COMING DEBATES AT THE SOHO FORUM
Monday,
January 27,
2025
Resolution
President Nayib Bukele's crime-fighting policies in El Salvador provide a model for reducing violence in other Latin American countries.
Caveat
21 A Clinton Street New York, NY 10002
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception at the venue: 8:00 PM
Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
For the affirmative:
Peter Gietl is the managing editor for Return and Frontier magazine for Blaze Media. He is a journalist and editor covering human stories in the digital age, from crypto to AI to transhumanism. As the managing editor for Frontier he runs a premium lifestyle magazine dedicated to the hope and dynamism of the unfolding American future; covering the people, trends, products, and visions at the epicenter of that new future. He lives in Texas.
For the negative:
Ricardo Avelar is a journalist, editor, and political analyst from El Salvador. He holds a BA in Political Science from Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala, and an MSc in International Relations of the Americas from University College London. He is currently a senior journalist, editor, and chief satirist at Revista Factum, one of the leading investigative outlets in Central America. He has been the Political Editor at El Salvador's largest newspaper and a researcher on the rule of law, democracy, and electoral integrity. In 2021, he co-directed a docu-series about a coup attempt led by Nayib Bukele on February 9, 2020.
Sunday,
February 2,
2025
Resolution
The United States started the new Cold War with Russia and the catastrophe in Ukraine.
Filene Auditorium
at Dartmouth College
3 Maynard St, Hanover, NH 03755
Debate starts at 3:00 PM
Reception afterward
Sponsored by the Dartmouth Political Union
Limited tickets are available at no cost. Please contact Lukas Grund at lukas.grund@reason.org to request complimentary tickets.
Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
For the affirmative:
Scott Horton is director of The Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, and host of Antiwar Radio on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles and the Scott Horton Show on ScottHorton.org. He is the author of Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War With Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine (2024).
For the negative:
Eli Lake is a columnist for The Free Press and contributing editor for Commentary magazine. He is a longtime journalist who has covered foreign affairs and national security for Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek. He has reported on these topics from India, China, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Israel.
Tuesday,
March 18,
2025
Resolution
The oppression of Palestinians in non-democratic Israel has been systematic and profound.
SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam Street New York, NY 10013
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception at the venue: 8:00 PM
Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
For the affirmative:
Peter Beinart is a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, Editor-at-Large for Jewish Currents, and a political commentator for MSNBC. Beinart has authored several books, including The Good Fight (2006), The Icarus Syndrome (2010), and The Crisis of Zionism (2012). His upcoming book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, will be released in January 2025. A Yale graduate and Rhodes Scholar, he previously served as managing editor and editor of The New Republic from 1995 to 2006.
For the negative:
Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in the Middle East and Africa, and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. Dr. Rubin has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and Iraq, and spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. For more than a decade, Rubin taught classes at sea about the Horn of Africa and Middle East conflicts, culture, and terrorism, for the US Navy. Dr. Rubin has taught at universities in the United States, Israel, and Iraq, and is the author of "Dancing with the Devil," a history of diplomacy with rogue regimes and terrorists.
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Soho Forum Podcast
Reason presents a libertarian-themed debate series recorded monthly before a live audience in New York City. Moderated by former Barron's Economics Editor Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum features Nobel prize winners, radical thinkers, and other public intellectuals facing off over the future of bitcoin, electric vehicles, government debt, illegal drugs, robotics, sex work, and other controversial topics.