In the 1970s, an eccentric anti-tax crusader launched a radical campaign to dismantle California’s tax system — a movement that still defines American politics today.

This is Part 1 of Tax Revolt, a new mini-series from Lever Time revealing how free-market radicals hijacked American politics and set the stage for Elon Musk, DOGE and Donald Trump’s presidency.

Want more? Become a paid subscriber to get ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content — and support independent journalism: levernews.com/subscribe

Plus, read a bonus companion article about the anti-tax zealot behind Proposition 13, written by producer Ariella Markowitz. 

Listen to the 3-min trailer for Tax Revolt, a new limited series from Lever Time. Part 1 of 4 premieres April 18.

Learn more at LeverNews.com/TaxRevolt

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The president of one of America’s largest industrial unions made headlines last month when he declared that some of Trump’s tariffs are the beginning of the end of a trade policy that has harmed America’s working class. On this episode of Lever Time, David Sirota speaks to United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain about blue-collar workers’ experience with 30 years of existing free trade policies. 

They discuss whether Trump’s new tariffs will end up doing more harm than good. They also discuss Fain’s assertion that Democrats have too often taken the labor movement for granted — especially when it comes to championing corporate-written trade policies, which he says have ended up alienating Democrats from the working class.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump unveiled his plans for far-reaching new tariffs on almost all imported goods entering the United States. The move has plunged the global economy into turmoil amid fears of a wider trade war and higher consumer prices. 

The tariffs are the culmination of a populist backlash simmering since NAFTA and the 2000 China trade deal. The elimination of trade barriers at the time hammered America’s industrial heartland amid warnings of a “giant sucking sound” of jobs and factories leaving the United States. But will Trump’s new tariffs do more harm than good? And will they open the floodgates to another deluge of corruption? 

To answer those questions and understand what the tariffs mean for you, David Sirota sits down with veteran New York Times reporter Peter Goodman to discuss the real-world effects of what Trump is calling “Liberation Day."

If you own a Fortune 500 business, you probably incorporated it in Delaware. The state has long been favored by corporate America, offering tax benefits and a bespoke, pre-Revolutionary War court system tailored to business needs. But now Delaware’s standing as the country’s top corporate haven is under attack.

This week on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh sits down with The Lever’s Katya Schwenk and Luke Goldstein to learn why the tiny East Coast state has been the United States’ corporate haven for decades. But there’s more to the story. Why are other states now battling to seize its title — and how does it impact the rest of us? And finally, how is  Elon Musk making everything worse?

Lever reporting explains why Delaware is ground zero in the national oligarch takeover and why what happens in Delaware doesn’t stay in Delaware. It means corporate deregulation from coast to coast.

In a special interview recorded just hours after his illegal firing, FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya speaks with David Sirota about Donald Trump’s unprecedented move to purge the Federal Trade Commission.

Echoing Nixon’s infamous Saturday Night Massacre, Trump has fired both Democratic commissioners at the FTC—an agency that by law is supposed to operate independently from the White House. The FTC had been investigating several of Trump’s biggest corporate allies.

Bedoya explains why this isn’t just about one agency, but about whether the presidency is becoming a corrupt monarchy—where only those who “kiss the king’s ring” are safe. He’s now taking Trump to court in a case that could land at the Supreme Court.

This is the free version of an episode originally released to Lever Premium subscribers. To hear exclusive bonus content like this regularly, become a subscriber at www.levernews.com/subscribe/.

Does Donald Trump have what it takes to challenge Big Tech? Despite the elevation of Silicon Valley billionaires and insiders within his administration, the Department of Justice is still pursuing antitrust cases against Google and Microsoft. But some worry these efforts may be too little, too late. Today, technologies owned and operated by Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are so deeply embedded in society that it’s hard to imagine life without them.

It’s a situation that has caught the eyes of regulators and politicians, sometimes resulting in unexpected political alliances. Today on Lever Time, Senior Podcast Producer Arjun Singh sits down with several current and former regulators, including recently dismissed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Chair Rohit Chopra, to learn how the tech sector is rapidly changing society at the expense of the working class — and what the government can do to stop it.

Chris Deluzio, a young Democratic representative from western Pennsylvania, just penned an unorthodox op-ed in The New York Times urging Democrats to embrace Trump’s contentious tariffs. Could he be on to something? Deluzio, who outperformed his party in a working-class swing district last November, says Democrats’ failure to address the economic concerns of everyday Americans is the reason they lost the 2024 election — and why they’re still struggling under Trump. 

Today on Lever Time, Senior Podcast Producer Arjun Singh sits down with Deluzio and reporter Amos Barshad to explore the history of the Democratic Party prioritizing unregulated free markets over the American worker — and how that’s now left them unable to conceive a winning economic agenda.

Are extreme weather events becoming normalized? Over the past few months, devastating wildfires have scorched Los Angeles, and Hurricane Helene left a trail of carnage across the Southeast. The science is clear: The planet is heating up, and it’s because of us. 

But then why does it feel like nobody is taking the problem seriously? Despite the growing threat, climate change still struggles to capture people’s attention. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with a group of environmental writers and journalists to hear their experiences covering climate and what mainstream discourse around climate change is missing. 

A Delta flight flipping over while landing in Toronto. A missing commuter plane in Alaska. A medical transport jet crash in Philadelphia. A catastrophic midair collision over Washington, D.C. Plane accidents seem to be happening at a greater frequency than ever before. But is that actually the case? And what, if anything, do these disasters tell us about the state of aviation safety?

Today on Lever Time, Senior podcast producer Arjun Singh sits down with Bill McGee, senior fellow for aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project and one of the country’s foremost experts on the airline industry, to discuss the recent crashes and the state of airline safety regulations.

The backbone of aviation safety in the United States of America is The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an organization that oversees aerospace safety and efficiency and is being targeted by President Donald Trump’s federal layoffs. But McGee says the FAA has been understaffed for years and has long been called “The Tombstone Agency” around Washington due to the organization’s tendency to only respond with a full investigation when a tragedy occurs.

To read an unedited transcript of the episode, click here.