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Civic Season Reads

Good Arguments by Bo Seo

An evening with Bo Seo and Shamichael Hallman for Civic Season.

Thinking about how to have difficult conversations with people in your life? Join the Library, the Urban Libraries Council, and Politics and Prose Bookstore for a special Civic Season conversation about the power of debate and discourse. Two time world champion debater Bo Seo will discuss his book Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard with a live audience and explore the ways the competitive debate gives us tools to speak up about things that matter and listen to others say their piece.

Start the conversation on the DC Public Library Civic Season page by downloading the book from our Libby app. 

Copies of Good Arguments will be available for sale and signing from Politics and Prose Bookstore, and limited number will be available for giveaway from the DC Public Library Foundation. 

About the book

Two-time world champion debater and former coach of the Harvard debate team, Bo Seo tells the inspiring story of his life in competitive debating and reveals the timeless secrets of effective communication and persuasion

When Bo Seo was 8 years old, he and his family migrated from Korea to Australia. At the time, he did not speak English, and, unsurprisingly, struggled at school. But, then, in fifth grade, something happened to change his life: he discovered competitive debate. Immediately, he was hooked. It turned out, perhaps counterintuitively, that debating was the perfect activity for someone shy and unsure of himself. It became a way for Bo not only to find his voice, but to excel socially and academically. And he’s not the only one. Far from it: presidents, Supreme Court justices, and CEOs are all disproportionally debaters. This is hardly a coincidence. By tracing his own journey from immigrant kid to world champion, Seo shows how the skills of debating—information gathering, truth finding, lucidity, organization, and persuasion—are often the cornerstone of successful careers and happy lives.

Drawing insights from its strategies, structure, and history, Seo teaches readers the skills of competitive debate, and in doing so shows how they can improve their communication with friends, family, and colleagues alike. He takes readers on a thrilling intellectual adventure into the eccentric and brilliant subculture of competitive debate, touching on everything from the radical politics of Malcom X to Artificial Intelligence. Seo proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that, far from being a source of conflict, good-faith debate can enrich our daily lives. Indeed, these good arguments are essential to a flourishing democracy, and are more important than ever at time when bad faith is all around, and our democracy seems so imperiled.
   

About the author and conversation partner

Bo Seo is a two-time world champion debater, journalist, and lawyer. One of the most recognized figures in the global debate community, he has won both the World Schools Debating Championship and the World Universities Debating Championship. In his passionate and inspiring talks, Seo discusses how the skills of debating are often the cornerstone of success and teaches his audience the debate strategies that can be used to improve their lives.

When two-time world champion debater Bo Seo was 8 years old, his family immigrated from South Korea to Australia. Knowing no English, Seo struggled with school before he discovered competitive debate, a new passion that helped him excel both socially and academically. In his inspirational talks, Seo speaks on how debate empowered him to find his voice, and he shares how spoken rhetoric has helped people on their paths to success. He offers workshops to teach audiences how to view a debate from the opposing perspective, to listen actively, and to disagree with respect and provides them with a range of tools they can use to better communicate with their co-workers, fellow students, or team members.

In his beautifully written personal growth memoir, Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and be Heard, Bo Seo tells the inspiring story of his journey from immigrant kid to world champion and reveals the timeless secrets of effective communication and persuasion. He explains how the central pillars in the art of debate—fact-finding, reason, persuasion, and listening to opponents—are important across all aspects of life, from ensuring a healthy democracy to everyday conversations. Seo shares the vital lessons on how to build a community with empathetic disagreement.

Building on his passion for debating, Bo Seo works as a lawyer. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, and many other publications. He previously worked as a national reporter for the Australian Financial Review and has been a regular panelist on the prime-time Australian debate program, The Drum.

Bo Seo graduated from Harvard University. During his time with the Harvard College Debating Union, Bo Seo became the 2016 World Universities Debating Champion, the largest and most prestigious collegiate debate competition in the world. He received a master’s degree in public policy from Tsinghua University, and a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Conversation partner Shamichael Hallman is a social, civic and tech innovator. As a '23 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he explored how urban design and planning can make for socially inclusive cities. He has served as the Senior Library Manager with Memphis Public Libraries where he guided the reimagining of the historic Cossitt Library. His 2020 TEDx talk "Reimagining the Public Library to Reconnect the Community" garnered international acclaim. In 2021 he co-founded Libraries as Bridges which focuses on evaluating how libraries build social cohesion, promote civic renewal and advance the ideals of a healthy democracy."

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