publishing houses that do have TOCs available online. Like this is not the early days of print. Why would I buy a book if I don't know what is in it?

Anybody know of large-scale studies on the literacy of older adults (age 65+) in the United States, post-1990s? I'm finding a bunch of "health literacy" stuff, but the National Literacy Institute, National Center for Education Statistics, etc. seem to think that the need to read stops at age 64?

Eloquentia Perfecta as Antidote to AI: A Lenten Reflection Eloquentia perfecta was a cornerstone of early Jesuit rhetorical education, which Gannett and Brereton tell us was unique in that it “joined sacred rhetoric with civic rhetoric and action for the p…

Excellent perspective: refusal.blog/2026/02/23/e...

I'm feeling hopeful with lunar year and Fat Tuesday being on the same day.

if you need recommendations for small joys: A poem-a-day; the Gardiner brothers; and post modern jukebox

It was obvious Russians had kompromat on Trump that gave them absolute leverage. We thought it was the pee-pee tape. We thought too small.

Same as it ever was. Software built for bosses do very specific things, such as intensify work.

Professor Warns That the Wealthy Are Trying to Use AI to Seize Control of Everything Renowned sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom says that AI is a tool for the rich to cement control over society.

Yup. futurism.com/artificial-i...

I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.

Otter buried in leaves with only their head visible and it looks like it is sticking its tongue out at the camera.

Mood.

Hoover was genuinely looking for Russian agents. This guy is just protecting one.

A 35 year old letter to the editor, written by a very ballsy 15 year old, about the Rodney King verdict.

Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.

As always, Tressie speaks truth. Same over here. Totally same.

Wishing you for 2026: tek-ritr.com/wishing-you-...

When academic authors insist on using an abbreviation that no one but them ever uses....makes me want to just not read the damn thing. Sadly, I have to copy edit it, but OMG, quick making up shit for the sake of it making up shit.

Same. Totally same.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a miracle. This man has spent years doing the diplomatic equivalent of somersaults on a tightrope while his country remains under siege. I don't believe in the Great Man Theory, but he's about as close as it gets.

What if...the more time you spend online consuming information, the less actually useful information you have? I believe 2025 will be remembered as the tipping point: the saturation of AI slop, the enshittification of search, the algorithms designed to feed your biases, the partisan-outrage complex.

I do this too....especially in texts. My family and non-academic friends no longer comment on it. Though, they still don't understand it really. 🤣

Hello. I’ve been doing regularish webposts that collect all the tennis news into a fun and tidy format for you to read at your leisure. If that is a service that would be useful to you, subscribe or just bookmark to read. It’s free and always will be. See you in the 2 6.

forty-deuce.ghost.io

This is me as well, and I often have a personal air purifier with me too.