EXPLORE THE 2024 – 2025 SEASON
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Baratunde Thurston
Artificial Intelligence: What Is Real?
November 23, 2024 -
Dr. Amber Straughn
NASA’s Search for Cosmic History
January 11, 2025 -
Coach K
Playing to Win
February 15, 2025 -
Richard Reeves
Are Boys Falling Behind?
March 22, 2025 -
Martha Stewart with Soledad O’Brien
The Life Behind Living
April 26, 2025
![Student speech & debate competitor](https://live-richmond-forum-new.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/RFSDI_speaker-scaled.jpg)
RIchmond Forum Speech & Debate Initiative
In 2018 — recognizing the absence of speech & debate programs or inadequate funding in most of the region’s public schools — The Richmond Forum launched an initiative to implement, grow, and support these essential programs.
The goal of the Richmond Forum Speech & Debate Initiative is for every public middle and high school in the region to have competitive speech & debate programs by 2025, the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s speech, delivered right here in Richmond.
Who has spoken at The Forum?
More than 240 distinguished speakers have participated in The Forum since its inception in 1987. Our list of alumni includes past U.S. presidents, sitting heads of state, and leaders from the sciences, arts, business, and more.
![Steven Spielberg speaking at The Richmond Forum](https://live-richmond-forum-new.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Spielberg-scaled.jpg)