Today, we’re sharing an episode of the podcast Deconstructed from our friends over at The Intercept, an award-winning investigative news organization. 

In this episode, Daniel Boguslaw, a politics reporter for The Intercept, interviews Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) former political advisor Scott Sears. Boguslaw tells the story of Manchin’s rise in West Virginia politics, his strategic alliance with powerful business interests, and explains how the Senator ended up with such power over the Democratic legislative agenda.

In recent months, Manchin has been noncommittal when asked about a presidential run. Meanwhile, No Labels, a centrist political organization funded by dark money donors, is looking to run a split ticket featuring one Republican and one Democrat — and Manchin is considered one of the likely candidates. Sears helped Manchin secure political wins across the state before switching parties and throwing his support behind Donald Trump.

If you like Lever Time with David Sirota, be sure to check out Deconstructed on all podcast platforms and subscribe.

A transcript of this episode is available here.