Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

On Today's Show: With hopes of reducing energy emissions, pollution and unethical labor practices in the global fashion industry, a new bill in the state legislature would require large apparel and footwear brands to disclose their environmental impacts and supply chains. One of the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act's sponsors, New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-34) and Maxine Bédat, founder and director of The New Standard Institute, discuss the function of transparency in creating sustainable clothing.

On Today's Show:Steve Lohr, New York Times technology and economics reporter, talks about recent economic research that points to artificial intelligence as a reason for widening economic disparity.

On the one-year anniversary of Biden's inauguration, we brought together two commentators from both ends of the political spectrum to assess his presidency so far. On Today's Show:Amanda Carpenter, columnist at The Bulwark, director of Republicans for Voting Rights, author of Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us (Broadside Books, 2018), and Jamil Smith, senior correspondent at Vox and co-host of the podcast Vox Conversations, discuss the president's accomplishments, challenges and successes, and what comes next.

We asked one of the nation's most influential legal scholars for his insight into the current Supreme Court bench, and some of the other constitutional issues facing this country. On Today's Show:Laurence Tribe, University Professor and professor of constitutional law emeritus at Harvard Law School, discusses the Supreme Court and U.S. democracy.

Just because there's one particular global threat -- COVID-19 -- that's got our attention in the U.S., it doesn't mean it's the only global threat we need to keep our eye on. On Today's Show:Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZero Media and the author of Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism (Portfolio, 2018) and the forthcoming The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World (Simon & Schuster, 2022), offers his analysis of the biggest geopolitical risks likely to play out in 2022.

On MLK Day, we wanted to look at how Dr. King's legacy of civil rights, and particularly voting rights, has evolved since his efforts toward equality. On Today's Show:Kai Wright, host of the WNYC podcast The United States of Anxiety, talks about the push for voting rights in the United States today and in history.

The leader of the white supremacist militia the Oath Keepers has been charged with sedition. What does that tell us about what Jan. 6 could have looked like if they succeeded? On Today's Show:Devlin Barrett, reporter focusing on national security and law enforcement for The Washington Post, discusses the Justice Department's response to last January's attack on the US capitol, including news that the founder of the right-wing extremist group Oath Keepers was arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the riot.

The president has thrown his support behind a Senate rule change that would allow Democrats to pass voting rights reforms by ending the filibuster. Senators Manchin and Sinema support the reforms, but oppose the repeal of the filibuster, without which, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act are unlikely to pass. On Today's Show:Theodoric Meyer, national political reporter and co-author of the Power Up newsletter at The Washington Post, discusses the latest news from Washington, including ongoing reactions to Biden's speech on voting rights and the filibuster as the MLK day deadline approaches.

As President Biden urges Senate rule changes to secure voting rights reforms, a conversation about the intersection of voting rights and civil rights. On Today's Show:Al Sharpton, civil rights leader, host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN) and the author of Righteous Troublemakers: Untold Stories of the Social Justice Movement in America (Hanover Square Press, 2022), talks about his new book and civil rights in NYC and the country today.

There are some confounding stats coming out about COVID hospitalizations amid the omicron surge. On Today's Show: Craig Spencer, New York City emergency medicine physician and director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, describes the landscape of omicron infection in New York City hospitals, from "incidental infections" to staff shortages caused by doctors and nurses having to isolate after testing positive.

The Senate could vote soon on a key voting rights bill ahead of the 2022 midterms. What changes are proposed, and what could the political impacts be? On Today's Show:Mara Liasson, NPR national political correspondent, talks about the latest national political news.

It's been a year since the Jan. 6 insurrection. What does it mean that thusfar, the Justice Department has focused on rioters, and not those who allegedly incited them? On Today's Show:Jason Johnson, MSNBC contributor, author, professor of Politics and Journalism at Morgan State University and host of the Slate political podcast 'A Word … with Jason Johnson,' rounds up this week's political news and reacts to speeches from Pres. Biden and Atty Gen. Garland on the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.

On the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, we take a look at how the Republican party has been reshaped over the past year, and what it means for the midterms. On Today's Show:Amanda Carpenter, columnist at The Bulwark, director of Republicans for Voting Rights, author of Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us (Broadside Books, 2018), and former communications director to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, explains the potential future of the Republican party as various actors defending Trump or conservatism or democracy remain divided.

One year ago tomorrow, extremists stormed the Capitol Building. How have militant groups changed their tactics since then? On Today's Show:Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter for NBC News where she covers misinformation, extremism and the internet, talks about the landscape of extremism since January 6th and her new investigation that finds some militia and white supremacist groups have shifted tactics, going from protesting to putting energy into local politics and school boards.

As we move into the new year, we wanted to check in on a persistent economic condition that's likely to impact the U.S. and the globe: inflation. On Today's Show: Neil Irwin, chief economic correspondent at Axios, discusses how Reagan era Fed chairman Paul Volcker reduced high inflation 40 years ago by jacking up interest rates and muddling through a recession. With an almost opposite economic landscape leading into 2022, current Fed chair Jerome Powell might need to pull off a tricky reverse of that strategy.

What can we look forward to in the political realm in 2022, and what do trends in the parties' directions say about the future of governing the U.S.? On Today's Show:Amber Phillips, Washington Post political reporter and author for The 5-Minute Fix, takes listeners through her burning political questions in the new year like whether the Jan. 6 committee focuses too much on Trump, how voters will likely approach the 2022 midterm elections and how redrawn congressional maps could define political power for the next 10 years.

As we close out 2021, we wanted to check in on how closely our listeners have been listening to the news. On Today's Show:Kai Wright, host of The United States of Anxiety, joins Brian to test your 2021 knowledge. NOTE: This segment was taken from Brian's 12/29 live show, and will be our last Daily Politics Podcast of the year. See you in 2022!

One way to look back on a year is by taking a close look at the words that were called to occasion by, this year, an attempt to overturn an election, and a pandemic. On Today's Show:Ben Zimmer, linguist, a lexicographer, the language columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, co-host of the Slate podcast ‘Spectacular Vernacular,’ and chair of the American Dialect Society New Words Committee and oversees their word-of-the-year selection process, talks about some of the words with special significance in 2021. Merriam-Webster picked “Vaccine”, Oxford Languages picked “Vax” and dictionary.com went with “Allyship." NOTE: This segment was taken from Brian's 12/28 live show. As part of our year-end coverage, we're approaching politics from some fun angles, including tomorrow's 'New Quiz.'

The CDC recently issued new guidance about how long to isolate following a close COVID contact or positive test. What does the science say, and how should risk factor into our behaviors now? On Today's Show:Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, infectious disease clinician and researcher at Columbia, ProHEALTH chief of the division of Infectious Disease, senior fellow for Infectious Disease at UHG Research and Development, and president of Parasites Without Borders, discusses the latest on the Omicron surge, isolation, and quarantine protocols.

President Biden has the ability to set pandemic-related policies related to air travel. What is he weighing as the omicron variant surges, just in time for the holidays? On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, White House Bureau Chief at Politico, host of Way Too Early on MSNBC and an NBCNews analyst, discusses the latest national political developments and listeners report back on the holiday impacted by omicron.

This has been a big year for misinformation, disinformation, and all-around wrong information. On Today's Show:Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of The Fact Checker for The Washington Post, takes listeners through the biggest lies told this year by politicians and figures in authority.

Are there any configurations of the policies in the Build Back Better agenda that could pass the Senate? On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) talks about the torpedoed Build Back Better bill, the Biden Administration's shifting focus to voting rights, and where the progressive agenda goes from here.

With the future of Biden's Build Back Better bill in question, how are progressive politicians responding to Joe Manchin break with the rest of Democratic party? On Today's Show:Anita Kumar, Senior Editor, Standards & Ethics at Politico, talks about the latest national political news, including Biden's response to the surging omicron variant of COVID-19, and the future of the initiatives in the Build Back Better bill.

The rapid surge in COVID cases over just the past few days presents new challenges in navigating another pandemic holiday season. On Today's Show:Ed Yong, staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers science, joins to discuss the news on the Omicron variant and why he believes it "poses a far graver threat" to American society than previous variants.

Given the tragic frequency of school shootings, is the GOP's position on gun control at odds with its "pro-life" position on abortion rights? On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), member of the Foreign Relations committee and author of The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy (Random House, 2020), talks about his long-time work on gun regulations, plus the latest developments with the pandemic and Senate partisanship.

Democrats aim to pass the 'Build Back Better' bill by Christmas. New York's junior senator discusses what might be in the final version, including paid family leave. On Today's Show:Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator (D NY), talks about her work in the Senate, and more of the latest from Congress.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled on a section of Texas's anti-abortion law. What does that have to do with the streak of violent Trumpism at the heart of Congress's Jan. 6 probe? On Today's Show:Dahlia Lithwick, who covers courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus, and Jim Newell, senior political writer for Slate, break down the latest news from the Supreme Court and national politics.

The conservative group ALEC is taking aim at laws aimed at addressing climate change, calling them 'energy discrimination.' On Today's Show:Kate Aronoff, staff writer at The New Republic and author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet - And How We Fight Back (Bold Type Books April 20, 2021), talks about her latest piece, "Conservatives Have a New Bogeyman: Critical Energy Theory," which found some conservative interest groups are trying to stop climate policy from being implemented around the country by claiming it unfairly discriminates against fossil fuel companies.

A new analysis suggests that the press is treating Biden similarly to how it treated Trump, despite the stark contrasts in these two presidencies. On Today's Show:Dana Milbank, columnist for The Washington Post, talks about his recent column, which found that the press coverage of President Biden has been as negative, or even more negative, than press coverage of Trump through most of 2020.

President Biden recently had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as tensions flare along the Ukrainian border. What does a conflict halfway around the globe have to do with U.S. politics? On Today's Show:Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker, CNN global affairs analyst, joins to talk about the latest in national politics headlines, including the latest on Russia, as it mobilizes its military at the Ukrainian border.

With the possibility that SCOTUS overturn Roe v. Wade, we discuss the Democrats approach to judicial appointments, and whether they could have fought harder to safeguard abortion rights. On Today's Show:Rebecca Traister, writer at New York Magazine and author of Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger (Simon & Schuster, 2018), discusses how the current Supreme Court case is just the latest in a decades-long weakening of Roe v. Wade, with Democratic leadership partially to blame.

Nurses are leaving the profession in droves, driven by extremely difficult pandemic-related working conditions. We invited nurses to call in and talk about the state of their profession. On Today's Show:Pat Kane, executive director of the New York State Nurses Association, discusses some of the reasons why nurses are quitting and what can be done to retain, and recruit, more.

In the current phase of the COVID pandemic, marked by the omicron variant and still-rampant misinformation, we wanted to take stock of where we are, and what the science tells us . On Today's Show:Following World AIDS Day Wafaa El-Sadr, Columbia University professor of epidemiology and medicine and director Columbia World Projects and International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, draws connections between work tracing and treating HIV and research on coronavirus, including the omicron variant which was discovered in part because of robust sequencing systems in southern Africa.

Today, lawyers argued before the Supreme Court in a case that casts uncertainty on the right to have an abortion. If you missed the arguments, we've picked out some important exchanges.

The acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse shines a light on how 'self defense' defenses work in cases like his, compared to the case of Chrystul Kizer, who faces homicide charges for killing her adult sex abuser when she was 17 years old. On Today's Show: Kami Chavis, director of the criminal justice program at Wake Forest Law, and Jessica Contrera, reporter for The Washington Post, talk about why some claims of self-defense work better than others in court and in the media.

A lot of questions are swirling about a newly detected COVID-19 variant, dubbed, 'omicron.' What do we know about it at this early stage, and what policies can address it? On Today's Show:Apoorva Mandavilli, reporter for The New York Times, focusing on science and global health, explains the latest news and what's known so far about the omicron variant.

On Today's Black Friday Show:Listeners who work in retail call in to talk about what this holiday shopping season looks like from their perspective.

This Thanksgiving, we wanted to bust some of the myths surrounding the holiday's origin, and the lessons we can learn from the real story. On Today's Show:Kenneth C. Davis, author of Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned talks about the myths and realities of the 1621 first Thanksgiving.

Gas prices are running fairly high these days. Can the Biden administration address it while still keeping an eye on its climate priorities? On Today's Show:Timothy Gardner, climate and energy correspondent at Reuters, breaks down why the price of oil is so high and what, if anything, the Biden administration can do to fix it while also meeting climate goals.

If two people search broad terms like "patriot" or "vaccine" in YouTube, they might get very different results. On Today's Show:Kai Wright, host of the WNYC's The United States of Anxiety, and Kousha Navidar, senior digital producer for WNYC's The United States of Anxiety, offer an experiment to get past the filter bubbles that define what information gets to us.

What does Friday's "not guilty" verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, mean for the justice system, Black Lives Matter, and white supremacist violence? On Today's Show: Carol Anderson, professor of African American Studies at Emory University and the author of The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021), discusses the verdict and what comes next.

This year, with vaccinations still climbing and public health pros telling us it's relatively safe to gather for the holidays, we explore just how "relative" that safety is, and how to minimize the (still present) risk. On Today's Show:Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, infectious disease clinician and researcher at Columbia, ProHEALTH chief of the division of Infectious Disease, senior fellow for Infectious Disease at UHG Research and Development, and president of Parasites Without Borders, shares the latest guidance on balancing risks and rewards of holiday gatherings at this phase of the pandemic.

The annual inflation rate in the United States is running at a three decade high. So what's behind the inflation we're seeing throughout the economy? How is it landing on business owners and consumers, and what can be done about it? On Today's Show: Wendy Edelberg, director of The Hamilton Project and senior fellow, economic studies at The Brookings Institution, discusses the underpinning factors mostly related to the pandemic and weighs in on concern over long-term impact.

The New York Times' 1619 Project is now a book with expanded essays. Its centering of slavery in the American history narrative has generated controversy. On Today's Show: Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine, creator of the 1619 Project, now a book, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story (One World, 2021), and Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, talks about the book based on the New York Times 1619 Project, why it's become a hot-button issue, and where we go from here.

The Jan. 6 insurrection was an attack on the democratic process. How is the investigation into the events that day a defense of that same process? On Today's Show:Kimberly Wehle, law professor at the University of Baltimore, former U.S. Attorney, author of What You Need to Know About Voting--and Why (Harper Collins, 2020) and an opinion writer for many publications including Politico and The Atlantic, discusses the latest developments in the House Select Committee's investigation of the January 6th Attack.

Many activist movements today are leaning on an old protest method: the hunger strike. So why is this tactic seeing a resurgence, and what makes these demonstrations effective? On Today's Show:Sharman Apt Russell, author of several books including Hunger: An Unnatural History (Basic Books, 2006) and Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It (Deckle Edge, 2021), discusses the history of hunger strikes and explains how they work.

What does a progressive freshman member of Congress have to say about the politics of this past election, and the process of passing Democrats' agenda? On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY15, South Bronx) talks about the postponed vote on Build Back Better, and about the just-passed infrastructure bill.

COP26 is wrapping up, and some last-minute commitments from the U.S. and China could help push the world toward its emissions reduction targets. On Today's Show:Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of Covering Climate Now and environmental correspondent of The Nation, has the latest key developments from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Democrats don't have one single name for the legislative agenda that's working through Congress. They have many. Could more focused messaging help pass it more easily? On Today's Show:Anat Shenker-Osorio, strategic communications consultant and host of the "Words To Win By" podcast, discusses the Democratic party's messaging around the Build Back Better (or human infrastructure or reconciliation or $3.5 trillion social spending) bill and what she thinks they could do better, and listeners call in with their own suggestions.

The trials of Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of shooting Black Lives Matter protesters, and of Ahmaud Arbery's alleged killers are both in jury selection. On Today's Show:Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, joins to discuss the jury selection process, and how technicalities invite the possibility of racial bias into the courtroom.