The relaunched Doha Debates builds on the tradition of examining complex global issues, established by Doha Debates’ origins 14 years ago, through live debates, digital videos, a TV series, blogs and podcasts on the world’s most pressing challenges. This innovative approach includes Majlis-style conversations designed to bridge differences, build consensus and identify solutions to urgent global issues.
We tackle issues like the future of genetics and gender equality. For example, our March 2020 live debate on the future of genetics quickly turned into an intense discussion on the ethics and challenges of human genetic enhancement. Three experts gathered in Doha to answer the question, “Should we create superhumans?” Each speaker arrived with a highly pointed argument and left the stage with at least some points of agreement with each other.
Taking cautionary measures due to the novel coronavirus, the debate was held without its usual live student audience. We preserved the show’s interactive nature by videoconferencing with students and sharing tweets and videos from viewers all over the world.
During this time of unexpected closures due to the global pandemic, we also developed #DearWorldLive, hosted by Doha Debates’ correspondent and Course Correction host Nelufar Hedayat. Each weekly episode in the series’ first season focused on a different aspect of the coronavirus and its impact on our lives and our world.
Now, #DearWorldLive is back for its second season. This season, Nelufar Hedayat will talk to a range of guests about the fight for racial equality and the ways social and political systems around the world uphold racist systems. Each episode of the new season examines racial inequalities under a different lens, with episodes about environmental racism, disparities in health care and art as protest.
We also invite students and other young people from around the world to join the virtual conversation and engage face-to-face with our guests. Livestream viewers have the opportunity to participate as well by submitting comments and questions with the hashtag #DearWorldLive.
