All language subtitles for Girl Talk 2022 English

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What's the warrant behind that?

- Your evidence can tell me
whatever it wants.

I'm asking you to explain
the logic behind it.

HATTIE: So I went to debate camp
for girls, and they said,

"Try to talk a little lower."

- Hold up, hold up.

- "Don't interrupt boys."

- Wait, look, can you just
let us finish?

ANIKA: You have to be successful in your own way.

It comes from us.

We coach each other.

GABY: We all see ourselves
as maybe the ones who can change things.

[laughing, screaming]

TINA MCDUFFIE:
Girl Talk,on Local, U.S.A.

♪

Judge ready?

Great, let's begin.

We affirm the resolved:
single-gender classrooms

would improve the
quality of education

in American public schools.

The choice in
the round today is

between the probable
cause standard

and the reasonable
suspicion standard,

which is in the status quo.

The United States will
never strike North Korea

if they believe
that their troops

in South Korea will be harmed.

They're not going to be
vulnerable,

'cause one, they can
defend themselves,

and two, the U.S.-Japanese
alliance will protect them

because the U.S. is gonna
be there in six hours.

With the embargo lifted,
Cuba would instead choose

to resume trade with
American companies

because our exports
are more in line

with Latin American trade
interests, thus we affirm.

♪

♪

♪

ALL: One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine,

ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine,

ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four,
one, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four, one, two,
three, four.

One, two, one, two, one, two,
one, two.

One, one, one, one.

To sit in solemn silence
in a dull, dark dock,

in a pestilential prison

with a life-long lock.
[all clap]

Awaiting the sensation
of a short, sharp shock

from a cheap and chippy chopper
on a big, black block!

[talking in background]

Hey, guys! Guys!

So the general plan is that
we're gonna do block drills,

and after that, you get to do
varsity-novice mock rounds,

where varsity will
debate with you.

Currently, they can
give humanitarian aid

while acting in their
national interests.

[students talking indistinctly]

- So at the bottom of it,
when we're all people,

we're all responsible
for saving any life,

whether it's in our country
or in other countries.

And you're actually saving
lives...

BELLA:
Debate is like a bubble.

It's a whole different world.

- So you can't actually quantify
how much...

It's about exuding the
confidence and delivering,

so that people believe that
what you are saying is true.

First social contract.

Peop...

[grunts]
BELLA: Don't worry, don't worry.

Just do it.
- Okay.

For my next point...

BELLA:
You have to have the stamina.

The people that drop out
are the people

that can't handle the pressure,
can't handle the stress.

I would also say
just not letting anyone,

like, get in your way.

[people talking in background]

And if you're ambitious
and you work hard

and you just keep going,

you take away something
from a debate,

something so much
more important.

Something bigger.

- That's the
government's main role,

and it's what they
should be prioritizing

because it's their job.

[birds twittering]

BELLA:
At the top of the contention,

it says, "There will be
200 million refugees

"from climate change by 2050,

which is over 50 times worse
than the current Syrian crisis."

- Yeah, we should...
- Like, now we can save lives.

BELLA:
Okay, so make change now?

- Yeah, kind of.

- Instead of waiting
for what might happen.

BELLA: Okay.

GABY [voiceover]:
I have always been taught

to be obedient, I guess,

and to listen and be respectful.

But I never really learned
how to stand up for myself

or share my thoughts or
just say that I disagreed

with an authority figure
in general.

BELLA: Well, right,
didn't your last sentence...

GABY [voiceover]: Even in, like,
in class, telling people

that, like, I disagreed
with them on a subject.

JAY: You're telling me I'm pro,

I can save, say,
four million lives.

Why are you telling me you'll
save lives but I'm not?

BELLA: It makes sense
that like, okay, like...

GABY: It's better to save

four million lives than
two million lives.

ANIKA: Like, I feel, I feel
like that's the same point

that we make the other way.

GABY [voiceover]:
At debate, all it is

is the back and forth of, like,

"Oh, I have this idea."

"Well, what about this
response?"

"But what about the
response to that response?"

So, this back-and-forth
basically meant

that we were almost arguing
all the time,

but, like, kind of
amicable arguing.

[talking indistinctly]

We should probably just, like,
call the date on the card,

'cause...
- Yeah.

Okay, so where are you guys at?

Or, like, where do you need,
I think, the most help?

I think you have to...
- My case.

- I think the most basic for you
is, finish,

get your cases out of the way.
- Yeah.

ANIKA [voiceover]:
I was first

inspired to join debate
because my parents told me to.

I didn't actually think
I was gonna like debate.

In fact, I resisted
joining really heavily.

BELLA: I just wanna be able
to help you guys...

ANIKA [voiceover]:
You know what I mean?

When you think cool things
to do in high school,

I don't think debate team.
[laughs]

And it's not, like,

"Oh, wow,
you're on the debate team?

You're super-cool."

[singing a cappella,
harmonizing]

♪ I remember all of the
things I have done ♪

♪ And I wanted to be

[voiceover]:
When I was younger,

I was kind of your
stereotypical girly girl.

I loved makeup.

I loved dressing up.

Watching all those
Disney princess movies.

[singing continues]

♪ When the pain

Yeah, that's the part.

[voiceover]: I was obsessed with
"American Idol."

Like, I would watch it
religiously.

I would record every episode

and watch it over
and over and over again.

We can do one more
run-through with music.

How about that?
ANIKA: Yeah.

♪ When the pain cuts you deep

[voiceover]:
And then when I joined

the Newton South Debate Team,

I was so passionate
about debate.

I would spend hours messaging

varsity members and asking them
questions about debate.

I would share my cases
with them,

have them read over
my arguments.

I would show up to practice
every single day,

even when we had no more
tournaments left.

♪ Your remedy

♪ Oh

[continues typing]

GABY:
We're all very different,

but, like, we're all
pretty intense.

There's something about debate
that, like, draws us all in

and allows for us to be
just, like, a very close,

like, tight-knit group.

We kind of live in our own
little world

with, like, our own little
language.

And when I start
talking to my parents,

like, they just look at me

with, like, their eyes get
really wide,

and they're just, like, "What?"

There are just some things
that are just very debate

and very separate.

♪

I played pretty
competitive soccer.

I played a lot of tennis.

And I do think sports get you
into the mindset of

being competitive,
and wanting to win,

and working with other people.

♪

In a soccer game, if you score
two goals, you won,

whereas in debate,
it's very, very subjective.

- My bad.

[voiceover]:
There's much larger gray area

for winning and losing.

[talking indistinctly]

- As long as you get, like...

- I know, yeah,
it's partially in the summary.

GIL [voiceover]: The captains
were just so impressive.

Insanely intelligent, like,
such amazing debaters.

GIRL:
I'm confused how you run this.

- I...

Impact of racial backlashes
increase discrimination.

- Yeah.
- Okay, then...

- Discrimination is a
cause of poverty, okay, I see.

GIL [voiceover]: I walked in the
first meeting, they're, like,

"Think of your homework, triple
it-- that's debate work."

And they're, like, "We spend
four hours a day researching."

I was, like, "Oh, my God."

I spent, like, the only thing
I can do for four hours is,

like, watch TV.

If another non-discriminatory
alternative is presented,

you should always favor that one

and you should not do
the discriminatory.

Make sure you only pause
at the commas, okay?

- Yeah.

- So, just, like,
sometimes you, like...

GIRL: But also don't read.
- Yeah.

GIL [voiceover]:
So, my captains were all male.

And Bella was, she really
was, like, the person I went to

just because I was way too
scared of the four boy captains.

- Make sure you don't
break up the clause

in front of the comma,
and then it'll be perfect.

[people laughing]

- Very expensive.
[laughs]

- I had, like, this tiny
glass of water, and I was...

BELLA:
Hannah, do you want pizza?

- I'm good.
- Are you sure?

- Yeah.

- Because you don't eat
junk food?

- I'm not hungry.
- Are you sure?

- Yeah.
- You want water?

- I have water.
- Okay.

- Yeah.

[calculator buttons clicking]

HANNAH [voiceover]:
Not a lot of people on the team,

like, the Newton South Debate
Team, know this about me,

that, like, you know,
my parents were refugees

after the Vietnam War.

Like, my dad went to college
at the age of 33.

And growing up,
like, seeing people

blatantly discriminating against
my parents just because

they had an accent,
that just really

angered me, 'cause I knew
how captivating they were

in their native tongue.

I really value the ability
to express my thoughts

and talk about the things
that matter to me

because of my
parents' experiences.

[dog barks]

Being able to speak and to
communicate

is almost like a privilege
to me.

[speaking Vietnamese]

[giggling]

MOTHER:
So you're leaving, then.

HANNAH: Yeah.
MOTHER: Enjoy.

HANNAH [voiceover]:
We negate the resolution.

The United States federal
government

should adopt a carbon tax.

Contention one:
pouring more gas on a fire.

A carbon tax affects
emissions in two ways.

BOY: First of all,

we are saying that in the
United States, a carbon tax...

HANNAH [voiceover]: We have
practice every day after school.

We tell you,
here's the logic for it, right?

[voiceover]:
I come home so late,

my mom, she always just
made really great food,

and I'd just eat it in the car.

- ...emit more methane into the
air.

Like, I probably have had
more meals in the car

than, like, at home in the
past four or five years.

BELLA: Let's find a way
to simplify this,

so it doesn't sound
as complicated.

[inaudible]
And also, I think we should...

Um, you talked about green
kind of, like, twice.

- Hm.

- I think you should have just
talked about it once.

♪

[Bella speaking Russian]

[brother and Bella
speaking Russian]

BELLA [voiceover]:
The difference

I really did not expect
when I became captain,

suddenly, the responsibility
on how the novices did

and how they performed,
that was all on us,

and also, I felt it was
also on me.

[brother speaking Russian,
Bella laughing]

BELLA [voiceover]:
Coaching definitely interfered

with practice for me.

Success earns you more respect.

[chuckling]: Like, people
revered me more

in some way last year,

just based off of, like,
NCFL quarterfinals,

C.O.C. bid, NSDA qualifying.

[speaking Russian]

[voiceover]:
I never have a feeling

of complete satisfaction.

[speaking Russian]

[voiceover]: I always think that
I can be doing better.

BOY [voiceover]:
People are currently

not addressing the issue of
race,

and by paying reparations,
we finally bring it back up.

So, I think it's because
people start-- I don't think...

But we're running that
as separate.

We're not running it as a link.
- Mm-hmm.

BELLA [voiceover]: Like, I've
never committed myself

so many hours to one thing
every day no matter what.

It's definitely the adrenaline.

Like, you, it's, like...

You suddenly have this,
like, energy,

even though, you know, you
could be pulling an all-nighter

and just no sleep.

- But there are African
Americans in those communities

who don't even own their homes.

And just to be able
to generate wealth,

they need to own their home
first.

BELLA [voiceover]: Adrenaline's,
like, what gets you going,

and then it's, it's just team.

It's, like, the overwhelming
idea of team.

[birds twittering]

♪

♪

[groans]

I hate this.

[scraping ice]

JOSH: All right! Someone...
Hackle, Silvian,

Gretchen Zhang!

Ben Silvian?
There he is, all right!

♪

Justin Shuster,
Hanbo, Kayla, Mitch.

Go.
GABY: Am I in this car?

BELLA: Yeah, let's go.

- All right,
novices in the back, obviously.

♪

[talking in background]

HANNAH: Then what do we do?
Just, like...

BOY:
You sit around and you prep.

HANNAH: Prep, okay.
GIRL: Yeah, you can't go in.

[people talking in background]

GIL [voiceover]: No one really
knows, like, what debate is.

They think we're, like, in this

dark wood auditorium,
and there's, like,

hundreds of people watching.

...to an unstable region
increases civilian casualties.

[voiceover]: In reality,
you're at a tournament

with, like, 200, 300 other
teams,

and everyone has to debate
at once.

- Wait, but there are 40,000,
40,000 troops overall.

GIL [voiceover]:
We're waking up at 6:00

or, like, we're debating
in classrooms, or in hallways,

in broom closets.

- That's how companies
are turning over...

GIL [voiceover]:
It's a lot less, like, glamorous

than people think.

- They switch, okay.

Oh, rounds are out,
rounds are out!

BOY: Guys, rounds are out!

[talking in background]

610! 610!

- 627, 627.

GIL [voiceover]: I always have,
like, a pit in my stomach

the minute they announce rounds.

- 1909!

[voiceover]:
It's like, okay, they're out,

and you just, like, see this
list

of, like, this team's going
against this team

in this room, this judge.

Because it's, like, you
could be going against,

like, the best team
in the country,

the worst team in the country,
and those wins mean the same.

BOY: 208.

[people talking in background]

ANIKA [voiceover]:
More often than not,

you don't have enough time to do

as much prep as you would like.

Sometimes we start working

on a completely different topic
a week or two weeks before

we go to a tournament.

GABY [voiceover]:
It's like cramming

the night before for a test.

You learn a lot of really,
really random facts.

I'm pretty good at
memorizing things.

I used to know, like,
all the old winners

of "America's Next Top Model."

I don't know why,
but I just memorized them all.

BOY: But the judge will
probably need

a few minutes to decide.

♪

ANIKA [voiceover]: I was very
confused my novice year,

I'll be honest.

I really didn't understand

how any of the
pieces of arguments

or tools for debate
functioned with each other.

♪

I honestly think understanding
what a rebuttal is,

understanding blocks,

understanding the speeches,
summary, final focus,

they only come
with watching debate rounds.

♪

You guys wanna call it?
BOY: Heads.

[coin clangs on floor]

- It's tails, yeah.

- So we will speak second.

- It's tails.
- It is?

- We'll speak second.
- Sounds good, we'll affirm.

♪

JAY: It is heads.

Anika and I will...

Negate.
- Negate.

♪

HANNAH:
Is everyone good?

So, let's begin.

We negate resolved:

the United States should
abolish the capital gains tax.

Contention one is equality.

The capital gains tax is one
of the many progressive taxes

that takes income...

[voiceover]:
There are so many rules.

There are so many written and

unspoken rules, you know?

We affirm, and our sole
contention is the economy.

HANNAH [voiceover]: We have
four-minute case readings

from both teams.

Did we see job growth?
Did unemployment decrease?

- I don't know, you tell me.
- It didn't.

[voiceover]: Then you have a
three-minute cross-examination

from the two people that
read their cases.

If you want to talk about
increasing investments,

the only way you can actually
do so substantially

is by giving money
to the right people again.

HANNAH [voiceover]:
And then their partners give

four-minute rebuttals
to each other's cases.

- He also tells you that
all of this burden falls

onto the middle class.

- Well, no, if the government
is missing...

HANNAH [voiceover]: After that,
those people that gave rebuttals

have another three-minute
cross-examination period.

- ...a lot of economic growth.

They're forgetting that we just
got a massive corporate tax cut.

[voiceover]:
Then you have the first people

that read the cases
give two-minute summaries.

- $600 billion is gonna
be paid yearly

when we actually abolish
the capital gains tax.

Yeah, but people weren't
realizing their assets

at that rate.
- Yes, they were.

HANNAH [voiceover]: After the
summaries, you have grand cross,

which is where all four people
debate each other.

- A lot of factors led to...

- Yeah, I understand that,
but what we're telling you...

I understand that,
sort of-- okay.

- But furthermore,
if you want to look to

an impact-level analysis,
they try to...

HANNAH [voiceover]:
And then after that,

you have the other partners

deliver their two-minute
final foci.

- The rich have tax loopholes

when you abolish
the capital gains tax.

♪

- Good round.
- Good round.

- Thanks.

Thanks for judging.

- Thanks for judging.

♪

So, ultimately, I vote neg,

but let me go through
my decision.

I think you guys probably win
the point on poor communities,

but I think you guys
could have applied Goldman

right back to them.

I think your summary,

you spread yourself
a little bit too thin.

You guys were
throwing stats at me,

and, like, I agree with
your stats, like, sure,

but I have no idea
how they happen.

BELLA [voiceover]:
Debate is perception,

especially public forum,

where even though you have
two confident debaters,

you put them side by side,

and that's really where
a power dynamic

is formed in the minds
of a judge.

Who talks louder, who gets to
talk more, who looks confused,

who is perceptually dominant?

GIRL: Which is why we should
have a higher

evidentiary standard

and stop doing all
these random search...

- Can I talk about...
- Well, no, 'cause I'm...

- You've been talking there for,
like, two minutes, though.

Can I talk about
restorative justice?

- Sure.

BOY: The most important
pieces of evidence in the round

look to what
generally happens when FDI

is going to be increased.
- Hold on, hold on.

But is it talking
about FDI increased

to an authoritarian regime?

Correct, however, given
we've provided a framework

and you haven't, that should...
- Right.

Gaby can still respond
to your framework

in rebuttal,
and I'm sure she'll do that.

But you never once prove
that you're actually helping

the poor or low-income areas.

You're just talking
about short-term

versus long-term capital gains,
right?

- Give us one example.

- He started the process in
2010.

BOY: It takes five years
of conversation

to say that we are now gonna
allow tourism? I don't think so.

- Maybe the wages are going
to decrease...

- Wait, no, they are going away.
- But we're actually going

to see the jobs get replaced.
- Hold up, hold up.

They are going away.

- Open higher fines.
- $700 million is...

- Wait, look,
can you just let us finish?

We've been going in circles.

Can I ask you a question?

You're trying to force me
into a corner

and I'm not going to say...

♪

[bird twittering]

BEN: Are you guys getting
tripped up with any speeches?

And if so, like, what is the
specific part you don't get

about that speech?

- Where do you want help with?
- Anika?

ANIKA: It's more, like,
cross-ex.

The other-- you'll just start,
like, yelling.

BEN: Yeah, yeah, actually,
that's really important.

Don't yell, like, ever.

[all laugh]

Because it's student-run,
I think that's what makes

the Newton South
Debate Team really special.

But, like, let's say, like,
we accidentally do,

like, it just comes out
and you realize it sounds bad...

HANNAH [voiceover]: It's just,
like, high school students

helping high school students.

The older kids coach
the younger kids,

and it's just a cycle
that keeps going.

If you start sounding, like,
meek,

that's probably more of a loss
in perceptual dominance.

- Hattie never loses
perceptual dominance.

[all laugh]

- Hattie, you wanna talk
about cross?

- Sure.
- Ellen, re-ask your question.

- Are you guys novices?

- Oh, that's so good.
- I know generally, most,

like, girls' voices
are higher than guys',

and, like, thus decreases
their perceptual dominance,

so how do you still
maintain that?

So, I went to debate camp

three years ago,

and so we had
a seminar for girls

where they told us
how to be dominant.

And they said,
"Try to talk a little lower.

Don't interrupt boys."

They gave you all these tips
and tricks, right?

Which is BS.

You know, the problem is not us.

The problem is the judges.

GIL [voiceover]: I think Hattie
was the first person I saw

that I was, like,
"Wow, I wanna be like you."

And it totally changed
the model...

GIL [voiceover]: She was, like,
super-progressive.

Like, she was one of
the first girls

who started wearing, like,
jeans

and being, like,
[muted] the dress code.

- You should never think...

She's the person who trained,
like, Bella and Kayla

and, like, Rebecca,
and, like, all the people that,

like, trained me, you know?

HATTIE: Then from, like,

the how-do-you-win-rounds
perspective,

there have been tons of
really, really successful girls

on the national circuit
who did not do those things.

BEN: No matter if you're a
boy or a girl, whatever it is,

sounding confident,

speaking slowly,
speaking loudly,

and just, like, taking
most of the crossfire down,

if you, like, just practice that
over and over in rounds,

you'll eventually get it.

And so, the third one,
which is most specific

and most in depth...

- No, I was just asking
what the lowest level is, right?

Because you're kind of
cherry-picking it, right?

- No, so what I'm specifically
explaining to you is...

BEN [voiceover]: I think boys
are definitely more likely

to be confident from the outset.

- ...most specific and most
relevant to carbon tax.

- Like, we can talk about
that later.

I was just wondering what
the lowest level was.

A lot of the time,
it's arrogance.

It's, like, I'm just,
you know, better because I am.

And I think girls are more
self-conscious.

- Okay, f, fine...
GIRL: Being too friendly.

BOY: And Ben's being
too assertive.

BEN [voiceover]:
Because boys don't have to worry

about a lot of this stuff.

BOY: We're falling behind,
and our manufacturing

sectors are suffering...
- Is it specifically because...

BEN [voiceover]: I don't think
girls

can just sit back and allow
themselves

to continue to lose, so that's
why we try and teach,

like, you know, this, these are
the specific ways

you can try to adapt
so that you can win more rounds.

- So, what we're showing you is

when... Wait.
- But that later level

of racism still exists.
- Wait...

But the issue is
with probable cause.

It starts with the search,
right?

JAY [voiceover]: I am a boy,

which, in this activity,
means something.

If I'm a police officer

and I have this implicit bias
you talk about...

[voiceover]:
But Newton is a place

where I think gender equity
is a big deal,

and people pay attention to it
and think about it consciously.

- But what we're
saying is that, like,

probable cause makes it
harder to act

on those implicit biases.
- But we can still search...

It creates a place where
it's easier,

not necessarily easy and not
necessarily always perfect,

but it's easier to be
a girl on a debate team

than some other teams,
where you start off

and it's, it's just a room
full of boys.

[talking in background]

It makes it hard to be sexist
when the boys are outnumbered.

GIRL: It's all about
being confident.

That was an awful cross.

- Yeah, guys, what the actual
hell are you doing?

You guys are all asking
questions

and none of you are
listening to each other.

And if you listen, then you can
catch a logical flaw

in what they're saying
and press them on it.

And Gaby, you were
being pretty passive

in comparison to Ellen, right?

Like, she was doing
most of the talking.

She would ask you a question.

You would answer
and she would interject again.

If you're asked a question,

you give an answer,
they interrupt, you say,

"Oh, can I finish my answer?"

That's assertive.
- Okay.

Especially against guys, when
they're trying to,

like, tower over you, and
really, really...

ELLEN: Should you be
more aggressive with guys?

Or...
- No!

You wanna, you wanna--
so here's the thing.

It's not about being
more aggressive.

It's about being more assertive
and curbing their aggression.

So, try working on that balance

and try different
techniques, right?

Not every single technique
works for everyone.

Cool, okay, summary.

JOSH: All right, Pambley!

Hackle!

- They're not here yet, Josh--
looking out...

I'm literally keeping track
of the cars,

and when they come,
I will tell you.

- Silvian, no.
- No, no.

- Gretchen Zhang?

HANNAH [voiceover]:
There's no one around that is

as dedicated as Josh is.

We're actually a public school,

so we don't have the money
to hire a full-time coach.

He, like, does so much work.

He'll organize carpools,
track down kids,

and constantly be on the phone
with people and parents

and figuring out logistics.

And he's not, like,
really paid at all.

- [groans]

- ...to affect more people
in the long run.

- Mm-hmm.
- It'll be awesome.

- It will be awesome.

- Exactly, you really have to
believe it.

- I know.

I made someone say it,
like, 100 times.

They were, like, "I will win."

Don't make me do it with you.

[laughing]
- No, okay, okay.

That's okay.
I don't need to do that.

- Are you sure?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Okay.
[laughs]

- I'll just say it now,
I will win.

BELLA: Okay.
[yelps]

My shoe!

That's okay.

[people talking in background]

Okay, at the one-minute mark,
we're gonna take out the pens

and we're gonna do the rest
of the case just regular.

Okay, ready, set, go!

[talking in background]

[reading case]

BELLA [voiceover]: I think in
some ways,

Gaby reminds me of me.

- ...al-Shabaab.

BELLA: But for me as a novice,

I was probably way more
confident,

and way more competitive.

[talking in background]

BELLA: And somewhere, I think,
along the way,

I had a lot of comments
on ballots like,

"too aggressive,"
"tone it down a little."

I had multiple comments on,
like, "skirt is too short."

- ...as Al-Jazeera explains
in 2014...

[inaudible]

[voiceover]: I made a decision
at one point to wear pants,

mostly my sophomore year.

I thought I felt more...

Less girl-like, I think.

I was, like, trying to strike
this perfect balance

that I don't think exists

between exuding confidence,
but not too much.

But as soon as you start
to second-guess

how you present yourself,

I think that's when you
start to lose it.

[talking in background]

We negate resolved: in
response to the current crisis,

a government should prioritize
the humanitarian needs

of refugees over its
national interests.

The primary obligation of
a government is to help

and protect its own
citizens from any harm.

We don't see the other...

The stats speak for themselves,
right?

Like, the fact that in the
Tournament of Champions,

there's one girl in
the top 32 or whatever,

and it's definitely not because
girls are worse at debate.

First, on politics,
but we turned that

and they don't respond to it.

[voiceover]: I think a lot of it
is subconscious, right?

I think that it has to do with
the judge bias.

It has to do with, like,
boys having lower voices

or whatever it is.

- That's the biggest impact
in today's round.

The link into that is
the first place you go.

MALCOLM [voiceover]: And so I
think that contributes

to the higher-level teams
being, like, predominantly male,

in part because
there are less girls

that stick through it at that,
to that point,

because they get driven away...
- Right.

- ...by the sexism that's so
prevalent in the activity.

Even if we look in the long
term,

we have to look at
tomorrow first.

BELLA [voiceover]: You know,
people do judge the book

by the cover.

So, I mean, we learn the little
skills to exude confidence.

Timemagazine finds that
only the U.S.

is going to be able to
slow down China.

BELLA [voiceover]:
Stand up tall, no slouching.

Glue your feet to the ground.

Pretend there's
sticky glue or tape.

- And when there are people
trapped under buildings,

every second counts.

They have to be the
first responders

so they can save the most lives.

BELLA [voiceover]:
Lower your voice

at the end of your sentences,
don't trail off.

- Can I ask you a question?
- Ask me a question.

- Why would a base be
better in another location?

BELLA [voiceover]:
Volume probably has to be louder

than someone who's
really not confident.

Eye contact.

Eye contact with the judge
is key.

- Okay, but if they can't
get there as fast,

they can't respond as fast,

Japan isn't paying for it,

then why should we
be moving there?

I would say those.

I mean, mastering those.

[birds twittering]

Gil, wasn't it incredible

that I guessed what you
were wearing?

- I know, okay, I
started laughing out loud.

It was so good-- how...

- I'm so... I know you so well.

- How did you know?

[voiceover]: Sometimes your
natural voice is, like,

not the best for
public speaking.

Freshman year at this
local tournament,

the judge told me, like,

"Your voice is too
feminine for debate."

[speaking Hebrew]

[voiceover]:
At that point, I was, like,

"How can I control my voice?

Like, I literally
was born with it."

People only say that
when they have naturally...

NOY: Naturally, yeah,
I think so, too.

GIL [voiceover]: Having my
twin sister, Noy, there

to listen to my speeches,
but also just be there

where I can rant about it
and, like, cry

and, like, have someone
listen is really helpful.

MOTHER [speaking Hebrew]:

NOY [in Hebrew]:

[all laughing]

NOY [voiceover]: The fact that
she's more argumentative,

like, I don't really
care about that.

[laughing]: It's before
a tournament she turns into

a little bit of a psycho
and just yells.

And, like, she,
when she gets stressed out,

she just, like, kind of
starts acting like a queen

and just, like,
orders me around, like,

and my mom like we're
her servants.

[people talking in background]

[talking in background]

HANNAH [voiceover]:
I don't think the amount of

hours you put in,

and, like, all the pain
and emotional trauma

is worth it if you don't feel
socially integrated

with the team.

And I didn't always.

A lot of the time,
I felt like I was

on the fringe of
the debate clique.

It's like an organism that,
like, changes shape constantly

and spits out its
weakest components.

[talking in background]

Sophomore year, Bella
asked me to be her partner.

She was a senior,

which was really cool.

Yeah, I agree.

I think, yeah,
I, like, didn't explain...

- No, I mean, it's, like,
screw the round, right?

No one cares about the round.

It happened.

I guess I'm trying to develop
strategy for later, right?

'Cause I do think
green tech is unique

in terms of its investment,
right?

- Yeah, because...
Well, I mean,

I'm just gonna, like, resay
whatever you just said.

HANNAH [voiceover]: There are
times where I definitely

take advantage of the fact

that, like, my voice isn't
naturally that high-pitched,

and so then I would play
into that,

and I feel guilty, because
then I was

perpetuating this whole system
where we were discriminating

against girls
with higher-pitched voices,

or even, like, guys or people
with higher-pitched voices.

Yeah, just, like, decades or
centuries of societal standards.

Everybody ready?

Is it okay if I give
a road map?

Is the judge ready?

Let's begin.

We negate resolved:

in the united public
K-12 schools...

- Teachers can act
with impunity because...

[students debating]

♪

- The agreement
that lets the U.S. have its base

in Okinawa makes it really...

[whispering indistinctly]

Refugees are dying
and we need to fix that.

Now, do you have a question?

♪

[no dialogue]

[playing fast-tempo piece]

[tempo slowing]

- Lemongrass...
[murmuring]

- Lemongrass?

- It's in the oven.

- I don't really want rice.

[voiceover]:
My parents are both from India.

They're in a country
that they're unfamiliar with,

and I think that they feel
as though,

in order for us to be
successful,

we need to be doing a lot.

- When is [inaudible]?

Next Friday?
- No, no, next week.

So, not, not the coming week,
but the week after.

[voiceover]: I think that
it's just the unfamiliarity,

which makes them maybe
feel like they need

to overcompensate at times.

- I'm not debating,

but I'm still going to all the
practices.

- Okay.

ANIKA [voiceover]:
Like my dad,

he definitely holds me
to a higher standard

than he would've been held to
when he was my age, right?

Like, a significantly
higher standard.

- Anika, give me a chapati.

- Have you seen the pictures,
Mama?

MOTHER: Anika?
ANIKA: Yeah?

MOTHER: Can you open the door?

- What time is it?

MOTHER: 6:27...

- Wait, wait, 6:25?

MOTHER: 6:27.

- Oh, God,
I have to be there at 6:30.

MOTHER: 6:30?
- Yeah, okay, I should go.

♪

[talking in background]

♪

Okay, wait,
do you know any of these teams?

I don't know,
I don't recognize any of them

except for, like, Plano Senior,

and, like, we probably will
not...

JOSH: Welcome to the
Harvard Tournament.

You're going to see
some of the best debaters

in the country here.

You're gonna get to debate
against

some of the best debaters
in the country.

The thing that
makes this team unique

is the fact that you guys
do it yourself.

You coach each other.

So, you know,
congratulations to all of you

and have a very good tournament.

- People are paying
X amount of money

and they only get
ten percent of that back.

GIL [voiceover]:
So, you have 20 debate teams

in the Newton South Debate Team,

and, like, five, six teams,

so, like, ten, 12 kids
will go to tournament.

- Yeah, they look like...
My polls look like that.

GIL [voiceover]:
So, you are a team,

but you're also competing
against each other.

What I was thinking is, if we
wanna pull reform through

as a response, we respond
to their case first,

to, like, their responses first.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, no,
that's what I was gonna say.

- Yeah.

- No, but if they
respond to churches,

make sure to respond to the
turns.

- Yeah.
- You know what I mean?

GABY [voiceover]: Freshman year,
we tried a lot of

different partners, and I ended
up going to Harvard with Ellen.

- I'm tired, but I'm ready.

[voiceover]: I honestly think
finding a debate partner

is kind of like dating
a little bit.

There are things you don't

realize that you're looking for,
but then once you have it,

like, you realize you need it.

- Can we sit down?

- Yeah, let's sit.

[voiceover]:
You are there every day,

day in, day out.

You have to be really brutal
with each other

and really honest
with each other.

- I have a blue shirt,
I have a white shirt.

[voiceover]:
You have to have the same goals,

the same mindset.

So, it becomes a lot of, like,

figuring out what works well for
the two of you,

which is,
which can be difficult.

Is everybody in the round ready?

Awesome, then let's begin.

We affirm that resolved:

in United States public
K through 12 schools,

the probable cause
standard ought to apply

to searches of students.

We offer one observation.

Security measures in schools
make students

dis, feel distrusted
and unfairly treated.

- So, they say that the
surveillance system

is going to take, if they...

ANIKA [voiceover]: Jay and I,
we would always come together

to discuss arguments.

And so we thought,
you know what,

why don't we just try
being a partnership?

- I'm going to give you
two reasons

why safety is going
to stay the same

under a probable cause standard.

The first,
since in the real world,

you can search people under
the probable cause standard

without a warrant...

ANIKA [voiceover]:
So, we were put together

for the Harvard tournament.

We weren't sure how well
that was gonna go.

- I mean, if safety is
the same in both worlds,

then you both decide...

- If you're getting rid of
surveillance, it won't be.

- Sure, we can argue that later.
- But there's no...

- But if safety's the same...
- I mean, this is a cross,

we can argue it now.
- Wait...

Like, I, I looked over...

- ...100 students,
that's not many.

- Well, the point is,
he still found,

like, when you decrease
search standards,

you still find four times
as much evidence.

Thank you.
Thank you so much for judging.

JUDGE: Nice job.
Thank you.

[people talking in background]

BELLA [voiceover]: The Harvard
tournament has two pools,

the varsity pool
and the JV pool.

Over 200 pairs in each division.

And so, usually, first-years
don't do well

because it's freshman
and sophomore,

so you're competing
against people

with two years of experience.

First of all, scope,
gridlock affects policies,

which outweigh every single
American...

But what both of our cards
specifically say

is, it's about...

BELLA [voiceover]: But Anika and
Jay are just, like,

breezing through their rounds.

- ...where there aren't
low-income communities.

[spectators applaud]

BELLA [voiceover]:
Basically, they got all the way

through finals.

And then they lost
by, like, a ballot.

- I don't! 'Cause that means
that I don't get to win...

- Let's hug it out.

BELLA [voiceover]:
But we were still celebrating.

- Aw...
- Aw...

- Novices!

Oh, my God!

BELLA [voiceover]:
I mean, I knew they could do it,

but I didn't know they'd be
that great their first year.

ANIKA [voiceover]:
Before Harvard,

we were almost sure
we were gonna be partners,

and after Harvard,
we were 100% set

that we were gonna be partners.

♪

[talking in background]

♪

Are we getting on, Josh?

Yes? Getting on?

JOSH: Yes, get on, guys.

- Get on, guys.

♪

[bicycle bell ringing]

JAY [voiceover]: Debate
tournaments are miserable.

- Man, it's cold as [muted].

People don't eat for three days.

They eat nothing but
bags of chips, rarely,

or they don't sleep
for three days.

- According to E.P.A.,
both of these can cause

respiratory problems in...

JAY [voiceover]: And all anyone
wants to talk about

is this topic that in reality

you probably don't care about
anymore,

but you know you're
supposed to care about,

so you keep talking about it.

- I guess it's not
even government.

It's, like, private companies,
right?

JAY [voiceover]: There have been
times where, like,

we've been sitting in
hotel rooms late at night

trying to come up
with new arguments

or trying to refine
the ones we've had,

and everyone is
snapping at each other

and yelling at each other
and being grumpy.

JOSH: Not on time.

BELLA: This has literally been,
like, the worst...

This has been the worst for us.

- Every team that we've
never, like, had a drop to.

BELLA:
I stayed up till, like, 4:00.

Not that it paid off,

but, like, I dropped
to some random team,

I don't even know where it,

where it came from.
- [inaudible]

BELLA [voiceover]: I mean,

there were so many hard days.

To have a really rewarding day,

you probably have, like,
100 hard days,

where you push through
to do research,

even though you're tired
and fight with your teammates,

and embarrass yourself
sometimes, and get critiqued.

We have dropped
four bid rounds now,

the, the rounds that you have to
win

to get to the
Tournament of Champions, so...

BELLA [voiceover]:
The losses, they hurt.

The curse lives on.
- What?

- The curse lives on.
- Let's walk, let's walk.

BELLA [voiceover]:
I mean, everyone likes to win.

But there's a huge progression,

I think for almost
every single person,

from freshman year
to senior year,

from my personal success
to thinking about partnerships,

and, "Let me help the team."

Like, I learned the importance

and the satisfaction of
not putting yourself first,

I'd put it that way.

[talking softly]

GIL: And are all three
judges ready? Okay.

We affirm the
United States should withdraw

its military presence
from Okinawa.

Contention one is
holding Japan back.

Remember, they give you no
specific number from Okinawa.

They only give you
this general study.

Let's look to what's actually
happening in East Asia.

First, Hugh White of the
National Interest

explains that our nuclear
capabilities

are the only U.S. force
which deters China.

This is because China...

GIL [voiceover]: Sophomore year,
Ayush didn't have a partner,

and I was really,
like, the last option,

but, like, there's no one
else, so I was, like, "Me!"

AYUSH [whispering]: And finally,

they have literally no number
from Okinawa.

It's been there since 1945.

Why couldn't they have
a number of deterrents?

Because it's not working.

GIL [voiceover]: Like, in the
beginning,

I really did rely on Ayush

to, like, lead me through stuff.

AYUSH:
People are unemployed.

That's the issue that needs
to be solved in the status quo.

That can only be solved with...

GIL [voiceover]:
Competing with a junior,

it was really a big learning
curve.

They have amphibious
capabilities.

They have a ton of soldiers...
- Wait, amphibious capabilities?

Can you explain what that means?
- Like...

- Amphibious capabilities?

BOY: Like, they're, they
can use, like, boats and stuff.

- So, no other Marine
can use a boat?

I qualified for Nationals!

I qualified!

[voiceover]: We ended up
qualifying for NCFLs,

which is one of the
national tournaments,

and that was, like,
such a big deal for me.

It was, like, really exciting.

- ♪ Gil

Oh, my God, I am so, so,
so proud of you.

Seriously, you should be, like,
so proud.

- I'm so, yeah.
- Yeah, I'm so proud.

You're going to California!
- Yeah!

JOSH: And I would write out
some sentences like that,

you know, introduce
that, those concepts...

But even if you believe

that these trials are
legitimate,

you'd still vote for us,

considering the district...

No, no, no.
[mumbling]

You still don't look to the...

You'd still vote for us,
because it is not worth it

to entrench the,
to entrench worldwide poverty

to save a couple of rich people.

[birds chirping]

[computer keys tapping]

Mitch?

I'm going over to the girls'
room to knock on their door

to make sure that they're, like,
up.

Or getting up at
some point soon.

[door opening]
AYUSH: Yes.

[whispering]:
You guys, wake up.

- What?

- Wake up, it's, like, 6:00
in the morning.

- I know!

- Okay.
- We were planning to wake up

at 6:15.

I really suck at
doing the eyeliner.

GIL [voiceover]: I think every
girl debater has got comments

from judges of how they
look, how they dress.

Comments like, "Oh, I think
you should put on more makeup."

I've gotten comments
on, like, "Cute dress."

"Oh, I don't think
the shoes match."

Like, don't look at my shoes.

Like, look at what I'm saying.

[talking in background]

First of all,
the majority of the time...

And take advantage of progress
instead of...

♪

[groans]

AYUSH: Why are the postings not
out, okay?

JOSH: This is important.

AYUSH: Somebody needs to be on
top of it.

The thing is, it's also, like,
like, 10:40,

and the majority of, like,
a lot of people

are coming from the East Coast,

so it feels like 1:00
for us, like 1:30 for us.

JOSH: Are you
saying it's not fair?

- It is not fair, Josh.

GIL [voiceover]: At this
tournament,

one judge, she was, like,

"I really liked your
points, but your voice...

"Try to sound like Oprah.

You need, like, more Oprah."

AYUSH:
Postings are out.

It's backwards, though, um,
four...

I cannot read this.

GIRL: Wait, where?
- 4050.

GIRL: Broke?
- Yeah-- 4052.

- Where are you getting this?
- Where are you getting this?

AYUSH: Yeah, we didn't break.

JOSH: I'm sure you
guys were really close.

Sorry you didn't make it.

GIL [voiceover]: I think you
keep going,

because at least for me,

like, it made me really angry.

I just, like, did bad, cried.

Did worse, cried.

And then I was just, like,
now it's just pissing me off

that I'm bad at this.

JUDGE 1: So, it's a 2-1
for the negative.

JUDGE 2: I end up voting
pro in this round.

Most of my voting comes from
sort of the pro's final focus.

I just don't see much
offense coming from either side

at the end of the round.

You guys were too fast,

you know, in sort of just...

You know, you guys could have
made the point better

on the popular support, also.

CAROLINE [voiceover]: I mean,

you have to be aggressive,
right?

Like, you can't just let
your opponent talk over you.

[chuckles]: But it's really hard
as a woman,

um, to not come across as,
like...

Bitchy, right?

Like, aggressive, powerful women

are not what people wanna see

necessarily-- or they say they
want to see them,

but then when they're
actually in front of them,

they sound shrill
or stringent or whatever.

For you guys,
I wanna hear some really,

some more distinction between
your summary

and your final focus.

Tell me why I
should vote for you.

MORRY [voiceover]: It's not just
that there's implicit bias,

it's that it manifests, right?

Like, a lot of women are first
speakers,

rather than second speakers,
because there's this conception

that the second speaker's
more important.

And it's not just limited
to gender.

This, Asian students are
stereotyped

as, like,
being robotic debaters.

Black debaters can be seen as,
like, too aggressive.

And in every case you have,
like,

the other side of the coin,
which is, like, the,

"Oh, this is one of
the good ones, this is, like,

"the model of what, like,
a debater of color

"or, like, a woman debater
should be,

"because of how
closely they're acting

to this, like,
White male standard."

These two judges
are not going to vote for us.

- That's fine, we tried.

MORRY [voiceover]:
And that's just, like,

that's, that's just where you
start.

ANNOUNCER: All right, in a 2-1
decision, 4153 advances.

ANNOUNCER 2: From
Poly Prep, Daniel Fernandez.

ANNOUNCER 3:
Conner Hayes.

Kevin Spear.

- In seventh place, from
Boston Latin, Anthony Tao.

ANNOUNCER 3:
Matthew Massa, Jake Rearden.

JOSH:
In fifth place,

from Westford, David Towers.

[voiceover]: I mean, what do we
do? Do we tell judges

not to be biased?

Well, they already think
they're not being biased.

In fact, they'd probably take
offense

if you tell them, you know,

"You're biased."

[on mic]: In second place,
from Newton South,

Sam Fishman.

ANNOUNCER 2: Third top speaker,
from Acton-Boxborough,

Joshua Lee.

ANNOUNCER 4: First speaker in
JVPF is Harry Fin.

JOSH: And your top speaker, with
an astounding 118 points,

Ed Deng.

[audience cheering and
applauding]

[voiceover]: But let's say
we figured out

some training for judges,

such that we could
eliminate their gender bias.

Then the girls will have
been trained to perform well

in a world that does not exist.

All right, so can we have the
seniors

just come on up over here to my
right,

your left? Come on up.

[cheers and applause]

[talking in background]

JOSH:
Seniors, when you go on

to college or wherever you're
going next,

you're going to find, even more
than you

see now, that
you know how to research,

you know how to
develop an argument,

you know what an argument is,

and you know how to convince
people, and that is

the dividing line between folks

who can really
have an influence.

Use that skill well.

All right, so, um, that's it,
you can all go home.

Oh, wait,
there are these things.

All right.

We are going to hand out awards
starting with novice.

In fifth place from Nashua,
Dreha Sinha.

From Nashua, Rohan Kumar.

BELLA [voiceover]: It feels like
all of my responsibilities

are kind of now over in, like,
a flash.

JOSH: In first place, your
co-champions

in public forum, from Newton
South,

Ellen Deng and Victoria Wong,

and Jay Garg and Anika Sridhar.

[cheering and applauding]

BELLA [voiceover]: It feels
natural to hand off the team,

and I couldn't be happier.

But I think I'm gonna
miss the team a lot,

just being involved.

JOSH: Team awards.

In sixth place,
Milton High School.

BELLA [voiceover]: I haven't,
like, fully let it go.

[cheering and applauding]

JOSH: Third place,

Newton South High School.

[cheering and applauding]

Second place, Acton-Boxborough
Regional High School.

♪

BELLA [voiceover]: And what we
tell the second-years is,

"You're role models.

Novices look up to you."

These novices like
Anika, Jay, Gaby,

they're gonna walk in
the next year,

and they're gonna feel like
gods.

♪

[tires screeching]

ALL:
She slits a sheet,

the sheet she slits,

and on that slitted sheet
she sits.

She slits the sheet,
the sheet she slits,

and on that slitted
sheet she sits.

Shoo pa-pa, shoo pa, shoo pa.

Fee fi, fee fi fo fum.
[slapping thighs]

Fee fi fo fum!

Whether the weather be cold
or whether the weather be hot,

we'll be together,
whatever the weather,

whether we like it or not.

So whether the weather be cold
or whether the weather be hot,

we'll be together,
whatever the weather,

whether we like it or not.

[cheering]

TEACHER: ...the following
except,

you're gonna read through

every one of these answers
and try to find

the one that...

ANIKA [voiceover]: Newton's very
different

from a lot of other places
in the country.

Starting from...
[speaking Mandarin]

[speaking Mandarin slowly]

ANIKA [voiceover]: The
environment

is really heavily focused on

success and high achieving.

BOY: Oh, we found
the optic nerve, right?

[teacher speaking French]

[speaking French]

[voiceover]: Everyone here is
constantly talking about

college, constantly talking
about school,

constantly talking
about their grades,

constantly talking about
their extracurriculars.

JAY: There's 20 million
people that have been

given healthcare because of the
Affordable Care Act.

There's a ton of statistics
about, like,

how it's actually helpful.

It's so clean, you know?

ANIKA [voiceover]: I don't want
to ever, like,

disappoint people in my life,
like my friends, my family.

- I also missed the
beginning of this conversation,

but, like, I don't think,
it's, like, they couldn't,

they tried to cut it for, like,
literally a year.

ANIKA [voiceover]: I know the
feeling of, like,

every tournament
matters so much.

Every record matters so much.

This specific tournament
is so important.

I don't know enough about it.

But I don't think you do,
either, I'm assuming.

I think we need to, I think we
need to just look into, like...

[Gaby and Anika talking at once]

- Then why'd we vote
for them in the first place

if they're not going to do
what we want them to do?

- ...in the first place,

instead of universal background
checks...

- What mental health
legislation is this?

What, give me an example

of the bill.
- Like, you want specifically?

Like, putting up more clinics
or just in general?

Like, I don't
need to give you specifics.

[both talking over each other]
- Why can't, why can't,

why can't you have, why can't
you have two solutions

to the same problem?

GIL: I thought both, all
crossfires

were really unproductive.

You guys were kind of just,
like,

talking over each other, right?

Anais, your summary was
very good for mental health.

[voiceover]:
I knew I wanted to be captain

pretty much, like,
October freshman year.

- So the people that I'm
thinking

are to get cut are these.
- Mm-hmm.

GIL [voiceover]: I liked when I
walked in the room,

everyone's, like,
"Oh, Gil's here," like...

Yeah, it, like, felt good.

It felt different, like,
I never felt like that before.

We want cases done on Monday!

Monday practice,
your cases should be done.

[voiceover]: I definitely scared
a few of them,

which I think is good.

'Cause, like, I think they would
have just have slacked off

if there wasn't a little fear.

During the Revere Tournament,
when Jay was teaching you,

like, the [inaudible] structure

that we were, that we taught
you,

and you're, like,
"No, I think my way's better"...

BOY: Are you saying,
"Take more notes"?

HANNAH: It's not really about
notes,

but it's about, like,
the attitude.

Every year, there's always
clique that forms,

but I think it's really
valuable to make sure

that everyone feels
a part of the team.

You're a sophomore, right?
- Yeah.

- So, like, we've been
looking through your prep,

and you, you put in a
lot of the research,

but one thing that
we'd want you to do

is to participate more in
practice.

Ask your questions, like,
contribute, give your ideas.

[voiceover]: There are novices

that are really rambunctious
and outspoken and more popular,

and then there
are the quiet ones

that still need to break
out of their shell.

I'll make sure that
the kids that are really quiet,

but I can tell are working
really hard,

get the attention they deserve.

- Try to, like, you know,
be more confident in round,

like, 'cause you know more than
your opponent, I'm pretty sure.

So, like, keep doing that.

Just be more confident in round,
because you have the content

to back it up.
- Okay.

What business, big
businesses do is, they try...

Can I, like, literally just let
me finish my explanation.

JOHNNY: I haven't said anything!

- 'Cause I can see you're gonna
interrupt me before I finish.

[voiceover]: I've always been
super-hard on myself.

I have a fear of failure.

Kind of, like, not being
enough, in a way, and not...

...doing something that matters.

Because startups need a lot
more people than a business

that's adding a small branch.

[voiceover]: I've had a lot of
struggle to, like,

have success in
the national circuit.

Like, I went 2-4 at Big Lex
my sophomore year,

and I was crushed.
- ...to hire these employees...

[voiceover]:
I was so distraught.

Like, I felt like I should
have been doing better.

Like, I was watching all
my friends do really well.

- But Johnny, you're
understanding how...

You're misunderstanding how a
business works.

Startups grow at a much
faster rate than already...

Johnny, can I just finish?
Can I get one sentence out?

- I agree! - Johnny,
can I get one sentence out?

[voiceover]: Like, you're
surrounded by all these people

who are so smart
and so passionate,

and it can be hard not
to compare yourself to them

and be, like,

"Wow, I've done nothing."
[chuckles]

STATION ANNOUNCER: This
is the last call for Amtrak

Northeast Regional train

with intermediate stops.

Passengers should
proceed to track one.

ELLEN:
Is everyone ready?

You guys ready?

Okay, starting

now.

We affirm the United States
should lift its embargo

against Cuba.

Contention one is
Russian influence.

There are two reasons why
lifting the Cuban embargo

will stop Russian aggression.

Jeffrey Thompson of UMass finds

that a ten percent increase in
infrastructure spending

lowered manufacturing
costs by 2.3%.

Ultimately, what you're seeing
is, we're actually

going to be helping the poor.

[whispering]

GABY [voiceover]: Princeton
was, like, really rough

for Ellen and I originally.

Day one, we lost
both of our rounds.

ELLEN: And, like, last round,

was just, like...
GABY: Yeah, we...

[sighs]: It was, like, not,
it was not good.

WOMAN: What happened last round?
Like...

- Um, it just got messy.
- Okay, so, the other team...

Yeah, the other team,
like, made it

really confusing for the judge.

And they did this thing, like,

called, like, muddling,

where they just, like, make
it really, really confusing.

They're, they were, like,
really, really confident

and, like, really
perceptually dominant,

especially 'cause, like,
they're guys,

so they have, like,
lower voices anyways.

GABY [voiceover]: I don't ever
like to think that the reason

we lost a round
is because we are girls.

Well, I think we
should redo speeches.

- Yeah, I think so, too.

- But we should go back to the
place...

GABY [voiceover]: I do think

it definitely influences the
judges.

I don't think it's a
deciding factor, usually, but...

I do think it's there.

[talking indistinctly]
WOLF BLITZER: But it could be

very, very close in some of
those key battleground states.

GIRL: No, I, I know.

BLITZER: Donald Trump has what,
about a 20,000-vote lead,

but it's very, very early...

GIRL: No, and then he said,

and, and he's, like,
"Oh, she only supports Hillary

'cause she's a woman,"
and then I just laid out

point-by-point the reasons
why I supported her,

and he's, like,
"She's dishonest."

MIKE: She's not dishonest,
she's condescending.

She thinks her ideas
are better

than people, and she doesn't
need to be responsible...

- That's because they
are better than the people,

because she's spent years

working in policy.
- No, she's very smart.

GIRL: Guys,
Trump is in the lead.

ANIKA:
He's up by two points.

GIRL:
Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!

MIKE: So, Trump is
winning South Carolina?

BOY: Obviously.
- Yeah, and North Carolina.

And Florida and
Michigan and Ohio.

JOHN KING: They're doing
what they said they would do.

They are competitive
across the Rust Belt.

Okay, ready, Dika, Gil, Anika?

["Closer" by Chainsmokers
playing]

DIKA: I knew it!
I knew it!

- This was literally the
song of the summer for us.

GIRLS: ♪ You looked as good
as the day I met you ♪

♪ I forget just why I left you

♪ I was insane

♪ And I can't stop

KING:
16 points in theory, but...

GIRL:
Oh, oh, no, it got worse,

it got worse.

[Gil and Anika gasp]
It got even worse.

GIRL: Oh, my goodness,
how is this happening?

This is actually horrifying.

Yeah, same.

GIL [voiceover]: Everyone who's
done debate can, like,

be right there with Hillary.

When we were all watching,
like, we all saw it happen.

GIRL:
Oh, no, New Hampshire.

Goodbye, New Hampshire.

- No!

[girls talking in background]

ANIKA [voiceover]: For some
reason, it felt as though,

if Hillary Clinton
were to be elected,

it would have some
type of impact,

and to know that there was
this one lurking variable,

lurking factor, that she
really could not control...

BLITZER: And Trump
has a 56,000-vote lead

over Hillary Clinton, 49.5%.

He is ahead in North Carolina
right now...

[talking indistinctly]

♪

[laughing]

It's going to be a struggle,
Malcolm.

♪

HANNAH [voiceover]: I'm, like,
not gonna lie.

Harvard is a magical place.

Growing up, it was
always my dream school.

It's been weird,
'cause it's, like,

it's right there, but, like,
you can, like, go in,

and you can go
into Harvard Yard,

but, like, you're
not really a part of it.

Like, what if I had a class
here?

And, like, what if I
was a student here?

DAN: Start on their first
contention about agribusiness.

Really big problem here

is that agribusiness
is a really non-unique point.

According to the
World Food Program in 2016...

HANNAH [voiceover]: Junior year
and senior year,

Dan and I partnered,
and that was super-fun.

Like, yeah, we got really close.

- That means they
make a lot more money.

- Wait, are they down two now?
- Yeah.

Or, yeah, 'cause only Caleb
and...

GIL [voiceover]: This year,
I was partnered with Kayla.

We definitely
picked up the pace.

We started doing well
towards the end of our year.

Like, going through that ride
and being, like, "Holy [muted],"

like, "We're finally where
we wanna be."

[praying in Hebrew]

Please, God, I don't know
Hebrew,

but I will learn it just
so I can pray to You.

♪

ANIKA [voiceover]: Jay and I
always,

before every debate round,

we, like, do a fist bump
and we're just, like,

"We've got this, like,
we're totally gonna win."

And we haven't won every
time that we've done it,

but we have lost every time
that we haven't done it, so...

[laughs]

♪

JUDGE: Uh, congratulations,
everyone,

for getting to the octos.

It's a 2-1 for the Pro.

[spectators applauding]

GIL [voiceover]: Harvard was
really fun, we got to top 16,

and it had around, like,
500 teams, give or take.

- [laughs]

[voiceover]: Like, we ended up
losing

to the people who, like,
finaled,

so, like,
we were completely fine.

The sense of pride
you get from winning

or doing well at
a debate tournament

was so much higher than, like,
anything else.

- Oh, my God.
- [grunts]

GIL [voiceover]: 'Cause, like,
you're kind of on cloud nine,

and then you, like, you walk to
school the next day, on Monday.

[laughs]: And you're, like,
"Ask me about my tournament."

Like, "Please ask me how it
went."

[laughs]

[shouting and laughing]

He, Anthony Tao was so confused
about,

like, that we weren't talking
about rent control homes.

Yeah, because, it just...

Yeah, I wasn't clear
enough in summary, either,

but I think we just need
to be really explicit

when we weren't talking
about rent control.

AMIT:
Hi, sorry.

- Hello.
- Are you the judge?

- Yes.
- Hi.

- We're Newton South.
- Oh, okay.

GABY: We negate resolved: the
United States should promote

the development of
market-rate housing

in urban neighborhoods.

For context, market-rate
housing is an apartment

that has no rent restrictions.

[voiceover]: States junior
year,

I went with Amit instead
of Ellen.

- ...tells you that you
see 84 houses built

for every single one.

GABY [voiceover]: Jay and Anika
won their side of the bracket,

and Amit and I won
our side of the bracket.

And at debate tournaments, if
you're on the same,

if you're from the same school,

you don't debate
against each other.

So, we were both kind
of co-champions,

which was really nice.
[laughs]

It was a lot of fun.

It was very exciting
for Newton South, so...

♪

- And it's that way.
- Oh, yeah.

ANIKA [voiceover]: Debate
tournaments are very,

very expensive-- you know,
the Tournament of Champions

was over $1,000.

I think the Harvard
tournament has, like,

$100 registration fee
or something,

which is just to register for
the tournament.

Like, not even including meals,

transportation,
or where you're gonna stay.

GIRL: It's worse than
just having ICE agents

spread out throughout the
country.

A sanctuary city
will redefine itself

to literally just be...
- No, but, Gaby, Gaby...

[voiceover]: We are very
fortunate that we can

afford to
go to these tournaments.

- Right?
ANIKA: But that doesn't mean

that the converse is true.

- It has to mean that
the converse is true.

GABY [voiceover]: It's so
elitist, it's terrible.

ANIKA: I don't think any
judge is going to buy that

a sanctuary city is the same
thing as an anti-sanctuary city.

GABY [voiceover]: It has kind of
made me realize,

like, a lot more
of my privilege.

- You know, it seems like by
allowing sanctuary cities,

you would allow people
to do the opposite.

[voiceover]: Even just, like,
the environment that I live in.

Like, I go to a great school,
I have parents

that really
instill these values on me.

I read a lot.

I talk to friends
who care about politics.

♪

ANIKA [voiceover]:
Um, and through debate,

you can understand different
points of view.

And I think as,
serving as an intern

at Senator Warren's office,
I'd be able to, like, you know,

bring those skills to the table
while talking to constituents.

And if they have
policy questions,

we work with a lot of
public policy in debate, so...

[voiceover]: I would've never
said

that I wanted to do
politics

or anything of the sort before
I joined debate.

Before I joined debate,
I was just, like,

"I'll do something
with, like, math,"

which is very
interesting, for sure.

[audience applauding]

DONALD TRUMP [on television]:
Members of Congress,

the state of our
union is strong.

[cheering and applauding]

ANIKA [voiceover]: We are really
not seeing a lot of listening

in current politics.

And in debate, a lot of the
time,

you cannot interject--
you are forced to just listen.

So at the very least,

you have to hear what
they have to say.

GABY [voiceover]: For example,
the November topic was about

whether or not

the United States should instate
universal background checks

for gun transfers and ownership.

And I very strongly believe

that there should be
universal background checks.

And even though I
came out of that topic

still thinking the
exact same thing,

like, it, it really opens your
mind to seeing both sides,

even when you
disagree with them.

♪

HANNAH:
I've been debating

back-to-back for, like,
seven weeks now.

- I believe you,
I'm right there with you.

- So, I know, it's still
mentally

and emotionally taxing.
- All right, so, Newton South,

and then Big Lex, and then
Columbia, and then Brandeis,

and then NSDAs, then
NCFLs, and then Harvard.

- Harvard.

- Yeah, it's the, I call it the
seven-week...

- Shrewsbury, Needham.
- Yeah.

You got, you have NSDAs.

- T.O.C.

- Oh, and T,
are you guys going to T.O.Cs.?

- Mm-hmm.
- All right.

So that's a big deal.

- Like, I'm gonna crash
eventually.

[chuckles]: Yeah, so...
- Yes, you will.

- Just don't know when--
hopefully not

in the middle of a tournament,
but...

See you tomorrow at 7:10.

- 7:10, is that when it is,
7:10?

All right.

GABY [voiceover]: The T.O.C. is
the Tournament of Champions.

It's, like, the biggest,

most challenging
tournament of the year.

And if you win, it's, like,
okay, you're, like,

you're pretty much the
best debaters in the country.

[talking in background]

"A one-dollar increase,"
wait, "found that..."

"A one-dollar corporate,

corporate campaign
contribution..."

[voiceover]: I was so miserable
before the T.O.C. junior year.

You know, I was exhausted,
I didn't wanna go.

- Like, perpetuating influence,
but it's not a terminal impact.

And I was, like,
"All right, we're here.

Let's just get through it."
[chuckles]

Like, "I've been
here and done this.

One more time."
[chuckles]

HANNAH:
What room are we in?

We're in Blazer 233.

- Oh, now we're flight one.
- Darn it!

- Why do they keep
changing things?

We're flight one at 10:50.

HANNAH [voiceover]:
I was really proud.

Like, the best of the best is
there.

Everyone knows their stuff.

And we ended up
doing really well.

- I'm gonna practice my
speeches.

- Yeah, I'm gonna redo
that rebuttal big-time.

- [chuckles]: You saved us
during your final focus.

[voiceover]: But Anika and Jay,

it definitely wasn't luck.

Like, they were up against a
lot of really tough opponents,

and so they definitely earned
their spot in the final round.

GIRL: Okay.

Are all of my judges ready?

Opponents?

Okay.

Anika and I negate resolved:

the United States should end its
arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Contention one is
stopping starvation.

And they tell you that ending
arms sales sends a signal

that the U.S. cares about
human rights abuses.

Three responses:
first, this concedes

our third link to our case.

Their evidence talking about
20 million people getting killed

by arms sales is talking
about military coups

and other things like that.

It doesn't actually
talk about arms.

This is a really misconstrued
piece of evidence.

But third, this is...

[voiceover]: I think debaters
oftentimes

fail to adapt to judges.

- Going to my point of
second contention about Yemen.

Essentially, they tell you...

[voiceover]: The judge is just
gonna vote

for who looks like a winner,
so to speak.

Stereotypes have shown
looking like a winner

oftentimes isn't very feminine.

- What's the warrant behind
that?

- What's the warrant
behind that? - Yeah.

- Well, the [inaudible] says...

- Like, are they of different
sizes, and, like, fit

in different, like, you know...
- The [inaudible] says

that the U.S....
[audience laughing]

- Like, your evidence can tell
me whatever it wants.

I'm asking you to explain
the logic behind it to me.

- The logic, the logic that,
I believe the evidence...

ANIKA [voiceover]: But I never
really subscribed to the notion

that I was supposed
to be like somebody else,

you know, debate
like somebody else.

You have to be successful in
your own way.

Sure, but the people are
hungry...

You even tell me people
are hungry right now, right?

- Yeah, and they're still
gonna be hungry

because there's still, gonna be
a blockade in either world.

ANIKA [voiceover]:
A lot of people would say,

like, "I don't like your style
of debate,"

and I would be, like,

"Okay, I don't like
your style of debate."

Like, I don't care--
I'm not gonna change

my style of debate because you
don't like it, you know?

It doesn't matter
if the Houthis are angry!

[voiceover]:
We shouldn't have to change

or try to become someone
else just to win.

I would say making Iran angry

is more important than making
the Houthis angry.

Because you end the
security umbrella,

you lead to more chemical
and biological weapons.

That's really important, because
it leads

to higher civilian casualties
in the long term,

making any type of conflict
worse.

[audience applauding]

- Wonderful, thank you!
[chuckling]

I think the whole room was
buzzing.

It was so cool.

[laughs]

HANNAH [voiceover]: Everyone on
the Newton South team

was cheering.

And then when they won...

- You guys far exceeded my
expectations.

All right?
[cheering and applauding]

GABY [voiceover]: Anika was the
first girl to win in nine years.

And to see her go that far,
that's crazy to me.

JOSH: I feel incredibly
privileged.

- Aw.
- Seriously! Guys...

GABY [voiceover]: In the debate
community,

when you do well,
you almost become, like,

a little bit, like,
"famous' among debaters,

which is really weird.

[laughs]

GIL [voiceover]: Her winning
that was, like, oh, my God,

like, we have, like,
a legend now, like, on the team.

And, like, the girls
that were then freshmen,

they, like, idolized Anika.

[snow blower whirring]

[game audio playing
in background]

GIL:
Wait, what the heck?

NOY:
What?

WOMAN: Yeah?
- I just got in.

[woman cheering]

GIL [voiceover]: We both applied
early decision and...

NOY: ...we both got accepted
to Brown University.

- Yeah.

GIRL: It's Dan!

GIRL: Mr. Harvard!
[students cheer and applaud]

I know, like, I feel like
a proud mommy

or something like that,
I'm just so proud.

You guys know Hannah got in?

- We know!
GABY: We know! We know!

DAN: I wasn't sure!
[laughs]

Congratulations!

I'm so proud of you.
- Thank you, thank you.

- Are you excited?
- Yeah.

Like, we can go home
and visit our families

at the same time.
- Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, we live four houses
away from each other

and now we're...

HANNAH: But I was in the lobby
waiting to meet him.

- For your Harvard interviews?
- Yeah.

It was, like, so intense
and so intimidating.

And I got there, like,
30 minutes early.

- Yeah.
- And then I ordered...

[voiceover]: I didn't really
think

it was a possibility, you
know?

Like, I'm still in shock
that, like, I got in.

- ...one bite of it,
and it was so bland...

[voiceover]: I could just, like,
feel

so many doors opening for
me.

[snow crunching]

HANNAH: My mom was, like,

"I'm so proud of Dan."
[chuckles]

[voiceover]: It's hard to, like,
influence

the outcome of the things
that we were debating,

but if you took, like, the
microcosm of high school debate

and then put it on this, like,

national, international stage...

I want to be able to
influence the outcome of things.

Whether it's through my work,
through my actual voice,

I wanna be heard.

GIL [voiceover]:
I got way more confident.

That confidence where people
are, like, "Damn!"

Like, I spoke up for
myself and it worked.

- Zip it up?
- Yeah, zip it.

Oh...

[voiceover]: You get kind of
tired of being self-conscious,

caring about what people think.
- [exclaims]

[mother speaking Hebrew]

NOY:
Oh, here and there, I got it.

GIL [voiceover]: I don't know, I
think debate really just, like,

makes you grow up.

[talking in background]

WOMAN: I heard you were
best-dressed, Gil.

- Yeah!
- You can't tell?

- We share a closet.

[chuckling]

- That's her claim to fame, Noy.

- Yeah.

[engine idling]

♪

JAY:
Novices!

Novices, you have
a minute and a half

to give a speech based off of

the concessions that your
varsity just made-- in five,

four, three, two, one--

go!

[students talking at once]

I'd rather they had
a judge, but we don't.

We just don't have one.
- Then take one of the varsity

rounds and change it to, like,
two varsity-novice rounds.

That way, everyone has a judge.

- Is that okay?
- Whatever, sure.

ANIKA [voiceover]: Jay and I
really

didn't compete that much
this year.

Senior year, we kind of

decided to focus more on the
team.

Oh, yeah, guys!

If novices are debating varsity,

then varsity are supposed
to give comments

to the novices at the end.

Okay, keep the rooms neat,
please!

ANIKA [voiceover]: Obviously,
as a girl in debate,

you feel some kind of obligation
to continue performing.

But once we had, like, 60 or 70
people walk in and be, like,

"I wanna join the debate
team," we were, like, "Okay."

They-- I went into the room.

There was a group of, like,
seven or eight people,

and they were playing hangman!

- Are you kidding?
- No!

I had to,
I literally yelled at them.

- Well, guess what?
The bar moves

when you go
from novice to varsity.

GABY: Yeah.
- You know,

and that's
not gonna cut it anymore.

♪

[talking in background]

♪

Hi, novices, how are you all?

Are you guys all feeling
prepared?

- Stress level's 5,000% higher.

GABY: So, in first cross, Meena,
I thought you did a good job.

I thought the only thing was,
like,

it actually proves your point

if you went with the analysis
that I just told you...

[voiceover]: The team was
definitely

my number-one priority
senior year.

- I thought you spent a little
bit too much time on defense.

I was really glad you extended

the U.N. stuff, even though
it...

Watching the novices do
well that I trained

was just, like, so amazing.

The most rewarding thing
that I've ever done

on the debate team.

- How was rounds?

Yeah, let's go!

- [laughs]: The judge...
The judge was criticizing

the other team for, like,
chewing gum.

I mean, the judge is right,
like...

Don't chew gum in rounds.

JAY: Anika, what color
are you going to wear tomorrow?

- Maybe I'll wear my
bright yellow shirt,

because it stands out

and Jay hates it, which
makes me wanna wear it more.

- There's absolutely
nothing I can wear

that even looks remotely
close to good with yellow.

[voiceover]: We joke quite
often, actually, on our team

that debate partnerships
are like marriage.

By that metric,

Anika and I have been
married for four years.

[talking at once]

ANIKA: We are
having a discussion now

on some of the
inequalities and issues

in the activity
of debate in general.

And first, we're gonna
talk about sexism.

GABY [voiceover]: I think girls
keep showing up

because they like the activity--
simple.

But also secondarily,

we all kind of see ourselves

as maybe the ones
who can change things.

Some of these are kind of, like,

institutional problems
to a certain extent,

and things that are really
difficult to address, but, like,

I don't know, is there any
ideas you guys have?

Things that would've made you
guys feel better at the time?

GIRL: Because this is so
institutional,

like, it requires solutions
that are, like,

proactively, like, anti-sexist,

which means that, like,
actively look for times

that you can, like, mention
female debaters

that are doing really well.

GABY [voiceover]: When I look at
the national

debate circuit, sure,
I don't see a lot of girls,

but I also see our ability

to get where those boys are.

Like, we have
you guys, as well, like,

upperclassman
female role models.

It's not just all
guy captains or whatever.

It's, it's a team where
everyone is included,

and I think that's something...

ANIKA [voiceover]: This year, a
lot of national tournaments seem

to be very male-dominated yet
again.

NCFL finals was four males.

NSDA finals
was four males.

T.O.C. finals was four males.

Which means that there's
still a lot of work to do.

It comes from us, right?

We coach each other.

We perpetuate a good team
dynamic.

We promote women
into positions of power,

and then try to have
everybody speak up.

So, it's really up to you guys

to continue doing that.

♪

[talking indistinctly,
laughing]

ANIKA [voiceover]: I'm glad
that this year I've been able

to have a little bit more fun
and relax a little more.

I made time to just prioritize

being a little bit happier
and healthier.

- Says the debater!

ANIKA [voiceover]: I'm never
going

to be in high school again.

You know, hang out
with my best friends,

go to the mall,
go to the movies,

just go to each other's houses,
like...

GABY:
Three-time champions, whoo!

This time that I have now
I'm never going to get back.

[cheers]

♪

GABY [voiceover]: My dad says,
thinks that, like, recently,

I've started
talking back a little bit.

I get a little sassier now
with my parents and my sisters.

Debate has really taught
me to question everything.

Like, when in doubt,
ask, why is this true?

Like, why, why, why, why, why?

[turns engine off]

And I think my voice
is growing stronger,

and I think I'm finding it
a little more every day.

♪

MAN:
And now please join me

in welcoming the class of 2019!

[audience cheers and applauds]

["Pomp and Circumstance"
playing]

[woman reading names]

[audience cheers and applauds]

[audience cheering and
applauding, woman continues]

Jay Habib Garg.

[audience cheers and applauds]

Gabriella Nicole Lewis.

[audience cheers and applauds]

Sandra Lewis.

[audience cheers and applauds]

MAN:
Anika Vadisari Sridhar.

[audience cheers and applauds]

John James Stembridge.

[audience cheers and applauds]

MAN: With the responsibility
vested in me

by the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts,

I pronounce you graduates
of Newton South High School!

[audience cheers and applauds]

♪

ANIKA:
Hi, Senator Warren.

- So nice to see you--
tell me your name.

- My name's Anika,

I was actually one of your
interns this summer.

- Oh, my gosh, of course!

It's good to see you!
- It's good to see you, too.

WOMAN:
All right, ready?

One, two, three... Awesome.

♪

♪

♪