PODCAST

The Brian Lehrer Show

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

news politics

All Episodes

Brian Lehrer Weekend: What La Guardia Taught Mamdani;...

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/25

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's lessons for Mayor Zohran Mamdani (First) | Journalism in the common good: Michelle Adams on her Hillman Prize-winning book 'The Containment,' which charts the fight over school integration in the suburbs of Detroit (Starts at 53:15) | Jodi Kantor's advice for young people at the start of their careers (Starts at 1:15:50) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that

en-us

Buffer Zone Bills on the Table; Global Energy on the...

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/24

Loading... Two so-called "buffer zone" bills passed the New York City Council last month, and lawmakers in Albany have similar proposals on the table, too. Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC, talks about whether the bills, which would require a buffer zone for protesters outside houses of worship and health care facilities, will make it into the state budget, and Sahalie Donaldson, City Hall reporter at City & State New York, reports on the bills' status in New York

en-us

Buffer Zone Bills on the Table

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/24

Two so-called "buffer zone" bills passed the New York City council last month, and lawmakers in Albany have similar proposals on the table, too. Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC, talks about whether the bills, which would require a buffer zone for protesters outside houses of worship and health care facilities, will make it into the state budget, and Sahalie Donaldson, City Hall reporter at City & State New York reports on the bills' status in New York City, plus they both

en-us

Global Energy on the "Verge of Disaster"

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/24

With over fifty days into the U.S.-Iran war, the world has lost 550 million barrels of Gulf crude oil. Matthieu Favas, commodities editor at The Economist, explains how this is impacting global energy markets in European and Asian countries that rely on that supply.Photo: Coryton Oil Refinery by Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

en-us

Tree City

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/24

Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation, and Ben Osborne, assistant commissioner of forestry and horticulture at NYC Parks, talk about Arbor Day and NYC's new Urban Forest Plan for expanding the tree canopy. Photo: Blossoming trees by the road in Prospect Park (Taty Sena, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

en-us

Moral Injuries on the Battlefield and Beyond

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/24

Michael Valdovinos, a clinical psychologist, veteran, trauma expert and the author of Moral Injuries: When Good Conscience Suffers in a World of Hurt (Harper, 2026), talks about recognizing and healing "moral injuries" that occur not from physical trauma, but from acts that violate the conscience. Photo: A United States Marine Corps rifleman completes a field exercise in Finland. (Credit: Sgt. Mason Roy/U.S. Marine Corps via Wikimedia Commons)

en-us

The People Leaving NYC; Should Democrats Appear With...

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/23

Loading... On today's show: A new report found that New York City is losing population across income levels, and subsequently schools are losing students. Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, shares his group's recommendations for how to stem the tide of people leaving. Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has become a litmus test for Democrats after a campaign appearance with Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Jonathan Cowan, co-founder and president of the

en-us

How to Stop the People Who Are Leaving NYC

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/23

A new report finds that New York City is losing population across income levels, and subsequently schools are losing students. Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, shares his group's recommendations for how to stem the tide of people leaving.Photo: ThibautRe, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

en-us

250 Books for the Country's 250th

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/23

In honor of World Book Day, National Library Week and the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary, librarians from Brooklyn Public Library have put together a list of 250 books that have been important to the United States. Linda Johnson, CEO and president of Brooklyn Public Library, talks about some of the books on the list and why librarians chose them. Photo: Rare books at the Brooklyn Library Central Branch. Credit: MMHAD via Wikimedia Commons.

en-us

Journalism for the Common Good

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/23

Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist for The New York Times and guest judge for the Hillman Prize, talks about the Hillman Prize, plus some of his recent columns, which are about national politics with an eye toward history and Michelle Adams, professor of law at the University of Michigan, former member of the Biden administration’s Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court, Hillman Prize winner and the author of The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the

en-us

Should Democrats Appear With Hasan Piker?

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/23

Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has become a litmus test for Democrats after a campaign appearance with Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Jonathan Cowan, co-founder and president of the centrist think tank Third Way, and Daniel Denvir, journalist, host of the Jacobin podcast The Dig, and author of All-American Nativism (Verso Books, 2020), address Piker's statements and debate whether or not politicians should interact with him, and more broadly, if he belongs in the Democratic

en-us

Trump Administration Dismantling Climate Goals; Earth...

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/22

Loading... On today's show: Lisa Friedman, reporter covering climate policy and politics at The New York Times, talks about her reporting on how EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has drastically changed the mission of the EPA, and more related environmental and climate news. Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist and science educator at the American Museum of Natural History, gives an astrophysicist's view of Earth Day. Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and author of many nonfiction books, and

en-us

Will the US or Iran Blink First?

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/22

Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024), talks about Iran's military capabilities even as President Trump extended the ceasefire, plus offers his analysis of President Trump's unconventional negotiating tactics. Photo: A man reads a newspaper with a front page article referring to anticipated US-Iran peace talks, at a stall in Islamabad on April 22, 2026. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz

en-us

Earth Day from Space

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/22

Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist and science educator at the American Museum of Natural History, gives an astrophysicist's view of Earth Day. Photo: In this handout image provided by NASA, a view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Reid Wiseman/NASA via Getty Images)

en-us

Advice for Finding Your Life's Work

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/22

Jodi Kantor, New York Times investigative reporter, co-author of She Said (Penguin, 2019) and author of How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work (Hachette, 2026), expands on her Columbia University commencement address where she tried to answer the question: “How, in this environment, is anyone supposed to find and start their life’s work?” Photo: Cover art for How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work. (Credit: Hachette)

en-us

Earth Day: How Far Has the Trump Admin Gone to...

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/22

On Earth Day, Lisa Friedman, reporter covering climate policy and politics at The New York Times, talks about her reporting on how EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has drastically changed the mission of the EPA, and more related environmental and climate news.Photo: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is shown during CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

en-us

A Brownsville Story

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/21

Abigail Savitch-Lew, a former staff reporter for City Limits and now the author of the novel Livonia Chow Mein (Simon & Schuster, 2026), talks about her novel about inter-generational and cross-cultural conflict and community in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Photo: Cover art for Livonia Chow Mein. (Credit: Simon & Schuster)

en-us

Mayor Mamdani's Lessons From Mayor La Guardia

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/21

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, recaps her event with Mayor Mamdani, where they talked about the lessons he has taken from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, and other news from his first 100+ days in office. Photo: Mayor Zohran Mamdani appears live at a WNYC forum entitled “Mamdani's First 100 Days: Lessons from La Guardia" on April 20, 2026. (Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

en-us

Fast-Tracking Psychedelics Research

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/21

Frederick S. Barrett, director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, talks about the use of psychedelics for mental illness and the effects of President Trump's executive order speeding up research. Photo: Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub with hallucinogenic properties, grows in Cameroon. (Credit: Marco Schmidt via Wikimedia Commons

en-us

Celebrating Library Workers

The Brian Lehrer Show ·

2026/04/21

It's National Library Week, and today we're asking library workers (and patrons) to talk about the services their libraries provide. Photo: The Brooklyn Public Library. Credit: Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons.

en-us

2,416 results

The Brian Lehrer Show

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

PBS News Hour - Full Show

PBS News

CD Voice

China Daily

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

Noa Levi

Jeffrey Epstein: The Coverup Chronicles

Bobby Capucci