The Hell 1AR: How to Win Rounds You Shouldn’t Have by Akhil Jalan

The 1AR, as we all know, is no picnic. Devastating 1NC time skew and the ability to collapse to one under-covered issue in the 6-minute 2NR means that the 1AR is usually daunting, and many difficult rounds are lost…

Lawrence Zhou is NSDA National Champion

Congratulations to Lawrence Zhou of Bartlesville HS (OK) and his coach Linda Shipley for winning the 2014 NSDA National Tournament in LD. Lawrence is the 10th VBI alumnus to win Nationals in the past 11 years.

“Nobody Knows the Trouble I See” (And In National Circuit Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Does Anyone Really Care?)

“Nobody Knows the Trouble I See”

(And In National Circuit Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Does Anyone Really Care?)

The Importance of Methods Debate in LD

By: Evan Zhao

“Method debates should continue to exist until either (a) everyone is obligated to read justifications for their model of debate or (b) no one has to contest their role of the ballot. Obviously, LD is a young form of…

Apple Valley Seeks Director of Debate/ Director of Forensics

Danny DeBois Wins the Tournament of Champions

Congratulations to Harrison’s Danny DeBois for winning the 2014 Tournament of…

Should T be a Voting Issue? by Jake Nebel

Jake Nebel studies Philosophy at Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship. As a coach, his students have won the TOC, NDCA, Glenbrooks, Bronx, Emory, TFA State, and the Harvard Round Robin. As a debater, he won six octos-bid championships and was top speaker at the…

Drillin’ Like a Villain: How to Get Better At Debate by Danny DeBois

Danny DeBois (Harvard ’18) debated for Harrison High School in New York for 4 years. He won the TOC, NCFL Grand Nationals, Glenbrooks, and the Harvard Invitational (twice). He is now an assistant coach at…

Pre-Fiat in LD: A Defense of “Kritikal” Engagement

Intuitions and Intervention

[W]e have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. — George Orwell

Many debaters and judges believe that intuitions should carry little to no evidential weight in a debate round. In this post, I…