The Lever Wins The 2025 National Press Club Award

Master Plan, the chart-topping investigative podcast from The Lever, has been awarded the prestigious National Press Club Award, recognizing excellence in audio journalism. The series also received the Gold Medal for Best Investigative Journalism Podcast in the New York Festivals Radio Awards, cementing its place as one of the most acclaimed news podcasts of the year.

Presented annually to a single production, the National Press Club Award is a joint honor from the New York Festivals Radio Awards and the National Press Club, the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. Past recipients of the honor include The Boston Globe and ABC News.

Hosted by journalist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter David Sirota, Master Plan a decades-long campaign by corporate interests and political operatives to legalize corruption in America. Drawing on never-before-reported documents, audio, and internal correspondence, the series tells a sweeping, deeply researched story of how American democracy was deliberately reshaped to serve the wealthy and powerful.

Since its launch ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Master Plan has:

• Surpassed a million downloads
• Topped News, History, and Politics podcast charts
• Received national media coverage including from CNN, Rolling Stone, The Nation, and WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show
• Been praised as a “must-listen” by The Guardian and Rachel Maddow
• Won two Signal podcast awards
• Sparked widespread public debate and renewed calls for political reform.

Produced by The Lever, a reader-supported investigative news outlet, Master Plan was the product of years of archival research, meticulous document verification, and three years of dedicated reporting. Alongside Sirota, the team includes Jared Jacang Maher (Lead Producer), Laura Krantz (Producer), Ula Kulpa (Producer), and Ron Doyle (Editor).

“We made Master Plan without institutional backing - just a small team, our subscribers, and a commitment to uncovering the truth,” said Sirota. “This award shows what independent journalism can achieve.”

The award comes as The Lever announced the upcoming publication of a book based on the series, Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America. The book, which details the 50-year plot to legalize corruption and includes exciting new reporting, will be available this fall. Preorders for the paperback and e-book editions of Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America are now available.