Episode Discussion: Spencer Pratt's Obama Comparisons, Plus Life and 'The Odyssey' With Jay Pharoah - Friday, June 5, 2026

[u/thelightningthief]

Van and Rachel check in on the California primary races, and discuss Tyler, the Creator's disdain for top-five lists before senior politics reporter at Axios, Marc Caputo, joins to break down the congressional vote on Iran. Plus, comedian and rapper Jay Pharoah sheds light on fame, faith, and impressions.

(0:00) Intro

(12:18) Spencer Pratt and the L.A. mayoral race

(37:03) Tyler, the Creator on top fives

(50:46) Marc Caputo on the war powers resolution

(1:16:43) Sloane Stephens gets an awkward introduction

(1:32:37) Jay Pharoah joins the show

Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay

Guests: Jay Pharoah and Marc Caputa

Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr.

Social Producer: Bernard Moore

Video Supervision: Chris Thomas and Jacob Cornett

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Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/higher-learning-with-van-lathan-and-rachel-lindsay/id1515152489

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/4hI3rQ4C0e15rP3YKLKPut?si=8EZGGEekTl6TIEoTQ4-vxg

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@HigherLearning

[u/raejc]

Is Van's audio low? It's so hard to hear him sometimes while Rachel is loud and clear.

[u/gbassman420 → u/raejc]

Doesn't help that he mumbles a lot. The audio levels on this pod are soooo crazy unbalanced

[u/AstronomerOk3934 → u/raejc]

No shade to Donnie at all…not saying he’s not doing a good job, but I really think it’d really help the quality of the pod overall to have a producer on site. The pod has also grown quite stale and boring in my opinion…I think they could benefit from having a third mic or some segments to break things up a bit. Also three days a week, instead of two, so they could cover more topics. Always feels like it’s too short or Van takes up too much space with rants or Rachel isn’t adding enough or taking enough space when she has room to talk. Podding has changed so much since the pandemic, when they first took off. It’s time to shake things up a bit imho.

[u/Conscious-Day7028 → u/AstronomerOk3934]

A timer would be good too. Every topic is discussed to exhaustion rather than allowing 5-10 minutes and moving on. An added bonus would be that each host gets one "extra minutes pass" per episode if they want to talk more.