#influential power

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Hearing hate speech primes your brain for hateful actions

A new theory of language suggests that people understand words by unconsciously simulating what they describe. Repeated exposure – and the simulation that comes with it – makes it easier to act.

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Metaphors can change our opinions in ways we don’t even realize

Emerging research tells us that a single metaphor can have consequences for how we think, and be powerful tools in the hands of those looking to shape our opinions.

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A GLOSSARY OF WEAPONISED* WORDS, BREXITSPEAK and THE TOXIC TERMINOLOGY OF POPULISM

I have been collecting new and controversial language generated by the rise of conservative populism in the US and the UK, by pro- and anti-

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‘An absolute art form’: the best, worst and weirdest celebrity apologies

In the wake of Dave Grohl’s public confession that he fathered a child outside of his marriage, Guardian staff choose their favourite mea cu

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Barack Obama: Orator in the mould of history’s best - Sunday Times, 9 November 2008, Chris Gourley & Georgia Warren

Even in the age of YouTube and the soundbite, Barack Obama has proved that soaring, sustained oratory still has great power. His victory address to crowds in Chicago last week was widely regarded as one of the finest speeches in modern politics, delivered by a master.

“There’s no doubt Obama looks like a classically trained rhetorician,” said Robert Harris, author of Imperium and an expert on Cicero, the great Roman orator depicted in the book. “The use of gesture, stillness of the body and economy of movement is very dramatic.

“He delivers a powerful mixture of classically trained cool and the heat of the traditional African-American church: his use of repetition, the whooping-up of the crowd, the response of the audience.”

The speech was crafted by a team of writers in America and Britain. The message it imparted was a subtle mix of historical reference and uplifting emotion. 

In a country founded on the principle that all men are created equal, Obama began his victory speech to the crowd in Grant Park in Chicago by recalling the lofty ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy – tonight is your answer.”

It evoked both America’s can-do spirit and the memory of the great civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, who had a dream of equality 40 years ago.

“The speech is a Martin Luther King sandwich,” said Professor David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. “He starts and ends with a reference to the dream. He doesn’t mention King by name, but, boy, is this speech in that rhetorical memory. There’s an overarching structure to this: begin, dream and question; end, dream and answer.”

Obama’s message of hope also echoes John F Kennedy’s and Robert Kennedy’s calls to greatness during difficult times, while the vision of a unified America recalls President Ronald Reagan.

Bryan Garsten, associate professor of political science at Yale University and author of Saving Persuasion: A Defence of Rhetoric and Judgment, said the tone was humble but clearly emphasised its place in history.

“He used the life span of a 106-year-old woman [Ann Nixon Cooper] to lift his audience out of the moment and give them perspective on the way this fits into the broader sweep of history,” said Garsten. “The distinctive feature of the speech is its combination of humility and hopeful empowerment. He sought to raise his own campaign slogan, ‘Yes, we can’, to the level of a ‘timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people’, while remaining humble himself.”

Obama deployed classic rhythms and structures. “One of the most famous rhetorical devices in the English language is the rule of three. Everybody who wants to be a successful speaker does it,” said Crystal.

“For example, in the paragraph about his wife, he says she is ‘the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady – Michelle Obama’. This triptych effect works perfectly because it allows for steady climax, then applause.

“Another device he uses is pairs. It’s a technique of political speechmaking that you don’t say one thing if you can say two. He says ‘people who waited three hours and four hours’. Just ‘waited hours’ would do. The pairing adds emphasis.

“His momentum is brilliantly paced. You’ve got to keep it going, so you take breaks. He could have ended on ‘change has come to America’ but he changed tack in order to give himself space. And so for the next four paragraphs we get personal stories, building to a mini-climax which caps the section: ‘But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you’.

“Every few paragraphs he changes theme, from the general to the specific, from the collective to the personal.” Will it be remembered as one of the speeches that mark turning points in history?

Harris believes so. “I think he’s up there with the great speakers in modern politics,” he said. “You’d have to mark it A or A+. The danger was he’d topple into hubris, but he always turned it around and said ‘this is your victory’.”

“Above all, though, it was the sheer symbolism of the moment that made it so moving. Few people embody historic change in themselves. Mandela is one, and Obama is another.”

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Look who’s preaching hate – how the right-wing press stirs up Islamophobia

As the Prime Minister condemns a “sickening” terror attack on Muslim worshippers outside a mosque in north London, your mole has turned to its favourite source of news – the right-wing tabloids. Unsurprisingly unable to deal with the idea that non-white people could ever be terror victims, The Sun very pointedly referred to the van collision as a “revenge attack”, implicitly linking those leaving a post-fast Ramadan meal to those who carried out atrocities in London and Manchester. Every day, the sun finds a new way to sink lower. "Revenge Terror Attack"?? pic.twitter.com/FfjyFXTghh — Bri (@Xhakaed) June 19, 2017 The Mail appeared to be trying a similar trick, referring to the Finsbury Park mosque as where “hate cleric Abu Hamza once preached” – before seemingly coming to their senses and changing the headline: The Mail has misspelled 'terrorist' as 'white van driver.' Now let's discuss how he was radicalised. pic.twitter.com/HPw2czZiV9 — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 19, 2017 It not only attempted to turn a tragedy affecting innocent people into an attack on a hate preacher, it was also inaccurate – the incident was outside the Muslim Welfare House, not the nearby Finsbury Park mosque where Abu Hamza once preached. And anyway, your mole would argue that’s not the only radical preaching the UK should be worried about… Talk about the enemy within.

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Trump has turned words into weapons. And he's winning the linguistic war | George P Lakoff and Gil Duran

From ‘spygate’ to ‘fake news’, Trump has turned words into weapons. The press must do more to dull their power

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Type 'illegal' into Google. Chances are it will autocomplete to 'immigration'

In a word association game, a child asked what they thought of when given the word ‘illegal’ immediately replied ‘immigrant’. Why this should worry us