The Brian Lehrer Show

Katie Honan, senior reporter at The City where she "anchors" the Summer & The City newsletter and co-host of FAQ NYC, reports on the big news out of the city's handshake budget agreement after "contentious" negotiations between City Hall and City Council, which reportedly includes a restoration of cuts to the city's three library systems, cultural institutions and parks.

Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021) and her latest, The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters (Simon & Schuster, 2024), talks about the fallout from the debate and reacts to the Supreme Court decision to partially rule in favor of former president Donald Trump in his immunity case.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.An Optimistic Take on NYC's Future (First) | Worker Protections During Extreme Heat (Starts at 28:30) | Double Family Vacations (Starts at 48:00)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Sabrina Siddiqui, White House reporter at The Wall Street Journal, offers analysis of Thursday night's debate between President Biden and former President Trump.

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and author of the forthcoming The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court opinions released today on January 6th prosecutions, homelessness in Oregon and the power of federal agencies.

Anthony Fauci, M.D., longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, now a professor at Georgetown University in the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy, and the author of On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service (Viking, 2024), talks about his life and the public health crises he's helped the country navigate.

Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter for The Washington Post, offers analysis of the economic picture painted by the two candidates in Thursday night's debate.

Peter Hamby, partner at Puck News and host of Snapchat's Good Luck America, previews the presidential debate between President Biden and Donald Trump.

Samantha Darby, Senior Lifestyle Editor at Romper, shares the secret to enjoying a vacation when you have young children: inviting another family with kids along!

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and author of the forthcoming The Rule of Law: A very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's opinions released yesterday and today, relating to social media, abortion bans, air pollution, the Purdue Pharma settlement, and more.

Elizabeth Glazer, founder of the journal Vital City and former director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, talks about the many challenges post-pandemic New York City faces and her take on the "urban doom loop" theory, and why she thinks the city will always bounce back. Plus, Jennifer Egan, author of many books including Manhattan Beach and The Candy Shop and a contributor to this Vital City issue, shares why she'll never leave New York.

Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event. This week's topics include the state of the New York City budget, Mayor Adams' answers to street congestion, and mental health and homelessness.

Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of "Inside City Hall" and "The Big Deal with Errol Louis," New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast "You Decide," offers analysis of New York's primary election results, and what they might signal for the November election.

Listeners share the questions they hope to hear at Thursday's debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Caroline Hopkins, health and science reporter, talks about her New York Times article, "What Gen Z Gets Wrong About Sunscreen" and explains how everyone can avoid the misinformation about sunscreen and avoid sun damage.

David Driver, performer, singer, and producer, and Michael Musto, journalist covering pop culture and socio-political issues, and author of the Queerty's monthly gossip column "Read Now, Cry Later", discuss Driver's upcoming show, The Stonewall Jukebox: A Documentary Concert, a live performance that tells the story of how the Stonewall uprising came to be, and how it still impacts LGBTQ culture 55 years later.

Abrahm Lustgarten, investigative reporter with ProPublica and The New York Times and the author of On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), talks about the massive effects of climate change when those who can move to cooler locations.

Callers share their ballot choices in the New York's primaries.

Jim Tankersley, New York Times White House correspondent with a focus on economic policy, discusses the economic policies Joe Biden and Donald Trump are pitching to voters ahead of Thursday's presidential debate.

Jack Turban, M.D., director of the Gender Psychiatry Program and assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of Free to Be: Understanding Kids & Gender Identity (Atria, 2024), returns to talk more about the science, the medicine and the politics surrounding gender identity in children and teens.

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, and Jeff Coltin, Politico reporter and co-author of the New York Playbook, talk about the New York State primary, including what's on the ballot in NYC and the contested Democratic primaries in the area.

Extreme heat can be dangerous for workers, both outdoors and inside. Terri Gerstein, director of the N.Y.U. Wagner Labor Initiative, former labor bureau chief in the New York State Attorney General’s Office and a deputy commissioner in the New York State Department of Labor, discusses efforts to protect workers from extreme heat, both on the federal and state levels.

The first debate between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump is set to take place on Thursday. Azi Paybarah, national reporter covering campaigns and breaking politics news at The Washington Post, previews the occasion and talks us through some of the other big stories in national politics.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Kathy Hochul considers a ban on cell phones in NYC public schools (First) | Tiya Miles on Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (‎Penguin Press, 2024) (Starts at 43:15) | A guide to summer wedding outfits (Starts at 1:07:00)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

DW Gibson, journalist and the author of One Week to Change the World: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests (Simon & Schuster, 2024), tells the story of the protests against globalization and their impact on subsequent activism, including today's climate protests.

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago and author of the forthcoming The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's recent opinions on taxes and the First Amendment, and previews the major decisions still outstanding.

As summer begins and New York feels its first heatwave of 2024, listeners share their tips and tricks for beating the heat and keeping cool as temperatures rise.

Stephen Petrus, director of Public History Programs at LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College and curator of “The Battle for Intro. 2: The New York City Gay Rights Bill, 1971 – 1986", talks about the work he and his students did in putting together a digital exhibit on the New York City Gay Rights Bill, which passed after a long fight between advocates and opponents, and Allen Roskoff, civil rights activist, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, and the co-author of the nation’s first gay rights bill, recalls his involvement in the bill and the activism that led to its passage.

Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes, journalists and podcast hosts, talk about their new podcast "Backfired: The Vaping Wars," about the public health debate over Juul and vaping in general.

Wardrobe guidance for some weddings is getting increasingly specific, sometimes even including "mood boards" to provide inspiration. Listeners planning -- or attending -- summer weddings call in to share how these new types of dress codes are a factor in their plans.

President Biden's latest executive action aims to help DACA recipients, and the undocumented spouses and stepchildren of American citizens. Allan Wernick, senior legal advisor to CUNY Citizenship Now!, CUNY's free immigration law service program, explains in more detail what the orders are meant to do, when they might take effect, and offers advice for callers in those groups.

New York City schools have a patchwork of rules surrounding phones in class, and students, teachers and parents say they are confused and frustrated. Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat New York bureau chief, shares her reporting on the issue, and talks about why Gov. Hochul is mulling a statewide ban on phones in schools.

Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event, including a proposed mask ban, the rent hike, Muslim New Yorkers, and more.

Juneteenth's popularity is helping families discover details about enslaved ancestors. Listeners call in to share what they've discovered over the years and what tools they've used to uncover their ancestry.

On Juneteenth, Tiya Miles, professor of history and former chair of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University and the National Book Award–winning author of All That She Carried, talks about her new book, Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (‎Penguin Press, 2024), that places Harriet Tubman in the context of the natural world she inhabited and her spirituality.

South Jersey political power broker George Norcross has been indicted on racketeering and other charges. Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and editor, and host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show, who has been reporting on Norcross for years, explains what happened and what this could mean for Democratic politics in New Jersey.

Each year the news division hosts the WNYC Health Convening with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as an opportunity for healthcare experts and practitioners to inform WNYC's health reporting. This year, Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Columbia University, cancer researcher, co-founder of a new company named MANAS.Ai, which integrates AI and medicine, and author of several books, most recently, The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human (Scribner, 2022), Shinjini Kundu, M.D., PhD, fellow physician and computer scientist at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Paul Friedman, M.D., chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, discuss how artificial intelligence is currently interacting with healthcare, including AI's role in diagnosing diseases, discovering the building blocks for medication, and concerns related to patient privacy and algorithm bias.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D NY) talks about her work in Washington, including recent Supreme Court decisions and President Biden's immigration policies, and more.

The EU parliament has moved to the right after this month's elections, and climate initiatives are in the crosshairs. Karl Mathiesen, senior climate correspondent at Politico Europe, offers analysis.

Mike Madrid, political consultant and the author of The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy (Simon & Schuster, 2024) , argues both parties misunderstand the many Latino voters and what resonates with them.

Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller, talks about his plans to take legal action over Gov. Hochul's indefinite "pause" of the congestion pricing plan, and other city news.

Muslim listeners call in to share how they are observing the holiday Eid al-Adha, which is the feast of sacrifice.

Jamaal Bowman, U.S. Representative (D-NY16), talks about facing a challenge in the June 25th Democratic primary and the issues at stake in the race.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.George Packer sees Phoenix as a bellwether for America's future (First) | The science, the medicine and the politics surrounding of identity in children and teens (Starts at 35:40) | Who should cover broker fees for NYC rentals? (Starts at 59:40)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Susan Glasser, staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes a column on life in Biden's Washington and co-anchors a weekly roundtable discussion on "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 the news coming out of the G-7 Summit, especially the deal to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Melinda Hanson, co-founder of the Equitable Commute Project and founder of Brightside Consulting, explains the differences between various forms of 2-wheeled motorized transportation, how they're regulated and what would contribute to safer streets, bike lanes and sidewalks.

With Father’s Day fast approaching, parents and adult children call in to talk about what fatherhood can look like in times of crisis, and share stories of dads who’ve stepped up to the plate.

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and author of the forthcoming The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision regarding mifepristone and previews the remaining blockbuster cases of the term.

In honor of the return of the dollar pizza slice, listeners call in with their favorite dirt cheap meal options in their neighborhoods.

New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé is pushing legislation that would change how broker fees work, largely eliminating the cost for renters. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC/Gothamist, explains how the FARE Act would work, and whether the bill has a chance of passing and CM Ossé weighs in, along with a tenant, a landlord and a broker on the phones.