Matthew and Jack sit down in Lowell House with Bo Seo, a two-time world champion debater and the author of Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard. Bo is a legend in the debating community. In high school, he led team Australia to victory at the World Schools Debating Championship, and in university, he and his teammate Fanele won the World University Debating Championship representing Harvard.
In this episode, we talk about Bo’s journey from a shy and conflict-averse child to an expert debater, we discuss how to apply the virtues of debating to our real-world disagreements, and we ask Bo how he understands the role of arguments in journalism and the law.
Like good debaters, we also think critically about debating and pose some tough questions about the activity’s limitations. Ultimately, we’re persuaded and inspired by Bo’s conclusion. Debating, with all its shortcomings and imperfections, promises something special: to help restore humility and civility to our arguments, to help us grapple with the pressing political and ethical questions of the day, and to give its participants a special space in which to listen and be heard.
Introduction: 00:00
Bo’s childhood: 02:53
Bo’s rhetorically ambitious style: 07:57
Effect of debating on political views/arguments: 11:20
Frameworks for real-life arguments: 18:21
Bo’s responses to criticism of debate: 24:42
Generative AI’s threat to persuasion: 42:07
Arguments in the law: 47:23
Advice to Debaters and Non-Debaters: 52:46
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Senior World Editor
