Podcast: Headstart
Get a headstart on your speech and debate season with the help of national champions, top coaches, and topic experts. We explore debate theories, strategies, and big-picture concepts from this year's TP resolution that you can apply in your next round.
New episodes will show up under a different podcast on Spotify called "Headstart Speech and Debate (Season 2)"
James Russell, a DFW coach for over a decade, provides an introduction to transportation policy through a debater's lens.
Ben Brown (the 2022 NCFCA TP National Champion with his partner David Hintze) shares what he learned from the many creative (and often weird) debate formats he has tried.
You can find the practice resolutions and debate format list we mentioned in the resources tab of my website.
In part two of my interview with Joseph Abell, we explore the strategy of going neg on cases that make a very small change and how to use CX to support that strategy. At the end, we discuss how to balance kindness and competitiveness in CX.
Here's the topicality script we talked about
Joseph Abell, the head coach at Ace Peak, explains his simple, unique approach to cross examination, and how it changes everything from brainstorming questions to the goal of follow-ups.
Lauren Jarvis, the founder of Speechmakers, discusses detailed negative strategy: from the brief writing stage to in-round prep. She shares instructions on developing a cohesive negative philosophy and tips for going neg without a brief.
Dr. Lichtenberg uses her PhD in philosophy, her background as a criminal justice professor, and her experience teaching in prisons to explain how the philosophies of punishment change the way we argue the most popular cases this year; including MMS, rehabilitation programs, and solitary confinement.
Dr. Judith Lichtenberg is an expert in criminal justice and PhD in philosophy. She has been a full time professor at the Universities of Maryland and Georgetown, as well as Jessup Correctional Institution and the D.C. Jail. She explores the fundamental goals of criminal justice policy, and how we can use them to debate practical policies.
Kim Cromer, the Executive Director of NCFCA, reveals the reasons behind some of the most dramatic rule changes, addresses competitor concerns, and shares some brand-new NCFCA updates. We talk about some new types of Extemp topics to expect, the Apologetics structure, technology in in-person debate rounds, rules for asking judge philosophy, age limits, and more.
James Russell, the head of DFW Speech and Debate, gives us a bird's-eye view of the NCFCA Team Policy resolution by looking at how TP has changed over the years and how this resolution will continue to shape it, as well as the practical side of how these predictions can streamline your prep.
A lot of the main questions of prison policy are philisophical. A few years ago, NCFCA had an LD resolution that debated the philosophy of prison policy. The national champion from that year, Mac Mann, gives us a springboard to get to the heart of those issues.
NCFCA's 2021 Extemp champion, Sophie Schenkel, and Impromptu champion, Alina Rodriguez, discuss how to succeed in limited preps and how they interact with debate.
Drew Magness is a legend in NCFCA and Stoa, a coach with six years of experience, and one of the top coaches at Ace Peak. We discuss how to research for Team Policy Debate over the summer to build a firm foundation for your competition season.
Jadon Buzzard, CEO and head coach at Ethos Debate, dives deep into the question "what must the Affirmative do to win a policy debate?"
This first episode talks about how to rise to the next level of team policy debate over the summer: starting by taking a big picture view of debate as a whole. What seem to be nitty gritty rounds are often decided by big picture arguments about what winning a debate means in the first place.
