Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. It is hosted by journalist David Sirota and features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom. The show includes high-profile guest interviews and expert analysis on media and politics. It also presents ideas and opinions from sharp minds across those fields.
Episodes
The Left’s Election Day With Hasan Piker
It’s Election Day in America, and one of the biggest names this midterm election season isn’t on the ballot. To corporate Democrats’ and Republicans’ dismay, the massively popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has become a leading voice on the left.
For a special election episode of Lever Time, we’re sharing David Sirota’s recent interview with Piker, in which they explore the rise of the progressi
Introducing Conversations From The Frontlines: Real Talk, Real Change
Conversations From The Frontlines is a show about how social change actually happens - not just the issues making headlines, but the people organizing on the ground and doing the work to create lasting change. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Robert Reich Is Nauseously Optimistic About The Midterms
The midterm elections are just days away, and despite populist candidates surging in popularity across the country, corporate Democrats continue to insist that “Romney Republicans” are the key swing voters Democrats need to court, not the working class. Could they be correct? Or next week, will voters prove yet again that corporate Democrats are out of step with average Americans, and that their d
Angie Nixon’s Battle Cry Against Corporate Power
Last month, U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon, a member of the Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists of America, spoke at the nation’s largest annual conference of Black political power and called out one of the event’s corporate sponsors. Lever columnist Morgan Harper attended the conference and noticed that Nixon was not alone — after years of quietly accepting corporate cash, some Bl
Tim Walz Warns That Democrats Can Win And Still Lose
With the midterms less than a month away, some pundits and polls suggest Democrats have the election in the bag. But is that really true? David Sirota travels to Minnesota to speak with someone who knows the danger of election complacency and overconfidence: Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Today on Lever Time, we’re airing David Sirota’s full conversation with Walz. They discuss the choices that led to
The Elon Musk Film You Need To See Before The Midterms
Musk, a deep-dive investigative documentary about the world’s richest man, premieres this weekend, less than a month before the midterms. Maybe you haven’t heard about it — until recently, most major social media platforms declined to run paid promotions of the documentary’s trailer, citing rules on political content. What are Musk and Big Tech so afraid of?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits
Introducing “You Might Be Right:” Can We Trust What the Polls Say About the 2026 Midterms?
Today we’re sharing a special episode from You Might Be Right, the chart-topping politics podcast from the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee. It was recently named a “must-listen” by both NPR and Spotify.
Each episode, former Tennessee Governors from both sides of the aisle Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam tackle timely conversations about government and
How AI Could Wipe Out Our Brains Before Our Existence
Anthropic’s leaked IPO documents show the company had a net loss of $42 billion in 2025 and still insists that its technology could pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity.” It’s either the most honest risk disclosure or the most effective marketing scheme in corporate history. So which is it?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota explores a few less obvious AI risks — cognitive surrende
What’s Hiding In The Paramount Merger Settlement
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic attorneys general just settled their lawsuit blocking Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The merger is now set to create one of the world’s largest media companies and put CNN and CBS News under the control of David Ellison, son of billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison. Bonta says the settlement
What Tech Oligarchs Gain From AI Doomerism
The AI apocalypse is here, but it’s not what you think. Last week, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned online that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
The fallout sent shockwaves across the country — but how legitimate is Coxon’s warning? Should we fear AI agents going rogue and threatening humanity, or are these safety concer
Dan Osborn Knows Why Democrats Keep Losing Nebraska
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats almost two to one in Nebraska, and the few elected Democratic politicians in the state overwhelmingly lean conservative. But like the rest of the country, Nebraska is feeling the strain of soaring prices, data center buildouts, and Trump’s tariffs. Is the state ready for a change?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota visits rural Nebraska to meet Dan Osborn
How Troy Jackson Can Put Collins' Career On The Chopping Block
Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins (R) has won five elections in a row, and a Democrat has not won a United States Senate seat in the state since 1988 — but polls suggest Mainers have reached a breaking point. They’re tired of corruption and inaction from establishment politicians in Washington, D.C., and they’re clamoring for change.
Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who spent nearly two dec
The Billionaire Building Democrats’ New Machine
Earlier this month, a new Democratic machine scored a major victory in Connecticut. First-time congressional candidate Luke Bronin won his Democratic primary by a landslide, ousting 14-term progressive incumbent Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.). Bronin’s win is part of a larger, national push — funded by a secretive hedge fund manager — to elect more establishment-aligned Democrats. Who is this man pour
Master Plan S2 E6: Obama’s Kill List
This week on Lever Time, we’re featuring our newest episode of Master Plan: The Kingmakers.
In this episode, President Barack Obama vows to restore the rule of law after the War on Terror. But behind closed doors, his administration creates a new secret system that allows the president to decide who lives and who dies.
You can check out the full season of Master Plan: The Kingmakers here.&
This Bernie Organizer Is Coming For A “DeSantis Democrat”
Oliver Larkin spent a decade battling the Democratic Party’s campaign machine as an organizer for candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Now, in Florida’s Aug. 18 primary, he’s a democratic socialist going up against Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) — who once called himself a “twice-appointed, Ron DeSantis Democrat.”
Moskowitz claims Larkin is running against him “solely on my religion.
Big Money Lost To Abdul El-Sayed. Where Will It Go Next?
Michigan just proved that money has its limits in elections. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed beat out establishment sweetheart Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in what was likely the most expensive Democratic primary in U.S. history.
El-Sayed’s win was a major blow to the super PACs and shadowy nonprofits that spent tens of millions against him, but the story is far from over. AIPAC and its aff
He Left The GOP. Now He Has A Warning For Democrats.
Reed Galen was raised inside the Republican Party establishment, but in 2016, he left the party and later cofounded The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political action committee. Now he has a warning for the Democratic Party.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Galen to learn why the Democrats may be sleepwalking toward a dangerous point of no return.
Check out Reed’s Lever article,
Francesca Hong Wants To Be America’s First Socialist Governor
The Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor has gone haywire. Over the last week, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out amid a campaign finance scandal, and a candidate who had suspended his campaign, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, rejoined the race — immediately nabbing an influential endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. Meanwhile, state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, has su
We’re Still Living In The 2016 Election
Ten years ago this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ended his first presidential run and endorsed Hillary Clinton. Now, his chief strategist says the primary process was rigged.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Tad Devine, longtime political consultant and chief strategist for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. Devine reveals why he believes the Democratic National Committee ti
Abdul El-Sayed Isn’t Messing Around About Healthcare
Last week, The Lever’s David Sirota traveled to Michigan to meet with Democratic Senate candidate and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, who has become a political lightning rod as he campaigns in one of the country’s most consequential primaries.
Today on Lever Time, we’re airing Sirota’s exclusive interview with El-Sayed. Speaking at a coffee shop in Macomb County — the Michigan cou
What New York’s Socialists Know That Democrats Don’t
Candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept the state’s Democratic primaries this week, to the chagrin of corporate interests and party elite. Pundits are calling the political insurgency “Blue MAGA” or “the Democrats’ Tea Party,” but the group behind the victory already has a name — the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — and its grassroots strategy is paying off at the pol
Why Is Newsom Fighting California’s Billionaire Tax?
California voters are poised to vote on a one-time billionaire tax that would fund schools, food assistance, and Medicaid. Silicon Valley is spending big to keep the precedent-setting initiative off the November ballot, but the campaign's most powerful opponent isn’t a tech oligarch — it’s California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic power broker and potential presidential candidate.
Today on Le
The Movie Trope That Explains American Politics
Perhaps the key to understanding modern American politics isn't an academic think tank report, but instead rambunctious cult classic films, like Caddyshack and Animal House, that pit low-status underdogs against high-status bluebloods, preps, and jocks. In an essay for Politico, author Dan Brooks argues that movies like these hardwired Americans to root for the rude, rule-breaking outsiders over t
Hawaii Is Overthrowing Citizens United
Hawaii just enacted a groundbreaking law challenging Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that unleashed unlimited corporate spending in elections. It’s a major victory against big money’s grip on democracy — but powerful interests are already gearing up for a legal showdown.
On today’s Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Hawaii state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, one of the law’s architects,
The Spy Planes That Helped Jeffrey Epstein Take Off
Everyone knows Jeffrey Epstein as a sex trafficker who died in 2019. But Epstein’s story goes further back than most people realize — and includes surprising links to the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.
Today on Lever Time, producer Natalie Bettendorf speaks with Drop Site News journalist Murtaza Hussain about his investigation into Epstein's ties to Iran-Contra and how Epstein built his wealth
The Democratic Party’s New Dark Money Machine
It’s primary season, and powerful political forces within the Democratic Party are stomping into local races, trying to pick winners and losers. Today on Lever Time, we’re diving into The Lever’s exclusive investigation that exposed billionaires and party operatives pulling strings behind the scenes.
Then, David Sirota sits down with two Democratic candidates, Randy Villegas from California and
Will The Strait Of Hormuz Sink The American Empire? (With Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison)
Despite recent claims from President Donald Trump that the war in Iran has “terminated,” hundreds of ships are still stranded in the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the ceasefire has never fully taken hold. Meanwhile, gas prices keep climbing, shortages are spreading, and economic uncertainty is growing. Is this really Trump’s “best plan ever?”
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down
Graham Platner’s Revolution Hits The Road
David Sirota buckles up for a drive through rural Maine with the Senate candidate that the Democratic establishment doesn’t want — but can't afford to lose.
Just two days after Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of Maine’s U.S. Senate race, David Sirota hopped in a car with Graham Platner — the long-shot candidate who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee — for an unfiltered, on-the-road interview.
The Untouched Power That Could Stop The Iran War
Congress has the power to stop Trump’s unpopular war in Iran — but lawmakers have never used it before. Their excuse? An obscure immigration case from 1983. In this special episode, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded the powers of the president — and left Congress believing that it’s powerless to stop unauthorized
Tom Steyer Opposed Single-Payer Health Care. Now He’s Running On It.
Last week, California Democrats killed CalCare, a proposed single-payer health care bill. Will the state ever achieve its dream of universal health care?
Tom Steyer — a gubernatorial candidate who ran ads against single-payer health care in 2020 — says he is now the Golden State’s best bet. He also wants higher taxes for the rich, stronger environmental protections, and the abolition of ICE. The
Tax Day Could Be Easy. They’re Fighting To Make It Hard.
Tax Day sucks — confusing forms, piles of receipts, and expensive tax prep software. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A simple fix called return-free filing, proposed by Ronald Reagan decades ago, could save Americans millions of hours and billions of dollars. So who keeps shooting it down?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota traces the 40-year dogfight over your tax return.
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Why Is The AI Industry Afraid Of Alex Bores?
Right now, Big Tech is mobilizing a network of super PACs with more than $100 million in the bank to influence the 2026 midterm elections. Their number-one target? One of their own: a former Palantir engineer who's running for Congress in New York’s 12th District.
On this week's episode of Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with New York Assemblymember Alex Bores to find out exactly what he did t
Why Congress Won't Stop Hijacking Air Travel
Hours-long TSA lines, air traffic controller shortages, and skyrocketing flight prices. Deadly crashes, failing safety regulations, and international threats. There’s no doubt about it: U.S. air travel has been a hot mess in 2026. How did we hit such turbulence? And how does the current crisis tie into a decades-long master plan to hold airplane safety hostage for political gain?
Today on Lever T
Why Is The FBI Buying Your Location Data? (With Sen. Ron Wyden And Sean Vitka)
Earlier this month, FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that the FBI has been buying Americans’ location information from data brokers, sidestepping traditional warrant requirements.
Lawmakers like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have been on the front lines trying to ban this practice, but that requires reforming FISA Section 702, one of the country’s most powerful — and least understood — sur
How Did The President Gain The Powers Of A King?
This week on Lever Time, we’re sharing an excerpt from our investigative series Master Plan: The Kingmakers. In this new season of our award-winning podcast, David Sirota and our team of journalists expose the decades-long plot to turn the president into a king.
Visit MasterPlanPodcast.com to hear the full episode and subscribe to Master Plan: The Kingmakers.
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Did Iran Just Launch A Shadow War On American Soil? (With Shane Harris)
When American bombs dropped on Iran, a mysterious shortwave radio station began broadcasting a list of numbers in Farsi across the globe. Reminiscent of Cold War spy communications, the broadcast raises serious questions: Where is the broadcast coming from, and who is listening to it? Is Iran sending messages to terrorist sleeper cells in the United States? And how is the Trump administration addr
Who Sold America On The Iran War? (With Hooman Majd & Ryan Grim)
On February 28, the United States and Israel began bombing Iran — with no congressional declaration, public debate, or clear endgame. For those who grew up watching the Ayatollah cast as America’s original supervillain on the nightly news, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Donald Trump pitched the idea 46 years ago. We’ve been expecting this for decades. But why?
On today’s episode of Lever Time, Ir
The Court Disarmed Trump’s Tariff Weapon. Who Will Pay? (With Lori Wallach)
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal, striking a blow to his favorite geopolitical strategy. The decision could make it far harder for any president to wield tariffs as a weapon, but how will the ruling affect your wallet?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with trade expert Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the Americ
He Sent One Email. Then Federal Agents Came To His Door.
In October, a Philadelphia man emailed an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, criticizing a government policy. Hours later, federal agents and local police were banging on his door to interrogate him without a warrant. It feels like something out of a movie, but it's real.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with ACLU attorney Steve Loney to ask some big questions: How are
A Message From David Sirota About The Lever's Master Plan
An important message about the future of The Lever's Master Plan podcast, from our host, David Sirota.
Become A Paid Subscriber To The Lever
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Make A One-Time Donation
Order Our Companion Book, Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America
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When Disaster, Inc. Comes To Town (With Katya Schwenk)
In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, setting off a chemical disaster. Politicians and lawyers promised justice, and the railroad company swiftly settled for a historic $600 million.
Three years later, many victims haven’t seen a dime. Where did all that money go?
Today on Lever Time, producer Natalie Bettendorf is joined by Lever reporter Katya Sc
What Tech Wants: God In The Machine
While one tech CEO warns that artificial intelligence could “destroy all life on Earth,” other industry giants have declared war on rules that could limit AI’s power. Their battlefield? The 2026 midterm elections.
In Part Three of What Tech Wants, Lever Time’s investigation into why Silicon Valley is buying our democracy, producer Ariella Markowitz explores Big Tech’s latest obsession — artificia
What Tech Wants: Crypto Reign Of Terror (with Jacob Silverman and Molly White)
In 2024, the cryptocurrency industry spent more than $130 million to influence elections nationwide. Their campaign donations and lobbying efforts turned the tables for their risky boom-and-bust business, which is now poised to overtake our entire financial system.
In Part Two of What Tech Wants, Lever Time’s investigation into why Silicon Valley is buying our democracy, producer Ariella Markowit
What Tech Wants: The San Francisco Experiment
In 2022, nonprofit neighborhood groups, backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, helped recall a progressive district attorney in San Francisco. What happened next would change the country.
In Part One of What Tech Wants, Lever Time’s investigation into why Silicon Valley is buying our democracy, producer Ariella Markowitz uncovers how a local experiment unlocked a new formula for political power.
They Banned Parents From Recording Their Kids' Games. We Changed That.
As private investment companies encroach upon youth sports, how does that hurt the players — and their families? As Lever reporter Luke Goldstein discovered, there’s more at stake than just higher prices.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota tells the story of how a Lever investigation into a shocking claim prompted a national outcry, one that led to a small but mighty victory against Black Bear Sp
Are We Trapped In Meaningless Jobs? (With Rutger Bregman)
Are we wasting our talents on meaningless jobs? Should our career choices reflect our morals? Author and historian Rutger Bregman thinks so. He argues that the most talented people in America are stuck in a real-life version of the movie Office Space — and that we should be trying to solve the world’s biggest problems instead.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Bregman to ask: Whe
It’s Not An AI Bubble. It’s A Black Hole.
2025 has been a tremendous year for the artificial intelligence industry. Stock prices for AI companies skyrocketed, soaring beyond expectations and propping up an otherwise stagnant U.S. economy. But everywhere, there’s talk of an AI bubble — one even bigger and more threatening than the 2008 housing bubble or the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s.
What makes this bubble so different? When is it
Parenting Advice From The World’s Worst Mom (With Lenore Skenazy)
As parents, we’re told homicidal maniacs, drug peddlers, and creeps are lurking in every shadow, waiting to grab your children. But is that true? Is our obsession with keeping our kids safe doing more harm than good?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota investigates the difference between good parenting and overparenting — and the political history behind our fear that kidnappers are roaming the str
Enshittification Nation (With Cory Doctorow)
From flying to online shopping to using social media, everything seems to be getting worse. It’s all — pardon our language here — shittier.
According to today’s Lever Time guest, that’s no accident. Cory Doctorow is the author of Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. In this episode, Doctorow explains how enshittification works, how it’s infected our online
Can Trump Still Hide The Epstein Files? (With Julie K. Brown & Rep. Ro Khanna)
The U.S. House just voted to force the Trump administration to release every document it has on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful associates. The move comes after Congress released 23,000 pages of Epstein emails and text messages, a data dump that references Donald Trump more than 1,500 times and has so thoroughly tarnished former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that he’s st
MONEYBOMB, Part 6: Did A Federal Judge Sink Super PACs? (With Larry Lessig)
Maine overwhelmingly voted last year to end Super PACs. A federal judge blocked the ballot measure — but left a kill switch inside the ruling. Larry Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School and head of the nonprofit Equal Citizens, is ready to flip that switch and take his case to the Supreme Court.
In our final episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota speaks with Lessig about the
MONEYBOMB, Part 5: Why Populism Is Now Centrism (With Adam Bonica)
For the first time in the Citizens United era of billionaires and corporate money buying U.S. elections, change may be afoot. This week, Democrats campaigning on a populist message won resounding victories in the face of big-money opposition.
An aging party establishment is still calling for Democrats to be more moderate and centrist, but what if the center has moved? What if populism is the new
MONEYBOMB, Part 4: How Zohran Mamdani Beat Citizens United
Ahead of the closely watched New York City mayoral race, everyone is looking for a lesson from progressive Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s rise to political stardom. The real answer may be a vastly undervalued political strategy: public money. Could public financing of elections overcome Citizens United and the flood of corporate cash and corruption in American politics?
In the latest episod
BONUS: An Exclusive Interview With Graham Platner
This week, in a special live interview, David Sirota sat down with Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Platner is a military veteran and oyster farmer who is a first-time political candidate running in the Democratic primary in the race to challenge Republican Senate incumbent Susan Collins. His rough-around-the-edges campaign has resonated with Maine’s working-class voters, sending him surgi
MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United
A group of Montana activists is pushing a ballot initiative attacking Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the right to spend unlimited money in politics. While Montana’s Republican Attorney General attempted to block the ballot initiative this week, the fight is far from over.
In the third episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down wit
MONEYBOMB, Part 2: The 28th Amendment (With Rep. Joe Neguse)
For 15 years, lawmakers have been trying — and failing — to overturn Citizens United, the landmark Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and billionaires to overrun our political system with money. Now, some Congressional Democrats are going big — by trying to enshrine campaign finance protections in the Constitution.
In the second episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota
MONEYBOMB, Part 1: JD Vance’s Supreme Court Plot
Most Americans want to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, the landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision that unleashed unlimited corporate spending on U.S. elections. But two new cases before the high court — including one spearheaded by now-Vice President JD Vance — are instead set to expand that ruling and turn America into a kleptocracy.
For the next several episodes of Lever Time, we’re taking a deep
How Ticketmaster Made It Impossible To Sue Them
Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment have drawn the ire of consumers — and the Federal Trade Commission — for exorbitant ticket prices, misleading hidden fees, and shady resale tactics.
But losing your right to sue Ticketmaster or join a class action lawsuit is now just a click away. Hiding in the company’s new terms-of-use agreement, The Lever found a clause that forces
Bari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media Takeover
While media giants cave to frivolous Trump libel lawsuits and muzzle late-night hosts who step out of line, CBS News’ parent company has announced that the billionaire-backed conservative provocateur Bari Weiss will be the network’s new editor-in-chief.
Today on Lever Time, we’re going back in time to understand how we arrived at this present-day media hellscape. Who set this plan into motion, and
The Zillow And Redfin Convenience Trap
Getting a home mortgage used to take weeks of phone calls and paperwork. Now, real estate search platforms like Zillow and Redfin offer comprehensive, nearly one-click homebuying. What are the hidden costs of trusting these industry giants with every step of the process?
Today on Lever Time, producer Natalie Bettendorf speaks with Lever reporter Helen Santoro about her investigation into how these
Are You On The FBI’s New Watch List? (With Ken Klippenstein)
Last week, President Donald Trump dramatically altered the U.S. government’s approach to domestic terrorism. NSPM-7, a little-noticed national security directive, expands the list of terrorism indicators to include any behavior that is deemed anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, extreme on gender, hostile towards “traditional American views” on family, and more.
Today on Lever Time, pr
Executive Disorder (With Keith Ellison)
In the first nine months of his second term, President Donald Trump has filed more than 200 executive orders. State attorneys general are filing lawsuits to block the Trump administration’s blatant power grabs, but will our legal system prove strong enough to save American democracy?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), who has sued the Trum
The Crime Crackdown Cop Out (With Alec Karakatsanis)
President Donald Trump says that U.S. violent crime has spiraled so far out of control that he needs to send troops into Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Memphis. But is that really true?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Alec Karakatsanis, award-winning civil rights lawyer and author of the book Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, about how government officials are
The Giant Fireball That Could Save Us (With Bill McKibben)
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota talks with bestselling author Bill McKibben, who says the solar energy revolution has reached a tipping point and is now poised to reshape our world.
Click here to learn about Sun Day, a nationwide action this Sunday, Sept. 21, to celebrate and advocate for solar power.
To check out McKibben’s new book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh
The Real Reason Jimmy Kimmel Was Pulled From Late-Night
First, they cancelled Stephen Colbert; now they’ve pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air. The common denominator? Corporate power.
On today’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota talks with media-consolidation expert Craig Aaron and monopoly authority Matt Stoller about how media corporations are transforming the news and information environment to curry favor with the Trump administration. Where is this
Robert Reich Saw This Coming
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary and economics professor, about what he’s learned from working in multiple presidential administrations, where he believes that American politics went wrong, and what the Democratic Party needs to do to save itself — and the country.
Click here for more of this interview, in which Reich explains how the Baby Boomer g
We Must Stop This Civil War Before It’s Unstoppable
A message from David Sirota about recent violence and what we must do to stop it.
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Meet The Democratic Insurgents Fighting To Save Their Party
The Democratic Party is in a rut. Democratic voter registration has been steadily declining since 2018, and the party’s approval rating in some polls has dropped even lower than President Donald Trump’s.
Feeling pessimistic? We have some good news. On this episode of Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with three Democratic candidates — Michigan’s Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, California’s Saikat Chakrabart
Comrade Trump Seizes The Means Of Production
The United States government is taking a 10 percent stake in Intel, blurring the lines between capitalism and state ownership. While critics say it’s a dangerous power grab, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is praising President Donald Trump’s move.
On this episode of Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson and Cornell University law professor Bob Hockett to tack
The Grotesque Fruits Of Your Labor (With Evan Osnos)
As American workers are fighting for their basic needs, the country’s richest are getting richer — while inventing perverse new ways to spend and hoard their money. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with “greed beat” journalist Evan Osnos, who explains why ultrarich oligarchs are running away from the rest of us on luxurious gigayachts, decadent doomsday bunkers, and ill-advised spaceshi
Trump’s Gerrymandering Plot To Steal The Election (With Rep. Lloyd Doggett)
As Trump presses states to redraw their district maps to favor Republicans, David Sirota gets the inside scoop from Texas Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who is on the frontlines of the gerrymandering war. Doggett this week announced a shocking act of self-sacrifice, jeopardizing his own career for the battle against Trump.
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
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Ed Helms Exposes America’s Scariest Screw-Ups
On today's episode of Lever Time, comedian and writer Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office) takes David Sirota on a wild journey through some of history’s greatest screw-ups — from nuclear war near-misses to secret ice tunnels in Greenland to attempts to blow up the moon.
Helms, who hosts the podcast SNAFU, explores the risks of putting our trust in leaders who could do things that put us on the
Why Your Health Insurance Could Explode Next Year
Health insurance premiums for some Americans could increase by a whopping 66 percent next year. Why are insurers jacking up their rates? And why are Republicans killing off Biden-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, despite their overwhelming, bipartisan popularity? Could such efforts backfire and make Medicare for All inevitable? And how can individuals and small businesses prepare for insu
Scene On Radio: Capitalism
Today, we’re sharing an episode from our friends over at Scene On Radio, the Peabody-nominated documentary podcast that asks big questions about who we are and how we got this way. This is the premiere episode of its season seven series, “Capitalism,” which explores the rise of the world’s dominant economic system — and examines why the concept is now being questioned in ways it hasn’t been in dec
The Male Friendship Collapse (With Sam Graham-Felsen)
Men are struggling with friendships and feeling lonelier than ever. The male loneliness epidemic is seeping into many facets of life — including mental health, the economy, and American politics — but why are guys having such a hard time making and keeping friends?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with journalist Sam Graham-Felsen to explore the collapse of male friendship — and why thi
Ari Aster Thinks You’re Being Manipulated
You might recognize director Ari Aster from his groundbreaking horror films like Hereditary and Midsommar. But Aster just dropped the scariest film of his career: Eddington, a dark COVID-19 comedy starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone, about social media-driven polarization, gun violence, and the looming tech takeover.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Aster about the
Are Corporations Spying On You To Raise Your Prices? (With Lee Hepner)
Delta Air Lines recently came under fire for announcing that artificial intelligence will be setting 20 percent of its ticket prices for its domestic flights by 2026. While Delta subsequently denied using the tech to engage in “personalized” price gouging, many airlines, big businesses, and data brokers have allegedly been dabbling in “surveillance pricing,” the growing corporate practice that exp
Your 401(k) Is Billionaires’ Next Bailout Scheme
The Trump administration appears ready to sign an executive order that would allow private equity firms to prey on Americans’ retirement savings. What happens if Wall Street can suddenly tap into the trillions of dollars tucked away in 401(k) accounts?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with former federal regulator Ted Siedle and economist Eileen Appelbaum to understand what private equity
Trump’s New Merger Scandal Is Swampier Than Watergate
In a stunning reversal, the Trump administration just gave the green light to a major tech merger — and then fired two Justice Department lawyers who opposed it. Was corruption at play in the merger decision?
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with The Lever’s Luke Goldstein and UnHerd Magazine’s Sohrab Ahmari, who first exposed the “mergers over martinis” story behind the reversal. They
How AI Is Taking Over The U.S. Government
The Trump administration just unveiled a sweeping AI Action Plan that aims to achieve global dominance in the industry. Hiding deep within the document? A previously rejected scheme to ban oversight of tech oligarchs and let artificial intelligence run wild.
Today on Lever Time, producer Natalie Bettendorf investigates the challenges and political realities of reining in AI — and why Congress and
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