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.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 4: How Zohran Mamdani Beat Citizens United
Season 6 · Episode 4
Monday, November 3, 2025 • Duration 40:41
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 episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, we explore the importance of publicly funded campaigns. David Sirota speaks with two people who have had front-row seats to how public financing is combating election corruption — Karen Wharton, democracy coalition coordinator for Citizen Action of New York, and Jillian Gilchrest, a Connecticut state representative now running for Congress.
For a full transcript of the episode, click here.
Click here to order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
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To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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BONUS: An Exclusive Interview With Graham Platner
Saturday, November 1, 2025 • Duration 46:14
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 surging in the polls. But his past social media comments have surfaced in the last few weeks, thrusting him into controversy and pushing voters to ask: does Platner still have a shot at winning the Senate seat, and should he?
As a special bonus episode, we’re releasing the unedited audio of that interview. Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews like this one by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United
Season 6 · Episode 3
Thursday, October 30, 2025 • Duration 47:29
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 with political strategist Tom Moore from The Center for American Progress. That nonprofit is spearheading the Transparent Election Initiative, Montana’s new plan to purge dark money from the state, which could potentially rewrite national politics. Could this effort deal a blow to the corporate takeover of politics? And could it blaze a path for other states to follow?
Click here to order our book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
To read more of Tom Moore’s writing about The Montana Plan, click here.
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To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 2: The 28th Amendment (With Rep. Joe Neguse)
Season 6 · Episode 2
Thursday, October 23, 2025 • Duration 40:45
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 sits down with Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), cosponsor of the new Citizens Over Corporations Act, which would introduce a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling. Does the effort have a real shot at fixing our democracy crisis?
Click here to order our book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
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
MONEYBOMB, Part 1: JD Vance’s Supreme Court Plot
Season 6 · Episode 1
Thursday, October 16, 2025 • Duration 25:33
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 dive into Citizens United and how it’s transformed our lives. In this first episode, David Sirota uncovers conservatives’ plan to deregulate the campaign finance system, their efforts to legalize bribery, and what options we have to stop them.
Click here to pre-order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
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
How Ticketmaster Made It Impossible To Sue Them
Season 5 · Episode 113
Monday, October 13, 2025 • Duration 44:00
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 ticket buyers into arbitration, a private judicial system rigged in favor of the company.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with The Lever’s Luke Goldstein and anti-monopoly attorney David Seligman to reveal how the ticketing company has monopolized the live entertainment market, kept ticket prices high, and is now stripping away your legal rights.
Click here to read Luke’s story about TicketMaster’s new terms of use.
To learn more about David Seligman’s organization, Towards Justice, click here.
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.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
Bari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media Takeover
Season 5 · Episode 112
Thursday, October 9, 2025 • Duration 33:04
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 how do we fight back?
Click here to pre-order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
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
The Zillow And Redfin Convenience Trap
Season 5 · Episode 111
Monday, October 6, 2025 • Duration 28:28
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 one-stop real estate shops may actually be hurting homebuyers — and the U.S. economy.
You can read Helen’s story here, and a follow-up story here.Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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Are You On The FBI’s New Watch List? (With Ken Klippenstein)
Season 5 · Episode 110
Thursday, October 2, 2025 • Duration 41:31
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, producer Ariella Markowitz sits down with independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, who first sounded the alarm about the memorandum’s ability to suppress free speech and target Trump’s political opponents.
To check out Ken Klippenstein’s reporting on the new directive, click here.Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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Executive Disorder (With Keith Ellison)
Season 5 · Episode 109
Monday, September 29, 2025 • Duration 40:59
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 Trump administration dozens of times, for an on-the-ground look at the battle to stop the Trump agenda.
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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