E248 - Journalism in the Age of Oligarchy w/ David Sirota
From American Prestige by Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison
May 12, 2026 · 1h 7m
About this episode
Danny and Derek discuss journalism and independent media with David Sirota, focusing on the impact of oligarchy on news and the consolidation of presidential power.
Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek speak with David Sirota, founder and EIC of The Lever, about journalism, independent media, and the consolidation of presidential power. They discuss the difference between journalism and media, the attention economy, capitalist media, audience capture, the decline of local news, the Powell Memo, the unitary executive theory, war powers, and Donald Trump’s use of executive power. Be sure to listen to The Kingmakers, the second season of David’s investigative podcast Master Plan. Don’t forget that AP’s new, weekly livestream is back this Wednesday at 8pm ET on our YouTube channel. And keep your eyes peeled for Season 2 of Welcome to the Crusades. Recorded 4/27/26 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Hosts: Danny, Derek
Guest: David Sirota
Topics covered
- journalism
- independent media
- consolidation of power
- attention economy
- local news decline
- executive power
Keywords
- journalism
- media
- capitalist media
- audience capture
- Powell Memo
- unitary executive theory
- war powers
- local news
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Lever, AP
Books & works: Master Plan, The Kingmakers, Welcome to the Crusades
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