The Lever

•

Channel • 3 Shows

History

History

Series
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated weekly
Comedy

Comedy

Updated weekly

SEASON 1, EPISODE 11

Hell Or High Water

We all live in the master planners’ world now, immersed in an ocean of corruption. The 2024 Republican presidential campaign is bankrolled by billionaires, while corporate interests’ power was in full display at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. What will it take to reclaim our democracy? Is there any hope of reversing the master plan? Get ad-free Master Plan episodes by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, ⁠exclusive content⁠, and support this show. Visit ⁠masterplanpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S1, E11

•

1hr 8min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 9

Going Big

An anti-abortion legal activist starts using the federal courts to chip away at campaign finance restrictions, setting his sights on the Supreme Court. Indiana lawyer James Bopp Jr. engineers the Citizens United case and hand-tailors it for Justice Anthony Kennedy’s storied swing vote — setting him up for an explosive 5-4 ruling that would devastate campaign finance law. Get ad-free Master Plan episodes by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S1, E9

•

1hr 5min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 10

The Heist

Unleashed by the Citizens United ruling, the master planners launch a three-part heist to crack the vault protecting democracy itself. First, the schemers take out the security cameras monitoring dark money. Then, they disarm the last campaign finance cops on the beat. Finally, they pull off a getaway so prosecutors can’t charge them as they run off with the loot. Get ad-free Master Plan episodes by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S1, E10

•

1hr 8min
SEASON 2, EPISODE 1

After The Fall

Before Trump, there was Nixon. His attempts to seize the power of the purse and secretly expand the Vietnam War forged a constitutional crisis, a backlash, and a template for an imperial presidency. TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus historical documents related to the episode. Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S2, E1

•

43 min
SEASON 1 BONUS

BONUS: The Master Planners’ Election (With Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse)

In a special Master Plan bonus episode, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins David Sirota to break down the impact of the Supreme Court’s’ 2010 Citizens United ruling on 2024's super PAC spending spree. The two dig into billionaires like Elon Musk openly backing candidates and the hidden power of dark money, and discuss current reforms efforts to bring transparency back to democracy. Plus, the Master Plan team answers audience questions. Binge the entire season of the award-winning Master Plan now. Paid subscribers enjoy ad-free episodes, score exclusive bonus content, and help support the show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 1 Bonus

•

55 min
27/12/2024

Editor's Choice: The NBA Is Monetizing A Public Health Crisis

Lever Time is taking a break this week, but we'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Today, we wanted to re-air one of our favorite episodes from 2024. --The National Basketball Association wants you to gamble. Since 2014, the league has championed the legalization of sports betting nationwide, partially due to its own business interests in gambling. But the emergence of online gambling has coincided with a rise in troubling health outcomes like increased rates of depression and substance abuse. Today on Lever Time, we explore the recent growth of online gambling, sitting down with sports writers and an addiction expert to learn how it’s impacted society and changed the very nature of sports and fandom. Sports fans are familiar with the companies DraftKings and FanDuel. In the NBA, their commercials are now as synonymous with the game as slam dunks — and both have transformed how viewers watch the game. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting gambling in most states — within the same year several states swiftly moved to legalize sports gambling, leading to more widespread usage of online sportsbooks. Today, millions of fans include betting as part of their viewing experience, but it’s a trend that worries public health experts, athletes, and longtime fans, who believe the NBA’s promotion of gambling will have long-term negative consequences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27/12/2024

•

37 min
17/10/2025 • LEVER PREMIUM ONLY

(Premium) Master Plan Book - Q&A Event Replay

Master Plan is now a book! Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America expands on the podcast with exclusive archival documents, new reporting, and never-before-told stories, including the hidden history of the Powell Memo, the corporate movement that followed Watergate, and the Supreme Court’s role in legalizing dark money. We’re also replaying, for paid subscribers only, the full audio from our live author Q&A event — for anyone who missed it. In it, David Sirota and Jared Jacang Maher answer listener questions about the Citizens United ruling, new reform efforts like the Montana ballot measure, the fight for public financing of elections, and what’s next for Master Plan. Get your copy: levernews.com/book — paid subscribers get a discount.

17/10/2025

•

53 min
04/01/2023

How The Airline Industry Became A Living Nightmare

On this week’s episode of Lever Time: After the Southwest Airlines debacle that saw over 2,500 flights canceled and up to a million travelers stranded over the holidays, David Sirota explores how the U.S. airline industry became one of the most concentrated and despised industries in the country with the help of William J. McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. William explains to David the history of airline deregulation and the federal preemption that left oversight of the industry solely in the questionable hands of the Secretary of Transportation (10:50). If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber. If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar A rough transcript of this episode is available here. To sign our open letter, go to LeverNews.com/Airlines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

04/01/2023

•

49 min
31/01/2025

American Chaos Is Trump’s Plan

Donald Trump has been president for less than two weeks, and the government is already in chaos. Amidst a flurry of executive orders, Trump suspended all federal spending earlier this week. The move sent panic throughout the federal government and upended critical services like Medicare and school funding. Is there an ideology behind the chaos? Or was the chaos the point? And what should the country make of it? Today on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh recaps how Trump’s orders reverberated throughout the country — and explores what could come next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31/01/2025

•

24 min
29/03/2023

Who Created America’s Free Market Mythology?

This week, David Sirota speaks with Naomi Oreskes about the mythology of “market fundamentalism” that exists deep within the American psyche. A Harvard Professor of history, Oreskes explains how the total belief in the wisdom of the free-markets (in opposition to the ‘evil’ big government), went from being on the fringes of public debate to a dogmatic ideology that is unique to the United States. It’s a fascinating history involving key figures of the 20th century, including Herbert Hoover, industry groups, and a massively popular show called “General Electric Theater that starred a Hollywood actor named Ronald Reagan. (02:49) If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar Read a transcript of this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29/03/2023

•

32 min

SEASON TWO: THE KINGMAKERS IS HERE For early access to future episodes and exclusive bonus content, ⁠click here to upgrade to a paid subscription⁠ to The Lever. Master Plan, the award-winning investigative podcast series from The Lever, reveals the hidden forces behind today’s biggest problems — and how small groups of powerful people engineered those problems to serve their own interests. We are exposing their schemes. Narrated by David Sirota, an award-winning investigative journalist and Oscar nominee for his work on the film Don’t Look Up. Master Plan has received the 2025 National Press Club Award for Audio Journalism, the New York Festivals Radio Award for Best Investigative Journalism Podcast, multiple Signal Awards for Best News & Politics Podcast and Best Writing. It was an Ambies finalist for Best Politics podcast and was named a Webby Awards Honoree. Learn more at masterplanpodcast.com

0.0 (0)

HISTORY
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.

0.0 (0)

NEWS COMMENTARY

The Lever is a nonpartisan, reader-supported investigative news outlet that holds accountable the people and corporations manipulating the levers of power. NOTE: If you are a current paid subscriber to The Lever (via LeverNews.com), you already have access to premium podcast content.

Website

Contact The Lever

The Lever

Get exclusive episodes, early access, and more

Top Shows

Hell Or High Water

Going Big

The Heist

After The Fall

BONUS: The Master Planners’ Election (With Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse)

Editor's Choice: The NBA Is Monetizing A Public Health Crisis

(Premium) Master Plan Book - Q&A Event Replay

How The Airline Industry Became A Living Nightmare

American Chaos Is Trump’s Plan

Who Created America’s Free Market Mythology?

Get exclusive episodes, early access, and more

(Premium) Master Plan Book - Q&A Event Replay

BONUS: An Extended Interview With Sam Graham-Felsen

BONUS: How Republicans Rejected A Texas Flood Warning System

Tax Revolt BONUS: How Art Laffer Created The Cult Of Reaganomics

LEVER TIME PREMIUM: Did Elon Musk Just Buy The Presidency?

LEVER TIME PREMIUM: The Populist Paradox Of Matt Gaetz

LEVER TIME PREMIUM: Why Pennsylvanians Handed Trump The Presidency

BONUS: Evan Osnos Reveals What Billionaires Are Doing With Your Money

BONUS: The Perils of Prosecuting Watergate

Rutger Bregman On Democrats, Purity Politics, And Moral Ambition

About

The Lever

Get exclusive episodes, early access, and more

Top Shows

Top Episodes

Lever Premium

Get exclusive episodes, early access, and more

Top Lever Premium Episodes

About