NSDA Nationals: The Round Table

The best and the brightest in the extemp world descended upon Richmond, Virginia, last June for the NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament. Listen to find out more about their thought processes in the lead-up to Nats, and some comments from past competitors!In the last episode of the 2025-26 season, the Extemper's Bible Podcast invites several national finalists and notable competitors from throughout extemp history: Zoe Becker, Daphne Kalir-Starr, Gabriel Frank-McPheter, Abe Zhang, Anthony Babu, Waleed Haider, and Robert Zhang!

Q: "Does your school really not have walls?" A: Listen to find out! In this episode of the Extemper's Bible Podcast, 2026 NCFL Champion Zoe Becker joins hosts Noori Choudhary and Marcel Chattopadhyay to discuss her tournament experience, reflect on her extemp career, and answer--begrudgingly--eye-opening questions about DC's "School Without Walls".

Only one tournament can successfully blend great food, psychological torture, and high-level extemp--no, it's not your local invitational--it's the MBA Extemp Round Robin!The MBA tournament brings together 16 of the nation's best extempers at the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Listen in as guests Aparna Iyer, Daphne Kalir-Starr, Rehan Buvvaji, Zoe Becker, and Rowan Seipp discuss the tournament experience and their extemp style with co-hosts Noori and Marcel. We hope you enjoy the February episode of the Extemper's Bible Podcast! Be on the look out for our March episode!

In this month's long, long awaited episode, champion of the 2025 Yale, Bronx, and Florida Blue Key Invitationals Al Zaidi returns to the podcast alongside co-hosts Noori and Marcel. Al discusses his recent success, extemp tips, and... hot takes? Listen up as we dive into the mind of one of the most successful competitors on the circuit, discussing everything from Sabrina Carpenter jokes to toxic extemp culture. We hope you enjoy the December/January episode of the Extemper's Bible Podcast! We apologize for the slow episode releases; we are back in full swing this month!

At this year's Yale Invitational, 105 Extempers competed for a spot in the final. Joining the podcast for this episode are 5 of the 6 finalists: Al Zaidi, Sophia Amundgaard, Aparna Iyer, Daphne Kalir-Starr, and Manuela Meija-Fanjul. Unfortunately, finalist Max Goldstein could not join us, but participated in spirit!Over the span of three eventful zoom calls, the 2025 finalists, along with co-hosts Noori and Marcel, reflected on the tournament, analyzed their final round questions, and shared plenty of laughs along the way.We hope you enjoy the September episode of the Extemper's Bible Podcast!

Inspired by her teammates, family, and... Fed Chair Jerome Powell? In this episode of the Extemper's Bible Podcast, Marcel interviews 2025 NSDA USX Runner-Up, Sofia Villagra. Sofia speaks on the NSDA Nationals experience, moments of growth, and shares her favorite Extemp memories. Special thanks to Sofia Villagra for the interview and Noori Choudhary for coordinating and preparing the questions!

An Unhinged Episode | NIETOC Champion Anwen WilliamsAnwen & Kate catch up about Extemp, discussing everything from crazy tournament stories to .. rerun octos rounds??Tune in to this interview with our NIETOC Champ and NCFL runner up!** Editor’s note — The Conversation is not a conservative news source, Kate was thinking of the Lowy Institute (generally rated as a center right biased source). The Conversation is generally rated as center to center-left.

Is it a bird? A plane? Nope, it’s just next year’s co-hosts, Noori and Marcel! Hailing from Pennsylvania, they’re both so excited to introduce themselves, in this very mindful episode. As the season turns to State tournaments, TOC’s, and Nationals, make sure you’re not just prepping speeches…but taking care of yourself :)Happy listening!

Bradley Wascher — epic high school & collegiate competitor, coach, and political expert — is here with Vasu & Kate!Tune in to hear Bradley’s takes on extemp, and how he’d “clean” up the circuit! (Get it, because his last name is WAS(C)HER? …he laughed at this title, I promise - Kate)Enjoy this expert interview!

Extemp may be getting too meta here at the Extemper’s Bible…Who? (Kate & Andrew Moffitt)What? (Doing an Interview)When? (Now!)Why? (Because we’re nerds!)How? (Press play and hear!)Tune in to hear your favorite host, Kate, with NIETOC Question Writer: Andrew Moffitt! As the ‘Extemp Guy’ himself, he’s got opinions on the circuit, equity, and extemp at large! Link to Andrew’s free weekly extemp questions!