PODCAST · news
Lever Time
by David Sirota
From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by the award-winning journalist, Oscar-nominated writer, and Bernie Sanders' 2020 speechwriter David Sirota, Lever Time features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom, high-profile guest interviews, expert analysis, ideas and opinions from the sharpest minds in media and politics.
Episodes
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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?...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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...
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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 Become A Paid Subscriber On Apple Podcasts Make A One-Time Donation Order Our Companion Book, Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in...
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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...
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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…
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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,...
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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,...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by the award-winning journalist, Oscar-nominated writer, and Bernie Sanders' 2020 speechwriter David Sirota, Lever Time features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom, high-profile guest interviews, expert analysis, ideas and opinions from the sharpest minds in media and politics.
HOSTED BY
David Sirota
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Lever Time have?
Lever Time currently has 262 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Lever Time about?
From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by the award-winning journalist, Oscar-nominated writer, and Bernie Sanders' 2020 speechwriter David Sirota, Lever Time features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom, high-profile...
How often does Lever Time release new episodes?
Lever Time publishes regularly with 262 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Lever Time?
You can listen to Lever Time on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Lever Time?
Lever Time is created and hosted by David Sirota.
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