The Corporate Merger No One’s Talking About

Friends:

This week, The Lever’s podcasts covered a lot of ground. On Lever Time, I spoke with journalist Moe Tkacik and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser about the potential merger between grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons. It’s an important story that hasn’t gotten much attention in corporate media, so I was eager to learn about how detrimental this new grocery monopoly could be for consumers and the companies’ employees.

On The Audit, the study group FINALLY completes David Axelrod and Karl Rove’s MasterClass on campaign strategy. If you ever believed the myth that Democrats are somehow “better” than Republicans, watching Axelrod act chummy with Rove (one of the most repugnant political strategists in modern history) will almost certainly set you straight. The Audit’s study group provides decades’ worth of political history to help contextualize the legacies of these two Washington con men. You’ll learn, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll definitely walk away disliking these guys more than you did before.

Learn more and find the episode links below.

Rock the boat,

Sirota

LEVER TIME: The Corporate Merger No One’s Talking About

Last October, grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons announced they planned to merge and become one of the largest grocery monopolies in the country. To learn what’s at stake, David Sirota is joined by journalist Moe Tkacik, who has been covering the story for months, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who recently launched a multistate antitrust investigation into the potential merger.

A rough transcript of this episode is available here.

BONUS: On Lever Time Premium  (the extended version of Lever Time which is exclusively available for supporting subscribers), Producer Frank, Andrew Perez, and Julia Rock discuss the “One Thing” that’s been most on their mind recently. This week, they discuss the potential UPS strike, how to hold a “liberal intervention,” and Larry Summers’ call for more unemployment while literally on vacation.

If you want access to Lever Premium Podcasts, click here.

THE AUDIT: This Is The End

In the new episode of our “educational” series The Audit, Dave, Josh, and their study buddy Senator Nina Turner audit the final lessons of David Axelrod and Karl Rove’s 24-part MasterClass on campaign strategy and messaging. Did they learn anything valuable? Absolutely not. Did they have a great time cutting through Axelrod and Rove’s whitewashed propaganda? Well, that’s a more subjective question.

During the final lessons, Axelrod and Rove discuss the current state of American politics, and the study group breaks down their discussion in real time. You might be surprised to learn which of these two campaign pros actually understands why our politics have become so divisive and which one is completely oblivious to any measurable reality. Actually, you probably won't be.

A rough transcript of this episode is available here.

If you enjoy The Lever's podcasts, feel free to pitch into the tip jar — it helps us do this kind of reporting:

We hope you enjoy our weekly podcasts — it’s the next step in our plan to build a powerful independent voice to take on corporate media.