Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Over a year since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, we check in on the Taliban government, the status of Afghan refugees and the US posture toward the region. On Today's Show:Najib Aminy, reporter and producer at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, talks about his recent work that explores the question of whether the U.S. should recognize the Taliban, as well as why so few applications for humanitarian parole have been approved by the U.S. after its departure from Afghanistan.

With COVID still weighing on people's minds, and inflation on people's wallets, has the allure of staying in kept audiences away from the return of live performances? On Today's Show:Live performers have been back on stage for over a year, but attendance remains below pre-pandemic numbers. Javier C. Hernández, culture reporter for The New York Times, discusses why show-goers are staying home and what the live entertainment industry is doing to bring them back.

The ball is in the Attorney General's court after the release of an affidavit that outlines why the FBI executed a search warrant for presidential documents held at Trump's residence. On Today's Show:Katie Benner, Justice Department reporter at The New York Times, joins with takeaways and the latest news from the release of the affidavit in the FBI search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

After winning a special election in a purple-ish district, we speak with a Congress-bound freshman about what his win means for Democrats' prospects in the midterms. On Today's Show:After defeating his Republican opponent in a special election in New York, Ulster County executive and Congressman-elect Pat Ryan (D NY-19th), joins to discuss.

Over time, political labels come into and out of fashion. So between liberal, progressive, socialist, leftist and more, what are Democrats calling themselves these days? On Today's Show:Blake Hounshell, editor of The New York Times' On Politics newsletter, discussed his latest article on how some Democrats, who once ran away from the "liberal" label in the 1990s, are now also moving away from the term "progressive."

President Biden announced a measure to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for many borrowers. On Today's Show:Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, national higher education reporter at The Washington Post, explains the ins and outs of the president's loan forgiveness plan.

New York's primaries have wrapped up, and odds are good that Empire State voters will send former impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman to Congress. On Today's Show:Democratic nominee Dan Goldman joined us to take a "victory lap on the air," after winning yesterday's primary ballot. Plus, Elizabeth Kim, reporter for the People and Power team at Gothamist and WNYC, and Ben Max, executive editor of Gotham Gazette and the host of the “Max Politics” podcast, discuss the latest results in the NY-10 and NY-12 races in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

What do today's congressional primaries in the Sunshine State tell us about what the next Congress could look like? On Today's Show:Lori Rozsa, who covers Florida for The Washington Post, drops in to give an overview on the midterm primary races underway in Florida.

A new poll on voters' midterm priorities lists "threats against democracy" as the top issue, behind things like inflation, and even abortion. On Today's Show:Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of Cook Political Report, joins to discuss the latest political headlines, including that poll,and Mitch McConnell's less-than-rosy assessment of the GOP's midterm prospects.

There is a rise in the number of Americans seeking tubal sterilizations. Today: Meena Venkataramanan, staff writer at The Washington Post, discusses her reporting on the rise in the number of Americans seeking tubal sterilizations — and the challenges they face along the way.

From Liz Cheney's primary loss to Rudy Giuliani's testimony in the Georgia election interference probe to the investigations into former president Donald Trump, it's been another week of high drama.Today:Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), discusses the latest national politics headlines.

This week, our weekly live show is inviting listeners across generations to call in with their top political concerns ahead of the midterm elections.Today:People in their 50s and 60s share their top issues.

In 2019, New York City passed a law aimed at dramatically limiting pollution emitted from buildings. On Today's Show: Pete Sikora, climate and inequality campaigns director at New York Communities for Change (NYCC), says this law could see New York become a leader among American cities in the fight against climate change.

In Louisville, Ky., a detective is expected to plead guilty to "conspiring to mislead a judge" in order to obtain a search warrant for Breonna Taylor’s home. Meanwhile, at Mar-a-Lago, a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's home revealed a trove of classified documents. On Today's Show:Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN, author of the national bestseller, Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor’s Code and corrupted the Justice Department (HarperCollins, 2021), and former New Jersey and federal prosecutor, shares legal analysis of the outstanding investigations into former President Trump and draws the throughline between the two stories.

We heard a number of national issues come to bear in a primary debate over a congressional race to represent an NYC district. On Today's Show:Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, recaps the debate she moderated for the Democratic candidates in New York's 10th Congressional district, and explains how the national conversation has trickled down to this local race.

The Inflation Reduction Act promises tax incentives for people to install solar panels on their homes. On Today's Show:Noah Ginsburg, co-director of programs at Solar One, explains the benefits of solar, and how to access it.

We asked a lawyer who's very familiar with Trump-world to explain what it means that the FBI recovered presidential records from the former president's private residence. 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), shares his analysis of the FBI's surprise search of former President Trump's Florida estate, and what it signifies about Federal investigations of the former president.

Some Republican governors are sending migrants to blue states, which are now struggling to provide them with the services and housing they need. On Today's Show:Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director at the New York Immigration Coalition, and Maryann Tharappel, Special Projects Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, discuss this news and how their organizations are responding to the needs of new arrivals.

After a big week in Congress, we asked our New York State senator for some updates and analysis on the policies on the table, including a landmark climate bill, and a bill to support veterans' healthcare. On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) talks about her work in Washington and this week's passage of burn pits legislation, and more.

As we continue to cover the ways that SCOTUS's Dobbs decision is changing our social landscape, we discuss the aims of feminism in a post-Roe nation. On Today's Show:Lux Alptraum, podcaster and the author of Faking It: The Lies Women Tell about Sex--And the Truths They Reveal (Seal Press 2018), discusses her guest essay in The New York Times, "Women, the Game Is Rigged. It’s Time We Stop Playing by the Rules," which argues for a new type of feminism that rejects the approval and validation of an unjust system.

As congress appears poised to vote soon on landmark climate legislation, we take a close look at the bill in question. On Today's Show:Bill McKibben, environmental activist, founder of Third Act and author of many books, most recently, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened (Henry Holt and Co., 2022), talks about the climate bill that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) now supports: what's in it and its impact.

In Kansas, voters faced a ballot referendum over whether or not to remove abortion rights from the state's constitution. On Today's Show:Shefali Luthra, health reporter covering the intersection of gender and health care for The 19th, discusses the implications of the referendum for both Kansas and the rest of the country as the fallout from the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade continues.

Democrats made a deal in the Senate on a number of climate change provisions, as well as some other "Build Back Better" agenda items. On Today's Show:Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, discusses the latest from Washington, D.C., including the Democrats' climate deal, and the Biden administration's messaging on the threat of a potential recession.

Now that the January 6th House committee has wrapped up public hearings for the summer, what's the Department of Justice doing to secure accountability for the Capitol riot? On Today's Show:Devlin Barrett, reporter focusing on national security and law enforcement for The Washington Post, discusses the news that the Department of Justice is investigating former President Donald Trump's actions leading up to the January 6th insurrection.

We use the appearance of a case of polio, which had been nearly eradicated in the US, as a lens to explore public health, and the relationship between tiny pathogens and broader society. On Today's Show:Alan Dove, science journalist, virologist and co-host of the This Week in Virology (TWIV) podcast, answers questions about the case of polio in Rockland County - after apparently having been eliminated -- and what needs to happen to prevent further infections.

With crime apparently on the rise, Manhattan's progressive district attorney is taking heat for some of his reformist policies. On Today's Show:Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney, talks about his approach to criminal justice, and how his positions have evolved in the face of current public sentiment about crime.

With abortion policy now in the hands of individual states, what shape will abortion rights activism take as statehouses and governors weigh the politics of reproductive rights? On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, NJ-12), vice chair at large of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, talks about her arrest, along with several other members of Congress, at an abortion rights rally, plus other national news.

At the final public hearing of the Jan. 6 committee, we heard testimony about Trump's behavior and attitude while he knew that the Capitol was under violent attack. On Today's Show:Quinta Jurecic, fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, senior editor at Lawfare and contributing writer at The Atlantic, recaps Thursday evening's January 6th committee hearing, which laid out what the president was doing (or not doing) during the attack on the Capitol.

The phrase 'pregnant people' has caused divisions within reproductive rights conversations. On Today's Show:Kate Manne, associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University and the author of Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (Crown, 2020) explains why using it doesn't mean she never says "women," and why she thinks it's both "inclusive and accurate."

A new company recently purchased eighteen Spanish-language stations that will serve ten of the largest Latinx-populated cities in the country. On Today's Show:Graciela Mochkofsky, dean-elect at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism and contributing writer for The New Yorker, joins to talk about what this means for the fight against misinformation in the Spanish speaking community.

Europe is going through an intense heatwave, and the region's infrastructure isn't enough to keep people cool through it. The U.K. has declared a national emergency due to unprecedented heat and Spain and Portugal have recorded hundreds of heat-related deaths. On Today's Show:Andrew Freedman, energy and climate reporter at Axios, discusses the hellish weather sweeping across the continent, including areas unaccustomed to high temps.

Violent militia groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters have coalesced around a number of hateful conspiracy theories, and around Donald Trump. On Today's Show:Malcolm Nance, national security and counterterrorism analyst and the author of They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency (St. Martin’s Press, 2022), sounds the alarm about what he calls 'TITUS' (Trump Insurgency in the United States) and discusses other issues related to national security.

A progressive congressman gives his analysis of the political landscape as it stands today. On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY15) talks about what the federal government can do to support abortion rights in the wake of Dobbs, what it means that Sen. Joe Manchin is opposing new climate change legislation, and more on Democrats' agenda in the nation's capitol.

An airline that implored climate-conscious fliers to 'fly responsibly" has been taken to court, claiming that the ad campaign misleads the public. On Today's Show:Sara Kiley Watson, news editor who leads sustainability coverage at Popular Science, talks about the impact of the lawsuit filed against KLM Airlines.

Yesterday's hearing covered connections between certain Trump allies and violent extremist groups, as well as warnings about possibly inciting violence that the president ignored. On Today's Show:Philip Bump, national correspondent for The Washington Post, offers analysis of Tuesday afternoon's hearing of the January 6th committee.

We look ahead to today's January 6th hearing, which will explore whether Trump allies were coordinating with extremist groups ahead of the insurrection. On Today's Show:Roger Parloff, journalist and senior editor at Lawfare, previews Tuesday's January 6 hearing, which will focus on the connection between former President Trump and extremist groups involved in storming the Capitol, like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

The left wants President Biden to take stronger action on abortion rights in the face of SCOTUS's decision to overturn Roe. But what can the White House actually do? On Today's Show:Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation and the author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (The New Press, 2022), joins to discuss the latest political news, including President Joe Biden's executive order to protect abortion rights

We check in on the status of WNBA star Brittney Gringer, who is currently incarcerated in Russia on charges to which she just pleaded guilty. On Today's Show:Terri Jackson, executive director of the Women's National Basketball Players Association and Kavitha Davidson, sportswriter and correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” join to discuss the trial of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges for the possession of two cannabis-derived vape cartridges.

Amid an energy crisis brought on by sanctions on Russian oil the European Union has designated gas — a fossil fuel — as 'green'. What does it mean for climate change? On Today's Show:Somini Sengupta, international climate reporter for The New York Times and lead writer for the Climate Forward newsletter, explains the decision and talks about why critics think this move will prolong Europe's reliance on fossil fuels.

Trump's White House Counsel on January 6th, Pat Cipollone, has agreed to testify before the congressional committee investigating the insurrection. On Today's Show:Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, discusses what testimony the committee could hear from Mr. Cipollone, and how his testimony could shape the investigation going forward.

After visiting world leaders abroad, President Biden returns home to a number of political challenges, including the looming midterm elections this November. On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early" on MSNBC, Politico White House bureau chief, and the author of the forthcoming The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022) talks about the latest political news, including President Joe Biden's political wins during the G7 and NATO Summits and the challenges he's facing back at home, like his perceived inaction towards protecting abortion rights.

When the Supreme Court released its opinion limiting the power of the EPA this morning, we were in the midst of speaking with a prominent environmentalist. On Today's Show:Bill McKibben, environmental activist, founder of Third Act and author of many books, most recently, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened (Henry Holt and Co., 2022), joins to talk about the news from Europe, where the E.U. reached a deal to phase out fossil fuels by 2035, in contrast to the breaking news that the Supreme Court in the United States has with conservative states and fossil fuel companies in curtailing the power of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In yesterday's Jan. 6 hearing, we heard vivid testimony from a former aide to Trump's chief of staff that detailed his behavior before, and during, the Capitol riot. On Today's Show:Michael Kranish, national political investigative reporter for The Washington Post, co-author of Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power (Scribner, 2016), joins to recap Tuesday's January 6th hearing, in which Cassidy Hutchinson, then-principal assistant to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified about what President Trump's inner circle knew.

In the wake of SCOTUS's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, what does the future of abortion rights activism look like? On Today's Show:Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the lead litigator in the case, discusses her latest law case which delayed Louisiana's trigger abortion law and how people can get involved locally in advocating for the protection of abortion rights.

The Supreme Court ruled today on a case about prayer in public schools. So what does that, and other recent judicial opinions, mean for "freedom of religion"? On Today's Show:A series of recent Supreme Court cases, including the right to abortion, privileges the religious freedoms of Christians. Micah Schwartzman, professor and the director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia School of Law, joins to discuss his recent article asking if the same protection applies to people of the Jewish faith.

Today, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark case Roe v. Wade, meaning that the right to an abortion is no longer constitutionally protected. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019), offers analysis of today's Supreme Court decision to upend abortion rights and takes listener calls.

A forthcoming Supreme Court decision could hamper some of the EPA's authority to curtail carbon emissions. On Today's Show:Michael Gerrard, professor of law at Columbia Law School and the founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, previews what the case is about and the implications for combating climate change, especially if the court rules against the EPA.

At yesterday's Jan. 6 hearing in Congress, we heard evidence around Trump's efforts to target election workers, from secretaries of state to poll workers. On Today's Show:Quinta Jurecic, fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, senior editor at Lawfare and contributing writer at The Atlantic, recaps Tuesday's January 6th House hearing that laid out former President Trump's involvement in the plot to overturn the election by enlisting local state officials.

Today, the Supreme Court handed down an opinion about public money and religious schools. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019) offers analysis of today's Supreme Court news, including the opinion in the case of Maine education vouchers.

In honor of Juneteenth yesterday, we present a conversation about teaching children the history of race in America, and raising them to be anti-racist. On Today's Show:Ibram X. Kendi, professor in the Humanities and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research and the author of How to Raise an Antiracist (One World, 2022) talks about his new book offering guidance to parents and caregivers.