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Today, on a special bonus episode of Lever Time Premium exclusively for supporting subscribers, we’re re-releasing David Sirota’s 2018 interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who exposed the U.S. government's lies about the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg just passed away at the age of 92.

After the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg was dubbed “The Most Dangerous Man in America.” In his later life, Ellsberg became a vocal anti-war activist, speaking out against the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he defended other whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. 

In their interview, Sirota and Ellsberg discuss America’s nuclear program and how Ellsberg believed the threat of nuclear annihilation remains imminent. Ellsberg’s words continue to resonate today as the threat of nuclear war has only intensified while the U.S. continues its proxy war with Russia — a conflict that Ellsberg warned could lead to an “all-out war” between the two nuclear-armed states.

David spoke with Ellsberg about his time as a whistleblower and the government surveillance he faced. They ask whether it has become more difficult for whistleblowers to sound the alarm about government misdeeds. and how new surveillance tools are even more powerful than the ones he faced. 

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