Lever Time

It’s Election Day in America, and one of the biggest names this midterm election season isn’t on the ballot. To corporate Democrats’ and Republicans’ dismay, the massively popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has become a leading voice on the left. For a special election episode of Lever Time, we’re sharing David Sirota’s recent interview with Piker, in which they explore the rise of the progressive left. The two dissect the year’s biggest campaign moments, predict election-night developments, and discuss what they envision for the Democratic Party going forward. 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

Conversations From The Frontlines is a show about how social change actually happens - not just the issues making headlines, but the people organizing on the ground and doing the work to create lasting change. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The midterm elections are just days away, and despite populist candidates surging in popularity across the country, corporate Democrats continue to insist that “Romney Republicans” are the key swing voters Democrats need to court, not the working class. Could they be correct? Or next week, will voters prove yet again that corporate Democrats are out of step with average Americans, and that their days leading the Party are numbered? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich to discuss how corporatization of the Democratic Party is on the ballot this year, why this could be the “last gasp election” for corporate Democrats, and which races next week will reveal the answers. 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

Last month, U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon, a member of the Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists of America, spoke at the nation’s largest annual conference of Black political power and called out one of the event’s corporate sponsors. Lever columnist Morgan Harper attended the conference and noticed that Nixon was not alone — after years of quietly accepting corporate cash, some Black leaders are starting to push back against its influence. But will that shift in rhetoric help Democrats win at the polls, especially in a deep-red state like Florida, where millions are being spent to defeat Nixon?  Today on Lever Time, Morgan Harper sits down with Florida state Rep. Nixon (D) to discuss why she’s refusing corporate PAC money in her campaign against Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked appointee; why she believes challenging corporations and billionaires is essential to building more political power for Black voters; and why she’s confident that working-class voters in Florida are ready for democratic socialism. You can read Morgan Harper’s essay here and more Lever reporting about Angie Nixon here. BIG NEWS: We’re thrilled to announce that Lever Time received a 2026 Signal Award in the Activism, Public Service & Social Impact category — and thanks to supporters like you, Lever Time also won the Listeners' Choice award. As thanks, we’re offering a one-time discount for paid subscriptions. Click here to get 50% off ad-free episodes for life. 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

With the midterms less than a month away, some pundits and polls suggest Democrats have the election in the bag. But is that really true? David Sirota travels to Minnesota to speak with someone who knows the danger of election complacency and overconfidence: Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Today on Lever Time, we’re airing David Sirota’s full conversation with Walz. They discuss the choices that led to a 2024 presidential defeat for the Democrats, from the party’s stance on the genocide in Gaza to Kamala Harris’s decision to campaign with Republican Liz Cheney. Ahead of the 2026 midterms, what can we learn from his experience? Does Walz believe the Democrats stand a chance? And what happens if the Democrats win and fail to deliver on their promises? 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

Musk, a deep-dive investigative documentary about the world’s richest man, premieres this weekend, less than a month before the midterms. Maybe you haven’t heard about it — until recently, most major social media platforms declined to run paid promotions of the documentary’s trailer, citing rules on political content. What are Musk and Big Tech so afraid of? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with the film’s creator, Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney, to discuss the documentary’s shocking revelations. They explore Musk’s evolution from Democratic darling to Trump crony, his deadly approach to Tesla technology, his new U.S. government role planning the “future of war,” and his influence on the 2026 midterm elections.  We also have some big news: Lever Time has been named a finalist in the 2026 Signal Awards! But we need your help — please click on this link here and vote for Lever Time. It’s totally free and only takes a few minutes. The voting deadline is October 15. Thanks for all your support! 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

Today we’re sharing a special episode from You Might Be Right, the chart-topping politics podcast from the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee. It was recently named a “must-listen” by both NPR and Spotify. Each episode, former Tennessee Governors from both sides of the aisle Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam tackle timely conversations about government and policy. At a time where mainstream news reverts to shouting matches, and most political commentary generates more heat than light, You Might Be Right is a great place for even-keeled conversations about tough topics. Today, we’re sharing their recent episode where they decode the real forces driving voter behavior in 2026. From kitchen-table anxieties about affordability and health care to deepening fears about public safety, the Governors sit down with Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson and Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg to unpack the data behind the headlines and reveal what candidates on both sides are getting right, and wrong, as they sprint toward Election Day. For more episodes like this, make sure to follow You Might Be Right on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell them we sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic’s leaked IPO documents show the company had a net loss of $42 billion in 2025 and still insists that its technology could pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity.” It’s either the most honest risk disclosure or the most effective marketing scheme in corporate history. So which is it? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota explores a few less obvious AI risks — cognitive surrender, pseudo-productivity, and “approval bombing” — with Cal Newport, author and computer science professor at Georgetown University. Newport has spent years cutting through technology hype. He says tech CEOs genuinely believe AI could end the world, but what if that never happens and we must learn to coexist? How do we live alongside this tech without destroying ourselves? 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

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic attorneys general just settled their lawsuit blocking Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The merger is now set to create one of the world’s largest media companies and put CNN and CBS News under the control of David Ellison, son of billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison. Bonta says the settlement is a victory — but what’s really in the deal’s fine print? Today on Lever Time, Natalie Bettendorf sits down with former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and antitrust legal expert Lee Hepner to explore what’s hiding in the merger settlement, why California Gov. Gavin Newsom “chickened out” on the matter, and what it all means for the future of our news and entertainment. You can read more Lever reporting on the merger 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The AI apocalypse is here, but it’s not what you think. Last week, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned online that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” The fallout sent shockwaves across the country — but how legitimate is Coxon’s warning? Should we fear AI agents going rogue and threatening humanity, or are these safety concerns a cover for something even more ominous on the horizon?  Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with two of the most astute observers of this situation: tech critic Ed Zitron and Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project, to discuss why something feels off about this latest wave of AI panic. Editor’s note: An uncut video of this interview was published earlier this week, exclusively to our paid subscribers. ⁠Upgrade now⁠ to gain full and early access to all The Lever has to offer.  Check out Zitron’s newsletter, Where’s Your Ed At, and his podcast, Better Offline. Read Stoller’s essay about the recent AI panic and check out his newsletter, BIG. 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