Lever Time
David SirotaLever Time
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, and expert analysis from the sharpest minds in media and politics.
© 2025 The Lever
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, and expert analysis from the sharpest minds in media and politics.
© 2025 The Lever
How “copaganda” is helping expand Trump’s authoritarian rule.
A new White House memorandum activates 9/11 counterterrorism units against the American public.
A dispatch from the legal battle against Trump’s agenda.
Bill McKibben, America’s real-life Lorax, says the climate apocalypse might be averted after all.
This censorship isn’t about jokes — it’s about serving corporate interests.
After decades advising presidents, the former Secretary of Labor is sounding the alarm.
Once we accept deadly violence as a normal part of American life, we’re done for.
Three candidates with bold plans to fix the Democratic Party and win back working-class voters.
The American government now has a 10 percent stake in computer company Intel — is Trump turning into a socialist?
A behind-the-scenes look at what billionaires are buying with the money you made for them.
Texas Democrats say Trump’s maps expose a nationwide attack on democracy
A much-needed history lesson on why we’re one SNAFU away from disaster.
A perfect storm is coming for Obamacare in 2026.
An in-depth look at the world’s dominant economic system
What happens to a country when men lose their closest friends?
Master of horror Ari Aster tackles the scariest film of his career — about the real-world villains hiding in our midst.
What Delta Air Lines’ ticket pricing controversy reveals about the growing threat of “surveillance pricing.”
President Trump wants to bail out private equity companies — by letting them loot your retirement plan.
After hiring MAGA lawyers, a tech giant got its antitrust case settled, and monopoly cops were fired. Can a Nixon-era law save the day?
President Trump’s new AI Action Plan aims to create a lawless future for artificial intelligence companies.
What’s really at stake in the showdown between President Trump and Chair Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve?
The White House, billionaires and corporations are aiming to silence criticism and limit free speech
Journalist Julie K. Brown broke open the cover-up of Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme — and she says the government is still hiding the truth.
A vanity sculpture garden? A tax break for online bookies? Incentives for Wall Street to fire you? What actually passed in Trump’s massive “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Even before the deadly July 4th floods in Texas, the United States had a problem.
A frank discussion about Israel’s mass violence — and why linguistic choices matter
PA Gov. Josh Shapiro explains what Republicans don’t want you to know about their legislation
Seventy-two minutes until the end of the world
How Cutting Taxes Became an American Obsession
Trump’s costly trade policy is the culmination of a long-simmering backlash — but will tariffs hurt more than they help?
Delaware just passed a bill to prevent CEOs like Elon Musk from leaving their state. Lawyers and legislators sound the alarm about what this means for the rest of us.
Trump’s Tuesday Night Massacre
Big Tech’s Forever War
Do Democrats Have A Game Plan?
The Planet is Heating Up Whether You Care or Not
Is It Still Safe To Fly?
RFK’s Beef With Big Food
Trump’s Tariff War Explained
Elon Musk’s Hostile Takeover
American Chaos Is Trump’s Plan
The Supreme Court Case That Got Us Here
Oligarchy Now
How America Created Cities Built To Burn (Part 2)
The L.A. Fires And The Uninsurable Earth (Part 1)
MAGA’s Civil War Over Immigration
Editor's Choice: The NBA Is Monetizing A Public Health Crisis
How Marvel Helped Sell Us Forever Wars
Sirota: The Health Care Crisis Is The Democracy Crisis
Why America Is Mad As Hell About Health Care
Trump, Magic, and Misdirection
The Democrat Who Warned Us (w/ Rep. Dean Phillips)
The Secret Recordings Netanyahu Wants Censored
Welcome To The United States of Crypto
How Democrats Can Win Back The Working Class
Project 2025 Is Even More Radical Than You Think
The New Movie Trump Doesn’t Want You To See
This is a preview of a bonus episode exclusive for premium subscribers. To become a premium subscriber go here.
Why The Working Class Could Deliver A Trump Victory
The Real Reason Trump Is Demonizing Immigrants
The Corporate Corruption Behind Hurricane Helene
Is Harris’ Big Tent About To Burst?
The Secret Plot To Buy American Democracy
Will The Real Kamala Harris Please Stand Up? (Part 2)
Will The Real Kamala Harris Please Stand Up? (Part 1)
Fear And Corporate Loathing At The DNC
Are We Allowed To Ask What President Harris Would Do?
The American Roots Of The World’s Right-Wing Nationalism
Is Tim Walz the Real Deal?
When Will The Climate Killers See Their Day In Court?
Can Harris Fight – And Win?
Will Democrats Decide To Lose The Election?
How DNC Delegates Could Oust Biden
Who Broke The Economy?
The Democrat Banished For Warning Us About Biden
Why Hasn’t Biden Stepped Down?
The World After Billionaire Media
The NBA Is Monetizing A Public Health Crisis
The $220 Billion Medical Debt Problem (With Rep. Ro Khanna)
"Lauren Boebert Can't Lose" from City Cast Denver
America’s Biggest Tax Scam May Finally End
The Lunch-Meat Mafia
What Will It Take to Defeat Ticketmaster?
Credit Card Companies Want To Keep You In Debt Forever
What Will It Take For Israel To End Its War?
Why Does America Provide So Much Support To Israel?
What A Fracking CEO’s Text Messages Tell Us About Inflation
Big Brother Is Watching The Protesters, Sponsored By Corporate America
Congress Wants To Make Sure Flying Still Sucks
Amazon is Eating the Economy
Dissent Will Not Be Tolerated in the Democratic Party
The Future Of Lever Podcasts
Amazon Is Afraid Of Its New Union Organizers
The Anxious Generation, Brought To You By Smartphones
The Wonk Attempting To Change Republican Economics
The State That Could Cost Biden The Election
Trump Won Iowa – Can He Beat The Supreme Court?
Amid Boeing Crisis, Is It Still Safe To Fly?
DECONSTRUCTED: “The Squad,” Part 2: From Obama to Bernie, a Crisis and a Crossroads
DECONSTRUCTED: “The Squad,” Part 1: The Rise and (First) Fall of Bernie
We Need To Talk About Zionism
How Big Oil Buys The News
Sound And Fury Over Israel-Palestine
Artificial Intelligence Is Denying Americans Health Care
How Shareholder Advocates Transform Corporations
What The Sam Bankman-Fried Verdict Means For Crypto
Pennsylvania Matters In 2024 (w/ Gov. Josh Shapiro)
BONUS: The Lobbyists Who Don’t Want A Ceasefire
How Conservatives Won The Courts
BONUS: The Corporate Takeover of Music (Lessons From Bandcamp)
How To Talk About Gaza (w/ Naomi Klein & Omar Baddar)
The King Of The ‘Self-Help’ Grift
The Fog Of War In Israel And Palestine
The Hidden Flaws Of ‘Bidenomics’
American Intervention And Its Blowback
The Serious Science Of Extraterrestrial Research
Inside The U.S.-China War Over Clean Energy
The American Masculinity Crisis
Autoworkers Are Ready To Strike
The Deadliest Wildfire In 100 Years
Montana’s Monumental Climate Win
How PragerU’s Propaganda Machine Infiltrated Florida’s Schools
Heat Is The Deadliest Type Of Weather
The Great Bank Robbery Of 2023
The Do-Or-Die Stakes Of The Hollywood Strikes
Deconstructed Podcast: An Inflation Solution That Doesn’t Screw Workers
The Stealth Supreme Court Rulings No One Is Talking About
Deconstructed Podcast: Inside Joe Manchin's Rise, Alliances, and Potential Presidential Ambitions
The Supreme Court Has A Billionaire Problem
Deconstructed Podcast: Why Dems Must Play “Chess, Not Checkers” With Political Messaging
Boots Riley On The Writers Strike, Organized Labor, And His New TV Show
Pentagon Whistleblower: The Government Is Hiding “Non-Human” Technology
The Fix Was In With Biden’s Debt Ceiling Deal
Social Media Is Killing Our Kids — Sen. Chris Murphy Has a Plan
What Succession Taught Us About Corporate Media (w/ Frank Rich)
Meet The Pundits Who Falsely Blamed Inflation on Workers
This Right-Wing “University” Is Coming For Your Kids
Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Us or Set Us Free?
Did AstroTurf's "Forever Chemicals" Cause The Deaths Of Pro Athletes?
The Clarence Thomas Secret Money Trail
Biden’s First Primary Challenger (w/ Marianne Williamson)
AOC Sounds the Alarm About Biden 2024
Who Created America’s Free Market Mythology?
The Bank Regulator Who Was Blocked for Being Right
Regulatory Rollbacks and The Bank Panic of 2023
Why Have Dems Lost Working Class Voters? (w/ Nina Turner)
How to Derail the Anti-Safety Train Lobby
INSIDE THE STORY: Private Equity’s Senator Gets Big Payout
How The Lever Forced Buttigieg To Do His Job
The JFK Files And The CIA
INSIDE THE STORY: Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment
On this week’s Lever Time: David interviews Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska).
At a gathering of the National Restaurant Association’s legal arm, lawyers and executives grappled with a worker uprising.
On this week’s Lever Time: David unpacks the Republican-led effort to hobble federal tax enforcers.
A gas mogul’s case against Beto O’Rourke could deter candidates from ever talking about money in politics.
The pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, is using Semafor to brag about its generosity abroad as it hikes U.S. drug prices.
On this week’s Lever Time: we speak with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) about the current goings-on in Congress.
Health insurers are ready to sue the government if Biden officials don’t let them keep years of overpayments from Medicare.
On this week’s Lever Time: David explores the ramifications of the potential Kroger/Albertsons merger.
New research shows that pharmaceutical companies have spent more on enriching shareholders than drug research and development over the past decade.
On this week’s Lever Time: David speaks with a leading expert in airline history and regulation.
Lobbyists and their congressional allies are trying to protect secret deals that can enrich Wall Street insiders at workers’ expense.
Wall Street lobbyists are trying to stop a federal proposal designed to punish criminal banks.
On this week’s Lever Time: The team grapples with the Elon Musk Twitter scandal; and David speaks with a leading digital rights advocate
A massive investment company publicly touts its green credentials while quietly pressing to weaken a landmark climate disclosure rule.
The conservative activist’s dark money network is bankrolling groups pressing the high court to gut election, affirmative action, and discrimination laws.
On this week’s Lever Time: David delves into the recent nuclear fusion advancement.
On this week’s Lever Time: We explore why the Democrats sided with railroad barons; and dig into a new documentary on the student debt crisis.
On this week’s Lever Time: We explore the stakes of the upcoming debt ceiling fight, and talk comedy with David Cross.
On this week’s Lever Time: David breaks down the recent Ticketmaster debacle, explores a recent victory against dark money, and interviews former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart.
On this week’s Lever Time: a look at the new progressive members of Congress; and a full explainer on last week’s crypto implosion.
On this week’s Lever Time: David runs through the midterm election results with The Lever’s reporters; and speaks with political analyst Krystal Ball about big-picture takeaways.
On this bonus episode of Lever Time: David Sirota interviews candidates Summer Lee and Josh Shapiro.
On this week’s Lever Time: we explore troubling developments in this year’s secretaries of state races; and interview Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) about the rise of dark money.
On this week’s Lever Time: David is joined by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes for a midterm deep-dive; and an extensive conversation about the power of persuasion.
On this week’s Lever Time: David and The Lever team expose a cartoonishly corrupt senate candidate; and take a deep dive into how bankruptcy laws are being exploited by corporations.
On this week’s Lever Time: we speak with a drug policy expert about Joe Biden’s marijuana plan; and we interview U.S. Senate candidate Gary Chambers.
On this week’s Lever Time: David gets schooled by the hosts of The Lever’s new podcast, The Audit; and discusses the end times with media theorist Douglas Rushkoff.
On this week’s Lever Time: We dissect the “greenwashing” of Dems’ dirty pipeline deal and press a U.S. Senator on his support for it. We also expose the caught-on-tape corruption of a Republican House member.
On this week’s Lever Time: David breaks down the looming railroad workers strike; and interviews Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist.
On this week’s Lever Time: David follows up Barre Seid’s history of political donations; and interviews sportswriter Dave Zirin about the politics of the NFL.
On this week’s Lever Time: David examines Joe Biden’s recent rhetoric concerning democracy, exposes the dark side of Biden’s student debt policy, and dives into Amazon and Starbucks workers’ Labor Day march.
On this week’s Lever Time: David breaks down Biden’s student debt relief plan and discusses the rise of ‘Dark Brandon.’
On this week’s Lever Time: David breaks down the story of the biggest political donation on record; and interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning climate journalist Elizabeth Kolbert.
On this week’s Lever Time: David discusses a recent Lever scoop; breaks down the CHIPS Act; and interviews a progressive Dem in a red state.
On this week’s Lever Time: The Lever’s staff discuss Dems’ commitment to private equity; the “never-ending war on the woke;” and they interview Harvard economist Jason Furman.
On this week’s Lever Time: David breaks down Dems’ surprise climate bill; discusses the importance of the Pennsylvania governor’s race; and speaks with actor and activist Susan Sarandon.
On this week’s Lever Time: David discusses Biden’s climate inaction; explores the history of nuclear energy; and interviews human rights attorney and ex-Chevron prisoner Steven Donziger.
On this week’s Lever Time: David explores how Joe Biden can salvage his presidency; he speaks with Lucas Kunce, who’s running for a senate seat in Missouri; and The Lever’s interview with Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls.
On this week’s Lever Time: David explores what a Biden 2024 run would mean for the country; he breaks down the newest Supreme Court case legalizing corruption; and he speaks with the president of Planned Parenthood about the overturning of Roe v Wade.
On this week’s Lever Time: David exposes the dark money network that has been bankrolling conservative judicial nominees, speaks with lawmakers about how governments can protect abortion access post-Roe, and breaks down the upcoming Supreme Court case tha
On this week’s Lever Time: David discusses Lindsey Graham’s comments on cutting Social Security and Medicare; The Lever visits a pop-up medical clinic in Joe Manchin’s home state; and a discussion about how New York Democrats recently killed a renewable e
On this week’s Lever Time: David exposes the big problem with the January 6 hearings, explores how the Federal Reserve is approaching inflation all wrong, and interviews Kendra Brooks and David Zuckerman about winning third-party campaigns.
On this week’s Lever Time: David discusses the “military-entertainment complex;” explores why the Biden administration is raising Medicare premiums; and interviews Elisabeth Epps, a progressive Colorado candidate facing big-money corporate opposition.
On the inaugural episode of Lever Time, David speaks with civil rights lawyer and founder of Civil Rights Corps, Alec Karakatsanis, about how police in the US are not legally obligated to protect its citizens. Then, The Lever's Julia Rock discusses her re
Hosted by award-winning journalist David Sirota, 'Lever Time' is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever.
The Crime Crackdown Cop Out (With Alec Karakatsanis)
September 25, 202555min 31sec
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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