Sam Leith | It’s Rhetoric All The Way Down… From Churchill To Trump & Cicero To Hitchens

Curious Worldview Podcast

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Sam Leith is the literary editor for the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world, an organisation which started publication in 1828 which means… the magazine for which he is the literary editor of, The Spectator, are on the doorstep of a famous double century in just 4 years time!

While also contributing a monthly column on gaming, over the course of 30 years Sam has written 100’s of book reviews, authored multiple books himself, but as well, Sam hosts one of my favourite podcasts titled ‘Book Club’ where… in a similar fashion to this very show but with much better execution, Sam talks with interesting authors about their books.

Sam’s also got a new book, scheduled for release later this year and available for per order – The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading – and although we don’t discuss it in this podcast, if you like the way Sam talks and thinks then you might be keen on checking this one out as well.

But in this podcast we non exclusively discussed Sam’s 5th book – You Talkin’ to Me? Which is a book on Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama…

And so as you can imagine, I brought up Christopher Hitchens immediately as a reference for good rhetoric but in the podcast you can also expect a break down of Ethos Pathos Logos, what makes some of the great speakers great, and references to Obama, Churchill, Martin Luther King and more for what made specific things they said stick so deeply.

• 00:00 – Who Is Sam Leith
• 01:43 – Who Are The Best Communicators Alive Right Now?
• 07:23 – Sam’s Great Theory on US Presidents (Rhetoric v Anti-Rhetoric) + Obama V Trump
• 20:04 – Good Speech… Writing or Delivery?
• 26:03 – Christopher Hitchens (+ a bit of Peter)
• 37:45 – How Media Is Consumed & How Media Changes (Introducing Socrates)
• 1:03:23 – Ethos Pathos Logos
• 1:20:23 – Story & Rhetoric (Martin Luther King)
• 1:26:58 – Best Of Churchill
• 1:28:53 – Speeches Lost To History
• 1:30:25 – Podcasting & Rhetoric
• 1:39:46 – Visit One Speech In History
• 1:44:24 – Serendipity & Country You’re Bullish On

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Matthew Dicks – Storyworthy
• Ben Burgis – Christopher Hitchens
• Ethos Pathos Logos

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