Long Island Culture, Debate Team, and Likability vs. Being Right

• 34:38Long Island is the only place where people proudly tell you what they don't know and find it hilarious.
• 34:57Tim joined the debate team at Nassau Community College where he met Trent Webb, a funny and brilliant Black gay guy who had a huge impact on him.
• 35:28Met Kenny on the debate team, who later got Tim into mortgages before going to jail for a while.
• 35:38Tim won gold medals in debate competitions against kids going to Ivy League schools.
• 36:02Nassau people are rich and dumb, with terrible high school transcripts despite being able to afford private colleges.
• 36:40George W. Bush wouldn't have gone to Yale without his family name, but he has social intelligence that gets you further than pure intelligence in life.
• 37:07Tim beat Ivy League debate kids on likability rather than being right.
• 37:22Many outsider journalists and commentators on the show aren't likeable salesmen and don't present ideas in exciting ways people want to listen to.
• 37:41Being logical and reasonable isn't enough in this climate; the way you present information matters more than just being right.
• 38:28Friend pointed out that activists need to co-opt marketing and multimedia strategies like other movements do, not just hand out flyers and hope people listen.
• 39:23Researchers and documentarians feel correct because they've done the work, but you still have to find a way to exist in the current climate.
• 39:40Ann Coulter and Milo are more reasonable versions of provocateurs who actually get listened to compared to figures like Chomsky or Seymour Hersh.

Long IslandGeorge W. BushTrent WebbKennyNoam ChomskySeymour HershSuffolkJeremy ScahillNassau