Where the Schools Went
August 2025 marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina altered New Orleans forever. Much has been written about the storm’s destruction and the city’s long road to recovery. But tucked behind those headlines is another story. One that shaped the lives of thousands of children.
From The Branch in partnership with The 74 and MeidasTouch, Where the Schools Went is a five-part documentary series about what happened to the city’s schools after the levees broke, and how it led to the most radical education experiment in modern American history.
HOSTS
Before launching The Branch, Ravi founded Arena, where he led a team that helped elect over 75 candidates and train over 1500 political operatives. He’s the co-founder and chair of Second Chance Studios, a media company that exclusively employs the formerly incarcerated, and serves as the co-host of Majority 54, a political podcast about talking to friends and family with different political beliefs. Before Arena, he was the founder and CEO of RePublic Schools, a network of charter schools in the South. He also held a number of roles on Obama’s first campaign and first term, including as assistant to David Axelrod and Susan Rice — where he was “a slightly more substantive version of Gary from Veep.” A native of Staten Island, he graduated from Yale Law School, where, unbeknownst to the faculty, he was a pioneer in the concept of remote schooling, and Binghamton University, where he received an excellent and reasonably priced education.
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Before launching The Branch, Ravi founded Arena, where he led a team that helped elect over 75 candidates and train over 1500 political operatives. He’s the co-founder and chair of Second Chance Studios, a media company that exclusively employs the formerly incarcerated, and serves as the co-host of Majority 54, a political podcast about talking to friends and family with different political beliefs. Before Arena, he was the founder and CEO of RePublic Schools, a network of charter schools in the South. He also held a number of roles on Obama’s first campaign and first term, including as assistant to David Axelrod and Susan Rice — where he was “a slightly more substantive version of Gary from Veep.” A native of Staten Island, he graduated from Yale Law School, where, unbeknownst to the faculty, he was a pioneer in the concept of remote schooling, and Binghamton University, where he received an excellent and reasonably priced education.
close
Before launching The Branch, Ravi founded Arena, where he led a team that helped elect over 75 candidates and train over 1500 political operatives. He’s the co-founder and chair of Second Chance Studios, a media company that exclusively employs the formerly incarcerated, and serves as the co-host of Majority 54, a political podcast about talking to friends and family with different political beliefs. Before Arena, he was the founder and CEO of RePublic Schools, a network of charter schools in the South. He also held a number of roles on Obama’s first campaign and first term, including as assistant to David Axelrod and Susan Rice — where he was “a slightly more substantive version of Gary from Veep.” A native of Staten Island, he graduated from Yale Law School, where, unbeknownst to the faculty, he was a pioneer in the concept of remote schooling, and Binghamton University, where he received an excellent and reasonably priced education.
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EPISODES
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