Shows
Post ReportsBacon: The best-kept secret in WashingtonShane Harris first tasted “Vangie’s bacon” 11 years ago, and he hasn’t stopped thinking about it since. Today on the show, Shane goes on a quest to unlock the bacon mystery – and a time in Washington when Republicans, Democrats, spies, diplomats and journalists used to set their differences aside and gather around a dinner table.Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Renita Jablonski. Special thanks to Ariel Plotnick and Ariella Markowitz. Tape of David K.E. Bruce courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.
2025-11-2644 min
Lever TimeAre You On The FBI’s New Watch List? (With Ken Klippenstein)
Last week, President Donald Trump dramatically altered the U.S. government’s approach to domestic terrorism. NSPM-7, a little-noticed national security directive, expands the list of terrorism indicators to include any behavior that is deemed anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, extreme on gender, hostile towards “traditional American views” on family, and more. Today on Lever Time, producer Ariella Markowitz sits down with independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, who first sounded the alarm about the memorandum’s ability to suppress free speech and target Trump’s political opponents.To check out Ken Klippenstein’s reporting on the new directive, cl...
2025-10-0242 min
Lever TimeAre You On The FBI’s New Watch List? (With Ken Klippenstein)Last week, President Donald Trump dramatically altered the U.S. government’s approach to domestic terrorism. NSPM-7, a little-noticed national security directive, expands the list of terrorism indicators to include any behavior that is deemed anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, extreme on gender, hostile towards “traditional American views” on family, and more. Today on Lever Time, producer Ariella Markowitz sits down with independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, who first sounded the alarm about the memorandum’s ability to suppress free speech and target Trump’s political opponents.To check out Ken Klippenstein’s reporting on the new directive, cl...
2025-10-0236 min
The California Report MagazineHow the Impact of Proposition 13 Lives On Nearly 50 Years After It PassedIn the 1960s and early 1970s, California was at the forefront of movements for racial justice, LGBTQ and women’s rights, and protests against the Vietnam War. But at the same time an anti-tax revolution began to take shape, led by an unlikely political figure: Howard Jarvis.
This week, as we mark the 47th anniversary of the passage of Proposition 13, we’re featuring a special episode from our friends at the Lever Time podcast. Reporter Ariella Markowitz spent some time digging into the rise of the anti-tax movement, and how Howard Jarvis went on to influence decades of p...
2025-06-0730 min
Lever TimeTax Revolt: The Man Who Started the War on Taxes
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/subscribePlus, read a bonus companion article about the anti-tax zealot behind Proposition 13, written by producer Ariella...
2025-04-1849 min
Lever TimeTax Revolt: The Man Who Started the War on TaxesIn 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/subscribePlus, read a bonus companion article about the anti-tax zealot behind Proposition 13, written by producer Ariella...
2025-04-1846 min
Post ReportsBacon: The best-kept secret in WashingtonShane Harris first tasted “Vangie’s bacon” 10 years ago, and he hasn’t stopped thinking about it since. But learning her secret recipe turns out to be harder than Shane’s day job covering national security for The Washington Post. Today on the show, Shane goes on a quest to unlock the bacon mystery – and a time in Washington when Republicans, Democrats, spies, diplomats and journalists used to set their differences aside and gather around a dinner table.Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Renita Jab...
2024-11-2745 min
The California Report MagazineCalifornia History You Probably Didn't Learn in SchoolThis week, we feature some of our favorite history stories from The California Report Magazine archive. The Forgotten Filipino-Americans Who Led the ’65 Delano Grape StrikeToday, grapes in the grocery store don’t seem that controversial. But in 1965, a historic strike in California’s Central Valley set in motion the most significant campaign in modern labor history: the farmworker movement. While the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez are widely known, the contributions of Filipino workers and labor leader Larry Itliong are often overlooked. But without them the UFW wouldn't exist. Reporter Lisa Morehouse brought us this...
2021-08-0729 min
The California Report MagazineA Chicano Takeover of Catalina Island + California LoveThe Forgotten Occupation of Catalina IslandSo much of the activism we’re seeing right now around racial justice has roots in radical movements that erupted in California –– The United Farm Workers, The Black Panther Party, the Asian American Political Alliance, the Native American occupation of Alcatraz. In August 1972, another occupation kind of flew under the radar here in California. A Chicano activist group called the Brown Berets camped out on Catalina Island for three weeks, demanding that undeveloped land be turned into housing. The California Report Magazine’s intern Ariella Markowitz grew up on Catalina, but she only...
2020-08-1531 min