Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

When companies sell supplies to prisons, does their influence over inmates' lives stop with the inventory? On Today's Show: Bianca Tylek , Worth Rises’s executive director, and WNYC/Gothamist reporter George Joseph , talk about the equipment and supplies corporations that provide nearly everything used in prisons and jails from desks and uniforms to restraint jackets and tear gas. Hosted by Simple...

President Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM) to be Secretary of the Interior would put a Native American (Laguna Pueblo) in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time ever and perhaps mark a new era for the relationship between the federal government and American Indians. Is it time for a new relationship between the U.S. government and America's Indian nations? On Today...

Progressive policy items, like police reform and voting rights protections, are moving through Congress, not to mention a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. On Today's Show: Elana Schor , Politico Congress editor, recaps the news out of Congress this week, including two bills the House passed on voting rights and policing, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...

The governor of Texas is lifting all state-imposed COVID precautions. But public health experts say it's too soon to return to normal. What are the politics at play in reopening? On Today's Show: Jeremy Blackman , politics reporter for the Houston Chronicle, talks about Governor Greg Abbott's decision to end Texas's mask mandate and lift all capacity restrictions for businesses in the state and ho...

Biden's journey on racial issues has been a long & winding one. The question now is, what will he do as president? What's he done so far, & what's on his agenda, for racial equality? On Today's Show: Paul Butler , professor at Georgetown Law and the author of Chokehold: Policing Black Men (The New Press, 2017) , checks in on what more progress -- if any -- the administration has made on advancing...

The 13th Amendment removed slavery from our laws. Except as punishment for a crime. Do mass incarceration, prison labor and the profits it generates add up to modern day slavery? On Today's Show: Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley talks about his "Abolition Amendment" which would seek to close the "slavery loophole" in the 13th amendment, and Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises ’s executive director, talks about p...

Two women have accused NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. How are those who were comforted by his leadership during the pandemic thinking about his other conduct? On Today's Show: Josefa Velásquez , senior reporter for THE CITY, talks about the story, the governor's (and Albany's) reactions and takes calls. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

Over a third of nurses who have died from COVID-19 have been Filipino. We look at why so many Filipino immigrants become nurses, and how they've been failed by the healthcare system they work in. On Today's Show: Tracie Hunte , correspondent for The Experiment — a new series from The Atlantic and WNYC Studios — and Gabrielle Berbey , associate producer for The Experiment, discuss their reporting o...

Trump got elected on an anti-immigration platform. Can Biden deliver the comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform this country has tried, and failed, to implement for so long? On Today's Show: U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez (D CA 38th, parts of LA and Orange Counties), House sponsor of the bill; then Sergio Gonzales , executive director Immigration Hub, former policy aide to then-Senator Kam...

The COVID relief bill is expected to pass in the House tomorrow. So let's dive into the details on what that could mean for people in different situations. On Today's Show: U.S. Representative (D-NY8) and House Democrats chairman Hakeem Jeffries , talks about the latest on the Covid-19 relief bill, and other national issues before Congress. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz...

One of the startling facts to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection is the fact that many of those charged in the attack are retired or active duty members of the military. On Today's Show: U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) talks about rooting out extremism and sexual assault from the military, how Congress is protecting itself from future attacks, the COVID-19 relief bill and other issues. Hos...

Can compromise be an obstacle to unity, rather than its herald? With all that's at stake in recovering from the pandemic, maybe a little partisanship is necessary. On Today's Show: U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY3), talks about COVID relief in Congress, the Biden agenda and the role of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in today's political atmosphere. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz comp...

President Biden has big plans for economic recovery, from the 1.9 trillion-dollar COVID relief package to green jobs creation, and polls show most Americans approve, but his plans face skepticism from deficit hawks and workers in the fossil fuel industry.  On Today's Show: U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D KY 3rd, Louisville), chair of the House Budget Committee; William Spriggs , Howard University econom...

Social media giants have a lot of power over our behavior and information access, and attempts to regulate them raise complicated questions about speech and censorship. On Today's Show: Tom Malinowski , U.S. Representative (D NJ-7) who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor in the Obama administration, joined us to discuss the recent congressional hearings in...

Despite how the economy has looked during COVID, this Nobel Prize-winning economist says that once it's over, he actually has high hopes for the future. On Today's Show: Paul Krugman , Nobel laureate in economics, New York Times columnist, distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and the author of (now in paperback) Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and...

With the percentage of fully vaccinated people starting to climb, how should we adjust our calculus around risk to ourselves, and our risk to others? On Today's Show: Dhruv Khullar , M.D., contributing writer at The New Yorker and a practicing physician and an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, talks about the latest COVID-19 news including why vaccine hesitancy still exists in...

Now that Trump is out of office, and now that he's been acquitted by Congress of inciting an insurrection, what do we do about the white supremacist movement that embraced him? On Today's Show: Kai Wright ,  host of WNYC's "The United States of Anxiety", talks about what happens to the white supremacy movement without President Trump in the White House. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. Se...

On Saturday, 7 Republican senators voted to disqualify Trump from future office. Others voted to acquit, but condemned Trump. Still others said he was innocent. On Today's Show: Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York magazine joins us to discuss what's next for the GOP. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of person...

After the Democrats wrapped up their impeachment case yesterday, Trump's lawyers make their case today. One of the nations preeminent legal minds brings his analysis of the Senate trial. On Today's Show: Preet Bharara , former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, host of the CAFE podcast Stay Tuned and Doing Justice, based on his book Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime...

Ahead of day 2 of Trump's second impeachment, we look at new evidence presented in the Senate yesterday, and how it changes how we understand what happened on Jan. 6. On Today's Show: Elie Honig , CNN legal analyst and host of the CAFE daily impeachment podcast Third Degree, talks about the ongoing Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump, including how new evidence presented by H...

It's Day 1 of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Beyond both sides' opening arguments, what can we expect by way of evidence that proves what we all saw with our own eyes? On Today's Show: Ari Melber , chief legal correspondent for MSNBC and host of "The Beat with Ari Melber", joins to preview the Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump, and offers legal and political...

For those struggling in the pandemic economy, any form of relief would be welcome. So what's the most effective way to make sure COVID doesn't keep people from making ends meet? On Today's Show: Claudia Sahm , economist, founder of Stay-at-Home-Macro Consulting, and contributing writer to Bloomberg Opinion and New York Times Opinion , discusses the latest developments in the push for more COVID re...

What would it look like if Trump's impeachment trial took place in a courtroom instead of the political circus that is the US Senate? On Today's Show: Emily Bazelon,  staff writer for The New York Times Magazine , co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecu...

We present America Are We Ready, a national call-in show on Biden's first 100 days. How will you be affected by climate change and climate policy? On Today's Show: Journalist  Mark Hertsgaard , executive director of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative, and the environmental correspondent for The Nation , and activist Peggy Shepard, co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for E...

Parenting is hard enough in normal times. But during a pandemic, it can lead you to a breaking point. Today, we look at those challenges, and how policy might help lighten the load. On Today's Show: Jessica Bennett, editor at large for The New York Times , and Dekeda Brown, autism mom and advocate and founder of the nonprofit Walk One Day In Our Shoes, talk about a new New York Times project calle...