Lost Debate

The Israel-Palestine conflict is immensely complicated, and almost everyone has an opinion about it. In this special episode, Ravi takes on the impossible task of trying to tell an unbiased history in order to understand where we are today. This episode is part two. Listen to Part One: An Unbiased History of Israel-Palestine (Part 1) Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-057...

As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third week and the Israeli military initiates a ground invasion in Gaza, Ravi and guest co-host Isaac Saul discuss Israel’s definition of success, what to make of the American left’s anti-Israel swing, and the lessons to learn from the Western media biases surrounding this conflict. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570 Sub...

Are claims that social media and technology have destroyed America warranted, or are flawed arguments driving the uproar around Big Tech? Rikki sits down with Robby Soave, author of "Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and the Future," to discuss how issues animating both the right and the left have led to today's tech and social media ecosystem and what to do about it. Leave us a voicemail...

The Israel-Palestine conflict is immensely complicated, and almost everyone has an opinion about it. In this special episode, Ravi takes on the impossible task of trying to tell an unbiased history in order to understand where we are today. This episode is part one. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570 Subscribe to our feed on Spotify: http://bitly.ws/zC9K Subscribe to...

Why are some rural communities so deeply disadvantaged? Ravi sits down with Professor Luke Schaefer to discuss his new co-authored book, “The Injustice of Place,” which examines America's impoverished rural areas and reveals surprising realities. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570 Subscribe to our feed on Spotify: http://bitly.ws/zC9K Subscribe to our YouTube channel...

In this special episode, Rikki Schlott is joined by her co-author Greg Lukianoff to discuss their groundbreaking new book, “The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All―But There Is a Solution”. Learn more about the book here: The Canceling of the American Mind Greg Lukianoff is a free speech advocate, first-amendment attorney, and president of the Found...

The Supreme Court effectively eliminated affirmative action in higher education this June with their rulings in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC. Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk Gersen sits down with Ravi to discuss college admissions in a post-affirmative action world and how colleges and universities will work to ensure they continue to enroll diverse student bodies. Leave us a voicemail...

Yascha Mounk sits down with Ravi to discuss his new book, “The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time.” Yascha and Ravi explore the origins of “wokeness,” how its limitations have influenced the political and cultural transformations of the last decade, and whether universal, humanist values are the true remedy for the country’s injustices. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on...

Failed cryptocurrency founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial kicked off this week. Rikki and guest co-host Isaac Saul explain what you need to know about the case and what we can expect from the proceedings. Many congressional Democrats have called for New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez to resign after being indicted on federal bribery charges in September. Is this the right move? Finally, the ho...

Populace CEO Todd Rose returns to Lost Debate to discuss his think tank’s latest study on what Americans want out of life. Todd and Ravi explore the study’s findings, what constitutes a successful life, and why Americans are profoundly wrong about how their fellow Americans define success and the American Dream. Read the full study here: Success Index: Misunderstanding the American Dream Leave us...

The GOP presidential candidates took to the debate stage for a second time last night. Were any of them able to escape former president Donald Trump’s shadow? Rikki and Ravi sort through the substance of the discussion and take stock of the night’s winners and losers. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a new proposal to combat the city’s fentanyl epidemic: mandatory drug testing for welfar...

Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research, which is run by prominent scholar, activist, and author Ibram X. Kendi, announced it will scale back operations amid allegations of poor management. Are Kendi’s ideas to blame? The fallout continues for Russell Brand after claims of sexual assault and rape became public earlier this month. YouTube has demonetized his videos, the BBC has removed s...

Rikki is joined by guest co-host Isaac Saul, founder and author of the popular newsletter Tangle. The rise of candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert Kennedy Jr. has shaken both Republican and Democrat establishments’ expectations for the upcoming election cycle. Rikki and Isaac discuss how their candidacies could shape the presidential race. Citing “It's time for a new generation of leaders”,...

The UAW joined the Summer of Strikes last week in an effort to push Detroit’s three major automakers to raise wages. The hosts discuss what makes this strike different from the others and how this wave of strikes could alter the labor landscape. A school principal has taken an unconventional approach to anonymous social media accounts. Ravi and Rikki debate the move and suggest other solutions to...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden this week. Will the GOP find evidence of wrongdoing, or is this a last-ditch effort by McCarthy to convince members of his party to pass pending spending bills and help avoid a government shutdown? Tech titans like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates have descended on Capitol Hill for a closed-door m...

Ravi interviews Jamie Hodari, the founder of Industrious, one of the world’s largest flexible workspace providers. Ravi and Jamie discuss a sustainable path for startups in the era of VC money, the future of office work, and some wild run-ins with WeWork’s Adam Neumann. New episodes of Sweat the Technique drop every Wednesday here. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570...

The hosts kick off today’s show with a round-up of the latest immigration updates, from August’s record-high number of border crossings and a new ruling on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s floating border barrier in Rio Grande to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ latest proclamation that the migrant crisis will destroy his city. Should students be able to attend virtual reality schools? Ravi and Rikki t...

Is there a massive spike in “sextortion” among teenagers in America? Ravi and Rikki discuss what sextortion is, why more people should be aware of the signs, and what the numbers tell us. Many experts predict that our global population will never again be as high as it is now. The hosts take stock of the reasons behind an impending population decline and the profound economic consequences. Finally...

New York City’s guaranteed medical coverage for every active and retired city worker has served as a major selling point over the past 57 years for people who would otherwise choose jobs with higher wages and lower stress. In a city where over 70,000 retirees survive on pensions of less than $1,500 a month, retired or disabled workers have relied upon the city’s promise to cover 100% of their medi...

Ravi is joined by guest co-host Isaac Saul, founder and author of the popular newsletter Tangle. More eyes are on Vivek Ramaswamy and his populist brand of politics after a breakout performance in last week’s Republican primary debate. Ravi and Isaac break down the true meaning of the term, explore the disconnect between so-called populist leaders and ‘ordinary’ Americans, and whether this strateg...

Four GOP candidates pledged to abolish the U.S. Department of Education during last week’s presidential primary debate. Rikki and Ravi debate the candidate’s arguments, the current state of the department, and the future of the federal government’s role in K-12 education. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee convened a special legislative session on public safety after a school shooter killed six people in...

With front-runner Donald Trump skipping the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate, eight candidates brawled for second-place status last night. Who came out the best? Who had a bad night? And did we even learn anything new? There is a childcare crisis in America. And, billions in federal subsidies for childcare providers are set to run out September 30th, leading to some calling a “chi...

The first Republican primary debate is tomorrow. Ravi and Rikki take stock of who’s in, who’s out, and predict the winners and losers. In a new piece in The Atlantic, David Brooks asked why Americans have become so mean. Is he right? The hosts debate this question and what we should do about what Brooks calls a “morally inarticulate, self-referential world”. Finally, Rikki and Ravi take stock of t...

Ravi interviews Richard Kahlenberg for a special episode about America’s housing crisis, the challenges that caused it, and what we can do to fix it. Kahlenberg is a housing and education expert and author of “Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See.” Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570 Subscribe to our feed on Spotify: http://...

A Georgia grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies last night, alleging felony racketeering among other conspiracy charges. Ravi breaks down the investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, everything you need to know about the 41-count indictment, and shares five key takeaways. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on...