Men are struggling with friendships and feeling lonelier than ever. The male loneliness epidemic is seeping into many facets of life — including mental health, the economy, and American politics — but why are guys having such a hard time making and keeping friends? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with journalist Sam Graham-Felsen to explore the collapse of male friendship — and why this quiet crisis has deeper political and social ramifications than anyone wants to admit. You can read Sam Graham-Felsen’s New York Times article referenced in this episode here. A transcript of the episode is available here. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

You might recognize director Ari Aster from his groundbreaking horror films like Hereditary and Midsommar. But Aster just dropped the scariest film of his career: Eddington, a dark COVID-19 comedy starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone, about social media-driven polarization, gun violence, and the looming tech takeover. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Aster about the inspiration behind his all-too-prescient film. Did the coronavirus pandemic break our brains, leaving our communities with no commonly accepted set of facts? How do we navigate today’s AI slop-driven informational hellscape? And is it possible to avoid the twisted fate of Eddington, Aster’s fictional New Mexico town? Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

Delta Air Lines recently came under fire for announcing that artificial intelligence will be setting 20 percent of its ticket prices for its domestic flights by 2026. While Delta subsequently denied using the tech to engage in “personalized” price gouging, many airlines, big businesses, and data brokers have allegedly been dabbling in “surveillance pricing,” the growing corporate practice that exploits personal data to charge customers the most they’re willing to pay. In this episode of Lever Time, David Sirota talks to Lee Hepner, antitrust expert at the American Economic Liberties Project, to learn how companies are tracking our online and offline behavior to deliver personalized (and potentially higher) price tags. As Hepner reveals, corporate entities have been quietly fine-tuning the practice for decades — and we’re now entering an era of one person, one price. Click here to read The Lever’s investigation into how airlines pioneered  "personalized pricing." Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

The Trump administration appears ready to sign an executive order that would allow private equity firms to prey on Americans’ retirement savings. What happens if Wall Street can suddenly tap into the trillions of dollars tucked away in 401(k) accounts? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with former federal regulator Ted Siedle and economist Eileen Appelbaum to understand what private equity could do to Americans’ hard-earned retirement funds — and how you can protect your money. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

In a stunning reversal, the Trump administration just gave the green light to a major tech merger — and then fired two Justice Department lawyers who opposed it. Was corruption at play in the merger decision? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with The Lever’s Luke Goldstein and UnHerd Magazine’s Sohrab Ahmari, who first exposed the “mergers over martinis” story behind the reversal. They dive into the MAGA power struggle inside the Justice Department and tackle the big questions: What triggered the reversal? Could a Watergate-era anti-corruption law bring the truth to light? And if Trump is now opening the floodgates to corporate mergers, what will that mean for your wallet? To check out Sohrab Ahmari’s reporting, as referenced in this episode, click here. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

The Trump administration just unveiled a sweeping AI Action Plan that aims to achieve global dominance in the industry. Hiding deep within the document? A previously rejected scheme to ban oversight of tech oligarchs and let artificial intelligence run wild.  Today on Lever Time, producer Natalie Bettendorf investigates the challenges and political realities of reining in AI — and why Congress and the president seem determined to terminate AI regulations. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are dueling over interest rates set by America’s secretive central bank, the Federal Reserve. Is the Fed’s secrecy and independence good for the economy? Who should control the institution — the people, the president, or Wall Street? And why are so many experts in media, politics and business afraid to even consider challenging the status quo? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with two provocative economic thinkers about what is really at stake in this battle between Trump and Powell, and how this clash over the Federal Reserve affects millions of Americans. Check out Matt Stoller’s newsletter “Big” here. Check out Nathan Tankus’s newsletter “Notes on the Crisis” here. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe To leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Why did CBS cancel Stephen Colbert’s show mere days after the company settled a lawsuit with Donald Trump? Are Trump’s lawsuits part of a larger movement to crush dissent? And which other billionaires, corporations, and politicians are trying to bully critics into silence? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with New York Times journalist David Enrich, the author of the book Murder The Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful. Enrich brings listeners inside the legal movement to end Americans’ first-amendment right to express opposition to what’s happening in this country. You can read an unedited transcript of this episode here. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe To leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Why is President Donald Trump’s right-wing voter base up in arms over Jeffrey Epstein? Which of the many conspiracy theories are based in truth? And what is Trump’s Department of Justice now trying to cover up?  Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with the award-winning investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, who first broke the story of Epstein’s legal cover-up, to find out why we should keep pushing the Trump administration for answers. To read more of Julie K. Brown’s groundbreaking reporting about the Epstein case, check out her book “Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story.” Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content, and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe You can also leave a tip for The Lever. It helps us do this work. levernews.com/donate

You’ve likely heard about the slashed health care for millions of Americans. Hospitals defunded. Massive tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. But guess what? Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" is even more absurd (and devious) than you think.  Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with David Dayen of The American Prospect and The Lever’s Luke Goldstein to dig into the hidden details: How did these crazy handouts make it into the Big Beautiful Bill? What’s the larger agenda? And how is this going to affect you? Read Luke Goldstein’s reporting here. Read David Dayen's article here. As an exclusive bonus, click here to listen to an additional 35 minutes of this interview. Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Even before the deadly July 4th floods in Texas, the United States had a problem. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Lever reporter Freddy Brewster to discuss a technology that could help alert communities about flooding disasters — and the underlying political battle that's leaving 99% of America's waterways unmonitored. You can read The Lever's exclusive reporting on streamgage technology here. Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews, by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Since Israel launched its war in Gaza a year and a half ago in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack, Israeli armed forces have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in their quest to destroy Hamas. But more and more experts say what’s happening in Gaza isn’t just a war — it’s genocide. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid to talk about why so many have trouble using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s mass violence, why that word must be in the discourse, and why linguistic choices can have lasting consequences. You can read Shadi Hamid’s op-ed here. Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews, by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Why did Republicans rush their massive tax cut bill through Congress? What are they hiding? As the media focuses on specific provisions, David Sirota digs into the bill’s far-reaching consequences, warning it could reshape society for generations.  He calls up an old friend, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who explains how the bill will hurt working-class voters and why its rationale is, in his words, “total bullshit.” They also talk political fear, arson, and whether lawmakers will be held accountable. Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews, by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribe If you’d like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Seventy-two minutes. That’s how long it could take from a country launching a nuclear weapon to global nuclear winter and the end of human civilization.  If that’s not scary enough, the United States is right now involved in two proxy wars involving nuclear powers — one in Ukraine, and the other in the Middle East.  Today on Lever Time, David Sirota asks acclaimed investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, the big bombshell questions: What scenarios are most likely to trigger a nuclear conflict? What can be done to pull us back from the brink? And just how close are we to the worst-case scenario? As a special bonus to our paid subscribers, we’re also airing our full, uncut interview with Annie Jacobsen on the Lever Time Premium feed. Click here for access.

Donald Trump just launched America into a war with Iran, and he’s done so without any authorization from Congress. A growing group of lawmakers says this is illegal and unconstitutional, and they are calling for an emergency session of Congress to force a vote to stop him.  Sirota talks to U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is currently leading the fight to stop Trump’s escalation and pressure his fellow Democrats to follow his lead. The big question: Will there be enough votes from Democrats and MAGA Republicans to halt a conflict that could escalate into World War III?

Early voting in New York City’s mayoral primary race is well underway, and the rest of the country is watching. That’s because this year’s publicly funded city election is a battle for the future of the Democratic party, and the two frontrunners — a disgraced, corporate-backed Democrat and an upstart, young progressive — reveal a political schism that stretches far beyond the Big Apple. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with one of the race’s surprising front-runners, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, to explore how he’s using campaign finance reforms and other innovative approaches to take on New York’s former governor, Andrew Cuomo. David also talks with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to understand what’s truly at stake in the election

Just when it seemed the geopolitical horrors in the Middle East couldn’t get worse, Israel went from leveling Gaza to launching a war against Iran. The offensive started while President Donald Trump was pressing for an Iran nuclear deal that would limit the country’s capacity to build nuclear weapons — and yet still Trump reportedly greenlit Israel’s attack.  Today on Lever Time, editor-in-chief David Sirota speaks with Matt Duss, former Senate foreign policy aide for Bernie Sanders and current executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, to explore what triggered this new offensive and what role the U.S. government is playing. Is the endgame here World War III? 

The national deficit usually feels like an abstract talking point: America’s permanent credit card bill that just keeps getting bigger, without ever coming due. But suddenly, our national debt has a real cost. As President Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts threaten to add trillions to the deficit, every major credit rating agency has now downgraded the United States’ credit rating, suggesting that the U.S. is no longer a reliable borrower — a move with potentially disastrous, far-reaching consequences for the global economy. To unpack what’s at stake, David Sirota sits down with Stephanie Kelton, a world-renowned economist and pioneer in Modern Monetary Theory, to ask her big questions: What does a credit downgrade mean? Should we really be thinking about America’s spending and debt like it’s a household budget? And how exactly could too much national debt bankrupt the country?  The answers, argues Kelton, necessitate transforming our perception of money itself.

There’s a new evil genius on Capitol Hill, one that privacy experts warn could empower tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to issue their own private currencies. The Senate is poised to pass the GENIUS Act, which would give so much free rein to such “stablecoins” that it could destabilize the rest of the economy. Today on Lever Time, Arjun Singh sits down with Lever reporter Luke Goldstein to understand the GENIUS Act, how it could turn Big Tech companies into unregulated banks, and why this should be a concern for the rest of us. You can read Luke’s full story on the GENIUS Act and the future of “ZuckBucks” here.

He came in with a bang but is going out with a whimper. After his 24/7 role on Trump’s election stage and his high-profile rampage through the federal government, billionaire Elon Musk says he’s scaling back his work for the administration and ramping down his political spending. With his image tarnished and businesses facing turbulence, is Musk down for the count — or planning his return as America’s most infamous oligarch? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota talks to Michael Scherer, a reporter for The Atlantic who has the inside scoop on what happened to Musk and what kinds of ticking time bombs he and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency may have left inside the federal government.