{"podcast":{"title":"Lost Debate","slug":"lost-debate-4428349","podcast_index_feed_id":4428349,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LDI5758173977","website_url":"https://thebranchmedia.org/show/lost-debate/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/99126e94-2b74-11ec-972d-d3c180841fe4/image/c83aab1ee471dc48641f99e9bda558da.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Branch","episode_count":455,"summary":"Lost Debate is a weekly podcast from The Branch that brings you news, ideas, and arguments from around the political spectrum. We engage in the good-faith discussions that too much of our society and media miss. It's hosted by Ravi Gupta, a former Obama staffer turned school principal.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-25T02:21:32.886152+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-debate-4428349"},"episode":{"title":"The $40 Billion Money Pit","slug":"the-40-billion-money-pit","published_at":"2026-05-27T22:11:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-debate-4428349/the-40-billion-money-pit","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-debate-4428349","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/LDI1219240690.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/LDI1219240690.mp3","summary":"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/","meta_description":"New York City spends over $40,000 per student — more than almost anywhere in America — yet its schools deliver painfully average results while enrollment…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2429,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lost-debate-4428349/episodes/the-40-billion-money-pit/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-debate-4428349/the-40-billion-money-pit.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}