Season 7 · Lever Time
Introducing Conversations From The Frontlines: Real Talk, Real Change
9 Oct 2026 · 3 min
Episode notes
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.
Podcast
Lever Time
From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by the 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 gu
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S7 · E44 · 9 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
The Elon Musk Film You Need To See Before The Midterms
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…
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S7 · E43 · 5 Oct 2026 · 53 min
Introducing “You Might Be Right:” Can We Trust What the Polls Say About the 2026 Midterms?
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…
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S7 · E42 · 2 Oct 2026 · 56 min
How AI Could Wipe Out Our Brains Before Our Existence
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…
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S7 · E41 · 24 Sep 2026 · 37 min
What’s Hiding In The Paramount Merger Settlement
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…
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S7 · E40 · 17 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 20 min
What Tech Oligarchs Gain From AI Doomerism
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…
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S7 · E39 · 11 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Dan Osborn Knows Why Democrats Keep Losing Nebraska
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats almost two to one in Nebraska, and the few elected Democratic politicians in the state overwhelmingly lean conservative. But like the rest of the country, Nebraska is feeling the strain of soaring prices, data center buildouts, and Trump’s tariffs. Is the state ready for a change? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota visits rural Nebraska to meet Dan Osborn, the former union president and political independent who is challenging Sen. Pete Ricketts, the Republican son of a billionaire, for his Senate seat. In a state where “Democrat” is a dirty word,…
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