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Notes -
Being a lawyer is not magic.
Nobody here is going to be impressed if @ymeskhout tries to win on a technicality instead of the substance of the issue. Moreover, if he did act in some kind of unreasonable procedural way, it’s going to decrease anyone ever being willing to go on the podcast, which is against his demonstrated preferences.
But you can try to lay the grounds for the excuse that anyone debating an issue with him and doing poorly is because of legal superpowers and not on the merits.
Or you can propose a different format. Or find a lawyer who holds the relevant beliefs I guess.
Debate skills let you win in a good-sounding way, not in a procedural way. You say something and your opponent can't respond, or you demolish something your opponent says. You may really have said something with a subtle flaw that your opponent didn't pick up on, and you "demolished" your opponent through bad reasoning, but your debate skills will make it look good for the audience.
As someone who spent a little time in high school debate I assure you this is not true by default.
We, as an audience, are not typical. Just look at the numerous essays worrying about lawyerly superpowers in painfully intricate details.
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