Ravi 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: [email protected]

–––––––

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/ 

Dating 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

What 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:

–––––––––

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/

New 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/ 

Everything 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/ 

How 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/ 

What 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/⁠⁠ 

Ravi 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/⁠ 

What if everything you’ve been told about recessions is wrong? On this episode, Ravi Gupta sits down with economist Tyler Goodspeed to challenge the classic “boom and bust” narrative—arguing that downturns aren’t inevitable consequences of excess, but the result of unpredictable shocks like energy crises, policy mistakes, or global events. Drawing on data stretching back to the 1700s, Tyler makes the case: “economic expansions don’t die of old age—they’re murdered”—and that trying to time the next crash may be a losing game. It’s a sharp, perspective-shifting conversation that reframes how the economy actually works—and what truly puts it at risk.

Tyler Goodspeed’s Recession

-----------

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/ 

Ravi sits down with legendary music biographer Bob Spitz, who pulls back the curtain on rock’s biggest icons and the forces that made them endure. From secret blues records on military bases to the calculated creation of the “anti-Beatles,” they unpack the hidden strategy behind the Rolling Stones’ rise. The conversation dives into chaos—addiction, ego, death, and disaster—and asks how the Stones survived what destroyed everyone else. A sharp, unvarnished look at what it takes to become—and remain—arguably the greatest rock band in the world.

Bob Spitz’s The Rolling Stones

____________

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/