A group of Montana activists is pushing a ballot initiative attacking Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the right to spend unlimited money in politics. While Montana’s Republican Attorney General  attempted to block the ballot initiative this week, the fight is far from over.

In the third episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down with political strategist Tom Moore from The Center for American Progress. That nonprofit is spearheading the Transparent Election Initiative, Montana’s new plan to purge dark money from the state, which could potentially rewrite national politics. Could this effort deal a blow to the corporate takeover of politics? And could it blaze a path for other states to follow?

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

To read more of Tom Moore’s writing about The Montana Plan, click here.

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To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

For 15 years, lawmakers have been trying — and failing — to overturn Citizens United, the landmark Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and billionaires to overrun our political system with money. Now, some Congressional Democrats are going big — by trying to enshrine campaign finance protections in the Constitution.

In the second episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down with Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), cosponsor of the new Citizens Over Corporations Act, which would introduce a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling. Does the effort have a real shot at fixing our democracy crisis?

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

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.

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Most Americans want to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, the landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision that unleashed unlimited corporate spending on U.S. elections. But two new cases before the high court — including one spearheaded by now-Vice President JD Vance — are instead set to expand that ruling and turn America into a kleptocracy.

For the next several episodes of Lever Time, we’re taking a deep dive into Citizens United and how it’s transformed our lives. In this first episode, David Sirota uncovers conservatives’ plan to deregulate the campaign finance system, their efforts to legalize bribery, and what options we have to stop them.

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

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democracy Now! 2025-10-28 Tuesday

• Headlines for October 28, 2025
• Calls Grow for Humanitarian Ceasefire in Sudan as RSF Forces Seize Key City of El Fasher in Darfur
• 42 Million to Lose Food Assistance as Trump Refuses to Tap Emergency SNAP Funds
• Millions Face Soaring Health Insurance Premiums as GOP Refuses to Extend Obamacare Subsidies
• Master Plan: David Sirota on Trump & the Decadeslong "Plot to Legalize Corruption in America"

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The team look at human hobbies and wonder, what is the point?

Gareth goes on a date, purely for research purposes, and roving reporter Phil is back at the Swindon nest to observe his favourite family...from a safe and morally appropriate distance.

To listen to more episodes from this series, search "Humanwatch" on BBC Sounds.

Written and presented by Marjolein Robertson and Gareth Waugh

With Phil Ellis and Katia Kvinge

Additional voice by Kai Humphries

Produced by Lauren Mackay

Sound by Fraser Jackson

Photographer: Chris Quilietti

A BBC Scotland production for Radio 4.

Democracy Now! 2025-10-27 Monday

• Headlines for October 27, 2025
• "Rubio's Ideological Project": What's Driving Trump's Campaign Against Venezuela?
• Jeremy Scahill on Gaza "Ceasefire," Talking to Hamas & Israel's Doctrine of Dehumanizing Palestinians
• NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Rallies with Bernie Sanders & AOC, Confronts Islamophobic Attacks

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Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

Big Tech loves to sell itself as a liberatory force for connection, free speech, and empowerment.

But when it comes to Palestine, those same companies have partnered with Israel to censor, surveil, and criminalize.

To unpack this “digital settler colonialism,” Rania Khalek was joined by Omar Zahzah, Assistant Professor of AMED Studies at San Francisco State University and author of "Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler/Colonialism in the Palestine Liberation Struggle,” which argues that understanding Palestine is essential to understanding the global struggle against Big Tech and U.S. imperialism.

👉 Support independent journalism and listen to the full episode:

https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews 

What we’re witnessing in Gaza is not just another chapter of Zionism — it’s the final stage. That’s the argument of Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, who joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to explain how Zionism is in fact “collapsing” even in its most ruthless moment. He discusses Israeli society is fracturing from within, the impact of Trump’s return, Israel’s widening regional war, and what a post-Israel Palestine could look like.

Watch the full interview exclusively on Breakthrough News Patreon: https://Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews

Subscribe and click the bell so you don’t miss future episodes. Support our work by donating directly on YouTube or at the link above.

Long Reads spoke to Yanis Varoufakis earlier in the year to mark the tenth anniversary of the Greek referendum on the austerity programs of the European Union. This week, we’re going to be looking at another country that bore the brunt of Euro-austerity after the 2008 crash.

Ten years ago, the Portuguese Socialist leader Antonio Costa formed a government with the support of two radical-left parties, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party. Costa’s government appeared to be a success story for the European center left at a time when most of its parties were losing ground. Portugal also stood out as one of the few West European countries where the far right was still a marginal force.

Costa’s party increased their vote share in 2019 and he remained in office. In the election of 2022, the Portuguese Socialists even won an absolute majority. But Costa resigned as prime minister two years later and his party lost power after the fourth general election in less than a decade.

Another general election this year was a disaster for the Socialist Party and the radical left. With just over 20 percent of the vote, the Socialists were now on a level footing with the far-right party Chega. The combined vote share for the Left Bloc and the Communist Party was less than a third of the figure from 2015.

Our guest today for a conversation about the last decade of Portuguese politics is Catarina Príncipe. Catarina is a contributing editor for Jacobin and she co-edited the book Europe in Revolt. She’s also a member of the Left Bloc.

This week’s episode is the first of a two-part interview. Today we’re going to cover the period from 2015 until the general election in 2022.

Listen to the second part here: https://apple.co/46z7qmw

Read Catarina’s article “How Portugal’s Right Won the Election” here: https://jacobin.com/2024/03/portugal-right-wing-chega-election

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

This week’s episode of Long Reads is the second in a two-part interview. In our last episode, we spoke to Catarina Príncipe about the politics of Portugal since 2015. Today we’re going to cover developments from 2022 onward.

One of the main themes in that period has been the rise of the far right. In 2022, the parties of the radical left, the Communist Party and the Left Bloc, lost ground and were no longer part of the governing majority. In this year’s general election, the right-wing Chega Party became the second-largest force in the Portuguese parliament. Chega’s breakthrough came at the expense of the Portuguese Socialist Party, which now had the third-largest group of MPs. For the Socialists, it represented a dramatic fall in the space of three years.

Catarina Príncipe is a contributing editor for Jacobin and she co-edited the book Europe in Revolt. She’s also a member of the Left Bloc.

Listen to the first part of the interview here: https://apple.co/4mmUUec

Read Catarina’s article “How Portugal’s Right Won the Election” here: https://jacobin.com/2024/03/portugal-right-wing-chega-election

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

The US economy depends more and more on enormous bubbles in the stock market and AI. The 10% of richest Americans drive half of all spending, while the real economy in many states is in recession. If the bubble pops, it could cause a severe crisis. Political economist Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXCVrLPTUHQ Topics 0:00 Economy divided between rich & everyone else 1:36 Many US states already in recession 3:11 Biggest stock market bubble in history 5:31 90% of stocks owned by 10% richest Americans 7:23 Magnificent Seven (Mag7) Big Tech stocks 9:07 Ten Titans Big Tech stocks 9:58 AI bubble 11:46 (CLIP) Jeff Bezos: AI is in "good bubble" 13:26 95% of AI pilot programs fail 13:55 Investors keep buying overvalued stocks 15:12 Markets can remain irrational 15:26 Irrational exuberance 15:50 Dot-com bubble 16:28 US share of global stock markets 17:28 US vs Chinese tech company revenue 18:24 Tesla vs global automotive industry 20:49 Top 10 US stocks: 16% global market cap 21:07 Recession 22:23 Stagflation 23:04 AI capex contribution to US GDP growth 25:07 AI is eating the economy 26:01 AI drives up electricity bills 26:50 Trump shuts down renewable energy 27:42 AI adds more to GDP than shopping 28:49 US job growth collapses 32:13 Bifurcated economy 33:01 Outro

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

First stop of the new series is Oakham, nestled in the UK’s smallest county – Rutland.

Rutland has a village that's proudly twinned with Paris (even if the Parisians don’t know), has Europe’s largest man-made lake (which required flooding a local village) and hangs its horseshoes the other way round (so the devil falls out, obviously).

Joining Mark is Clare Balding, who’s also in town to take him on a ramble around Rutland.

This is the 14th series of Mark's award winning show where he travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience. As well as Oakham, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Wrexham, Cambridge, Lewisham and, Lerwick and Unst in Shetland.

To hear more episodes from this series, search "Mark Steel's In Town" on BBC Sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum Sound Manager Jerry Peal Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios production for Radio 4

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

Paul Sinha tests his audience in Leicester on their knowledge of their home county, Trivial Pursuit-style - with all the colours of questions, from geography to entertainment, getting asked. Can they fill the wedges, and can Paul answer their favourite questions, about crisps, bells and cricket?

To hear more episodes, search "Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz" on BBC Sounds.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha Additional material: Oliver Levy Additional questions: The Audience

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Jerry Peal Mixed by: Rich Evans Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4

First stop of the new series is Oakham, nestled in the UK’s smallest county – Rutland.

Rutland has a village that's proudly twinned with Paris (even if the Parisians don’t know), has Europe’s largest man-made lake (which required flooding a local village) and hangs its horseshoes the other way round (so the devil falls out, obviously).

Joining Mark is Clare Balding, who’s also in town to take him on a ramble around Rutland, which you can hear in Ramblings, this Thursday on Radio 4.

This is the 14th series of Mark's award winning show where he travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience. As well as Oakham, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Wrexham, Cambridge, Lewisham and, Lerwick and Unst in Shetland.

There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum Sound Manager Jerry Peal Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios production for Radio 4

In the week where Trump brokered a peace deal in the Middle East, buzz was generated at the Conservative Party Conference (honestly), the Home Office announces greater restrictions on protests, and the world's first footballer billionaire is crowned, Andy Zaltzman is joined by Scott Bennett, Ayesha Hazarika, Kate Cheka and Ian Smith to break down this weeks news.

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Jain Edwards, Ruth Husko and Alfie Packham Producer: Rajiv Karia Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

Nick has on Dave Braneck (sportswriter for DW and Jacobin) to talk about SPORTS! Wait wait don't leave, it's focusing on American sports being exported to EU markets and beyond. Globalisation! Geopolitics! Economies! You love that shit. Also Ciarán leaves a quick news update from paternity leave.

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The highly-anticipated astrology episode is finally here! This week Briahna talks to the incredibly warm and charming Oakland-based writer, astrologer, and host of the popular podcast Stars and Stars with Isa Isa Nakazawa about the roots of her own interest in astrology, why Brie has been attracting Cancer men, why looking at just your sun sign offers an incomplete picture, & what it means that Trump is a Leo rising. Once an astrology skeptic herself, Isa offers an explanation of why celestial events might have bearing on how we move through the world, and why an understanding of the stars and ourselves might be useful for a leftist community struggling to connect to each other and the broader world. (Skeptics should give this one a chance!)

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Séamus joins us to talk about Trump’s proposed “Gaza peace plan” and what horrific policies it would actually entail in practice, as well as the Democratic Party’s desperate attempts to triangulate on the issue. We also wade into the increasing possibility of regime change in Venezuela as well as ICE’s pillaging of Chicago apartment buildings. On the lighter side, we talk about Bari Weiss being given the keys to CBS news and Tyler Cowen’s Humbert Humbert-esque ode to an AI actress. Follow @Turbulence_pod on X for updates about when Séamus’s pod drops. NEW MERCH IS OUT NOW! Go to https://chapotraphouse.store/ and buy a new hat or shirt, especially our great new “Carousel Club” design. AND be sure to pre-save the date of October 28 for Will and Hesse’s LIVE WATCH PARTY of Re-Animator! Tickets available now – use the promo code CHAPO20 for 20% off! https://checkout.stagepilot.com/collections/chapo-trap-house

Drop Site’s Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill return to talk more about the ceasefire deal in Gaza. We discuss what finally led to this moment, whether this ceasefire will be any different than the previous ones, and the future of Gaza, Israel, and the Gulf States. We then turn to the media’s coverage of Gaza: Jeremy’s new story on The Free Press’ “debunking” of the photos of malnourished Gazan children, the news that Douglas Murray and David Frum were writing speeches for an Israeli ambassador, a supposed document from Mohammad Sinwar, and Jacki Karsh’s pro-Israel journalism fellowship. Subscribe to Drop Site here: https://www.dropsitenews.com/ NEW MERCH IS OUT NOW! Go to https://chapotraphouse.store/ and buy a new hat or shirt, especially our great new “Carousel Club” design. AND be sure to pre-save the date of October 28 for Will and Hesse’s LIVE WATCH PARTY of Re-Animator! Tickets available now – use the promo code CHAPO20 for 20% off! https://checkout.stagepilot.com/collections/chapo-trap-house

Episodes of Devil's Chess Club--and all American Exception podcast episodes--are available first on Patreon [ https://www.patreon.com/americanexception ]. Lawrence Wilkerson and Gary Vogler join us to discuss and answer the question: Who controls US foreign policy in the Middle East—the US or Israel/Zionism? Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired US Army Colonel and former chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Gary Vogler is a retired US oil executive and served in Iraq as the senior oil advisor to General Jay Gardner and Paul Bremer after the 2003 Iraq War. Vogler is also the author of the very important book, 'Israel, Winner of the 2003 Iraq Oil War: Undue Influence, Deceptions, and the Neocon Energy Agenda' [ https://libertarianinstitute.org/books/israel-winner-of-the-2003-iraq-oil-war/ ]. Special thanks to: • Dana Chavarria, production • Casey Moore, graphics • Michelle Boley, animated intro • Mock Orange, music

Following up on my recent posts about RSS [1, 2] here’s an article on everything (and probably more) that you ever wanted to know about RSS readers. It turns out that there’s all sorts of readers: paid, hosted, self hosted, on device, browser based, and more.

The article considers readers along two axes:

Deployment Mode

on device, browser extension, hosted, self hosted

Business Model

free, one time fee, subscription

In other words, where the data is stored and how much you pay. The article looks at over 30 RSS readers, classifies them according to the two axis, and briefly describes many of them.

They don’t, of course, talk about the best feed reader, elfeed. That’s understandable. Not even I would expect someone to adopt Emacs just for an RSS reader. I’ve used Reeder and Feedly and they were fine. When I used it, Reeder was free but is paid now. Feedly was always paid but I have a lifetime subscription from getting in early. They’re both hosted solutions

For me, elfeed hits to sweet spot. It’s free, on device, has a ton of features, and since it’s open source can be customized as needed. If you’re an Emacs user, you really should be using it. And who knows, maybe Org mode, magit, and elfeed will be enough to get you to give Emacs a try.

In any event, if you’re looking for an RSS reader, this is a useful article to find out what’s available and what their capabilities are.

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

At this week's Labour Conference, Kier Starmer warned that Britain faces a 'fork in the road'. Helping Andy Zaltzman decide which way to turn are Ian Smith, Celya AB, Hugo Rifkind and Zoe Lyons.

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Cody Dahler, Eve Delaney and John Tothill Producer: Georgia Keating and James Robinson Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

Watch Part 2 of our interview with Cory Doctorow, writer and tech activist, whose new book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, is out this week. “Enshittification” is now in Webster’s Dictionary, and Doctorow relates the term he coined to the concept of technofeudalism as a way of understanding what went wrong for tech workers, and how platforms and apps like Uber are regulated. He also describes apps that are part of a “bottom-up resistance,” and his work with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for over 20 years, and how it is the first organization to have filed a lawsuit that names Elon Musk and DOGE by name.

Democracy Now! 2025-10-10 Friday

• Headlines for October 10, 2025
• After Gaza Ceasefire, "Massive Political Pressure" Needed to Prevent Israel from Restarting the War
• 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for Anti-Maduro Leader María Corina Machado "Opposite of Peace": Greg Grandin
• "Enshittification": Cory Doctorow on Why Big Tech Sucks, Keeps Getting Worse & What to Do About It

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Democracy Now! 2025-10-07 Tuesday

• Headlines for October 07, 2025
• "Trump's Invasion": Illinois Officials Denounce Troop Deployment to Chicago as ICE Escalates Raids
• Report from Gaza: Israeli Bombardment Enters Third Year Despite Ceasefire Talks in Egypt
• Maoz Inon Lost His Parents in the Oct. 7 Attack. Here's Why He's Still Calling for Peace.
• "Eyes of Gaza": Palestinian Journalist Plestia Alaqad Chronicles Life Under Israeli Bombs

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