Ariella Markowitz

Investigative podcast producer/writer/banjo appreciator ~ @levernews @pushkinpods @KQED

she/her

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

Sooo... I'm hosting a miniseries for @LeverNews!

Featuring @molly0xFFF, @tina_nguyen, @sachalouise, @EskSF, @jrivanob @McAuliff4VA , @lukegoldstein and more

It's about why Silicon Valley is influencing elections and their aggressive political strategy to buy the 2026 midterms.

[The Lever @LeverNews]

🚨 NEW: The tech industry’s political footprint is expanding rapidly. Billionaires funded Trump’s inauguration, crypto spent $100M+ influencing elections, and Silicon Valley is now gearing up for 2026. Our new Lever Time series examines how tech money is moving through American politics.

[The Lever Union @theleverunion]

We are The Lever Union.

We believe the people who make independent journalism possible deserve a meaningful voice in their workplace. We’re at the bargaining table working toward a fair contract that supports The Lever’s staff, mission, and future.

@DenverGuild @newsguild

[The Lever @LeverNews]

HAPPENING NOW: David Sirota is streaming live with independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein to discuss the FBI’s new NSPM-7 “pre-crime” center — and the upcoming vote in Congress that would allow President Trump to keep spying on Americans without a warrant.

https://t.co/ECbwKw0Tty

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

@jrivanob Woohoo go Joe!

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

If you live in NYC, you might have seen negative ads targeting this congressional candidate, @AlexBores, attacking him for once working for Palantir.

The problem? The ads are funded by a co-founder of Palantir @JTLonsdale

we get the full story today on Lever Time.

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

🚨LEVER TIME: He once worked in the tech industry, then he passed landmark AI regulation - now he's a target of retribution.

How tech oligarchs aim to buy a congressional election, destroy a lawmaker's career & send a message of intimidation to every other politician in America.

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

🚨 Live now with Alex Bores, about his efforts to regulate artificial intelligence — and the pro-AI super PACs spending millions to stop him.

https://t.co/G15xFEyzYl

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

@brockhrehor @Capitol_Forum woohoo go Brock!

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

If you want to learn more about how the AI and crypto czar even made it to the White House, I investigated Sack's history financing local and national campaigns with @LeverNews ⬇️

https://t.co/9ZrPFnjeLB

[CNBC @CNBC]

David Sacks says his time as Trump's crypto and AI czar has ended https://t.co/mpJ5dTlRr1

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

Loved having @SeanVitka on the pod to break down how a post-9/11 surveillance law is mutating in real time, allowing the FBI to literally buy American citizens' location data

[Demand Progress @demandprogress]

Right now, the government can buy your location data and browser history from shady data brokers and then feed that into AI-powered surveillance systems—all without court approval.

Learn more about how to stop that on the Lever Time podcast from @LeverNews

[Demand Progress @demandprogress]

Right now, the government can buy your location data and browser history from shady data brokers and then feed that into AI-powered surveillance systems—all without court approval.

Learn more about how to stop that on the Lever Time podcast from @LeverNews

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

shortwave radio nerds would love this episode btw

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

🎧LEVER TIME: A shortwave radio station is suddenly broadcasting numbers in Farsi. Is the Iranian regime signaling to sleeper cells in America?

Is Trump suppressing warnings about an imminent attack on the homeland?

I talk to natsec reporter @ShaneHarris to get some answers.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🎥 Watch: Drop Site’s Ryan Grim speaks with Lever News:

[Ariella Markowitz @ariellaudio]

a must read from @ktyschwnk

[katya schwenk @ktyschwnk]

In November, I went to East Palestine, Ohio, to understand how the "historic" $600 million settlement over the 2023 derailment has so badly failed residents, but made some lawyers and shady companies very rich.

[Brendan Pedersen @BrendanPedersen]

News: The crypto super PAC network Fairshake announced it has $193 million on-hand heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

Fairshake has raised ~$74 million since July with just three contributions: $25 million from Coinbase, $25 million from Ripple and $24 million from a16z.

[The Lever @LeverNews]

🚨 This week, 42 years ago, Apple aired its famous “1984” ad. It sold tech as the antidote to authoritarian power.

In 2025, tech billionaires packed Trump’s inauguration.

This episode of Lever Time looks at how we got here. ⬇️

[The Lever @LeverNews]

🚨 Does the AI bubble add up?

@edzitron joins @davidsirota on Lever Time to explain why AI’s real costs remain hidden and what happens when companies are finally forced to open their books.

[Luke Goldstein @lukewgoldstein]

NEW: last week, @LeverNews exposed the private equity firms paywalling youth sports + barring parents from recording their kids' games based on testimony from parents, staff, and a US Senator.

When reached for comment beforehand, one of the companies involved, Black Bear Sports, did not dispute the existence of this policy. Since the piece ran, BB is now claiming their rules have been mischaracterized "online."

I've obtained a contract between Black Bear TV's streaming service and its affiliate ice hockey rinks. The language not only bans livestreaming of games but explicitly prohibits any "other form of broadcast or recording" from being "allowed in the Ice Rink...by family, friends, spectators, etc through the use of cameras, iPad, phones." The onus is on the rink operators to strictly enforce these rules.

Attached below is Black Bear's statement, directly contradicted by their own contract terms:

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

This is the best news I’ve seen in a very long time — a little-noticed line in a new federal court ruling could end billionaire-funded super PACs.

This is HUGE.

Search “Lever Time” in your podcast app to hear the episode. 👇

[The Lever @LeverNews]

🗣 Democratic voters are angrier with party leaders than they have been in years. But pundits like @ezraklein @nytimes keep pushing the idea that Democrats need “more Joe Manchins.

In the latest episode of Lever Time, @DavidSirota breaks down why voters are pushing back. 👇

[The Lever @LeverNews]

🚨 Dark money groups spent $1.9 billion to sway the 2024 election: a record-breaking flood of hidden cash.

Now, in deep-red Montana, a new movement is fighting back. Their goal? Ban corporate political spending and start dismantling Citizens United from the inside out.

🎧 Listen to the new Lever Time episode with David Sirota and Tom Moore of @amprog 👇

https://t.co/ef86D8FLGU