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Lever Time

What Tech Wants: The San Francisco Experiment

Lever Time

The Lever

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.8560 Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2022, nonprofit neighborhood groups, backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, helped recall a progressive district attorney in San Francisco. What happened next would change the country.  In Part One of What Tech Wants, Lever Time’s investigation into why Silicon Valley is buying our democracy, producer Ariella Markowitz uncovers how a local experiment unlocked a new formula for political power. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're listening to the free ad-supported version of our podcast. For an ad-free experience,

0:05.5

visit levernews.com slash upgrade. When Donald Trump was inaugurated like all presidents, he swore

0:12.1

an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. Instead, Donald Trump has decided

0:16.9

to swerve, deflect, and append the Constitution and treat it like a terms and conditions

0:21.8

page. I'm Professor Corey Brett Schneider. And I'm deeply unqualified comedian John Fugleson.

0:27.3

We'd like to invite you to listen to the Oath in the Office podcast where every week we interpret

0:32.1

the Constitution and hold Trump accountable to his oath. It's a podcast that offers real insight on how to take action against tyranny and mayhem,

0:41.2

because despair is not a strategy.

0:43.8

We'll hold him to his pledge, despite his threats to democracy and the law itself.

0:49.3

It's a podcast that's all about hope for what a real democracy should look like from an esteemed, respected

0:54.9

constitutional scholar and a deeply neurotic comedian who thought the emoluments clause was a breakfast item.

1:01.1

Subscribe to The Oath in the Office where every week we talk about how citizens can preserve our democracy

1:06.7

and fight back against the threat to democracy.

1:10.1

Subscribe to The Oath in the Office on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast.

1:17.7

The Lever.

1:21.2

From The Lever's reader-supported newsroom, it's Lever Time.

1:24.6

I'm David Sirota.

1:26.3

Tech industry executives spent nearly $400 million on the 2024 presidential election.

1:33.3

Elon Musk, alone, spent more than $200 million boosting Donald Trump's campaign through a political

1:39.6

action committee.

1:41.0

The crypto industry spent over $100 million influencing federal elections across the

1:47.3

states. All of that unprecedented money tipped the scales towards President Trump, and it was used

...

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