Master Plan

Season 1

1. Trailer — Legalizing Corruption Trailer

   Show notes

   A secret plot. A public theft. A democracy corrupted.

   Discover the truth. The first season of Master Plan, a new podcast from The Lever is avalable now wherever you get your podcasts.

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   Aug 5, 2024 5 min

2. Milk Money

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   Ever wonder how America became so corrupt? It didn’t have to be this way. Our series begins in 1971, a time when hot pants were hot, bell bottoms were swinging, and campaign cash flowed like… milk.

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   Aug 27, 2024 37 min

3. The Other Watergate

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   There’s a lost tale behind Watergate: corporate bagmen, suitcases of illegal cash, and Nixon circumventing the very campaign finance rules he’d just signed into law. Amid the blowback, Nixon leaves a ticking time bomb in the heart of Washington.

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   Aug 27, 2024 47 min

4. The Powell Memo

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   A seemingly moderate corporate lawyer grows alarmed by anti-corruption reformers’ policy wins and writes a manifesto detailing how corporations and oligarchs can dominate American politics. Months later, he’s confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by senators unaware that his manifesto is going viral among the business elite.

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   Sep 3, 2024 56 min

5. The Secret Task Force

   Episode 4

   Show notes

   How did corporate executives and politicians turn Lewis Powell’s memo from a blueprint into a master plan — and begin executing it? In this episode, we uncover proof of a secret “Powell Memo Task Force,” as well as clandestine meetings involving America’s most powerful businessmen, a future president, and an ambitious young media consultant. The results would change history.

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   Sep 10, 2024 51 min

6. Corporations Are People, My Friend

   Episode 5

   Show notes

   You might remember Mitt Romney’s infamous line: “Corporations are people, my friend.” But where did this idea come from? In this episode: how the Ford Administration and the Powell Memo movement turned to the Supreme Court to establish the precedent that legalized corruption: money is speech, and corporations are entitled to First Amendment rights.

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   Sep 17, 2024 53 min

7. The Maverick

   Episode 6

   Show notes

   When five U.S. senators get caught pressuring a regulator on behalf of a financial magnate, they become known as the “Keating Five.” The public is predictably outraged. But what no one expects is that one of those senators will learn from his mistakes and become the staunchest campaign finance reformer in decades.

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   Sep 24, 2024 1 hr 3 min

8. Rise of the Machine

   Episode 7

   Show notes

   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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   Oct 1, 2024 59 min

9. Shock and Awe

   Episode 8

   Show notes

   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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   Oct 8, 2024 53 min

10. Going Big

    Episode 9

    Show notes

    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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    Oct 15, 2024 1 hr 5 min

11. The Heist

    Episode 10

    Show notes

    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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    Oct 22, 2024 1 hr 8 min

12. Hell Or High Water

    Episode 11

    Show notes

    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?

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

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    Oct 29, 2024 1 hr 8 min

13. BONUS: The Master Planners’ Election (With Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse) Bonus

    Show notes

    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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    Nov 4, 2024 55 min

1. The Master Plan Book Is Here (With Trailer) Trailer

   Show notes

   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.)

   • Get your copy: http://levernews.com/book — paid subscribers get a discount.
   • Leave a quick review on Amazon or Goodreads to help others discover the project.
   • Ask your local bookstore or library to order Master Plan.
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   Oct 17, 2025 8 min

Season 2

1. Season 2 Trailer: The Kingmakers Trailer

   Show notes

   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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   Mar 2, 2026 5 min

2. After The Fall

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   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.

   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 https://masterplanpodcast.com.

   Want the Master Plan book? Members save 20%, and new Lever Leaders can get a free signed copy while supplies last.

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   Mar 16, 2026 43 min

3. Mandate for Power

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   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.

   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 .

   Want the Master Plan book? Members save 20%, and new Lever Leaders can get a free signed copy while supplies last.

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   Mar 30, 2026 52 min

4. President Rambo

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   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 http://levernews.com/upgrade.

   Want the Master Plan book? Members save 20%, and new Lever Leaders can get a free signed copy while supplies last.

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   Apr 14, 2026 40 min

5. The Meese Doctrine

   Episode 4

   Show notes

   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 hereto 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 http://levernews.com/upgrade

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   Apr 28, 2026 52 min

6. BONUS: The Untouched Power That Could Stop Trump's Iran War Bonus

   Show notes

   As Trump’s war in Iran approached a critical 60-day deadline, we took a deep dive into the War Powers Resolution, the Nixon-era law designed to limit presidential war-making. But Congress had a little-known weapon to end the war — or any unauthorized war — whenever it wanted. So why had it never used it?

   In this special bonus episode of The Kingmakers, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded presidential power — and left Congress believing it was powerless to stop unauthorized wars.

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

   Want the Master Plan book? ⁠Members save 20%⁠, and new Lever Leaders can ⁠get a free signed copy⁠ while supplies last.

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   Apr 30, 2026 52 min