More from KCUR
Celebrating the Birthday of "King" Curtis Ousley
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: Feb. 4-10) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of "King" Curtis Ousley with our special guest Jim Mair. The wives on the campaign trail get ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Stan Getz
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: Jan 28-Feb 3) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of Stan Getz with our special guest Jorge Nila. The Girl From Ipanema explains the current ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: January 21-27) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthdays of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt with our special guests Marvin Gruenbaum and ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: January 16-21) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, with our special guest Millage Gilbert as the Blues take ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Jay McShann
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: January 9-14) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of Jay McShann with our very own Joe Cartwright, as well as Jay’s daughter Jayne McShann. ...
Celebrating the Birthday of James Carter
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From: KCUR
(Airdates: Jan 2-9) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of James Carter and Frank Wess with our special guest, Bill Crain. The gang starts 2012 right as ...
Celebrating the Birthday of John Scofield
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: December 26- 31)This week, in an archive edition of 12th Street Jump, we celebrate the birthday of jazz guitarist John Scofield with our special guest Brian ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Paul Butterfield
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: December 19-24) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of Paul Butterfield with our special guest, Tom “Trashmouth” Baker. Warm up with the 12th ...
Celebrating the Birthday of Joe Williams
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: December 11-17) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of vocalist Joe Williams with our very own David Basse. The gang delivers the Blues in the ...
Celebrating the Birthdays of Jimmy Smith and Dave Brubeck
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From: KCUR
(Air Dates: Dec. 5-10) This week on 12th Street Jump we celebrate the birthday of Jimmy Smith and Dave Brubeck with our special guest, Everette DeVan. The gang plays “So, ...
Related Pieces
Piece Description
INTRO: Senator John Kerry, presidential advisor Karl Rove and senate majority leader Bill Frist were all debaters in high school. High school debaters sometimes think of the activity as the path to power in politics. So, some students from Kansas City's Central High School want in, but on their own terms. Central's squad is shaking up the national circuit, by rapping their arguments to music, and making the case that the activity itself is rigged to benefit privileged kids at expensive schools. KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross followed Central's team to a tournament in Omaha. *** The team's assistant coach, Joe Miller, has written a book about Central High School's debate team which will be released in October 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It's called Cross-X: A Turbulent, Triumphant Season with an Inner-City Debate Squad. This story was produced and aired in April, 2005, it refers to the debate topic for the 2004-2005 season.
Broadcast History
KCUR, April 2005
Related Website
Michael Johnson
Posted on April 24, 2007 at 09:11 PM | Permalink
Review of Kansas City Central Debate: Rules of the Game
Sylvia Maria Gross attempts to reconstruct the story of a couple of students from Kansas City's Central High School who shake up the national debate circuit with rap and by making the case that the debates themselves are rigged to benefit privileged kids at expensive schools.
It's a long 20 minutes that tries to chronicle the students journey, from the locals to the nationals, but the complexity of the story and the narration heavy presentation, make this a tough listen.