The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

The Soho Forum Summer Sale!
50% off tickets to our July debate.

For the affirmative:

Jacob Hacker is the Stanley Resor Professor of political science at Yale University, the codirector of the Ludwig Program in public sector leadership at Yale Law School, and a resident fellow of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. His 2002 book, The Divided Welfare State: The Battle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States, was awarded the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award by the American Political Science Association.

For the negative:

David Goldhill is the CEO and cofounder of Sesame, an online marketplace for discounted health services, and chair of the board of directors at the Leapfrog Group, an independent organization for hospital and medical safety. He was the president and CEO of the Game Show Network and president of TV at Universal Studios, and his 2013 book, Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong, catapulted David to a leading voice for health care advocacy.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Glenn Greenwald is an investigative journalist, author, and former constitutional lawyer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Edward Snowden and the National Security Agency at The Guardian and has authored several bestsellers on civil liberties and government surveillance. Greenwald graduated from New York University School of Law and hosts System Update, a live prime-time news show on Rumble.

For the negative:

Anna Gorisch is an immigration attorney at Kendall Immigration Law, PLLC, in Austin, Texas, focusing on employment-based immigration. She has held positions at leading firms such as Ogletree Deakins and Fragomen and served as in-house counsel for both GEODIS and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Melanie Thompson is the chief outreach and advocacy officer at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). She is a survivor of sex trafficking and prostitution and is a speaker, activist, and leader in the global fight to end prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. Melanie sits on several survivor advisory boards and is the host of Exit Wound, a limited podcast series produced by CATW.

For the negative:

Kaytlin Bailey is the founder and executive director of Old Pros, a nonprofit media organization creating the conditions to change the status of sex workers in society. She is the host of The Oldest Profession Podcast and the creator of The Oldest Profession, a live show on the history of sex work. Kaytlin’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Daily Beast, Vice, and Reason magazine.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Kevin Sabet is a drug policy scholar who served as a White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations. He is an assistant adjunct professor at Yale University, the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, and the co-founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). He is the author of Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana and coeditor of Marijuana and Contemporary Health Issues.

For the negative:

Zach Weissmueller is a senior producer at Reason. He has produced documentary shorts, video interviews, and feature articles for the platform since 2010, covering permissionless technology, free speech, mental health and homelessness, experimental governance, COVID-19 policy, criminal justice reform, and drug legalization. He is the cohost of Just Asking Questions, a weekly podcast from Reason.