The Forensic Files: Team Qatar’s Alex Just

Alex Just, second to the right, leads Team Qatar

Premiering Sunday, August 1 on Global Voices on PBS WORLD, Team Qatar introduces us to the world of competitive high school debate. Five team members from the Muslim nation of Qatar rally behind debate veteran Alex Just, who was only 22 when the film was shot. A former president of the Oxford Union, Just joined BTB for a conversation about the film. Note: Team Qatar is currently available for download to own and download to rent on iTunes.

First off, let’s go over the rules. This is not a debate or formal argument of any kind. At no point during the course of this conversation should you feel the need to contest anything I say or ask with fact, logic, or reason. Do you agree to these terms, Alex?

Yes. That sounds fine to me.

When was your first competitive debate?

When I was in high school, I was 13 and we had a debate club. On the first Friday of term, they have meetings for new members. And I can’t quite remember all of this, but my debate coach claims they had a game where you had to talk about any subject for a minute and I gave a speech about sausages. I spoke for a full minute and impressed my debate coach Mr. Wylie enough that he worked with me for six years and made me the debater I am today.
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Tags: debate, debate club, documentary, Global Voices, ITVS, oxford university, PBS, qatar, team qatar, world schools debating championships