The first US presidential debate of 2024 left many watchers wondering about the state of debate and democracy in the United States. We hear debating lessons from students who still believe the skill is essential to keeping democracy alive. In this episode:  K.M. DiColandrea, (@dico_nyc) Founder and Executive Director, Brooklyn Debate League Jonathan Conyers, (@iamjonconyers) Debate Coach and former Student Debater Gabrielle Lewis, Student Debater Madison Wheeler, Student Debater Karl McGhie, Student Debater Long Jiang, Student Debater Episode credits: This episode was produced by David Enders and Ashish Malhotra with Fahrinisa Campana, Sonia Bhagat, Mohamed Zain Shafi Khan, Veronique Eshaya, and our host Malika Bilal.  The Take production team is Amy Walters, Ashish Malhotra, Catherine Nouhan, Chloe K. Li, David Enders, Duha Mosaad, Khaled Soltan, Manahil Naveed, Marcos Bartolomé, Sarí el-Khalili, Sonia Bhagat, Mohamed Zain Shafi Khan, Veronique Eshaya, and Tamara Khandaker.  Debate audio courtesy of “CNN Presidential Debate". Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube