The Lever - The Year Of The Master Plan

When we started working on Master Plan more than two years ago, we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone listen to a nearly 10-hour-long investigative audio series about the 50-year plot to legalize corruption in America?

The results are in, and they’ve exceeded our wildest hopes. Since its launch this fall, Master Plan, which detailed how political ideologues and corporate forces spent years orchestrating a secret plan to control the democratic system, has garnered widespread acclaim, topped the charts, won awards, and is well on its way to hitting a million total downloads.

The series repeatedly climbed to the top of the podcast charts, including landing in the top 20 of all shows on Apple Podcasts. In addition, Master Plan won Best News & Politics Podcast and Best Writing at the 2024 Signal Awards, which celebrate “the most potent, meaningful, and unprecedented audio projects being made today.”

Master Plan’s investigative storytelling resonated with critics and audiences alike. The series was called “must-listen” by The Guardian, hailed by Rachel Maddow, and featured more than a hundred times in outlets including Rolling Stone, The Wrap, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Democracy Now!, and WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show. 

Sounds Like Impact praised Master Plan as a “compelling, and at times comical, narrative” that “sheds light on what has been obscured so we can rally for change.” Even Jane Mayer, author of the seminal book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, said Master Plan uncovered secrets about corporate influence on the Supreme Court that she didn’t know existed.

Thank you for helping make Master Plan Season One possible. Just wait until you hear what we have in store next.

— The Master Plan team