Lever Time

Latest Episodes:

Bari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media Takeover Oct 09, 2025

Show notes

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.

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The Zillow And Redfin Convenience Trap Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

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.

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Are You On The FBI’s New Watch List? (With Ken Klippenstein) Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

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.
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Executive Disorder (With Keith Ellison) Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

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.
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The Crime Crackdown Cop Out (With Alec Karakatsanis) Sep 25, 2025

Show notes

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 manufacturing fear to justify authoritarian rule.

Click here to watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.
To check out Alec Karakatsanis’s book, click here.
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

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The Giant Fireball That Could Save Us (With Bill McKibben) Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

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 Chance for Civilization, click here.

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

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The Real Reason Jimmy Kimmel Was Pulled From Late-Night Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

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 all heading? Are our most basic freedoms going to survive?

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

The kind of accountability journalism that The Lever does every single day is under assault in a way it has never been in our lifetimes. Help us fight back. Click here for a 30% discount on a Lever subscription right now.

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Robert Reich Saw This Coming Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

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 generation failed America.

You can check out Reich’s new memoir, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, here.

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We Must Stop This Civil War Before It’s Unstoppable Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

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 Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

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 Chakrabarti, and New York Lieutenant Gov. Antonio Delgado — who are challenging the gerontocracy and forging a new direction for a party that has lost its way.

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

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