Pre-debate interview with Seawolf Debater Brett Frazer

We got so fired up over the UAA Stanford Debate that we wanted to do short interviews with each of the four debaters -- Brett Frazer and Drew Cason from UAA, and Faris Mohiuddin and Michael Baer from Stanford.

So much for the best of intentions. Things were moving fast the day of the debate, and we only managed to track Frazer down. He had interesting things to say, which we share in this 20-minute podcast. Check the timecodes listed in the description to move to parts of the interview that most interest you.

Here's one quote we found intriguing:

“I have been forced to argue against my personal convictions. And one of the things that has done for me is make me realize there are reasonable people who will disagree with you. When someone disagrees with you, that’s not because they are less intelligent or categorically wrong; they value certain things more than you do. You can disagree with someone and still respect their intelligence and respect their position. You can tell that person that their view is a perfectly reasonable position, it’s tenable and I understand it, but I disagree with it for these reasons. That’s a more productive conversation than the perjorative platitudes that we toss around in the political arena today.”

Even more moving, in light of the caliber of all four debaters, is that Frazer tells his personal story of dropping out of college as a Freshman. His comeback will inspire anyone.