Lever Time

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!

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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, could Osborn’s populist campaign become a blueprint for breaking free from a dysfunctional two-party system?

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Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins (R) has won five elections in a row, and a Democrat has not won a United States Senate seat in the state since 1988 — but polls suggest Mainers have reached a breaking point. They’re tired of corruption and inaction from establishment politicians in Washington, D.C., and they’re clamoring for change. 

Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who spent nearly two decades as a state legislator, says he’s ready to shake things up. After populist insurgent Graham Platner dropped out of the race in July, Maine’s Democratic Party tapped Jackson as its new candidate.

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Jackson to ask: why haven’t Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat in Maine in 38 years? Why does Collins keep winning? What’s changed in Maine over the last three decades, and why does he believe he can finally topple the state’s longtime Republican senator?

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Earlier this month, a new Democratic machine scored a major victory in Connecticut. First-time congressional candidate Luke Bronin won his Democratic primary by a landslide, ousting 14-term progressive incumbent Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.). Bronin’s win is part of a larger, national push — funded by a secretive hedge fund manager — to elect more establishment-aligned Democrats. Who is this man pouring his millions into the fight?  

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Lever reporters Katya Schwenk and Luke Goldstein to unmask the man behind the machine. They discuss Schwenk and Goldstein’s recent hit article exploring how one billionaire Democratic donor is attempting to handpick corporate-friendly candidates and crush their most progressive opponents in this year’s midterms.  

You can check out more of Katya Schwenk and Luke Goldstein’s reporting here:

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This week on Lever Time, we’re featuring our newest episode of Master Plan: The Kingmakers. 

In this episode, President Barack Obama vows to restore the rule of law after the War on Terror. But behind closed doors, his administration creates a new secret system that allows the president to decide who lives and who dies.

You can check out the full season of Master Plan: The Kingmakers here. 

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