Open to Debate Leads the National Conversation About the Importance of Real Debate

In a year where presidential “debates” made headlines—and caused the President himself to drop out of the race— Open to Debate proved that there is a hunger for true debate to combat the extreme polarization of our nation and our politics.

In 2024, the veteran nonpartisan media platform saw digital growth skyrocket across metrics, with its website engagement up 40% and YouTube engagement up fivefold. Open to Debate steered the national conversation around the art of debate and the importance of free speech, partnering with Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Democratic Politics fora presidential debates study that launched in Politico made national headlines in June and has been read more than three million times and arguing in a widely-circulated Wall Street Journal op-ed in October for actionable, common-sense reforms that would allow the American public to gain real policy insights from presidential debates.

This year, Open to Debate also:

• Produced 45 new debates—ranging from topics in tech, culture, foreign policy, religion, economics, politics—including programs that investigated the key questions around the presidential election. Catch up on recent programs here.

• Released the most impactful program online to date, asking the question “Were Israel’s Actions in the Gaza War Justified?” in a passionate debate between Eylon Levy and Mehdi Hasan taped before a sold-out crowd of 600 that has reached an audience six million-plus across channels.

• Welcomed a steady stream of luminaries from across fields including Malcolm Gladwell, Nate Silver, Michelle Goldberg, Peter Diamandis, Esther Perel, Fareed Zakaria, David Leonhardt, Reza Aslan, Gillian Tett, Zeke Emanuel, Dennis Ross, Peter Singer, Cenk Uygur, Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, and more.

• Sponsored the inaugural Incubate Debate national high school debate championships , covering two days of high-stakes competitive debate for hundreds of high school students.

• Curated and moderated a series of debates at the FII 8 ^th Edition 2024 “Infinite Horizons: Investing Today, Shaping Tomorrow.” At one of the most prominent business conferences in the world, Open to Debate delivered five debates for an audience of 8,000 industry leaders.

• Partnered with Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law for the debate “Has Citizen’s United Undermined Democracy?” and with the Council on Foreign Relations for “Should Congress Stop Funding the War in Ukraine?,” “Unresolved: The Iran Threat,” and “Is the Two-State Solution Still Viable?”

• Hosted additional live NYC events at the Comedy Cellar ( “Is Wokeness Killing Comedy?,”“Will Kamala Harris or Donald Trump Be Better for America?” ) and Maxwell Social (“Nate Silver: The Art of Risking Everything”).

• Established a new partnership with Johns Hopkins University and its SNF Agora Institute. Over the next two years, Open to Debate will co-host eight public debates at the University’s Baltimore campus and the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC.

• Celebrated its first calendar year as Open to Debate, having changed its name from “Intelligence Squared U.S.” in 2023 to convey a new, more focused mission to address how historic levels of polarization are dividing our nation and how we can actually fix it.

Next year promises to be even bigger with the ribbon-cutting of the new Open Studio in New York City. This dedicated debate venue with a theater, reception area, and recording studio will allow for expanded in-person programming and will become a destination for the intellectually curious in New York and beyond.

ABOUT OPEN TO DEBATE
Open to Debate addresses a fundamental problem in America: the extreme polarization of our nation and our politics. We are the nation's only nonpartisan, debate-driven media organization dedicated to bringing multiple viewpoints together for a constructive, balanced, respectful exchange of ideas. Open to Debate is a platform for intellectually curious and open-minded people to engage with others holding opposing views on complex issues. We know debate works to find common ground: On average, 32% of the Open to Debate audience changes their mind on contentious topics after hearing a debate. That’s the power of debate done right, and at scale, it can change the direction we’re headed in America. Open to Debate is broadcast as a weekly public radio program, carried on NPR stations including WNYC (#1 in the nation). Open to Debate is made available as a podcast, video series, and digital platform, and records episodes with live audiences nationwide. Visit opentodebate.org to become a member, access an archive of more than 220 debates, and attend live events.

Go here for photos, links and more info: https://shorefire.com/roster/open-to-debate

For more information on Open to Debate, contact Ray Padgett (raypadgett@shorefire.com) or Mark Satlof (msatlof@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.