Podcast
Lost Debate
Hosted by The Branch · EN
Lost Debate is a weekly podcast from The Branch that brings you news, ideas, and arguments from around the political spectrum. We engage in the good-faith discussions that too much of our society and media miss. It's hosted by Ravi Gupta, a former Obama staffer turned school principal.
38episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Case for Constraints
Jun 1400:53:16Tap to summarizeWhy do constraints so often lead to better results? In this conversation, Ravi chats with bestselling author David Epstein, who explains how limitations can spark creativity, improve focus, strengthen decision-making, and drive innovation across writing, business, sports, and technology. Drawing on stories from Haruki Murakami, David Chang, Pixar, Amazon, and NASA, David argues that success comes from balancing exploration with focused execution. The lesson is counterintuitive but powerful: having fewer options is often what unlocks our greatest potential. ––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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An Optimist’s Guide to Investing
Jun 1000:43:23Tap to summarizeRavi sits down with financial writer and Animal Spirits co-host Ben Carlson to discuss investing, inflation, market psychology, and why long-term optimism still wins. From stock market crashes and recessions to AI, passive investing, retirement, and wealth building, Ben explains why trying to time the market often backfires—and what investors should do instead. They also explore today's biggest economic risks, from government debt and tariffs to tech concentration and speculative investing. If you're wondering how to build wealth in an uncertain world, this conversation offers a practical framework for staying invested and thinking long term. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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Will Platner Cost Dems the Senate?
Jun 500:39:54Tap to summarizeRavi Gupta examines the growing scandals surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, from newly revealed sexting allegations to controversial past comments and mounting questions about his character and judgment. He explores whether Platner's supporters—and the Democratic influencers and leaders who helped elevate him—are overlooking serious warning signs. With control of the Senate potentially on the line, Ravi asks whether Platner has become a political liability and what his rise says about the future of the Democratic Party. Pre-order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-List-Passion-Year-Every/dp/0593980859/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TKS6Y9B9VBMT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5LDAYpIV1QkF6qGXMXrOoA.RwdEWCV1lydW_PuYCdxwhLCv2L61Iu1CcRT9HDQXAxQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=ravi+gupta+invisible+list&qid=1780260764&sprefix=%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 Local: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-invisible-list-a-guide-to-conquering-deferred-dreams-ravi-gupta/cc0da5aa0e8c5bb9?ean=9780593980859&next=t Book website: https://readinvisiblelist.com/ Email pre-order receipts to: lauren@orangeboatmedia.com ––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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The Case Against Dating Apps
Jun 200:53:21Tap to summarizeDating apps promised to make finding love easier. Instead, many people feel more disconnected, discouraged, and lonely than ever. Ravi sits down with relationship coach, matchmaker, and founder of The Feels, Allie Hoffman, to explore why dating apps may be failing us, what we've lost by outsourcing connection to technology, and how real-world community can help us find our way back. Together, they unpack modern loneliness, the hidden costs of swipe culture, and the case for getting off the apps and into real life. Ravi's new book The Invisible List –––––––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F
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Eight Years in the Making
Jun 100:06:05Tap to summarizeWhat did you used to want to learn, make, or finish? Guitar. Spanish. Salsa. The novel you've been starting for a decade. We all carry an invisible list: the skills we wish we'd learned, the talents we wish we'd developed, and the dreams we meant to pursue. Most of us file that list away, telling ourselves we'll get back to it someday. Most of us never do. In this episode, Ravi Gupta shares the framework behind his new book, The Invisible List, why he believes it's never too late to start, and how you can pre-order the book and begin reclaiming the dreams you've deferred. ––––––––– To Pre-Order The Invisible List: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-List-Passion-Year-Every/dp/0593980859/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TKS6Y9B9VBMT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5LDAYpIV1QkF6qGXMXrOoA.RwdEWCV1lydW_PuYCdxwhLCv2L61Iu1CcRT9HDQXAxQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=ravi+gupta+invisible+list&qid=1780260764&sprefix=%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 Local: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-invisible-list-a-guide-to-conquering-deferred-dreams-ravi-gupta/cc0da5aa0e8c5bb9?ean=9780593980859&next=t Book website: https://readinvisiblelist.com/ Email pre-order receipts to: lauren@orangeboatmedia.com ––––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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The $40 Billion Money Pit
May 2700:40:29Tap to summarizeNew York City spends over $40,000 per student — more than almost anywhere in America — yet its schools deliver painfully average results while enrollment continues to collapse. Ravi sits down with journalist Marc Novicoff to unpack the exploding costs, shrinking classrooms, special education loopholes, and political dysfunction driving the crisis. They explore how billion-dollar programs, empty school buildings, and untouchable bureaucracy are reshaping public education in America’s largest city — and why almost nobody in power seems willing to confront it. _______________________ Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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Surprising Truths about Sex and Relationships
May 2000:53:18Tap to summarizeEverything we think we know about dating, sex, love, and marriage may only be half true. In this episode, Dr. Justin Garcia, director of the Kinsey Institute and author of The Intimate Animal, joins Ravi to unpack the hidden forces shaping modern relationships — from dating apps and Gen Z’s “sex recession” to infidelity, pornography, monogamy, and why so many Americans are single. Drawing on decades of research, they explore the gap between what people say they want and how relationships actually work. It’s a fascinating, surprising conversation about intimacy, trust, desire, and what it really means to find connection today. –––––––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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The Mississippi Miracle
May 1300:52:21Tap to summarizeHow did Mississippi — long seen as one of the worst states in America for education — become one of the fastest-improving in the country? In this episode, education reformer Rachel Canter joins Ravi Gupta to unpack the “Mississippi Miracle” — the controversial policies, hard choices, and cultural shifts that transformed student outcomes against all odds. They explore why Mississippi’s success challenges assumptions across the political spectrum — and what the rest of the country may be getting wrong about education. Ravi's recent piece on Hasan Piker Rachel Canter’s Atlantic piece and full report on the Mississippi Miracle ––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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What if the Iran War Never Ends?
May 600:42:48Tap to summarizeWhat if the Iran war never really ends—but instead settles into a dangerous, permanent limbo? In this episode, Ravi Gupta sits down with former Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer to unpack the confusing reality behind Trump’s Iran strategy, the collapse of diplomacy, and why the world may now be worse off than before the war began. Together, they revisit the Obama-era JCPOA nuclear deal, debate whether any future agreement is still possible, and explore how America’s shifting foreign policy has damaged trust with allies and adversaries alike. It’s a sobering conversation about war, power, diplomacy—and what happens when no one can clearly define what “winning” even means anymore. Jon’s podcast: The Long Game with Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer ____________ Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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Grading Mamdani
May 400:54:18Tap to summarizeRavi Gupta sits down with Bradley Tusk to break down New York City’s mounting budget crisis, a $6B deficit, and the tough choices facing Mayor Mamdani. They dig into the city’s $40B education system—why it spends more than anywhere else yet delivers mediocre results—and what real reform could look like. The conversation spans everything from union power and government inefficiency to housing, public safety, and the future of urban leadership. It’s a sharp, unfiltered look at whether Mamdani has the political courage to move beyond ideology and actually fix what’s broken. Bradley Tusk’s The Firewall Podcast ____________ Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084 Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
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