Summary: <p>In competitive debate future presidents, supreme court justices, and titans of industry pummel each other with logic and rhetoric. </p> <p>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.</p> <p><em>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. </em></p> <p><em>Special thanks also to Torgeir Kinne Solsvik for use of the song h-lydisk / B Lydian from the album <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IVZUEU/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp" target="_blank">Geirr Tveitt Piano Works and Songs</a></em></p> <p><em>Support Radiolab by becoming a member of </em><a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/membership"><em>The Lab</em></a> <em>today.</em><em> </em></p> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaum_fMDGgFQCmKHUBPq_xg">Radiolab is on YouTube!</a> Catch up with new episodes and hear classics from our archive. Plus, find other cool things we did in the past — like miniseries, music videos, short films and animations, behind-the-scenes features, Radiolab live shows, and more. Take a look, explore and subscribe!
