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  • MONEYBOMB, Part 4: How Zohran Mamdani Beat Citizens United

    MONEYBOMB, Part 4: How Zohran Mamdani Beat Citizens United
    2025/11/03
    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. 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
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    41 分
  • BONUS: An Exclusive Interview With Graham Platner

    BONUS: An Exclusive Interview With Graham Platner
    2025/11/01
    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. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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    46 分
  • MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United

    MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United
    2025/10/30
    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. 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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    47 分
  • MONEYBOMB, Part 2: The 28th Amendment (With Rep. Joe Neguse)

    MONEYBOMB, Part 2: The 28th Amendment (With Rep. Joe Neguse)
    2025/10/23

    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 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.
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    41 分
  • MONEYBOMB, Part 1: JD Vance’s Supreme Court Plot

    MONEYBOMB, Part 1: JD Vance’s Supreme Court Plot
    2025/10/16

    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.
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    26 分
  • How Ticketmaster Made It Impossible To Sue Them

    How Ticketmaster Made It Impossible To Sue Them
    2025/10/13

    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.
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    44 分
  • Bari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media Takeover

    Bari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media Takeover
    2025/10/09

    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.
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    33 分
  • The Zillow And Redfin Convenience Trap

    The Zillow And Redfin Convenience Trap
    2025/10/06

    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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    28 分