Finally got the kids to argue about the Cold War

Spent last night rewriting my unit on the Cold War so the final discussion starts with 'who blinked first?' instead of my usual lecture. First period went off the rails in the best way — a kid who never talks accused another of 'McCarthy brainwashing' and the whole class got louder than I've heard them all year. It's 5am and I'm still wired from it. That's the job, I guess: when the third sentence gets them arguing, you know you did something right.