Author: The Branch

Ravi sits down with Steven Wilson, founder of Ascend Charter Schools, for a candid conversation about his new book, The Lost Decade, and the current state of education reform. They discuss Steven’s controversial exit from Ascend and then step back to take a broader look at how DEI orthodoxy and anti-racist ideology have reshaped education reform.

Steven and Ravi reflect on what’s changed in schools over the past decade, exploring the tension between pushing for academic excellence and navigating a fast-changing cultural and political landscape. They also unpack what it means to build school cultures that are both rigorous and inclusive, the role funders play in defining priorities, and why it’s more important than ever to have honest, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations about the future of education.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Journalist Bridget Read joins Ravi to explore the dark side of multi-level marketing schemes - and why they’re more dangerous and widespread than most people realize. In her new book Little Bosses Everywhere, Read breaks down how these so-called business opportunities often lure in vulnerable people, turning dreams of entrepreneurship into financial traps. Ravi and Bridget discuss why MLMs thrive despite dismal success rates, how they’ve reshaped American society, and what they reveal about the American obsession with hustle culture and belonging.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Ravi kicks off the episode with a blistering critique of the Trump administration’s trade policy chaos, highlighting the economic contradictions, recession risks, and growing corruption tied to foreign investments and crypto schemes. He also addresses the new reports on Senator John Fetterman’s health and why it’s time for leaders to respond to questions about his ability to serve.

Ravi then shifts gears to sit down with former U.S. Secretary of Education and current SUNY Chancellor John King for a wide-ranging conversation on public education in America and John’s new book, Teacher by Teacher. John reflects on how his childhood shaped his passion for education and what he’s learned from serving as a teacher, principal, school founder, policy leader, cabinet member under President Obama, and now as the head of the country’s largest state university system. They discuss what’s gone wrong in education reform, what still works, and why public schools remain worth fighting for.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and surfer William Finnegan joins Ravi for a wide-ranging conversation on surfing, storytelling, and the pursuit of mastery. They unpack Barbarian Days and how a lifetime of chasing waves has shaped Bill’s understanding of fear, discipline, and identity. They then turn to the tension between purity and accessibility in surfing and how innovations like wave pools can reflect broader social shifts. They also dig into what it means to be an adult learner in a youth-dominated sport and whether surfing’s soul can survive its growing commercialization. 

Bill and Ravi then turn to Bill’s storied career at The New Yorker and discuss the evolving economics of journalism and the practical realities of building a writing life in today’s digital world. They explore how a new generation of writers and athletes, who’ve never seen the world before the internet, can still find meaning off the beaten path. Finally, they reflect on what it means to fully commit to a craft.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Ravi dives into the breaking news of the day, from the Trump administration’s continued attacks on due process and the political meddling at the Fed that could tank the economy, to the latest federal funding threats facing universities.

He then sits down with Dana Goldstein of The New York Times to unpack the Trump administration’s aggressive intervention in K-12 education, from targeting DEI efforts to threatening Title I funding and issue vague policies around civil rights law. They explore why it’s caused conservatives to flip the script on federal overreach and invoke Brown v. Board to justify crackdowns on local initiatives. Finally, they take a closer look at the rise of Education Savings Accounts, the politics of school choice, and the aftershocks both parties may face from these rapidly evolving education policies.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

The Branch is nominated for a Webby! Vote for Killing Justice for Best Partnership/Collaboration: https://bit.ly/killingjustice

What happens when the president of the United States defies a 9-0 Supreme Court ruling? Ravi is joined by The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker to take a closer look at the case of Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man stripped of due process and deported to a Salvadoran prison, and the chilling implications the case may have for immigrants and American citizens more broadly.

They then turn to the Trump administration’s escalating campaign of retribution, targeting law firms, universities, and student protestors, and how it’s reshaping who can speak, work, and fight back in America. Finally Ravi and Isaac discuss whether the constitutional crisis many warned about has already arrived.

The Branch is nominated for a Webby! Vote for us:

• Killing Justice (Best Partnership/Collaboration): https://bit.ly/killingjustice

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

As Trump’s sweeping tariffs continue to spark chaos and backlash nationwide, Ravi delivers a blistering breakdown of the administration’s latest moves and the economic risks they’ve created. He challenges the populist rhetoric behind the trade war, exposes the political theater driving the latest policies, and explains what Trump’s getting wrong about jobs, immigration, and manufacturing.

Then, Richard Kahlenberg returns to the pod to discuss his new book, Class Matters. Ravi and Richard examine what’s changed - and what hasn’t - since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action. They also talk about the role of legacy admissions, the case for class-based college admissions, and what a more equitable future for higher education could look like.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

The Branch is nominated for three Webbys! Vote for us:

• Fights in the Forgotten Borough (Best Limited Series, News and Politics): https://bit.ly/thebranchwebbys
• Killing Justice (Best Limited Series, Crime and Justice): https://bit.ly/WebbysKillingJustice
• Killing Justice (Best Partnership/Collaboration): https://bit.ly/killingjustice

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Ravi dives into the history and resurgence of tariffs in American politics with economic historian Phil Magness. From the Hamilton-Jefferson debates to the possible implications of Trump’s proposed tariffs, Ravi and Phil explore the complexities of tariffs as both economic tools and political weapons, how these policies have shaped America’s past, and what their resurgence means for the future.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ravimgupta

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

President Trump just announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, sending markets tumbling and economists into a frenzy. Ravi breaks down what the news means for the economy, the political implications, and what to make of the eerie silence from former GOP free traders.

Then, Ravi is joined by Sam Ashworth to talk about his debut novel The Death and Life of August Sweeney, a gripping story that blends fame, fine dining, and forensics. They unpack the misunderstood world of autopsies, question the myths fed to us by pop culture, and examine the medical field’s quiet move away from the practice. Sam also shares stories from his time in Michelin-starred kitchens and how that intense world helped shape the novel.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Learn more about Ravi's novel and upcoming events: GARBAGE TOWN

---

Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta

Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia

Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Lost Debate is available on the following platforms: 

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate

• Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

• iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate