On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Hill Harper, a Democratic candidate for Michigan’s open senate seat, to discuss how the state could swing the 2024 presidential election.Michigan, which proved to be a key battleground in 2016 and 2020, is currently heavily leaning towards Donald Trump. That could spell trouble for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign — not to mention down-ballot races in a state that, until recently, appeared to be increasingly shifting blue. In today’s interview, David and Hill discuss the political stakes in Michigan, and how issues in the state such as the auto strikes, the Israel-Hamas War, the Enbridge pipeline, and abortion rights are influencing the electorate. Hill, a well-known actor, also talks about the challenges of running as a progressive candidate against the Democratic establishment’s chosen candidate, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, and the influence of big money in American politics. The two discuss the phone call Hill  received last November from a wealthy donor who offered him $20 million to drop out of the senate race and instead mount a primary challenge against Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress. A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:Biden Has a Michigan Problem, Endangering His Re-ElectionHillHarper.comBONUS: On Monday's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, we’ll be sharing David Sirota’s conversation with media strategist Jason Kint about Facebook’s parent company Meta, which is currently suing the Federal Trade Commission to prevent regulators from reinforcing a 2020 privacy settlement regarding the company’s monetization of user data from children. If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Denver Post columnist and longtime Republican Krista Kafer, one of the plaintiffs in the landmark Colorado lawsuit that resulted in the state’s Supreme Court removing Donald Trump from the presidential ballot. On Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court decided in a 4-to-3 ruling that former president Donald Trump would not be allowed to appear on the state’s primary ballot because of the Constitution’s “Insurrection Clause,” which bars anyone from running for public office if they’ve engaged in insurrection against the United States. The lawsuit alleged that Trump had engaged in insurrection during the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up the case, which will determine whether Trump can be disqualified in Colorado. Now that Trump has won the Iowa caucus with a record 51 percent of the vote, it’s looking increasingly likely that Trump will become the Republican nominee for president, making the Supreme Court’s decision even more pivotal for the 2024 election, as it could have far-reaching implications for lawsuits in other states seeking to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot. The high court is expected to reach a decision shortly after arguments are heard on February 8th.In today’s interview, David speaks with Krista about why she decided to join the Colorado lawsuit and why she believes a Trump re-election needs to be stopped. They also question if legal challenges against Trump may have the unintentional side effect of empowering him within his base and whether defeating him legally is enough to defeat Trumpism for the long term. A transcript of this episode is available here.BONUS: Last week’s bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, features our interview with journalist and sports writer Matt Brown, about how the private equity industry could soon be getting its claws into college football. If you’re a fan of college football who cares about the integrity of your favorite team, this interview goes into detail about how Wall Street could fundamentally change how college football works, for both players and fans.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota is joined by Bill McGee, a Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, and investigative journalist Maureen “Moe” Tkacik to discuss how the air travel industry has been transformed from the paragon of engineering and innovation into cost-cutting, regulation-dodging piggy banks for Wall Street investors. Last Friday, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experienced what could have been a deadly disaster when a plug door was ripped from the plane mid-flight. Luckily, no one was killed and there were only a few minor injuries. But this incident spotlights what critics say is a systemic problem in airline manufacturing and oversight: years of cutting costs, spurred by the Wall Street-ification of companies like aircraft manufacturer Boeing. This past week, The Lever reported that employees at Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing’s main subcontractor for plug doors and other parts of the frame, allegedly warned the company about safety issues but were instructed to falsify documents instead. Incidents like these may have resulted from companies like Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems chasing higher profit margins at the expense of quality manufacturing and service.In today’s interview, David, Bill, and Moe discuss how airlines' demands to cram passengers into planes may have resulted in this past week’s Alaska Airlines technical malfunction. Bill and Moe also explain how the airline regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration have been asleep at the wheel for decades when it comes to oversight, and how the profit-driven corporate governance at companies like Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems has contributed to this sprawling crisis.A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:Boeing Supplier Ignored Warnings Of “Excessive Amount Of Defects,” Former Employees Allege (The Lever, 2023)BONUS: This past Monday's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, features our interview with journalist and sports writer Matt Brown, about how the private equity industry could soon be getting its claws into college football. If you’re a fan of college football who cares about the integrity of your favorite team, this interview goes into detail about how Wall Street could fundamentally change how college football works, for both players and fans.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

Today, we’re sharing another episode of the podcast Deconstructed, from our friends over at The Intercept, an award-winning investigative news organization.The 2008 economic crisis changed the world. In the United States, the meager response by Barack Obama and the Democratic Party produced a recovery that was far too slow, drove an eviction crisis, and fueled a populist backlash. On the left, that backlash took the form of Occupy Wall Street, which put the problem of wealth and income inequality — the 99 percent versus the 1 percent — into the national political conversation for the first time since the Great Depression. Followed a few years later by the Movement for Black Lives and an upsurge of climate activism, the new radical energy among young people prepped the ground for the first Bernie Sanders campaign. In 2016, the Vermont senator came shockingly close to the presidential nomination. In the wake of Sanders’ campaign, a chunk of his staff that focused on organizing grassroots supporters decided to quit and try something new: They would recruit and support Bernie-style populists and take over the House.On this episode of Deconstructed, Ryan Grim brings us another audio documentary, adapted from an excerpt of his newest book, The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution. This episode chronicles the 2008 economic crisis, Obama’s election, and zeroes in on how individual members of the Squad became politicized.If you like Lever Time, be sure to check out Deconstructed on all podcast platforms and subscribe.Links:The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution (Macmillan, 2023)A transcript of this episode is available here.

This podcast episode explores the rise and fall of Bernie Sanders during his first presidential campaign. It delves into the excitement surrounding Sanders' grassroots campaign and the concerns of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Additionally, it discusses the Bernie Bros phenomenon and the strategies employed by the Clinton campaign to undermine Sanders.

In this episode, David Sirota and Zack Beauchamp discuss the potential backlash to right-wing Zionism after Israel's violence in Gaza. They explore the concept of liberal Zionism, its historical context, and its tension with creating a democratic Jewish state. The podcast delves into the decline of liberal Zionism in Israel and the potential for its revival. The hosts also discuss the history of peace negotiations, the attack on the Israeli left, and the challenges of achieving a Jewish and democratic state.

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota is joined by award-winning climate journalist Amy Westervelt to discuss her recent bombshell report on how news outlets are raking in millions from the fossil fuel industry to produce greenwashed sponsored content. Amy’s report reveals how outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, and Politico work directly with the oil and gas industry to produce branded “advertorials,” which straddle the line between advertisements and editorial content. While this financial arrangement raises questions about journalistic biases and conflicts of interest, what’s more troubling is that the majority of readers can’t tell the difference between sponsored content and genuine reporting. In today’s interview, David speaks with Amy about the history of branded partnerships between fossil fuel interests and the media industry, how actual climate journalists feel about this type of sponsored content, and how advertorials promoting carbon capture and clean hydrogen technology provide a smoke screen for expanding oil production. The two also discussed the annual United Nations climate summit, the latest being COP28, which has been slowly infiltrated and co-opted by the oil and gas industry in order to hamper any meaningful organization against climate change.A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:Leading News Outlets Are Doing The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Greenwashing (The Intercept, 2023)Drilled MediaBONUS: On Monday's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, we’ll be sharing David Sirota’s interview with Princeton professor D. Graham Burnett, who recently co-authored an op-ed for The New York Times about our ever-diminishing attention spans. Graham calls this  the “attention fracking” economy, when social media giants use manipulative algorithms to keep users’ eyes glued to the screen.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota is joined by author and Washington Post Editorial board member Shadi Hamid to discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, specifically how this current iteration of the decades-long hostilities is being debated, protested, perceived, and exacerbated by people in America and across the globe.In what has already been a bitterly polarizing decade in American history, the deadly conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza has somehow managed to intensify that division. While there has been some progress, like the growing number of elected officials who support a permanent ceasefire agreement, the majority of our public discourse surrounding this crisis is heated and unconstructive. But an issue like this requires patience, humility, and a lot of listening. That’s true from the holiday dinner table to the White House.In today’s discussion, David speaks with Shadi about why this particular conflict has drawn more global attention and instigated more public debate than other global conflicts. They also discuss reconciling the right to exist for both Israelis and Palestinians, how to construct a practical path forward that can meaningfully address genuine grievances, and what the changing politics of Israel-Palestine inside the Democratic Party might mean for the 2024 election.A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:The Problem Of Democracy: America, The Middle East, And The Rise And Fall Of An Idea (Brookings, 2022)BONUS: Last week’s bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, featured our interview with journalist and author Cole Stangler about his new book Paris Is Not Dead: Surviving Hypergentrification in the City of Light. Cole’s book explores how gentrification has affected the cultural makeup of Paris, and the public housing policies that have helped maintain the city’s diverse, working-class character.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, producer Frank Cappello and senior editor and reporter Andrew Perez are joined by health care journalist Bob Herman, who recently co-authored a report for health care industry news organization STAT detailing how the country’s largest health insurer  has used artificial intelligence to deny rehabilitation services for older and disabled Americans.The insurer, UnitedHealth Group, has claimed that its algorithm, which predicts how long patients will require rehab services, is used solely as a recommendation. But its subsidiary’s case managers allege the company pressures them to adhere to the algorithm’s suggestions in order to cut off payments as quickly as possible. This issue is affecting Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage health insurance plans — the privatized version of Medicare operated by private insurers as an alternative to traditional Medicare.In today’s interview, Frank and Andrew speak with Bob about the growing use of artificial intelligence in the health care industry, how insurance companies like UnitedHealth are effectively being run like automobile assembly lines, and how the federal government has largely failed to ensure that the private insurers operating Medicare Advantage plans follow Medicare coverage rules.A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:UnitedHealth Pushed Employees To Follow An Algorithm To Cut Off Medicare Patients’ Rehab Care (STAT, 2023)BONUS: This past Monday's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, featured our interview with journalist and author Cole Stangler about his new book Paris Is Not Dead: Surviving Hypergentrification in the City of Light. Cole’s book explores how gentrification has affected the cultural makeup of Paris, and the public housing policies that have helped maintain the city’s diverse, working-class character.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, news editor Lucy Dean Stockton is joined by researcher Rosanna Landis Weaver and Andrew Behar, CEO of the non-profit shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow, to discuss how they’re using stock ownership in publicly-traded companies to promote corporate change from within. 50 years ago, economist Milton Friedman argued that a corporation’s “greatest responsibility lies in the satisfaction of the shareholders.” In other words, the primary goal of every business is to increase its profits and maximize returns to investors. But in hindsight, even Fortune magazine acknowledges that the ideology of “shareholder primacy” has extensively damaged society. That’s where shareholder advocates come in, since they use their ownership in publicly traded companies to influence company decision-making. Whether it's pushing for transparency, addressing ethical concerns, advocating for sustainable practices, or curtailing CEO pay, shareholders have the ability to shape the companies in which they own stock. In today’s interview, Rosanna and Andrew explain how their organization As You Sow practices shareholder advocacy, including a recent win at Starbucks to reduce their plastic waste. They break down their annual list of “The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs,” which details how some of the highest paid CEOs actually underperform for their companies. And they discuss how the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee recently opened an investigation into As You Sow along with other organizations, as part of their culture war against ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) investments. A transcript of this episode is available here.Links:As You SowThe 100 Most Overpaid CEOs (As You Sow, 2023)BONUS: On Monday's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever’s supporting subscribers, we’ll be publishing our interview with journalist and author Cole Stangler about his new book Paris Is Not Dead: Surviving Hypergentrification in the City of Light, which explores how gentrification has affected the cultural makeup of Paris, and the public housing policies that have helped maintain the city’s diverse, working-class character.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar