cover of episode Debatable

Debatable

2022/5/6
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Arjun Valliopan
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Rashad Evans
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Ryan Walsh
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Scott Harris
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Shannara Reid-Brinkley
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Jad Abumrad和Robert Krulwich：Ryan Walsh的故事展现了一场关于辩论本身的辩论，参与者重塑了学术辩论的框架，使其更具趣味性与多样性，并探讨了辩论与社会权力、种族和身份认同的关系。 Ryan Walsh：他最初是被动参与辩论，在早期经历了文化冲击和种族歧视，后与Marshana合作，引入更具表现力和个人化的辩论风格，挑战了传统辩论的排他性和资源不平衡。他认为辩论者应该反思自己的辩论方式，并为弱势群体发声。 Marshana：她的辩论风格包含个人经历、诗歌和原创内容，直接批评了传统辩论的语言、风格和决策方式，认为它们具有排他性，并导致资源不平衡，不利于少数族裔学生参与。 Scott Harris：作为评委，他认为Ryan和Elijah的论证更具说服力，他们的论述本身就证明了对手论点的无效性，但他同时也认为辩论需要一些共同的起点和规则。 Shannara Reid-Brinkley：她分析了大量非洲裔美国学生涌入以白人为主的辩论领域后产生的紧张和压力，以及路易维尔项目对传统辩论的挑战。她认为要求辩论者忽略个人背景和身份是反黑人的，也是反其他少数群体的。 Rashad Evans：他建议Ryan和Elijah充分展现自己的身份认同，而不是试图隐藏，并帮助他们调整策略，将身份认同融入辩论中。 Arjun Valliopan和Peyton Lee：他们代表传统辩论风格，认为传统的辩论方法更有助于改变世界，并批评Ryan和Elijah的论点不符合主题。 Ryan Walsh: 他在大学期间继续参与辩论，并获得了认可，但他对胜利的反应较为平静，因为他意识到辩论领域的变化有限。他认为自己的成功之路充满了偶然性，这让他感到孤独却又美好。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Ryan Wash, a first-generation college student from Kansas City, Missouri, was tricked into joining the debate team by his chess coach, Jane Ronhart, who saw potential in his critical thinking skills.

Shownotes Transcript

In competitive debate future presidents, supreme court justices, and titans of industry pummel each other with logic and rhetoric. 

Unclasp your briefcase. It’s time for a showdown. Looking back on an episode originally aired in 2016, we take a good long look at the world of competitive college debate. This is Ryan Wash's story. He's a queer, Black, first-generation college student from Kansas City, Missouri who joined the debate team at Emporia State University on a whim. When he started going up against fast-talking, well-funded, “name-brand” teams, from places like Northwestern and Harvard, it was clear he wasn’t in Kansas anymore. So Ryan became the vanguard of a movement that made everything about debate debatable. In the end, he made himself a home in a strange and hostile land. Whether he was able to change what counts as rigorous academic argument … well, that’s still up for debate.

*Special thanks to Will Baker, Myra Milam, John Dellamore, Sam Mauer, Tiffany Dillard Knox, Mary Mudd, Darren "Chief" Elliot, Jodee Hobbs, Rashad Evans and Luke Hill. *

Special thanks also to Torgeir Kinne Solsvik for use of the song h-lydisk / B Lydian from the album Geirr Tveitt Piano Works and Songs)

*Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab) today.    *

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