Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

A big news day in national politics, as D.C. reckons with a looming shutdown, the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, and a NJ Democrat's federal indictment. On Today's Show:Aaron Blake, senior political reporter, who writes The Fix at The Washington Post, talks about the politics at play in the shutdown, and how politicians and voters are feeling about Senator Menendez, a week after his federal indictment on bribery charges.

Last night, all but one of the GOP presidential frontrunners weighed in on the United Auto Workers strike from the debate stage, while Trump weighed in from a competing event with non-unionized workers. On Today's Show:Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter for The Washington Post, talks about how the GOP presidential hopefuls address the issues raised by the UAW strike as they meet for a second debate.

What does it mean for our government that so many key elected officials and candidates are significantly older than the median age of the country? On Today's Show:David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of "The New Yorker Radio Hour" talks about current politics, including his recent article called "The Washington Gerontocracy."

Last year, the child poverty rose more than it ever has since the Census started recording it in 2009, more than doubling from 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022. On Today's Show:Through the story of three North Philadelphia children and drawing on his research, Nikhil Goyal, sociologist and policymaker who served as senior policy advisor on education and children for Chairman Senator Bernie Sanders on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Committee on the Budget and the author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty (Metropolitan Books, 2023), shows how poverty limits the lives of U.S. children and offers policy solutions.

With next weekend's looming government shutdown, the Republicans' more right-wing Freedom Caucus is seeking to reign in its more moderate Problem Solvers Caucus. On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Andrew Garbarino (R, NY2) talks about his work in Congress, including as a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, as the House Republicans grapple with passing a plan to fund the government without the support of some extreme right members.

An al Jazeera podcast has been looking into stories of environmental activists using the courts in the US and abroad to hold their governments to their carbon emissions commitments. On Today's Show:Amanda Burrell, executive producer and correspondent of Al Jazeera English’s series earthrise, explains how activists are turning to the legal system to achieve climate-related goals, and reflects on climate solutions more broadly.

The United Auto Workers are striking for higher wages and job security measures as the industry transitions to include electric vehicles. On Today's Show:Neal Boudette, Michigan-based New York Times reporter covering the auto industry talks about the economics of the auto industry and what's at stake in the strike.

For National Voter Registration Day, we take a look at the state of voting rights and ballot access ahead of the 2024 presidential election season. On Today's Show:Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, talks about registering to vote and issues affecting voter access ahead of 2024 and Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center for Justice, talks about the voting rights nationally and in New York State.

As the United Nations General Assembly meets this week at its NYC headquarters, we kick off Climate Week with a look at the aims of climate protesters, and their detractors. On Today's Show:Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of the global media collaboration Covering Climate Now and environment correspondent for The Nation magazine, talks about related events in the city, including Sunday's climate march, plus introduces his group's journalism awards, which honor the best climate journalists and their work. Plus, Amy Westervelt, climate journalist and the executive editor of Drilled, a multimedia climate accountability reporting project and one of Covering Climate Now's climate journalists of the year, talks about her work and how it fits into climate coverage.

With an influx of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from various countries continuing to arrive in the US, we explore the nuances of immigration law. On Today's Show:Julia Preston, contributing writer for The Marshall Project, talks about why a possible work-permit solution isn't accessible to more asylum seekers, New York City officials' calls for a "decompression" strategy, and news that a federal judge has ruled DACA unconstitutional.

As Congress returns from summer recess, they face several important issues, including averting a budget-related shutdown, and whether the GOP can impeach Biden for his son's dealings. On Today's Show:Annie Karni, congressional correspondent for The New York Times, discusses this development and other headlines in Congressional news.

Naomi Klein, activist, professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, and the author of books including The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, is so often confused with conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf that she's used this experience as the premise for a new book that explores the blurred identities and destabilizing meanings in our broader politics and culture. On Today's Show:Klein speaks with us about her new book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2023),

As the United States copes with new migrants and refugees from South and Central America, we look at how refugees from the war in Ukraine are being received around the world. On Today's Show:David Miliband, president and chief executive officer of the International Rescue Committee, talks about his recent trip to Ukraine and Poland and the refugee crisis that is a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Many of the current union strikes are leveraging their workplace power to get what they want in their contracts, including a possible shift to a four day work week for themselves — and potentially everyone else. On Today's Show: Jane McAlevey, organizer, senior policy fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, columnist at The Nation and co-author of Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 2023), talks about labor news, including the latest on the WGA and SAG AFTRA strikes and the UAW negotiations, and the overall state of organized labor today. → Check out Jane's latest here: "The NLRB’s Recent Decisions Are Good News for Workers" (The Nation, 9/4/2023)

Education is a critical policy domain that's often left to local municipalities to navigate. On Today's Show:Listeners call in to share their views on education, what sorts of federal policies they'd like to see, and what the role of politics should be in decisions about teaching our children.

On today's show:U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) discusses her actions around the big influx of asylum seekers in New York and other cities, the prospect of a government shutdown at the end of this month, term limits in Congress and more.

The Biden administration announced which drugs that will be part of its price negotiations for patients on Medicare. On Today's Show: Jonathan Cohn, senior national reporter at HuffPost, lecturer at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the author of The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage (St. Martin's Press, 2021), talks about how it will work, how it will affect out-of-pocket costs for patients and what could go wrong.

A new country song has captured the hearts of the right wing. But the message of the music suggests a more complicated political situation in terms of populism and elitism. On Today's Show:Greg Sargent, Washington Post columnist, talks about why Republicans love the country singer Oliver Anthony's song "Rich Men North of Richmond," and how policy moves could actually address some of the indignities he sings about.

GOP candidates like to use the word "freedom" in their campaigns. On a key civil rights anniversary, we reflect on what 'freedom' means in 2023. On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early" on MSNBC, Politico White House bureau chief, and the author of The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022), discuses the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s march on Washington, as well as the latest national political news, including the arrest and mug shot of former President Trump.

How did it change the dynamics of last night's GOP debate that Trump, who's leading in the polls, was not on the stage? On Today's Show:Lisa Lerer, national political correspondent for The New York Times, talks about Wednesday night's debate among many of the Republicans running for president.

The BRICS summit is a meeting of major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and now including South Africa. On Today's Show:Yinka Adegoke, editor of Semafor Africa, previews the summit and explains how Russia and China in particular are hoping to have a stronger influence on African countries.

This week, some of the hopefuls in the race for the GOP nomination will face off on a debate stage, though former President Trump, who's leading in the polls, will not be among them. On Today's Show:Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), rounds up the latest news from Washington, including a look ahead to Wednesday's GOP debate in Milwaukee.

A multibillion-dollar recovery effort is underway in Hawaii following the deadliest fire in the U.S. in over a century. On Today's Show:Kaniela Ing, a seventh-generation indigenous Hawaiian from Maui and the national director of climate justice organization Green New Deal Network, discusses how residents now worry that wealthy outsiders will stand to make a profit, and Alana Casanova-Burgess, co-creator, host and producer of the podcast La Brega, from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, explains what Hawaii can learn from Puerto Rico’s recovery after Hurricane Maria.

Swing-state Georgia will be pivotal in the upcoming presidential election which means the legal process playing out over the outcome of the 2020 election could have a big political impact. On Today's Show:Stephen Fowler, political reporter for Georgia Public Broadcasting and host of the podcast Battleground: Ballot Box, talks about the indictments of former President Trump and 18 others and how they are playing out in Georgia's political landscape.

Indictments were announced overnight in Georgia against former President Trump and 18 others, including former NYC Mayor Giuliani. On Today's Show:Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN, host of the CAFE podcast "Up Against The Mob," former New Jersey and federal prosecutor and author of Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It (Harper, 2023), discusses the charges.

Late last week, the Department of Justice named a special counsel to oversee investigations into the business conduct of presidential son Hunter Biden. On Today's Show:Idrees Kahloon, Washington bureau chief for The Economist, talks about the latest national political news.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 'Back To School Jam' in the Bronx that helped launch hip hop culture into global popularity. On Today's Show:Joycelyn Wilson, assistant professor of hip-hop studies and digital media at Georgia Tech, explains the long relationship between hip hop, its artists, and politics.

Last week, the FDA approved the first ever pill specifically intended to treat postpartum depression. On Today's Show:Nicole Cirino, MD, reproductive psychiatrist, chief of division of reproductive psychiatry, professor at Baylor College of Medicine, and Postpartum Support International board member, provides an expert look at Zurzuvae, the new medication which could help the estimated 1 in 8 women in the United States experiencing symptoms of depression after giving birth.

Could more ballot measures be a remedy for partisan gerrymandering around the country? Plus, some legal analysis of former President Trump's direct threats. On Today's Show:Kate Shaw, law professor at Cardozo Law School, ABC Supreme Court contributor and cohost of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, breaks down the latest legal investigations into Trump's business and political careers.

Voters go to the polls today in Ohio to decide whether future ballot initiatives will need a 60%, rather than a simple, majority, which could impact upcoming abortion protection measures. On Today's Show:Rachel Cohen, senior policy reporter at Vox, and Haley BeMiller, state government and politics reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, explain what's at stake in Ohio and nationally.

With charges officially filed against former President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, how are conservatives, including his voters, thinking about his 2024 campaign? On Today's Show:Charlie Sykes, founder and editor-at-large and host of a podcast at The Bulwark, MSNBC contributor and author of How the Right Lost Its Mind (St. Martin's Press, 2017), discusses the politics of former President Donald Trump's latest indictment.

Friday Special: We present longform readings of key excerpts from the Trump indictment, plus analysis from legal experts. On Today's Show:Hear portions of the indictment read aloud by WNYC host Tiffany Hanssen, Kai Wright, host of WNYC's Notes from America, Micah Loewinger, correspondent for WNYC's On the Media, Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation and host of its new podcast Contempt of Court and the author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (The New Press, 2022), and Jill Wine-Banks, MSNBC legal analyst, former Watergate special prosecutor, co-host of the podcasts #Sistersinlaw and IGenPolitics and the author of The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President (Henry Holt and Co., 2020).

How are Jewish interest groups in the United States responding to the unrest in Israel over Netanyahu's controversial attempts at court reform? On Today's Show:Ron Kampeas, Washington bureau chief at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a news organization, discusses how Jewish Americans are reacting to a controversial judicial overhaul by the right-wing Israeli government. The new law severely weakens the Israeli judicial branch, and American Jewish groups have been quick to respond.

Yesterday, Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith released a 45-page, 4-count indictment against former President Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. On Today's Show:Andrew Weissmann, professor of criminal and national security law at NYU School of Law, lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel's Office and the author of Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation (Random House, 2020), offers legal analysis of the charges.

In Niger, a military general declared himself leader after a coup against the nation's first duly-elected president, who was an ally of the West in fighting terror in the region. On Today's Show:Alexis Akwagyiram, managing editor at Semafor Africa, discusses the recent coup in Niger, Russia's presence in West Africa, and the wave of coups that have taken place in the region in the last few years.

A number of headlines broke over the weekend related to the legal troubles of both former President Donald Trump, and the son of the current President, Hunter Biden. On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early" on MSNBC, Politico White House bureau chief, and the author of The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022), discuses the latest national political news.

If we're in one era of content that goes viral online, we're at the end of another. On Today's Show:Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor, former media columnist for The New York Times, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Press, 2023), traces the rise and fall of digital media upstarts like HuffPost, Gawker and BuzzFeed.

On Today's Show: Peter Coy, New York Times opinion writer covering economics, and Annie Lowrey, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World (Crown, 2018), compare notes on whether a recession is coming, or whether the so-called "soft landing" the Fed was aiming for is happening, as the jobs numbers remain solid and the economy rolls.

On Today's Show:Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many books, including The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War (Simon & Schuster, 2020), draws on his expertise in nuclear history to assess the historical accuracy of Christopher Nolan's epic new film "Oppenheimer".

Last week, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing at which Republicans chose RFK, Jr. as a primary witness on government censorship. The Democrats on the committee called Maya Wiley to counter his take. On today's show, Maya Wiley, civil rights attorney and president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, debriefs her testimony and speaks about the dangers of ignoring misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.

Friday morning, Judge Aileen Cannon set a May 2024 date for former President Trump's documents case -- before the election, contrary to the his defense attorneys' request, but later than the prosecutors asked. On today's show, Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), rounds up the latest news from Washington, including former President Trump's legal troubles, abortion politics and 2024 campaign, the Senate Democrats' bill on Supreme Court ethics, and more.

In his concurrence in the Supreme Court's recent decision that struck down race-based affirmative action, Justice Clarence Thomas cited Alison Stewart's book about the rigorous and formerly legally segregated public high school Dunbar. On Today's Show:Alison Stewart, host of WNYC's All of It and the author of First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School (Lawrence Hill Books, 2015), talks about what she thinks he got wrong and how he misinterpreted what she wrote to uphold his opinion.

The Teamsters union, which represents UPS workers, may go on strike if a deal is not reached by the end of this month. On Today's Show:Jane McAlevey, organizer, senior policy fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, strikes correspondent at The Nation and co-author of Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 2023), talks about what the union is looking for, and Jason Miller, associate professor of supply chain management and interim chair of the supply chain management department at Michigan State, explains what would happen to the package delivery business and the broader economy if the more than 300,000 workers go on strike.

On Today's Show:Oliver Franklin-Wallis, author of Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters (Hachette Books, 2023) and features editor for British GQ magazine, outlines the cost to the environment of everything we discard, as well as efforts to address the crisis.

The former head of the Council on Foreign Relations argues that domestic threats, related to civic participation, are more dangerous to American democracy than global threats. On Today's Show:Richard Haass, American diplomat, former longtime president of the Council on Foreign Relations (now president emeritus) and the author of The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens (Penguin Press, 2023), reflects on his time leading CFR, and talks about his analysis that the current biggest threat to the United States is not from Russia or China, but from within.

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced plans for a new income-driven repayment plan called the Saving on a Valuable Education — or SAVE. On Today's Show:Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, national higher education reporter at The Washington Post, explains what's in the plan and what legal and political challenges it may face.

After an eventful Supreme Court term, in which the conservative majority ruled on affirmative action and other issues, a Democratic congressman weighs in. On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY15) discusses the Supreme Court.

After playing a significant role in the Democrats' loss of their House majority, New York Dems are taking steps to regain their party's control of Congress. On Today's Show:Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter covering Democratic politics and campaigns across the country, and the author of Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump (Viking, 2021), talks about his reporting on the efforts of Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, to win back House seats from the GOP in New York.

Where do race and class intersect in today's American politics? On today's show, David Leonhardt, senior writer for The New York Times, who writes The Morning, The Times’s flagship daily newsletter, talks about race and class and explains what he calls the "class inversion" -- how college-educated Americans are increasingly likely to vote for Democrats while those without college degrees are increasingly likely to vote for Republicans.

"Our republic is founded on the principle that it will continue only as long as the people keep democracy alive," said Benjamin Franklin. So is the Supreme Court doing that? On Today's Show:Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker, unpacks the end of a momentous Supreme Court term.