Welcome to Season 3! The first half of this season features Shaun and Sher May (WUDC 2021 Quarterfinalists), who join me in discussing the Singapore Debate Circuit at length, in two marathon recordings that we will release across several episodes. This first episode features their debate experiences in NUS, takeaways from university debating, and the differences between pre-tertiary and university debating. Next up: Listener questions and coaching philosophies! Have a question? Email deonkiew@gmail.com under the heading "Listener Question: TTS" and we may answer it in a subsequent episode!
The finale of Season 2 is very much a "lost" episode-- it was supposed to be released in September of 2021, but it stayed in the vault for a good 9 months beyond that due to my other commitments. I spoke to Suneeti Sreekumar, ex-President of NJC Debate and current Oxford Law undergraduate, back in August to talk about her experiences in NJC Debate across 6 years. She talked about the challenges of keeping afloat a debate club with little access to resources, the surprises and turmoils along her journey, and what current batches of NJC-ians and other debaters can take away about how to run a debate society at the pre-university level. (P.S Many apologies to Suneeti, who had to wait many months for this episode to be released!) Also coming up-- Season 3! The first episode of the new format (a serialized conversation with two stalwarts of the SG circuit across multiple episodes) will be released in only a matter of weeks. Till then, stay tuned!
The outgoing President of NTU Debates, Bala, joins Deon on the podcast to talk about her time at NTU, her best memories, and how NTU has changed across 4 years.
Ariel Lim pops by the podcast to talk about her (as-yet-unfinished) journey in Debate! She talks to Deon about debating for over a decade, the joys she has had on the journey, and how to sustain an interest and passion in debate.
Wisha Jamal, an incredible debater from Yale-NUS, stops by to recount her experiences in debating, including as a member of the Pakistani WSDC team in 2017 and 2018. She talks about how it was like being thrown into the WSDC squad last minute, the difficulties of travelling to debates, and her experiences in the Singapore circuit.
Chen Beiqi was one of only 14 judges to judge the open semi-finals at WUDC 2019. An accomplished CA and debater, she drops by the podcast to talk about her experiences as a judge, Chinese debating and how to engage better as a whip speaker.
Yao Kun, the ex-President of SIM Debate Club and a well-known Chief Adjudicator of Singapore tournaments, drops by to share his long journey to get to where he is today, as well as misconceptions around social welfare and poverty.
Nadya Tan is the architect behind the Lasellian Debate League, an extremely successful charity debate tournaments at the pre-tertiary level. She has retired from competitive debating, but continues to pen down her thoughts about the sport at https://amateuranalysisblog.wordpress.com/
Farhan Musa is an accomplished debater, coach and CA of multiple schools' tournaments in the debate circuit. He swings by the podcast to reflect on his debating journey, his experiences with racial issues in Singapore, and how he learnt to be authentic when navigating the debate community.
Joel Law swings by to discuss his path to the DA(S) Presidency, what is next for the DA, his experiences as a coach and knowledge gaps most debaters have about the LGBTQ+ community.
The season premiere of The Third Substantive Season 2 features Cavan Tay, Secretary of the Debate Association. He talks about his unorthodox journey into the world of debating, how he worked his way through the ranks, and the lessons he has learnt from 4 years in the sport.
The season finale features the show's first three-way conversation, as Daniel and Luke talk to Deon about how the stock market operates (and how it is different from the economy), the perils of corporate culture, and navigating the right time to retire.
The current Debate President of NUS, Vedant, joins Deon to talk about his experience as a minority in Singapore, how to approach motions about quotas and affirmative action, privilege and being an ally, and the state of Novice debating and what needs to be done to promote debating to newcomers at the university level.
Ray joins Deon for Episode 8 to discuss a few psychology concepts, like Operant Conditioning, the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and the nature of trauma and attention. They then delve deep into a meta-commentary of the state of the Singapore Debate Circuit.
Ariel swings by the podcast to discuss law and morality, problems with arguments involving rights and self-actualization, and the tension between liberalism and communitarianism. She and Deon then talk about issues with judging, stock arguments and valuing your self-worth through debating.
To begin the second half of Season 1, Deon is joined by Guan Peng, who discusses communication principles and how they can be applied to debating, the MAWA man, government censorship, and Wikileaks. They then discuss the problem of stuttering that many young debaters face, and suggest some ways to overcome it. More episodes can be found on thirdsub.podbean.com
For the mid-season finale of The Third Substantive, Deon talks to Royston Long about his experiences as a MUNner, both from the perspective of the organizer and the participant. They then delve into several topics, including the WHO's response to COVID 19, how to read and analyse information on Wikipedia, and Fake News. The differences between MUN and Competitive Debating are also dissected. More episodes can be found at thirdsub.podbean.com
It's not every day that the podcast is visited by an Oxford University top student! Ernest Lee speaks to Deon about humanitarian intervention, assumptions that limit the scope of competitive debating, and the foundations of feminism and its relationship to militarism that underpin the Round 4 motion of Oldham Cup.
In this episode, Linus Chen talks to Deon about the various policy proposals to protect the environment, and their strengths and limitations especially in the context of Singapore. In a wide ranging and engaging discussion, they touch on a wide variety of commonly seen strategies, like Carbon Taxation, Individual Activism and the Paris Agreement. Afterward, David and Deon attempt to discuss Round 3 of Oldham Cup, but soon hit many different speed bumps. Show notes for this episode can be found on thirdsub.podbean.com
Ernest Sng drops by to discuss commonly used pseudo-mathematical concepts and their relevance, as well as how debaters can benefit from understanding and applying these concepts better. They discuss Round 2 of Oldham Cup (about progressive individuals and their recommended behavior in weak democracies), and reminisce on the self-indulgence of secondary school debating. Full Show Notes can be found on thirdsub.podbean.com