Master Plan

Latest Episodes:

S1 E6: The Maverick | Legalizing Corruption Sep 24, 2024

Show notes

When five U.S. senators get caught pressuring a regulator on behalf of a financial magnate, they become known as the “Keating Five.” The public is predictably outraged. But what no one expects is that one of those senators will learn from his mistakes and become the staunchest campaign finance reformer in decades.

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S1 E5: Corporations Are People | Legalizing Corruption Sep 17, 2024

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You might remember Mitt Romney’s infamous line: “Corporations are people, my friend.” But where did this idea come from? In this episode: how the Ford Administration and the Powell Memo movement turned to the Supreme Court to establish the precedent that legalized corruption: money is speech, and corporations are entitled to First Amendment rights.

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S1 E4: The Secret Task Force | Legalizing Corruption Sep 10, 2024

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How did corporate executives and politicians turn Lewis Powell’s memo from a blueprint into a master plan — and begin executing it? In this episode, we uncover proof of a secret “Powell Memo Task Force,” as well as clandestine meetings involving America’s most powerful businessmen, a future president, and an ambitious young media consultant. The results would change history.

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S1 E3: The Powell Memo | Legalizing Corruption Sep 03, 2024

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A seemingly moderate corporate lawyer grows alarmed by anti-corruption reformers’ policy wins and writes a manifesto detailing how corporations and oligarchs can dominate American politics. Months later, he’s confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by senators unaware that his manifesto is going viral among the business elite.

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S1 E2: The Other Watergate | Legalizing Corruption Aug 27, 2024

Show notes

There’s a lost tale behind Watergate: corporate bagmen, suitcases of illegal cash, and Nixon circumventing the very campaign finance rules he’d just signed into law. Amid the blowback, Nixon leaves a ticking time bomb in the heart of Washington.

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S1 E1: Milk Money | Legalizing Corruption Aug 27, 2024

Show notes

Ever wonder how America became so corrupt? It didn’t have to be this way. Our series begins in 1971, a time when hot pants were hot, bell bottoms were swinging, and campaign cash flowed like… milk.

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S1 Trailer | Legalizing Corruption Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

A secret plot. A public theft. A democracy corrupted.

Discover the truth. The first season of Master Plan, a new podcast from The Lever is avalable now wherever you get your podcasts.

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