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The Brian Lehrer Show

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Brian Lehrer leads the conversation about what matters most now in local and national politics, our own communities and our lives.

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#2828
November 2 · 26 min
The National Picture the Day Before Election Day
Domenico Montanaro, NPR's senior political editor/correspondent, offers analysis of all the chatter of an expected blue wave in this year's midterm elections. Photo: People wait in line to participate in early voting for the midterm elections on October 25, 2026 in Cary, North Carolina. (Photo by Allison Joyce / AFP via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2829
November 2 · 14 min
What you Missed in School: Crash Course
Since 2012, Crash Course has been educating viewers of all ages on everything from science to politics. Kousha Navidar, host at WNYC, co-host of the radio show Climate One, and a host at Crash Course and Meghan Modafferi, Executive Producer of Crash Course, join to talk about their latest series: Big Questions on U.S. Government to help dispel misinformation during the divisive political climate. Photo: Stockplanets via Getty Images Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2825
October 31 · 48 min
Brian Lehrer Weekend: Halloween's History; NYC Marathon Preview, and Why Birthrates Are Falling
Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.
#2821
October 30 · 48 min
30 Issues in 30 Days: "Diversity" in American Colleges
In the college context, "diversity" can mean a couple very different things. Neil Gross, sociology professor at Colby College in Maine, and author of What Happened to College?: How Politics Broke Higher Education and What We Can Do to Fix It (Simon & Schuster, 2026) and Natasha Warikoo, professor of Sociology at Tufts University and the author of the book Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College Admissions discuss the two distinct groups fighting for diversity -- one for a diversity of viewpoints, and the other for racial and economic diversity in the student body -- and how candidates are talking about the concept of diversity in the run-up to election day. Proponents of affirmative action hold signs during a protest at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 1, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2824
October 30 · 21 min
'Sleeper' Races Ahead of Election Day
Ben Max, host of the "Max Politics" podcast and executive editor and program director at New York Law School’s Center for New York City Law talks about the lower profile races ahead of Election Day, including for New York attorney general, comptroller and the Congressional races that are not getting as much attention as those in swingy districts like NY-17. Photo: U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) speaks to reporters as she arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2823
October 30 · 25 min
Is 'Workism' to Blame for the Falling Birthrate?
Anna Louie Sussman, New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty talks about her new book that explores, through analysis and personal stories, the reasons for the falling birthrate, especially the effect of "workism," where jobs went from a career to a calling. Photo: Nicole Coomber, a Phd management professor at the University of Maryland, returns home after retrieving her two young children from school and daycare, on March, 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2822
October 30 · 14 min
Halloween's History
As listeners share their costume plans, Kenneth C. Davis, author of Don't Know Much About History and Don't Know Much About Mythology, talks about the history of Halloween and of the Greenwich Village parade. Photo by Kenneth C. Davis Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2817
October 29 · 51 min
Who's Running This Place: Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the Stakes of the Midterms
Every Thursday from 1 to 2 PM on WNYC, through Election Day, WNYC senior political reporter Brigid Bergin hosts a pop-up local politics call-in show called Who's Running This Place. You can find out more on WNYC.org, and stay tuned to this podcast feed. We'll be sharing Brigid's conversations here every Thursday evening. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani discusses this years midterm elections, including the measures and candidates on the ballot , the issues they stand for and what it means for NYC. Then, WNYC/Gothamist reporters Liz Kim and Jon Campbell bring their reporting and political analysis to Mayor Mamdani's conversation, and to the election, for which early voting is underway. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2818
October 29 · 42 min
30 Issues in 30 Days: National Debt
Jared Bernstein, economist and former United States chairman of Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden, talks about the rising national debt and why candidates are -- or aren't -- discussing it on the campaign trail ahead of election day. Photo: A view of a bus shelter at 18th and K St's NW where a poster and electronic billboard displays the current U.S. National debt per person and as a nation at 40 Trillion dollars on August 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2816
October 29 · 30 min
Road Rage on the GWB
An ex-cop allegedly shot and killed a driver on the George Washington Bridge in an apparent road rage incident. Samantha Max, reporter covering public safety for WNYC/Gothamist, reports on what prosecutors say happened on the bridge and what is happening in the courts, as the charges have changed a couple times from murder, to manslaughter and back to murder. Photo: A 46-year-old man was fatally shot while driving on the George Washington Bridge on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2819
October 29 · 24 min
Why Are Birthrates Falling?
Anna Louie Sussman, New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty, talks about her new book that explores, through analysis and personal stories, the reasons for the falling birthrate. Photo: Inside a lab at a clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia, Doctor Jordan from Spain, is doing an artificial insemination into an egg that later will be planted into a Georgian surrogate mother. The country of Georgia has become a hub for the international surrogate industry, driven by the poverty of domestic surrogate mothers and the desire of foreign customers to have a child. (Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2820
October 29 · 9 min
NYC Marathon Preview
The New York City marathon is this Sunday, and it's the 50th anniversary of the five-borough version of the race. Rob Simmelkjaer, New York Road Runners CEO, talks about how the race has changed over the past half century, and what to know for this year if you are running or cheering. Photo: Runners cross the Verrazano Bridge as they compete in the New York Marathon in New York on November 2, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2812
October 28 · 41 min
30 Issues in 30 Days: Ballot Questions, Part 2
Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, talks about the ballot initiatives that good-government groups disagree on, plus other information on voting. Photo: Voters fill out their ballots at a polling station in New York City on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2813
October 28 · 25 min
Ask Governor Sherrill: October Recap
Mike Hayes, WNYC/Gothamist New Jersey politics reporter and the author of The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform (Kingston Imperial, 2023), recaps Michael Hill's conversation with New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Photo: New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), casts her vote on November 4, 2025 in Montclair, New Jersey. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2814
October 28 · 30 min
Israelis Turn Out to Vote
Dahlia Scheindlin, Haaretz senior analyst and columnist, political scientist and the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise Unfulfilled (De Gruyter, 2023), talks about the results so far in Israel's election, the first since the October 7, 2023 attacks and the years of war that followed. Photo: A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, during the general elections on October 27, 2026. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2815
October 28 · 11 min
Who Does the Chores at an Airbnb?
Caroline Haskins, staff writer for the business desk at WIRED, where she covers Silicon Valley, surveillance, and labor, reports on a new Airbnb rule change that bars hosts from requiring certain household chores at checkout, and listeners weigh in. Photo: Linda Merlo, an airbnb host from the Bronx, speaks at a rally on the steps of New York City Hall. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2810
October 27 · 52 min
30 Issues in 30 Days: The Suozzi-LiPetri Race in NY-3
Larry Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, talks about the issues at play in the race between incumbent Democrat Tom Suozzi and his Republican challenger, Mike LiPetri, in New York's 3rd Congressional district, plus Levy and Chris Niedt, professor of applied social research in the department of sociology, criminology, and anthropology at Hofstra University and academic director of the National Center for Suburban Studies, explain what their new poll found on suburban voters' political values and enthusiasm levels. Photo: Voting signs are seen outside city hall for New York's 3rd Congressional District special election in Glen Cove, N.Y. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2808
October 27 · 20 min
How Doctors Are Becoming Activists in a Post-Roe Landscape
Alice Miranda Ollstein, senior healthcare reporter at Politico, author of the forthcoming book, Side Effects: How Abortion Bans Impact Everyone’s Health, talks about her reporting on the impact of abortion bans, and how physicians have had to enter the political arena in order to do their jobs. Photo: A group of doctors join abortion rights supporters at a rally outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2809
October 27 · 25 min
Abolish Business Schools?
Christopher Marquis, professor of Management at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and the author The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socializes Costs (PublicAffairs, 2024) talks about the issues he raised in a recent New York Times opinion piece, arguing that the training that business schools offer future leaders has had negative impacts on society and they should be "abolished." Photo: Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, New York City, New York, USA. (GHI/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
#2811
October 27 · 9 min
Your Unconventional Living Arrangements with Partners
Inspired by a Curbed article about a couple who live in separate apartments in the same building, listeners call in to share their own unconventional living arrangements with long-term partners and why they work. Photo: Young couple moving into new apartment unpacking boxes. (Credit: Milan Markovic/E+ via Getty Creative) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Showing 21–40 of 187 episodes