Lever Time
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From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by 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.
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Top 10 Lever Time Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Lever Time episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Lever Time for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Lever Time episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Welcome To The United States of Crypto
Lever Time
11/15/24 • 45 min
No matter what, the cryptocurrency industry was going to win the election. After spending hundreds of millions to influence politicians in both parties, the industry defeated some of its fiercest critics and scored bipartisan support, particularly from President-elect Donald Trump, despite crypto’s potential risks for consumers and the financial system. Today on Lever Time, Lever reporter Freddy Brewster discusses crypto’s emergence as a political power broker and what industry insiders are hoping for in return for their massive donations. Then, Senior Podcast Producer Arjun Singh sits down with documentarian Cullen Hoback to discuss his new film Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, in which Hoback alleges to have discovered the identity of the enigmatic inventor of the groundbreaking cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
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12/13/24 • 41 min
Amid the shocking assassination of a health insurance executive and an upswell of anger towards the country’s fragile health care safety net, the health insurance industry is suddenly facing a reckoning. Among the best experts to make sense of it all is Wendell Potter.
When Wendell Potter left his job as a public relations executive for a health insurance company he was sure of one thing: his former employer was harming people every day. Potter, a former vice president of the insurance giant Cigna, became a whistleblower over a decade ago, and though he does not condone the recent murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, he understands the fury many in the country feel towards the insurance industry.
Today on Lever Time, Potter shares what he learned about how insurance companies hurt patients and more than a decade as an insurance industry insider. Journalist Jonathan Cohn, a veteran health care reporter and the author of the book The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage, also joins the show to unpack the decades-long political battle to reform the health care industry.
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How Marvel Helped Sell Us Forever Wars
Lever Time
12/20/24 • 28 min
When Iron Man hit theaters in 2008, it didn’t just launch the wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe — it also, with the Pentagon’s help, became a bombastic symbol of modern military might in the digital age. Now, can the same comic book character be used to critique the military-industrial complex and the War on Terror?
When Marvel wanted to make an Iron Man film in the early aughts, executives turned to a longstanding relationship between Hollywood and the Pentagon, allowing the Defense Department to approve the movie’s storyline in exchange for access to military equipment. The U.S. military was able to alter significant parts of Iron Man’s script, allowing the film to also serve as a marketing device for the military.
Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Spencer Ackerman is flipping the script. A veteran war reporter, Ackerman is writing a new Marvel comic book series of Iron Man, in which he’s applying the lessons he learned over two decades of covering the War on Terror. Decidedly more critical of the military-industrial complex that the movies championed, the books are reshaping the iconic hero into a parable about the impact of excessive wealth concentrated in the hands of one billionaire,
Today on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh sits down with Ackerman and Dave Gonzales, co-author of the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios and the host of the podcast Trial By Content, to discuss how the Pentagon pushed Marvel to use Iron Man as a piece of propaganda, and how events like 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars influenced the way superhero is seen today.
Read Spencer Ackerman's newsletter Forever Wars by clicking here.
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American Chaos Is Trump’s Plan
Lever Time
01/31/25 • 18 min
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.
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RFK’s Beef With Big Food
Lever Time
02/14/25 • 34 min
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was just confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing the nation’s food and health standards. He’s drawn controversy for opposing many positions of the medical establishment — except when it comes to junk food. Kennedy has repeatedly said ultraprocessed foods are harmful to public health, a position shared widely among medical professionals and nutritionists.
Food companies reportedly tried to thwart Kennedy’s confirmation, in part because they’ve known for decades just how unhealthy and addictive their products can be. Today on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh unpacks the food industry’s colossal influence over the American food system — and how they’re using the same playbook as Big Tobacco.
To learn more about Andrew Gallegos' nonprofit Cultivating Community head here.
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Big Tech’s Forever War
Lever Time
03/14/25 • 27 min
Does Donald Trump have what it takes to challenge Big Tech? Despite the elevation of Silicon Valley billionaires and insiders within his administration, the Department of Justice is still pursuing antitrust cases against Google and Microsoft. But some worry these efforts may be too little, too late. Today, technologies owned and operated by Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are so deeply embedded in society that it’s hard to imagine life without them.
It’s a situation that has caught the eyes of regulators and politicians, sometimes resulting in unexpected political alliances. Today on Lever Time, Senior Podcast Producer Arjun Singh sits down with several current and former regulators, including recently dismissed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Chair Rohit Chopra, to learn how the tech sector is rapidly changing society at the expense of the working class — and what the government can do to stop it.
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02/28/25 • 50 min
Are extreme weather events becoming normalized? Over the past few months, devastating wildfires have scorched Los Angeles, and Hurricane Helene left a trail of carnage across the Southeast. The science is clear: The planet is heating up, and it’s because of us.
But then why does it feel like nobody is taking the problem seriously? Despite the growing threat, climate change still struggles to capture people’s attention. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with a group of environmental writers and journalists to hear their experiences covering climate and what mainstream discourse around climate change is missing.
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The Lost History of Trump’s Tariff War
Lever Time
04/04/25 • 45 min
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump unveiled his plans for far-reaching new tariffs on almost all imported goods entering the United States. The move has plunged the global economy into turmoil amid fears of a wider trade war and higher consumer prices.
The tariffs are the culmination of a populist backlash simmering since NAFTA and the 2000 China trade deal. The elimination of trade barriers at the time hammered America’s industrial heartland amid warnings of a “giant sucking sound” of jobs and factories leaving the United States. But will Trump’s new tariffs do more harm than good? And will they open the floodgates to another deluge of corruption?
To answer those questions and understand what the tariffs mean for you, David Sirota sits down with veteran New York Times reporter Peter Goodman to discuss the real-world effects of what Trump is calling “Liberation Day."
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Fear And Corporate Loathing At The DNC
Lever Time
08/23/24 • 43 min
The Lever’s David Sirota reports on his adventures at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, sharing his on-the-ground reporting on Democrats’ fear of another Trump presidency and their rhetoric loathing the corporate takeover of politics. Sirota spotlights the tension between the convention’s populist framing and its corporate sponsors footing the bill. Sirota also talked to Democratic senators about whether any of Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy promises can become reality without the Senate first ending the filibuster.
In her convention address, Harris pledged that as president, she will center her agenda around workers — not the corporations whose executives and lobbyists sponsored and monitored the party’s convention from the arena’s luxury suites. The big unanswered question: Will Harris deliver her agenda when those corporate forces inevitably push back?
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This State Is For Sale
Lever Time
03/28/25 • 32 min
If you own a Fortune 500 business, you probably incorporated it in Delaware. The state has long been favored by corporate America, offering tax benefits and a bespoke, pre-Revolutionary War court system tailored to business needs. But now Delaware’s standing as the country’s top corporate haven is under attack.
This week on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh sits down with The Lever’s Katya Schwenk and Luke Goldstein to learn why the tiny East Coast state has been the United States’ corporate haven for decades. But there’s more to the story. Why are other states now battling to seize its title — and how does it impact the rest of us? And finally, how is Elon Musk making everything worse?
Lever reporting explains why Delaware is ground zero in the national oligarch takeover and why what happens in Delaware doesn’t stay in Delaware. It means corporate deregulation from coast to coast.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Lever Time have?
Lever Time currently has 173 episodes available.
What topics does Lever Time cover?
The podcast is about News, News Commentary, Podcasts and Politics.
What is the most popular episode on Lever Time?
The episode title 'The Secret Recordings Netanyahu Wants Censored' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Lever Time?
The average episode length on Lever Time is 41 minutes.
How often are episodes of Lever Time released?
Episodes of Lever Time are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Lever Time?
The first episode of Lever Time was released on May 13, 2022.
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