The Master Plan team is hard at work on the next batch of Season 2 episodes. In the meantime, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Scene on Radio.

Their new season, The News, explores the crisis facing American journalism: collapsing local newsrooms, declining public trust, and a media ecosystem flooded with misinformation. In this first episode, the two-time Peabody Award-nominated series asks a simple but urgent question: What’s really wrong with the news?

To hear the rest of the series, search for Scene on Radio wherever you get your podcasts or visit sceneonradio.org.

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This week, the Iran War will reach its official 60-day mark. That’s a critical deadline under the War Powers Resolution, a Nixon-era law created to limit presidential war-making.

Under that law, President Donald Trump can claim a one-time, 30-day extension, so the Iran War will likely continue. But the War Powers Resolution also gives Congress a secret weapon to end this unpopular war — or any war — whenever it wants. So why has Congress never used it? 

In this special episode, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded the powers of the president — and left Congress believing that it’s powerless to stop unauthorized wars. 

Note: This bonus episode marks the start of our midseason intermission for Master Plan: The Kingmakers. We’ll be back this summer with the remaining four episodes. Until then, please become a paid subscriber to keep receiving bonus episodes, updates, and more.

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Rather than retreat from Iran-Contra and other scandals, conservative operatives inside the White House — led by Attorney General Edwin Meese — went on the offensive. Drawing on newly uncovered documents and exclusive interviews, we trace how Meese helped turn a fringe idea into doctrine: that all executive power belongs to the president alone. This is the origin story of the unitary executive theory.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to Episode 4.

🎧 BONUS: Listen to the full Ed Meese interview here.

Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade

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Emboldened by a landslide election, the president’s men began to see themselves as 1980s action-movie heroes, willing to break the law to get what they want. The result was the Iran-Contra affair, a secret arms deal that ignited a constitutional crisis. Would Congress roll over and play dead — or actually do something?

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode.

Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade.

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How did Project 2025 take control of the White House? It all began decades ago, when a beer-baron-backed think tank handed President Ronald Reagan an 1,100-page instruction manual for expanding presidential power.

The next episode is available now for premium subscribers. Click here.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus historical documents related to the episode.

Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade .

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Before Trump, there was Nixon. His attempts to seize the power of the purse and secretly expand the Vietnam War forged a constitutional crisis, a backlash, and a template for an imperial presidency.

Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit masterplanpodcast.com.

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A new season of Master Plan debuts on March 16.

For early access to new episodes and exclusive bonus content, click here to upgrade to a paid subscription to The Lever.

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An important message about the future of Master Plan, from our host, David Sirota.

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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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