Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Throughout his administration, Trump's anti-immigrant policies bordered on cruelty. How is the new President is working to unravel his predecessor's border policy of "family separation?" On Today's Show: Elora Mukherjee , director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, talks about the recent executive orders by President Biden and the impact of the changes on immigration policies and...

A little less than a month since Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building, what's being done to hold those who planned the attack accountable? On Today's Show: Katie Benner ,  Justice Department reporter at The New York Times , talks about where the Justice Department and FBI are in their investigations into the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, whether Trump is culpable for his sup...

Punxsutawney Phil might have the right idea this "Groundhog's Day" to go back to sleep for the rest of a long winter, but Congress, still dealing with the aftermath of the January 6th attack, has a COVID Relief bill on its plate, a GOP House Member whose drawn criticism from Senate Minority Leader McConnell, and an impeachment trial starting next week. On today's show:   Jake Sherman and Anna Palm...

A group of ten moderate GOP Senators have proposed a smaller COVID relief bill.  But Democrats are split over the lessons of the Obama administration's negotiations with Congress and question whether that's a good faith effort at bipartisanship or a way to make President Biden's call for unity look like empty rhetoric. On Today's Show: Amanda Terkel , HuffPost Washington bureau chief, goes through...

Today, a Saturday special. We present America Are We Ready, a national call-in show on Biden's first 100 days. What federal policies would keep us and our families safe from COVID? On Today's Show: Brian is joined by Rose Scott , host of WABE's midday news program “Closer Look” in Atlanta, and their guest, Jayne Morgan , M.D., cardiologist and clinical director of the Covid Task Force for Piedmont...

One of President Biden's top policy priorities is to address the threat of climate change. So what will those initiatives look like, and what sort of support will he need from Congress to get it done? On Today's Show: Lisa Friedman , reporter at the New York Times covering climate and environmental policy, discusses President Biden's push to address climate change through executive orders and the...

Reddit users sent GameStop's stock price soaring while hedge funds lost billions betting against the video game retailer. What does this hyped-up market manipulation mean for markets? On Today's Show: Hannah Denham , national business reporter on The Washington Post's breaking news team, explains the day traders' impact on stock prices and hedge funds. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

A lot of issues on the table for Congress, from vaccine distribution to impeachment. We asked a first-term Congressman from the poorest district in the country about his agenda in the House. On Today's Show: U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY15), talks about his first weeks in Congress and his priorities. Plus the new Biden administration's priorities, Senate filibuster reform, anti-poverty...

This month in politics, we've had an attempted coup, an impeachment, and an inauguration. What's it like to step onto the national political stage for the first time amid all this? On Today's Show: U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones (D-NY17, Rockland County, part of Westchester), talks about his first weeks in Congress in the wake of the attack and amid the pandemic, as the Biden administration ge...

After reports that some of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol had ties to the military, we take a look at far-right ideologies, and why they might thrive in a military environment. On Today's Show: Leo Shane III , deputy editor for Military Times and former Stars and Stripes reporter, joins us to discuss this alarming trend. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com f...

What's the best response to white supremacy? Our guests today have found that one of the best ways to delegitimize racists is to laugh them off the national stage. On Today's Show: Comedians and co-hosts of the podcast "Politically Re-Active,"  Hari Kondabolu  and W. Kamau Bell  talk about the latest political headlines and the newest episodes of their podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz com...

Biden has been in office for one day, and while he's already undone a lot of Trump's executive orders, the new administration basically has to build a pandemic plan from the bottom up. On Today's Show: Marc Fisher , senior editor at The Washington Post , talks about President Biden's calls for unity, and the many executive actions he took on his first day in office, including rolling back some of...

Today was President Trump's last full day in office. We look back on four tumultuous years of "unprecedented" moments and the tense political atmosphere we're left with. On Today's Show: Susan Glasser , staff writer for The New Yorker , CNN global affairs analyst and co-author, with Peter Baker, of The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III (Doubleday, 2020), reflects on...

When insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, Rep. Watson Coleman caught COVID-19 after sheltering with a GOP colleague who refused to wear a mask. Talk about workplace hazards. On Today's Show: Bonnie Watson Coleman , U.S. Representative (D, NJ-12), discusses the fallout from last week's siege at the US Capitol, the unprecedented second impeachment of President Trump, her case of COVID, racial justi...

With Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, and the White House, questions of how to balance public health and the economy will fall to them. On Today's Show: Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ 9), talks about this past week in Congress and looks ahead to the new term. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data...

The House impeached Trump yesterday, which means that now, the ball is in the Senate's court. On Today's Show: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand  of New York talks about what happens now that the House has impeached Trump, and what's first on the docket for the first Senate session under Biden's administration. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collec...

As the House debates and votes on the second impeachment of President Trump, we talked to a legal expert about whether he could be criminally charged, and what evidence would be at play. On Today's Show: Jessica Roth , Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law and former federal prosecutor answers legal questions related to impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Hosted by Simplecast, an...

Biden takes office in 8 days, but for those worried about Trump's involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the capitol, that's 8 days too many. What's the right response to an attempted coup? On Today's Show: Susan Page , Washington bureau chief at USA Today,  discusses the latest political headlines, including impeachment, the 25th Amendment, and the political calculus of holding Trump accountable. Ho...

Over the past few days, we've gotten a clearer picture of how the Jan.6 attack on the Capitol went down, and the more we learn, the worse it seems to get. On Today's Show: Mike DeBonis , Congress and national politics reporter for The Washington Post , talks about the latest on a second impeachment of President Trump, following the attack on the Capitol, and other national news. Hosted by Simpleca...

What drove a mob of conspiracy theorists to attack the Capitol building amid critical election proceedings? And in the aftermath, what does the broader far-right think went down? On Today's Show: Brandy Zadrozny , investigative reporter for NBC News, where she mostly covers misinformation, disinformation and extremism on the Internet, talks about the events that led up to Wednesday's breach on the...

The shocking attack on Congress yesterday, in the midst of a critical democratic function, has called to the forefront questions of how to stop an attempted coup. On Today's Show: U.S. Rep. and House Democrats Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D NY-8th, Brooklyn and Queens), talks about yesterday's insurrection and what comes next for Congress. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com...

2020 was a crash course in navigating risk. Now, we look ahead at some of the major political risks we're likely to encounter in the coming year, including climate change, cybersecurity and China. On Today's Show: Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZero Media, host of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer and the author of   Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism   (Portfolio, 2018), previews the...

Trump pressured Georgia election officials to "find" more votes. But amid these affronts to democracy, don't forget about COVID relief and vaccine distribution policy. On Today's Show: Mikie Sherrill , U.S. Representative (D, NJ-11), talks about the role of the House of Representatives in the transition of power, President Trump's phone call to the Georgia secretary of state and more news from Was...

In 10 years, what will we remember about 2020? What lessons about our democracy do we want to make sure we keep in mind in the next decade? On Today's Show: Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On The Media, talks about how the news covered the pandemic, the election, and the intersection of the two. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

A special treat as we close out this consequential year: a history and civics news quiz. Listen to our callers answer questions from the citizenship test, and see how well you'd do. On Today's Show: 2020 was a year for the history books. For today's show,  Kenneth C. Davis ,  author of the "Don't Know Much About History" series and most recently, " More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the S...