Podcast Showcases Leeman’s Book, Research

The New Books Network is featuring a podcast with Richard W. Leeman, communication studies, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and his co-editor, Bernard Duffy, about their book The Will of a People: A Critical Anthology of Great African American Speeches.

The New Books Network is a consortium of podcasts dedicated to raising the level of public discourse by introducing serious authors to serious audiences.

The speeches included in the book are those considered great, says interviewer Vershawn Young, English, University of Kentucky. “… it’s no doubt the speeches collected are inspirational, informative, and worth studying as part of American cultural history, an oratorical history that continues to this very moment,” Young says. “In fact, capturing the contemporary milieu, the book also contains the first inaugural address by Barack Obama, the first U.S. president of color. Thus covering an impressive range, The Will of a People, will give readers much to think about, debate, and contemplate.”