The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Melanie Thompson is the chief outreach and advocacy officer at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). She is a survivor of sex trafficking and prostitution and is a speaker, activist, and leader in the global fight to end prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. Melanie sits on several survivor advisory boards and is the host of Exit Wound, a limited podcast series produced by CATW.

For the negative:

Kaytlin Bailey is the founder and executive director of Old Pros, a nonprofit media organization creating the conditions to change the status of sex workers in society. She is the host of The Oldest Profession Podcast and the creator of The Oldest Profession, a live show on the history of sex work. Kaytlin’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Daily Beast, Vice, and Reason magazine.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Kevin Sabet is a drug policy scholar who served as a White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations. He is an assistant adjunct professor at Yale University, the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, and the co-founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). He is the author of Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana and coeditor of Marijuana and Contemporary Health Issues.

For the negative:

Zach Weissmueller is a senior producer at Reason. He has produced documentary shorts, video interviews, and feature articles for the platform since 2010, covering permissionless technology, free speech, mental health and homelessness, experimental governance, COVID-19 policy, criminal justice reform, and drug legalization. He is the cohost of Just Asking Questions, a weekly podcast from Reason.

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

For the affirmative:

Paul Frymer is a professor of politics at Princeton University, specializing in American politics, law, civil rights, race, labor, political parties, and institutional development. He is the author of Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America and Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party.

For the negative:

Jason Riley is an opinion columnist at The Wall Street Journal, where his column, Upward Mobility, has run since 2016. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of several books, including Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed, False Black Power?, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, and The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences To Succeed.