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SuperDebate
SuperDebate
Changelog

What's new.

New features, useful improvements, and fixes.

442 updates

2026

Nov 6, 2026

Boston's full lineup, and a second Chicago speaker

  • Bhaskar Chakravorti of Tufts’ Fletcher School debates Yasheng Huang on US–China AI at the Boston Debate Showcase.
  • Harvard physicist Matthew Schwartz debates MIT’s Manolis Kellis on whether science will still need us.
  • Seyed N. Mousavian of Loyola University Chicago debates Benjamin Callard at Chicago Super Debate 2, with pizza, beer and wine included.

Hangouts are easier to join, and free tickets use the standard checkout

  • Hangout reminders now arrive about an hour before the start, one email per person.
  • Any signed-in member can walk into a hangout room while doors are open.
  • Free events now sell their tickets through the same checkout as every other event.
  • Event night readiness times now show in each event's own time zone.

Checkout reminders and clearer event emails

  • If you start buying a ticket and don’t finish, you get one reminder with a link back to your checkout.
  • Event emails show that event’s own speakers.
  • Every email now says how to reach a person and why you received it.

Spam protection on sign-up and sign-in

  • Sign-up, sign-in and password reset now include a quick automatic check that stops automated accounts.
  • Changing your password or email and deleting your account keep working as before.

Event pages stay current between releases

  • Showcase pages like Boston and New York can now have their schedule, FAQ, venue story and host details updated the moment something changes, without waiting for a site release.
  • Event dates, venue details and ticket availability can be corrected the same way, so what you read on an event page matches the night.

Free tickets without an account

  • Free tickets to the San Francisco Anti-Debate now need only your name and email. No account, no payment details. Your ticket arrives by email.
  • Members can still sign in to keep the ticket in their account.

Sydney Harvey joins Chicago Super Debate 2

  • Sydney Harvey of Illinois Tech joins Benjamin Callard and Seyed N. Mousavian in the Chicago Super Debate 2 debates, with more speakers to come.
  • The homepage shows upcoming events and featured speakers more cleanly.
Nov 5, 2026

Every linked card now looks clickable

  • Event cards on the home page and the events calendar now highlight their title in gold when you point at them, and lift slightly.
  • Club, topic, ambassador city, recorded debate and how-it-works cards do the same, so every card that opens a page shows it.
  • College program pages keep citations inline on phones and use the program's own activity labels in comparisons.

New York showcase moves to January 27

  • The New York Debate Showcase moves from November 16 to Wednesday, January 27, 2027, from 5:30 to 9:30 PM in Manhattan.
  • Tickets bought for November 16 are good for the new night. Anyone who cannot make it can have a full refund.
  • Clearer wording on event pages and in the previews that appear when a page is shared.
Nov 4, 2026

Chicago’s new theme and smoother page interactions

  • Chicago Super Debate 2 now features Philosophy in the Age of AI across its event page, program, checkout, tickets and sharing details.
  • Tabs and expandable sections have consistent opening and closing transitions, with keyboard focus and reduced-motion support.
  • The Social Impact page connects visitors to published debates, introductory lessons and local clubs.
  • The In Action page features recent published recordings and a link to the full Watch catalog.
  • The press kit offers approved high-resolution logos, the complete PNG download and asset usage instructions.

Coach practice and new press resources

  • Coach brings lessons and debate practice into a dedicated workspace, with saved progress and draft recovery.
  • Request a hint during practice and retry if it fails. Assisted rounds stay separate from new baseline assessments.
  • Download approved Chicago event photos and Benjamin Callard’s portrait from the press kit, with photo credit and reuse guidance.
  • The Founder page explains the work behind John Connor’s earlier ventures. Recorded-debate cards use bundled photos for more reliable loading.

SF Anti-Debate details, Boston co-hosts and clearer college pages

  • The San Francisco Anti-Debate page now shows the confirmed date and venue: Monday, November 16, 6 to 8 PM at The Commons, 550 Laguna St.
  • The homepage opens with upcoming events: the next Chicago edition and the Boston Debate Showcase. Event pages add a short form for getting involved.
  • Norm Laviolette of Laugh Boston joins Archie Stapleton of the Modus Ponens Institute as a Boston Debate Showcase co-host, alongside John Connor and Matthew Rolnick.
  • College debate program pages read for students: numbered sources, joining details under clear labels, and plain status for programs we have not yet confirmed.

Clearer event cards and a richer SF Anti-Debate page

  • Featured event cards on the homepage and events page share one design: a clear date, the venue and time, a short summary, price and one way in.
  • The San Francisco Anti-Debate page shows a SuperDebate night on film and in photographs, and its get-involved choices are easier to read on phones.
  • Each Anti-Debate speaker and co-host now links to their X account.
Nov 3, 2026

Find college debate programs across the US

  • Explore an initial catalog of 46 college debate programs.
  • Filter by location, debate format and activity status, then compare programs side by side.
  • Follow official sources and review dates for team details and joining information.

Clearer directories and polished hosting and sponsor pages

  • Explore 200 college debate programs with compact results, clearer filters and images on program profiles.
  • Directory filters and expanded public-page disclosures open and close smoothly, with reduced-motion support.
  • Hosting pages clarify the next action, while sponsor pages show larger portraits and legible partner logos.

Clearer directories and illustrated program profiles

  • Find college debate teams, coaching providers and law firms with compact search and results layouts.
  • See campus photographs and uncropped institution marks on full college program profiles.
  • Open and close filters, menus and other shared disclosures smoothly, with support for reduced motion.
  • Read lesson response comparisons without horizontal overflow on phones.

A clearer way to find college debate teams

  • Browse college debate teams on cards with real campus photography and institutional marks.
  • Search by college, state and debate format, then compare programs or switch to a compact list.
  • Explore college programs, speaking coaches and law firms from a redesigned directory hub.
Nov 2, 2026

Clearer ticket checkout and confirmations

  • Guest ticket checkout opens directly and shows the event date, local time and venue beside the order.
  • Ticket confirmations use the current event details and provide the private admission link, calendar options and practical arrival information.
  • Attendee preferences show when they are saved. Ticket invitations show whether the request was queued and preserve a safe retry when the outcome is uncertain.

Clearer event pages and more reliable checkout recovery

  • Event pages, navigation and reading layouts use more consistent spacing and typography across desktop and phones.
  • Checkout recovery preserves the selected ticket tier and group quantity when retrying a purchase.
  • Pending payments continue checking their status without interrupting the checkout screen.

Clearer directory navigation and smoother event pages

  • Browse coaches, law firms and the directory hub from a shared Directories menu in navigation and the footer.
  • Boston event cards use a real crowd photograph while the event page keeps its original video hero.
  • Showcase titles use one entrance per line.
Nov 1, 2026

More reliable Admin records and member recommendations

  • Admin registration and activity lists retain loaded records during refresh failures and provide clear retry controls.
  • Member recommendations recover from loading failures and respect completed lessons and saved destinations.
  • Signup attribution retains its first-touch source until acknowledged.
  • Analytics distinguish ticket-selection intent, completed checkouts and observed member activity without treating missing history as zero.

International debate clubs have clearer search results

  • Search titles distinguish cities with the same name by country.
  • Club pages provide structured city and country information while retaining their existing photos and links.

Live events move up the homepage and client billing is easier to manage

  • Live Events and Clubs appear directly below the homepage hero, with complete event cards, current prices and clear links.
  • Invoice clients can review and pay eligible open invoices together through private billing pages, with saved client details and clearer Admin controls.
  • Customer receipts remain independent of internal alert failures, with duplicate protection on retries.

Ticket alerts include orders with no payment due

  • Organizers receive buyer details and attendee context for new ticket orders fully covered by discounts, credits or a free ticket tier.
  • Notices clearly identify when no payment is due and preserve duplicate protection across event ticket flows.

Ticket alerts open the matching order

  • Open the exact order from ticket-sale alerts, including tickets with no payment due.
  • Order details show buyer-confirmation delivery separately from organizer notifications and retain the selected order through sign-in.
Oct 31, 2026

Clearer invoice records and payment outcomes

  • Invoice recipients can download a PDF, see clear paid or unpaid status, and retry a failed download without leaving the invoice.
  • Admin payment views distinguish free tickets, external payments and unavailable history. Existing ticket-sale alerts include attendee context.
  • Shared chat behavior is restored on Chicago phones, and interface guidelines now use one design authority.

Reliable purchase notifications for organizers

  • New invoice payments notify the configured administrators together in one email, with duplicate protection.
  • Boston ticket-sale notifications use the current organizer account while preserving accepted notification receipts.

Clear ticket controls on Chicago phones

  • The November Chicago event page keeps its description and ticket button clear of floating help prompts on phones.
Oct 30, 2026

Score the debate beside the recording

  • The Ford–Domingos scorecard now follows the video, with a direct scoring button and section navigation.
  • Choose a rating for every criterion and each speaker. Partial selections survive sign-in, and saved scorecards show a clear confirmation.

More reliable video responses and Thought Cloud entry

  • Video responses share playback controls, reload behavior and captions where available across supported viewing surfaces.
  • Thought Cloud preserves phrases entered quickly and keeps input inactive until the page is ready.
  • Event and admin interfaces use more consistent text and table styling.

Clearer showcase pages for Boston and Chicago

  • The Boston page now leads with The Boston Debate Showcase: The Great AI Debates, and explains the night up front.
  • Every showcase page uses the same section bar, so Program, Tickets, Schedule and the rest are always in the same place.
  • Chicago Super Debate 2 now shows its sponsors, and the Chicago event cards use real photos from our first night at The Ferris.
  • Live events and city clubs now sit right under the homepage introduction.
  • The Ford and Domingos recording has a single footer for scoring, watching on YouTube and the original Vidar sponsor logo.

Chicago philosophy night, with films and photos from our first showcase

  • Meet the announced speaker for Chicago Super Debate 2 and explore the evening at The Ferris.
  • Watch the Chicago recap and browse real event photos on the Chicago and Boston pages.
  • Enjoy lighter phone video backgrounds and inline recap playback with accessible controls.

A clearer Chicago philosophy evening

  • The November Chicago event explains the speaker, program, reception and ticket options in fuller, clearer language.
  • John Connor and Matthew Rolnick have matching host cards, substantive biographies and direct profile links.
  • The mobile hero has a stronger title and consistent section entrances.
Oct 29, 2026

Martin Ford vs. Pedro Domingos: the full AI and jobs debate

  • The full recording of Martin Ford and Pedro Domingos debating whether AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates is now on the event page.
  • Signed-in viewers can score the debate on argument, evidence, clarity and persuasion.
  • Anyone with an account can record a 60-second video take for either side.

Invoices and account recovery improvements

  • Edit invoice, due and service dates, clone invoices, and share a stable payment link with an explicit email choice.
  • Resume a video response after signing in with the question, side and reply context preserved.
  • Keep email confirmation usable without JavaScript and protect your saved location during signup.
  • Make directory catalogs recover reliably after updates.

Clearer debate responses and smoother navigation

  • Recorded debates show compact video responses with readable author details and the familiar chat button.
  • Search, frequently asked questions and event tools handle loading, empty results and request failures more clearly.
  • Incomplete email confirmation links return you to sign-in while preserving your destination.

Better debate responses, directories and sponsorship

  • Keep draft scores through sign-in and use response-vote controls once your account is ready.
  • Video responses have compact previews, clearer author details and accurate same-day timestamps.
  • Explore richer coaching profiles and a clearer path to a Premier directory listing.
  • Browse updated sponsorship options and see the sponsor beside the Ford and Domingos recording.
  • Search, FAQs, loading screens and account-recovery links offer clearer next steps.

Explore Martin Ford’s book after the debate

  • The AI and Jobs debate now features Rise of the Robots beside Martin Ford’s biography, with its full cover and a direct link to the book.

Video responses fit the page they're on

  • Video responses on debate pages now keep the poster on top and the details below, instead of stretching into a thin strip on wide screens. Very narrow phones keep a compact side-by-side layout with every action still reachable.
  • An empty side of a debate now shows a clear prompt to record the first response, instead of a blank panel.

Newest recordings lead the Watch page

  • Newly published debate recordings appear automatically, with the latest release first.

Clearer directory navigation and video responses

  • Directory photos and titles open their listings, and profile search keeps its controls readable on phones.
  • Video response cards adapt to their available space while keeping playback, author information and response actions together.
  • Weekly admin reports distinguish saved chat outcomes, blocked configuration and unavailable checks.
Oct 28, 2026

Find, compare and manage directory profiles

  • Compare providers, filter directory results and open clear upgrade options directly from a profile.
  • Verified profile owners can manage their listing, with proposed edits reviewed before publication.
  • Club member lists now open at the right position, with clearer loading and responsive management controls.

Feature your practice directly from its profile

  • Compare listing options, choose your published practice and continue directly to secure checkout.
  • Law firm and coaching profiles now include a clear featured-listing action. Sponsorship remains a separate inquiry.
  • The coach directory now opens listing options in place, with stable images and keyboard focus.

Martin Ford vs. Pedro Domingos: watch, score and record your take

  • The full recording of Martin Ford and Pedro Domingos debating whether AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates is now on the event page.
  • Signed-in viewers can score the debate on argument, evidence, clarity and persuasion.
  • Anyone with an account can record a 60-second video take for either side.

Richer directory profiles and clearer debate actions

  • Explore published speaking and communication providers, with services, locations, official sources and direct contact links.
  • See reviewed firm logos, attorney portraits and expanded law-firm profiles.
  • The Watch action aligns with the centered desktop headline on marquee debate pages.

A clearer law-firm directory and richer event information

  • Browse law firms through photographic profiles, practice information, city search and smooth navigation.
  • Meet the Boston hosts through restored portraits, complete biographies and profile links; see more program and admission details while browsing events.
  • Explore company pages through consistent navigation, and find clearer sponsorship opportunities and partner information.
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