Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

The US Surgeon General has been raising the alarm about the health risks of alcohol, as well as what he calls the 'loneliness epidemic.' On Today's Show:U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talks about the recent report highlighting the cancer risk of even moderate alcohol consumption, and other public health issues as he prepares to leave his post at the end of the Biden administration.

Political pundits frequently express concerns about the intense partisanship in our political culture. But could our divisions be productive and useful?On Today's Show:Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, CNN political analyst, NPR contributor, and author of several books, including his latest, In Defense of Partisanship (Columbia Global Reports, 2025), shares his analysis of politics today, and shares some key presidential inauguration speeches from the last 100 years.

On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate will hold confirmation hearings for confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. On Today's Show:Hear lines of questioning from Sen. Cotton and Sen. Gillibrand at the hearings, plus analysis afterward from Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and the author of several books, including Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump (Princeton University Press, 2021)

Another big political week gets underway, as the Senate prepares a number of confirmation hearings for Trump's incoming cabinet.On Today's Show:Ron Wyden, U.S. Senator (D OR) and the author of It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change (Grand Central, 2025), talks about his new book and how he'll work with the new Republican majority in the Senate.

Many Americans are spending more alone time than ever before. How is that impacting out political lives, and the structures of society?On Today's Show:Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of the "Work in Progress" newsletter and host of the podcast Plain English, and the author, with Ezra Klein, of Abundance (Simon & Schuster, forthcoming 2025), talks about his latest reporting on why so many people feel isolated, and how it impacts their civic lives.

With political polarization at an all-time high, what does it look like for two well-informed people with opposing views to have dialog across different ideas?On Today's Show:Ryan Grim, co-founder of Drop Site News, co-host of the podcast Counter Points, and author of several books including The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution (Henry Holt and Co., 2023), and Emily Jashinsky, DC correspondent for UnHerd and co-host of the Counter Points podcast, talk about the national political news of the day.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that its social media platforms -- Facebook, Instagram and Threads -- will stop using third-party fact-checkers and rely solely on its users to flag misinformation.On Today's Show:Mike Isaac, New York Times reporter covering tech companies and Silicon Valley, explains why the company is repositioning its policy and how that may favor President-elect Donald Trump's second administration. Plus, Yael Eisenstat senior fellow at Cybersecurity for Democracy and former global head of Elections Integrity Ops for political advertising at Facebook discusses her time at Facebook in 2018 as the head of global elections integrity for political ads and what this new move could mean for the company’s ability to meet its responsibility to secure elections.

What could the future look like for climate change and public health policy?On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ 6th) kicks off the new weekly series with a discussion of the work of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Homelessness in the United States hit record highs in 2024. On today's show: Jennifer Ludden, NPR national correspondent covering housing and homelessness, and Peter Hepburn, associate director of Eviction Lab and an assistant professor of Sociology at Rutgers University-Newark, explain some of the factors of why the rates increased by double digits.

On the opening day of Congress, where one swing-state Democrat stands on cooperating with Republicans.On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi (D NY3) talks about working across the aisle in the Republican-controlled House as a Democrat in a district that went for Donald Trump in 2024 and where he thinks Democrats need to cooperate with the majority and where to unite in resistance.

It's a big week for Congress, as the GOP's congressional majorities vote for new congressional leadershipOn Today's Show:Molly Ball, senior political correspondent atThe Wall Street Journal, discusses the latest in national political news.NOTE: The fatal vehicle attack in New Orleans and the Tesla explosion in Las Vegas are developing stories. Authorities might provide updates that are not reflected in this discussion as the investigations continue.

President-elect Donald Trump's brand of "America First" foreign policy seems at odds with his recent statements about the US's posture toward Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal.On Today's Show:Jacqueline Alemany, congressional investigations reporter for The Washington Post, talks about the latest political news out of Washington.

This year, the Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being will honor people whose work supports transgender children and their families.On Today's Show:Listeners call in to nominate the people and organizations making a difference in the lives of trans minors and their parents—medically, socially or in any other way.

President-elect Trump has indicated that under his administration, the federal government would only recognize "male" and "female" genders. On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, breaks down the latest news from Washington, D.C., including updates from over the weekend as House Republican leadership proposes a third spending bill to avert shutdown.

Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, offers legal analysis of the settlement between ABC and President-elect Trump, after the latter filed a defamation lawsuit against the news outlet and its anchor George Stephanopoulos, and what effect this and other threats and lawsuits by the president elect might have on the media.

On today's show: New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand takes some questions about the week's news, including the looming government shutdown, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the drone situation.

A series of unidentified drones have been reportedly flying over the tri-state area, leading to confusion, concern, conspiracy theories. On Today's Show:Andrew Tangel, enterprise reporter covering aviation safety and regulation for The Wall Street Journal, breaks down the latest news, and what the federal response has been so far.

The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive has led to public outcry against the health insurance industry.On Today's Show:Rachel Cohrs Zhang, chief Washington correspondent for STAT News, examines what Congress is trying to do to fix a system that many Americans think is broken.

President Biden has issued pardons and commuted the sentences of hundreds of people, on the heels of his controversial pardon of his son, Hunter.On Today's Show:Meryl Kornfield, politics reporter for The Washington Post, reports on the latest pardons, plus the pressure on the president to issue preemptive pardons ahead of Trump taking office, and President-elect Trump's pledge to pardon people convicted of crimes related to the insurrection on January 6, 2021.

As president-elect Donald Trump considers his pick to replace Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, a look at the role of the FTC in the economy.On Today's Show:Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter for Bloomberg News, breaks down the latest news surrounding a failed merger of two major supermarket chains and what the future of antitrust enforcement might look like

After the shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, consumers have been expressing frustrations with the health insurance system.On Today's Show:Elisabeth Rosenthal, senior contributing editor at KFF Health News, former ER physician and author of An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back (Penguin Press, 2017), breaks down the perception and reality of healthcare and health insurance in the United States.

Afterover 13 years of civil war, Syrian rebels have taken control of capital city of Damascus, and president Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia. On Today's Show:Mohammed Aly Sergie, editor of Semafor Gulf, talks about the latest developments in Syria.

We go over the weekend's headlines, including Trump's comments on tarrifs, healthcare, immigration, and cryptocurrency.On Today's Show:John Cassidy, staff writer at The New Yorker, talks about the latest national economic news, including the jobs numbers, and President-elect Trump's pick for Treasury secretary.

This week, Supreme Court Justices heard arguments in a case about gender-affirming care for minors. On Today's Show:Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny, a contributor with ABC News and a contributing opinion writer with the New York Times, explains why the court is considering a challenge to a Tennessee law that bars the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

With Trump's second term set to begin in the coming months, how might he use the power of the presidency against his political opponents?On Today's Show:Dan Goldman, US Representative (D, NY-10), formerly lead counsel for the impeachment investigation of Pres. Trump in 2019 and former assistant US attorney SDNY, responds to the president-elect's nominations for cabinet posts and the FBI and talks about his expectations for the next House term.

President Trump's nominee to run the FBI, Kash Patel, is a controversial pick.On Today's Show:David Rohde, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, national security editor at NBC News, and the author of Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy (W.W. Norton; Aug 27, 2024), talks about what the nomination of Kash Patel as its director indicates about criminal prosecutions during the Trump administration.

Domenico Montanaro, NPR's senior political editor/correspondent, talks about the latest national political news from over the holiday weekend, including the latest 2024 election exit poll data and more.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary is facing scrutiny over his views on the military becoming too inclusive of women and people of color.On Today's Show:Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post national security reporter, breaks down what is known about Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, including scrutiny surrounding Hegseth's views on "wokeness" in the military, his past comments about a potential American civil war and whether the Senate will confirm his nomination.

On today's show: Nicole Malliotakis, U.S. Representative (R-NY11, covering Staten Island and parts of South Brooklyn), talks about her calls for more cooperation with ICE by NYC officials.

As Trump's staff and cabinet picks come into view, analysts are trying to predict the dynamic between his administration, federal bureaucracy, and Congress. On Today's Show:Ruth Marcus, opinion columnist for The Washington Post, talks about the latest national political news of the day, including the status of President-elect Trump's nominees, plus offers her opinions on how she sees Trump's plans to expand presidential power and undermine democracy.

Jessica Orozco Guttlein, senior vice president of policy and communications at Hispanic Federation, is joined by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14th District) to discuss how advocates are pushing for Temporary Protected Status for Ecuadorians and analyzes broader immigration issues as President-elect Trump prepares to take office.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated of WWE founder Linda McMahon for education secretary.Erica Meltzer, national editor at Chalkbeat who covers education policy and politics, talks about President-elect Trump's priorities in education, including his campaign promise to dismantle the federal Department of Education, plus his nomination of WWE founder Linda McMahon for education secretary.

Campaign finance sources indicate that running for president requires more and more money each year. On Today's Show:Daniel Klaidman, investigative reporter based for CBS News, former editor-in-chief of Yahoo News and author of Kill Or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency, and co-author of Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election, breaks down the megadonors who fueled Donald Trump's campaign for president and what they may want in the next 4 years.

COP29, the annual climate conference with world leaders, is underway in Azerbaijan, just after the election of President Trump, who promised to start "drilling, drilling, drilling."On Today's Show:Zack Colman, reporter covering climate and energy at Politico, shares the takeaways so far from the first week of COP29, including the roles of the U.S. and China, and Trump's pick of oil executive Chris Wright to be the secretary of energy.

With Republicans about to take control of the White House and both houses of Congress, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries weighs in on the Democrats' path forward.On Today's Show:House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D NY-8th, Brooklyn) talks about next steps, and how that relates to his new book, The ABCs of Democracy (Grand Central Publishing, 2024), based on a floor speech he gave last year.

With Trump's transition underway, the key national political news has been how he is staffing up his upcoming administration.On Today's Show:Annie Karni, congressional correspondent for The New York Times, talks about the various people President-elect Donald Trump has chosen for top positions and how Republican leadership is responding to his picks.

As Democrats search for the reasons Americans rejected the party in this past election, some have pointed to a culture of racism and misogyny.On Today's Show:Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), talks about Harris's loss from her perspective as a scholar of women in politics while Nadira Goffe, associate culture writer at Slate, discusses the reason she sees as the elephant in the room -- Americans were not in favor of having a Black woman as president.

As the president elect begins to staff his upcoming administration, a opposition member of Congress weighs in on the Democrats' agenda, and the White House's.On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat (D, NY-13) talks about how he plans to resist Trump's plans for "mass deportation," and shares other priorities of Democrats in Congress, especially as they are facing the next Trump term, and the potential that Republicans will hold on to the House majority.

In the wake of the 2024 election, some members of the populist left are offering their explanations for how Democrats lost an opportunity to grow their base. On Today's Show:David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, host of the podcast Master Plan, co-creator of the movie Don't Look Up, and former presidential campaign speechwriter for Bernie Sanders, shares his analysis of why he believes Harris lost the election, from his perspective on the political left.

On Today's Show:Susan Glasser, staff writer at the New Yorker, where she writes a column on life in Washington, co-anchor of "The Political Scene" podcast, and co-author with Peter Baker of The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 (Doubleday, 2022), offers political analysis of how President-elect Trump might approach U.S. foreign policy and military affairs.

Despite normally blue-state New Jersey's surprisingly strong turnout for the Republican presidential candidate this election season, the Garden State is sending a new, Democratic senator to Congress.On Today's Show:Andy Kim, U.S. Representative and Senator-Elect (D NJ), talks about the election results and his plans for his move to the senate.

As more detailed information comes out about the election results, Democrats are left to consider their losses.On Today's Show:Astead Herndon, New York Times national politics reporter, host of their politics podcast "The Run-Up" and CNN political analyst, offers his analysis of Trump's win, after spending months during the campaign talking to voters across the country.

The day after the end of the 2024 election season has left us with a president elect, and a lot of questions about how we got here. On Today's Show:Maria Hinojosa, president and founder of Futuro Media, anchor and executive producer of Latino USA, and co-host of the podcast In the Thick, and Benjy Sarlin,Washington bureau chief at Semafor, react to the news that Donald Trump has decisively won the election.Note: This podcast was recorded at 10 AM on 11/6/24. Some information, including the 'pending' status of Congressional races, may be out of date by the time of publication.

On Election Day, we cover some of the 'states to watch' in tonight's early election returns, as well as legal challenges to the vote count that might be mounted in the days that follow.On Today's Show:Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN, New York Magazine columnist, former New Jersey and federal prosecutor and author of Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It (Harper, 2023), offers legal analysis of lawsuits Trump supporters have already filed to challenge election results and explains how the justice system may respond to bad actors trying to contest the results and sow chaos this time.

On 'Election Day Eve,' some analysis around soem late-breaking polling and what they suggest about the gender spread among presidential voters this year. On Today's Show:Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief, discusses the latest national political headlines as Election Day looms.

What's at stake for war and peace in this presidential election?On Today's Show:Bob Woodward, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of many books, including his latest, War (Simon and Schuster, 2024), talks about his reporting on what to expect from Trump and Harris on foreign policy -- and responds to the controversial decision by the Post not to endorse a candidate.

WNYC’s election series “America, Are We Ready?” looks at the state of election coverage during this very abnormal campaign season.On Today's Show:Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger, co-hosts of WNYC's On the Media, discuss the decisions by several major newspapers to pull their candidate endorsements, the role of mis- and disinformation and more.

Election Day is under a week away, with many states in the midst of early voting, and the polls remain closer than ever.On Today's Show:Philip Bump, national columnist for The Washington Post and the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America (Viking, 2023), talks about the latest news from the campaign trail, where both Harris and Trump are making their closing arguments to voters.

Climate change doesn't only mean keeping global temperatures down. The UN is also exploring the need to prevent species extinction and ecological collapse. On Today's Show:Benji Jones, an environmental correspondent at Vox covering biodiversity and climate change, reports from Colombia and COP16, the UN conference with the goal of preserving biodiversity, on progress, funding and the relationship to climate change.

On Today's Show:Lucia Starbuck, political reporter and host of Purple Politics Nevada at KUNR, talks about the issues animating voters in the swing state of Nevada, what the polls show about Trump and Harris's chances of winning the state, and the unique political dynamics at play.