We’ve got big news — Master Plan is now a book!

Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America, co-authored by David Sirota and Jared Jacang Maher, is now available from all major booksellers. The 265-page book expands on the award-winning podcast with exclusive archival documents, new reporting, and never-before-seen photos. It tells the story of how corporate interests and political operatives spent decades reshaping American democracy — from Lewis Powell’s secret memo to Citizens United and the rise of dark money.

In this short update, Jared shares why we turned the series into a book and what readers can expect — followed by the official Book trailer for Master Plan. (Watch on YouTube.)

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NOTE: This is the first episode in a special bonus series from our weekly podcast, Lever Time.

While media giants cave to frivolous Trump libel lawsuits and muzzle late-night hosts who step out of line, CBS News’ parent company has announced that the billionaire-backed conservative provocateur Bari Weiss will be the network’s new editor-in-chief. So today, we’re going back in time to understand how we arrived at this present-day media hellscape. Who set this plan into motion, and how do we fight back?

Click here to pre-order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.

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Master Plan host David Sirota has a big announcement about a possible Master Plan Season 2. But we need your help. Go to masterplanpodcast.com 

Today, we’re sharing an episode of Drilled, a podcast about climate change hosted by investigative journalist Amy Westervelt. This is the first in a three-part miniseries on how Mobil Oil VP Herb Schmertz helped pave the way for corporate free speech, linking the Powell Memo to key Supreme Court cases like Bellotti and Citizens United. These efforts in the 1970s set the stage for the climate lawsuits moving through U.S. courts today. Explore the rest of Drilled Season 9 at https://drilled.media/.

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In a special Master Plan bonus episode, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins David Sirota to break down the impact of the Supreme Court’s’ 2010 Citizens United ruling on 2024's super PAC spending spree. The two dig into billionaires like Elon Musk openly backing candidates and the hidden power of dark money, and discuss current reforms efforts to bring transparency back to democracy. Plus, the Master Plan team answers audience questions.

Binge the entire season of the award-winning Master Plan now. Paid subscribers enjoy ad-free episodes, score exclusive bonus content, and help support the show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com.

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We all live in the master planners’ world now, immersed in an ocean of corruption. The 2024 Republican presidential campaign is bankrolled by billionaires, while corporate interests’ power was in full display at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. What will it take to reclaim our democracy? Is there any hope of reversing the master plan? 

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Unleashed by the Citizens United ruling, the master planners launch a three-part heist to crack the vault protecting democracy itself. First, the schemers take out the security cameras monitoring dark money. Then, they disarm the last campaign finance cops on the beat. Finally, they pull off a getaway so prosecutors can’t charge them as they run off with the loot. 

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An anti-abortion legal activist starts using the federal courts to chip away at campaign finance restrictions, setting his sights on the Supreme Court. Indiana lawyer James Bopp Jr. engineers the Citizens United case and hand-tailors it for Justice Anthony Kennedy’s storied swing vote — setting him up for an explosive 5-4 ruling that would devastate campaign finance law.

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As President George W. Bush declares “Mission Accomplished” in the Iraq War, his administration wages a different war with swing-state senators defying his judicial nominees. Operatives like Leonard Leo and Brett Kavanaugh seize the moment to try to dramatically shift the balance of the Supreme Court. But when Bush goes off script and nominates a trusted legal aide for a Supreme Court vacancy, the conservative legal movement launches an insurgency. This is part two of our story about the creation of the Roberts Court.

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After a series of setbacks in the push to legalize corruption, the master planners know they must take over the U.S. Supreme Court and halt the trend of Republican-appointed justices siding with campaign finance reformers. So in the early 2000s, they deploy their new judicial machine in an epic battle to try to permanently change the courts from the bottom up. This is part one of a two-part story about how the Roberts Court was built.

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