Interviews

In 1989, JAC editor Gary Olson initiated a series of scholarly interviews with some of the world’s most eminent intellectuals in order to explore the role that rhetoric, writing, and theory played in their intellectual work. The objective was to open a dialogue between these thinkers and scholars of rhetoric. If in fact one of the key insights of postmodern thought is that rhetoric and epistemology are inextricably intertwined, then it seemed incumbent on the journal to sponsor that important dialogue.

Since the series began, Olson and his colleagues have conducted 27 interviews, which were published in JAC and in a number of book collections. While Olson conducted the majority of the interviews, occasionally with a co-interviewer, the journal has commissioned guest interviewers to conduct some of them.

The original cassette tape audio recordings were digitized in 2006. Future interviews will be added as they become available. You can listen to the JAC interviews by clicking here.