Nightlife 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 Willetts takes us through the history of nightlife, uncovering how outsiders transformed forgotten spaces into engines of art and rebellion. She explains why the best scenes thrive in moments of upheaval, why popularity often destroys them, and how smartphones have shattered the anonymity that once made the night feel free. Where will the next great youth movement take shape—or have modern culture and technology made one impossible? Imogen Willetts ◾ Buy Up All Night: A World History of Night Life ◾ Follow Imogen ◾ Learn more about Imogen Find Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia More on Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

One 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 grief into a new community project, "The Book of Ordinary Lives,” honoring everyday people with the kind of thoughtful obituaries usually reserved for the famous. Then he digs into the “Democratic establishment” that calls itself insurgent while promoting candidates wildly out of step with working-class voters—and dodging accountability when they fail. Republicans don’t get a pass either, especially when their leaders preach about protecting women and children while standing by members facing terrible allegations of abuse. ––––––––––– Find show notes - ⁠https://thelostdebate.substack.com/⁠ Find Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Find Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book, The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

The 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 and science fiction are real—and already for sale. He takes Ravi inside the race to build machines that can walk, learn, fold laundry, and potentially transform the global workforce. But their bodies are advancing faster than their brains, and teaching them basic human skills requires staggering amounts of data. Could putting more robots into the world make them all smarter—and are we ready to welcome them into our homes? ––––––– Stephen Witt’s book The Thinking Machine Find Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Find Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

Ravi 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 question: what kind of global leadership should America stand for? They separate political rhetoric from the evidence, then turn to artificial intelligence—exploring how AI is reshaping politics, jobs, and elections, and why neither party seems ready for what's coming. A thoughtful conversation about two of the biggest debates shaping America's future. The Argument⁠ –––––––– FInd Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Find Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi - https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

The fallout from the Graham Platner scandal is exposing deeper problems inside the Democratic Party. Ravi examines how influential podcasts, political insiders, and media figures elevated flawed candidates while sidestepping accountability when they got it wrong. He introduces what he calls "slopulism"—a style of politics driven by viral messaging, impossible promises, and moral certainty—and asks why a movement that claims to represent the working class is largely led and powered by highly educated professionals rather than working-class Americans. The question is: what kind of party are Democrats becoming, and can they still build a coalition that wins elections? –––––––– Find Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Find Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

Breaking news has upended one of the Democratic Party's highest-profile Senate campaigns. After reports of rape allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, Ravi Gupta explains why he publicly questioned Platner's credibility weeks ago—and why he believes this story is about much more than one candidate. Who elevated Platner? Why were the warning signs dismissed? And what responsibility do the media figures, podcasters, and Democratic insiders who championed him bear now that his campaign is unraveling? Ravi's The Wall Street Journal piece: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/meet-the-political-bosses-who-brought-you-graham-platner-4413bfb0 -------- Find Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Find Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

Who 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, and the fight over who the party's true "establishment" is. They explore whether the Democratic Party has drifted away from Barack Obama's vision of broad coalitions and respectful disagreement—and toward a more Trump-like style of politics driven by loyalty tests, online personalities, and ideological conformity. Are Democrats building a movement that can win elections—or repeating the very mistakes they once criticized? Lost Debate ◾Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ◾Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ◾Follow us - @thebranchmedia Ravi Gupta ◾Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi- https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/

Why 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 influence, protect ineffective workers, and make it difficult to reward excellence. They explore how a small number of poor performers can have an outsized impact on schools, policing, and public trust, and examine what states that have successfully reformed these systems are doing differently.  –––––––– Nick and Robert's recent piece in The Argument:  https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/democrats-should-fire-bad-teachers Lost Debate ▪️Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@LostDebate ▪️Get show notes and email updates - https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ ▪️Follow us - @thebranchmedia Ravi Gupta ◾ Pre-Order Ravi’s new book The Invisible List -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/ ◾Join the Invisible Posse -  https://readinvisiblelist.com/posse ◾Read Ravi’s Substack - https://realravigupta.substack.com  ◾Follow Ravi - https://www.instagram.com/ravimgupta/ Host: Ravi Gupta Guests: Nicholas Bagley and Robert Gordon

Andrew 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, and billions of views lies a disturbing trail of allegations, court cases, leaked messages, and accusations of abuse spanning multiple countries. In this conversation, New Yorker reporter Heidi Blake takes us inside her months-long investigation into Tate's empire, the women who say they were harmed, and the political forces that helped elevate him. It's a chilling look at influence, accountability, and the question of who, if anyone, will stop him. Heidi Blake’s piece,  Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse (New Yorker, June 2026) _______ 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/

What 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 fascinating frontiers: the next generation of engineered psychedelics and the rise of AI-powered surveillance devices that can remember everything. They discuss whether scientists can design specific emotional states on demand, how psychedelics may transform medicine, and why a growing number of people are carrying AI assistants that record their daily lives. The conversation raises a deeper question: as technology gives us more control over our minds and memories, what might we lose in the process? –––––– 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/