Intelligence Squared US

By Clint Carter – May 11, 2012
Ban college football? Blasphemy! Except that’s exactly what more than half of the (fortunately non-policy-making) audience voted to do earlier this week at the Intelligence Squared debate at NYU.

By Malcolm Gladwell – May 10, 2012
As part of the Intelligence Squared debate series, I teamed with up Buzz Bissinger (of “Friday Night LIghts” fame) in support of the proposition that college football should be banned…

By John Williams – May 9, 2012
Two prominent writers argued for banning college football on Tuesday night at New York University’s Skirball Center as part of the Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates series. Their opponents were two journalists, who also happened to be former players. Buzz Bissinger (the author of the high school football book “Friday Night Lights”) and Malcolm Gladwell (the best-selling author and New Yorker staff writer who compared football to dogfighting) want to get rid of football on campus. Tim Green (a former N.F.L. defensive end) and Jason Whitlock (a Fox Sports correspondent who played football in college) want it to stay.

IQ2US Press Release – May 9, 2012
Last night, Intelligence Squared U.S. continued its spring 2012 season with a victory for the motion “Ban College Football.” In the final tally, Malcolm Gladwell and Buzz Bissinger won the Oxford-style debate by convincing 37% of the audience to change their minds and oppose the motion. After the debate, 53% of audience members agreed that college football has no place in an academic environment, up from 16% pre-debate.

Morning Joe – May 9, 2012
Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lighters and former defensive end for the Atlantic Falcons Tim Greene debate the dangers of college football including concussions and it’s lack of academic purpose.

By Chris Smith – May 7, 2012
Last week, Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger offered his arguments for why college football should be eliminated. The article appears in advance of tomorrow night’s Intelligence Squared debate, in which Bissinger and author Malcolm Gladwell will argue in favor of a ban on college football. They will be opposed by former NFL defensive end Tim Green and sportswriter Jason Whitlock. Bissinger’s piece gets at some serious issues with college football and raises some fantastic questions, but it ultimately misses exactly how important the sport is to academic programs at universities across the nation.

Starting Point – May 7, 2012
Soledad O’Brien and the Starting Point panel discusses Buzz Bissinger’s Wall Street Journal opinion piece, in which he calls for college football to be banned because it “has no academic purpose.”

The Brian Lehrer Show – May 7, 2012
Big money, corruption, and injury have put college football in the spotlight. Tomorrow night, Intelligence Squared will debate the idea of banning college football. Buzz Bissinger, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Friday Night Lights — and supporter of a ban — previews the conversation with Tim Green, announcer and former Atlanta Falcons defensive end — who opposes a ban. Tim Green is also the author of Pinch Hit.

By Katy Waldman – Slate
Watch—and participate in—the Slate/Intelligence Squared live debate on May 8, featuring Malcolm Gladwell.

By Miranda Neubauer – April 18, 2012
They say that anyone who knows what’s good for him will avoid arguing on the Internet. But what of arguing about the Internet? That’s what four net-centric thinkers — MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, “Googlization of Everything” author Siva Vaidhyanathan, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg and “Net Delusion” author Evgeny Morozov — did Tuesday at an Oxford-style debate organized by Intelligence Squared U.S. and held here in New York.