The Importance of Assimilation

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

When you don't give voice to a thought that you have, it sometimes dies. And how did it feel for you as a young child to have to be so agreeable all the time? It was progress towards fitting in, gaining friends, accumulating sleepovers. I wonder whether, when my parents perfectly innocently asked things like, how are things at school? Are you making friends? and I made it feel like an achievement. So even as I was getting further away from myself and losing parts of myself, it felt like I was gaining something other than speaking up for myself.

World champion debater Bo Seo knows how to win an argument. He’s made it his mission to teach everyone to disagree better. Bo walks us through how to apply the most effective strategies from competitive debate to improve our disagreements at the dinner table. Bo and Maya also discuss how to determine whether an argument is worth having in the first place.

For more on Bo’s work, check out his book, “Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard.”

If you enjoyed this episode, we recommend this one from the archives: "A Black Musician Takes on the KKK."

For a behind-the-scenes look at the show, follow @DrMayaShankar on Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.