Andrew Brokos had just recently graduated from the University of Chicago when he founded the Boston Debate League in 2006. Andrew’s involvement in debate, however, dates all the way back to his high school years in Baltimore–he was a nationally competitive debater in both high school and college, and worked for the Chicago Debate League teaching argumentation skills to students in the Chicago Public Schools system. Outside of the debate space, Andrew has been a professional poker player for over 15 years. He and Carlos Melch, another avid poker player, co-host the Thinking Poker Podcast, where they interview figures from the poker world and discuss poker strategy. 

Though the two might seem disconnected at first, Andrew credits debate for teaching him skills fundamental to the game of poker, like critical thinking and comparing and contrasting several options. They’re both intensely strategic activities that require creative, and at times unconventional, thinking. Beyond poker, Andrew thinks debate and the skills acquired through the activity can be a transformative tool in a world where other people’s opinions often seem to dissent from our own. Don’t get it confused–he doesn’t believe in the magical ability to change anyone’s mind over the course of a single conversation. He does, however, believe that debate teaches us humility–to both accept that the beliefs we hold might be harmful (or just downright wrong) and can be changed–, and the understanding that a conversation between dissenting opinions is “but a single moment in a larger process.” The ultimate goal is not to walk away having defeated your opponent, “but rather to plant a seed that might, over time, spread a productive sort of doubt and prompt further reflection on the part of your interlocutor.” 

As a former debater myself, I remember my first “plant the seed” moment vividly. The details don’t matter, but I can say that this specific moment, an entire decade ago, left a huge intellectual mark on my life. It left me feeling deeply uncomfortable in a way that pushed me to familiarize myself with concepts I had never heard of before, like Michel Foucault’s theories on power and surveillance, or Michelle Alexander’s writing about the prison industrial complex. Today, my views of the world are considerably different than they were before. 

This gradual but steady change was something Andrew also noticed happening at the BDL, long after he’d stepped down as executive director. He discusses this restructuring and what the BDL looks like today during one of his podcast episodes, in which he interviews the current ED, Kim Willingham.