Scene on Radio · Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University

Lever Time: Trump, Colbert, And The War On Truth

July 23, 2025·39 min·3 clips

CBS canceled Stephen Colbert's show days after paying Trump $16 million in a lawsuit settlement.

The setup is a handoff. John says Scene on Radio is still building Season 8, then uses a Lever Time episode to open up a bigger question about media. CBS canceled Stephen Colbert's show days after settling a lawsuit with Donald Trump, and the episode treats that timing as more than celebrity-news noise. The target is bigger than CBS. John lays out lawsuits against media companies, pressure from billionaires, corporate caution, and politicians trying to scare critics into silence. Then the conversation gets into the machinery underneath it. The guest says ABC News and CBS News settled suits that most legal experts considered weak, and that sends a message beyond those cases. Ownership matters. If executives decide they do not want a legal fight, journalists may learn to anticipate that retreat before they report. That is the quieter danger here. The chilling effect is not always someone barking an order. Sometimes it is the story that never gets pitched, or the target that gets softened before the public can see it. The guest calls this a kind of censorship, because fear can train people as effectively as instructions can. Local reporters matter here too. For mid-sized papers and independent outlets, watching powerful news organizations stand down can make ambitious reporting look financially reckless before it begins. Settlements may protect one company in the moment, but they also teach Trump and others that legal pressure can work. David Sirota points listeners to David Enrich's book and the Lever Time archive, but the part that lingers is what never gets published once fear becomes normal.

As heard by us

A focused look at how lawsuits, settlements, and fear can shape the stories the public may never get to see.

Power rarely looks like a blunt order to stop talking. In this Lever Time episode, it shows up as pressure around CBS, Paramount, ABC News, and lawsuits tied to Donald Trump.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want to know how one media lawsuit can become a warning to everyone watching the pressure build.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Scene on Radio