Lewis Black Voices Bonkers Powell Memo in ‘Don’t Look Up’ Screenwriter’s New ‘Master Plan’ Podcast | Exclusive Audio
“Master Plan,” a new podcast from The Lever and hosted by editor-in-chief David Sirota, is a riveting deep-dive into the origins of legal corruption within the echelons of American politics.
The audio project from the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “Don’t Look Up” takes listeners back through scandals of the 1970s, Watergate, Citizens United and today’s conservative-majority Supreme Court to expose, per the show, the “deliberate scheme to legalize corruption in the U.S., allowing the wealthy to buy policies that benefit themselves.”
In other words, if you’re a layman listener stressing about higher medical bills, rising energy prices and lower wages, you might want to check your blood pressure before tuning in. There’s plenty to be angry about.
How fitting, then, that Sirota — also known for his work as senior communications advisor and speechwriter for the Bernie Sanders campaign — cast ranting comedian and “Inside Out’s” own Anger, Lewis Black, to play the recurring role of Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. throughout the podcast. The Supreme Court associate justice’s confidential-turned-infamous 1971 memo, “Attack on the American Free Enterprise System” (better known today as the Powell Memorandum) helped propel the American conservative movement and related right-wing lobbying organizations whose impact is still felt to this day. It’s a a bleak, anti-Communist and -New Deal read, propositioning corporate America to use its influence to mold society.
Now for “Master Plan,” a highlight of this week’s episode comes by way of Black, who furiously narrates the so-called Powell Memo to great effect. Listen to the audio, airing exclusively with TheWrap, below.
“Although we uncovered several never-before-seen pieces of history — including a vinyl record that had been almost deemed a myth — we were unable to find an audio recording of Lewis Powell reading his infamous memo,” Sirota told TheWrap of casting Black. “We knew we needed a voiceover artist to help us bring the memo to life, and initially we were looking for someone who could mimic Powell’s distinctive southern accent. But more importantly, we needed someone who could express Powell’s anger. He was pissed off about the social progress of the 1960s and the activists who were trying to regulate corporations, so he wrote this scathing manifesto, a blueprint for taking control of our government.”
Black, Sirota said, was the perfect fit.
“Lewis Black, although nothing like Powell politically, is an unparalleled master of the furious rant. I didn’t assume we could get him to do it. I didn’t even know how to contact him. But then one day my good friend, radio legend Bret Saunders, mentioned that he knew Lewis and he put us in touch,” the host continued. “It felt like a hail-mary request, but Lewis immediately said he’d do it. One funny anecdote: For about a half hour, Lewis and our producer had some technical difficulties at the start of our remote recording session and Lewis was getting ticked off with his computer and the Internet connection. His frustration ended up being the perfect warm-up for him to get in the angry frame of mind that was perfect for voicing the Powell memo. He absolutely nailed it.”
And it’s important to remember that “Master Plan,” while centering some overwhelming doom and gloom, “isn’t all doom and gloom,” Sirota reaffirmed. Black’s cameo is one of the program’s many entertaining highlights — and as such, it’s been finding its audience. “Master Plan” goes into its second week as No. 4 amongst all “News” podcasts on Apple Podcasts, and No. 20 amongst “All Podcasts” overall on the Apple Podcast charts.
“The 50-year story we tell is full of people who fought back and had some success. They are a reminder that whatever you want to call what we’re living in — a plutocracy, a kleptocracy, an oligarchy — this dystopia doesn’t have to be our reality,” Sirota concluded. “If it was created by a master plan and by specific political decisions, then that means it can be reversed if we make different decisions — and don’t simply accept that this is the way it has to be.”
The trailer for “Master Plan” is available now with the first three episodes now streaming. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to Black’s rendition of the Powell Memo above.
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