The Mississippi Miracle

The Mississippi Miracle

From Lost Debate by The Branch

May 13, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

This episode explores how Mississippi transformed its education system, featuring insights from education reformer Rachel Canter.

How 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 Rachel Canter joins Ravi Gupta to unpack the “Mississippi Miracle” — the controversial policies, hard choices, and cultural shifts that transformed student outcomes against all odds. They explore why Mississippi’s success challenges assumptions across the political spectrum — and what the rest of the country may be getting wrong about education. Ravi's recent piece on Hasan Piker Rachel Canter’s Atlantic piece and full report on the Mississippi Miracle ––––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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…

People in this episode

Host: Ravi Gupta

Guest: Rachel Canter

Topics covered

  • education reform
  • Mississippi Miracle
  • student outcomes
  • political assumptions
  • cultural shifts

Keywords

  • Mississippi
  • education reform
  • student outcomes
  • cultural shifts
  • political spectrum

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Branch

Books & works: Hasan Piker, Atlantic

Places: Mississippi, America

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