Custom Repeater Template code in Ajax Load More plugin not compatible with PHP8 - repeater

Question

We are hosted by WP Engine, so I tested our dev site's compatibility with PHP8 to comply with the upcoming requirement, and ran into a problem. We have listing pages that are automatically generated using a custom coded repeater template within the Wordpress Ajax Load More plugin, in conjunction with ACF. I've picked through it line by line, but can't figure out what's causing the pages to break.
At first, when I tested PHP8 compatibility earlier this year, the repeater pages returned a fatal error. Now I get a partial listing on some, and just a Load More button on others, and the Load More button doesn't work in any instance.
Everything works just fine with PHP 7.4, FWIW.
Here is one of our listing pages for reference:
https://smartorg.com/resources/principles-strategic-portfolio-management/
Here is the custom code:
<?php
$article_link = get_permalink( $post->ID );
$article_time = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'length', TRUE);
$article_time = str_replace( array("min"), '', $article_time);
$article_type = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'type', TRUE);
$article_val = '';
$timer = 'min';
if($article_type == 'Article') {
$article_val = 'read';
$content = get_post_field( 'post_content', $post->ID );
$word_count = str_word_count( strip_tags( $content ) );
$Words = str_replace(' ', $word_count);
$readingtime = ceil($word_count / 280);
$timer = " min";
$totalreadingtime = $readingtime . $timer;
$article_time = $totalreadingtime;
} else if($article_type == 'Video') {
$article_val = $timer . ' watch';
} else if($article_type == 'Webinar') {
$article_val = $timer . ' watch';
} else if($article_type == 'Audio') {
$article_val = $timer . ' listen';
} else{
$article_val = '';
}
$category = get_the_category( $post->ID );
// echo $atts['is_archive'];
$yoast_meta = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), '_yoast_wpseo_metadesc', true);
if ($yoast_meta) {
$meta = $yoast_meta;
} else{
$meta = '';
}
?>
<div class="pm-main-cont">
<div class="pm-col-1">
<div class="pm-red-box"></div>
<div class="pm-article-img">
<a href="<?php echo $article_link; ?>">
<?php $image = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id( $post->ID ), 'single-post-thumbnail' ); ?>
<img src='<?php echo $image[0]; ?>' alt="post thumbnail" />
</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="pm-col-2">
<div class="pm-article-content">
<h5><?php echo the_title(); ?></h5>
<!-- <p><?php echo the_excerpt(); ?></p> -->
<p><?php echo $meta; ?></p>
<p class="pm-time-type"><img src="http://smartorg.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/<?php echo $article_type; ?>.png" alt="<?php echo $article_type; ?>-icon" />
<span><?php
echo $article_time; ?>
<?php echo $article_val; ?>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>