Coming Soon

We hear the term “fake news” all the time now — it describes the idea that we are being fed information that is wholly false and fabricated. But I think it is a way bigger phenomenon than it seems — it’s not just garbage that’s made up, it’s also more insidious forms of propaganda. It is the cable TV host who spins a story to defend his favorite politician. It is the newspaper story that omits the influence of campaign cash from a report about why a bill in Congress was voted down. It is all the ways reality is deliberately distorted to help protect the rich and powerful — and it is this new podcast’s mission to cut through the crap each week and explore what’s really going on in politics, business and culture. With your help and support, we are going to build a weekly show that gives you the journalism, information and insights that the giant fake news industry refuses to provide.

I’m David Sirota — an investigative reporter for Newsweek and International Business Times. You can find out more about me — and subscribe to this new podcast — at DavidSirota.com.

Some of you may already know my work. Maybe you’ve seen me on MSNBC, or CNN or Comedy Central’s old Colbert Report. Maybe you’ve seen my contributions to the Young Turks network. Maybe you’ve read some of my books. If you have you know I’ve spent much of my career reporting on the swamp that Donald Trump has promised to drain.

I started out after college as the press secretary for Bernie Sanders, then worked on the House Appropriations Committee, then moved out to Montana to become a full time author and journalist. I’ve written books about how corporate interests performed a hostile takeover of our government, how populist uprisings on the right and left are threatening the status quo, and about how 1980s popular culture shaped the way a generation came to view politics and government.

This podcast builds off my past experience hosting a drive-time news radio show here in my hometown of Denver. Each week on this new podcast, we are going to talk to a key figure at the intersection of politics, business and culture. In the coming weeks, youll hear my interview with Big Short director Adam McKay about his upcoming movie on Dick Cheney. You’ll also hear my discussion with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin about her fight against Trump. And you’ll hear Thomas Frank talk about how Democrats embraced Wall Street and ran their party into the ground. And that’s just the beginning.

As we launch this project I have one request of you: become an early supporter of this podcast. Go to Davidsirota.com and sign up to give $5 or $10 bucks a month to support the kind of journalism we will produce each week. We will use the resources on everything from production equipment, to distribution to research tools that help us bring new stories to light. In exchange for your support, you’ll get exclusive content only for subscribers, and you’ll get to know you are making a concrete contribution to fearless journalism.

This is a particularly important point: if we want a media that is willing to question power, and to scrutinize the corporate forces that shape our world, we all must be willing to chip in some resources to make that media a reality. I pledge to you to keep working overtime to build that kind of media and do that kind of reporting — and I’m confident that with your monthly support, we can create something truly powerful, meaningful and impactful.

Over the next few weeks, we will be officially launching the podcast. Subscribe to our feed at iTunes or whatever other podcast service you use and you’ll automatically get our first episode and all subsequent episodes. You can and should always contact me through my website with story ideas and news tips. This is going to be a truly crowdsourced operation to build out the kind of independent media we need. I’m super psyched about this project — so stay tuned!