About this podcast
For the politically eclectic.
A weekly show exploring news, ideas, and arguments from across the political spectrum through good-faith conversation. Hosted by Ravi Gupta.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 461 episodes
- Is Trump rethinking immigration? · 41 minIs Trump ready to make a deal on immigration, or double down on mass deportations? The Economist's Aryn Braun joins Ravi to unpack the mixed signals: talk of a deal on 60 Minutes…
- America Sends Trump a Message · 39 minA Democratic landslide has upended American politics—and handed the party a new test. Ravi breaks down the stunning results, from Texas to Kansas, and why pollsters…
- The Most Important Educator in America · 56 minPoverty doesn’t have to limit a child’s education—and Eva Moskowitz built Success Academy to prove it. Ravi sits down with the charter school network’s founder to explore how her…
- Is France Our Future? · 36 minWhat happens when a government promises more than it can afford—and voters reject the changes needed to sustain it? Ravi examines France’s unrest, tracing the tensions between…
- The Dark History of School Abuse · 47 minNearly 2,000 claims of child sexual abuse reveal a devastating pattern: schools protecting adults while failing children. Ravi sits down with The 74’s investigative reporter…
- The Problem with Nikole Hannah-Jones · 1 h 15 minNikole Hannah-Jones’s essay about her daughter’s education has reignited the debate over school integration and parental choice. But are we learning the right lessons? Drawing on…
- Nikole Hannah-Jones, WH Press Ban, Ed Sheeran · 50 minRavi is joined by Jeremiah, host of the New Liberal podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with the seemingly endless things people blame on capitalism. Then they…
- The Skillbatical · 12 minTo celebrate the launch of his new book, The Invisible List, Ravi shares an audiobook excerpt about his “skill sabbatical” learning to surf—an exhilarating, difficult, and at…
- Will AI Lead to Socialism? · 53 minAs AI becomes capable of doing more of the work once reserved for highly educated people, could it push society toward socialism? Labor lawyer and policy thinker Matt Bruenig…
- Did Al-Qaeda lose? · 41 minWho was Osama bin Laden—and what did he believe attacking America would accomplish? Journalist Graeme Wood explores how the son of a wealthy Saudi construction magnate became…
- Negative Immigration, Trump on Data Centers, Alpha Schools · 45 minRavi examines the economic consequences of Trump’s immigration crackdown as net migration turns negative and labor shortages ripple across the country. He also unpacks Trump’s…
- The Future of AI and Education (with Reed Hastings) · 1 h 18 minWho can best help children learn—AI or humans? In this special episode shared on behalf of Bellwether, a nonprofit transforming education for young people, Netflix co-founder…
- Primary Takeaways + Free Speech & Boycotts · 58 minRavi Gupta unpacks a volatile primary season, where ideological insurgents are gaining ground, independents are being sidelined, and both parties’ youngest voters appear…
- What We Did in the Shadows · 45 minNightlife gave us jazz, disco, techno, and entire cultural revolutions. From the courtesan districts of 17th-century Japan to the ruins of postwar Berlin, historian Imogen…
- Are Dems Serious About Winning? · 41 minOne ruptured bicep, two heartbreaking losses, and a week of political madness leave Ravi reflecting on health, grief, and what it really means to help people. He channels that…
- Humanoid Robots Are Coming · 30 minThe robot you imagined as a kid is now something you can actually own. On today’s episode, New Yorker writer Stephen Witt reveals that the humanoid robots of childhood cartoons…
- Musk’s Legacy + The Politics of AI · 1 h 9 minRavi Gupta sits down with The Argument's Kobe Yank-Jacobs for a conversation that begins with Elon Musk, USAID, and the politics of accountability before expanding into a bigger…
- Slopulists · 45 minThe fallout from the Graham Platner scandal is exposing deeper problems inside the Democratic Party. Ravi examines how influential podcasts, political insiders, and media…
- FRAUD SAVE AMERICA · 16 minBreaking news has upended one of the Democratic Party's highest-profile Senate campaigns. After reports of rape allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner…
- The Democrats Are Risking It All · 53 minWho really runs the Democratic Party today? Ravi sits down with Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, to discuss the rise of online influencers, ideological purity tests…
- Fire Bad Teachers and Bad Cops · 46 minWhy is it so hard to fire bad teachers and bad cops? Ravi sits down with Robert Gordon and Nick Bagley to discuss the problems with public sector unions—how they use political…
- How Andrew Tate Gets Away With It · 47 minAndrew Tate became one of the most influential figures on the internet by selling young men a vision of power, wealth, and masculinity. But behind the viral clips, luxury cars…
- A New Wave of Psychedelics · 30 minWhat happens when technology starts reshaping the human mind—and recording every moment of our lives? Ravi Gupta sits down with Atlantic staff writer Ross Andersen to explore two…
- How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi · 48 minBritain was once one of the world’s economic success stories. Today, parts of the UK are no richer than Mississippi. Atlantic staff writer Idrees Kahloon joins Ravi Gupta to…
- The Case for Constraints · 53 minWhy 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…
- An Optimist’s Guide to Investing · 43 minRavi 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…
- Will Platner Cost Dems the Senate? · 40 minRavi Gupta examines the growing scandals surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, from newly revealed sexting allegations to controversial past comments and mounting…
- The Case Against Dating Apps · 53 minDating apps promised to make finding love easier. Instead, many people feel more disconnected, discouraged, and lonely than ever. Ravi sits down with relationship coach…
- Eight Years in the Making · 6 minWhat 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…
- The $40 Billion Money Pit · 40 minNew 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…
- Surprising Truths about Sex and Relationships · 53 minEverything 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…
- The Mississippi Miracle · 52 minHow 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…
- What if the Iran War Never Ends? · 43 minWhat 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…
- Grading Mamdani · 54 minRavi 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…
- Can You Predict a Recession? · 47 minWhat 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”…
- Nobody Lasts That Long · 1 h 2 minRavi 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…
- Cuba Libre? · 52 minWhen Ravi Gupta was a struggling high school student, he pulled Jon Lee Anderson’s biography of Che Guevara off his mom’s bookshelf—and it became the first book that truly…
- Iran Ceasefire, Hasan Piker · 46 minRavi Gupta breaks down what he sees as a major U.S. loss in Iran, arguing that Trump’s threats and ceasefire ultimately left Iran with more power and America with less. He also…
- How to Make and Lose a Million Dollars · 1 h 6 minRavi Gupta sits down with Alexander Hurst, author of Generation Desperation, to unpack his journey from $300 to over $1 million—and the identity he built around the life that…
- Iran Quagmire + AI Politics · 50 minWhat happens when Americans fear AI more than Trump, ICE, or either political party? In this provocative conversation, Catherine Bracy joins Ravi to unpack why voters are deeply…
- The People vs. AI · 48 minIn this episode, Ravi Gupta talks with Time’s Andrew Chow about an unlikely coalition rising up against AI — from MAGA-aligned tech skeptics to democratic socialists pushing for…
- The Openclaw Revolution · 37 minAI is shifting from something you prompt to something that can proactively work for you. Ravi Gupta sits down with technologist Michael Simon to unpack OpenClaw—an open-source…
- Wacky Economy, Epstein Fallout, Our Elders · 1 h 15 minRavi Gupta examines new data challenging the idea of a strong economic recovery and connects the week’s biggest political and cultural stories—from deficits, tariffs, and the…
- More Epstein Revelations · 25 minRavi breaks down the week’s most important stories. He examines what’s wrong with the Epstein file release—and what it reveals about elite culture, status addiction, and moral…
- Pretti Killing, ICE Impunity, NVIDIA Dominance · 1 h 19 minRavi begins by explaining why this conversation matters to him: although he’s often skeptical of tech leaders, he sees Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as a rare and genuinely…
- The Moral Cost of Phones · 46 minRavi sits down with journalist Nick Niarchos, author of The Elements of Power, to expose the hidden human and geopolitical costs behind the batteries powering our phones and…
- Minnesota, Powell, MAGA Intellectuals · 1 h 12 minRavi opens by running through a turbulent week: the Minnesota ICE shooting, concerns about escalating federal power, and the DOJ’s reported probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s…
- Venezuela, Bari Weiss, State Censorship · 50 minThe U.S. just carried out a stunning strike in Venezuela—capturing Nicolás Maduro—and Ravi argues the hard part isn’t the raid, but the chaos, precedent, and “what happens next,”…
- The End of Culture · 57 minRavi sits down with cultural critic W. David Marx (author of Blank Space) to ask a simple question: if there’s more music, TV, and art than ever, why does culture feel so… stuck?…
- Are We Getting Stupider? · 44 minAre We Getting Stupider? Andrew Rice joins The Lost Debate to ask an uncomfortable question: why are America’s schools getting worse—even in places that claim to care most about…
