Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

New York Times  opinion columnist  Thomas Friedman  argues that Joe  Biden should create a unity cabinet, appointing  members across the political spectrum to serve in key positions, from   Democrats on the Bernie Sanders left to Republicans on the Mitt Romney right.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

COVID-19 originated in China and exploded across the US. Today, a look at the leaders of those two countries: What have they done right to contain this pandemic, what have they done wrong, and what haven't they done at all? On Today's Show: Laurie Garrett , Pulitzer, Peabody, and Polk-prize-winning health and science writer, and author of multiple best-selling books on global health and epidemic d...

Susan Page , Washington bureau chief of USA TODAY, talks about some of the things that might have flown under the radar during this public health crisis. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit some groups harder than others. Why is this virus affecting healthcare workers, Black and Brown neighborhoods and poorer communities worse than others? On Today's Show: Irwin Redlener, professor of pediatrics and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University,  co-founder of the Children's Health Fund,  and the author of  The Futur...

As educators around the country hunker down for what looks like months more of social distance learning, graduations and standardized tests loom, and video-chat tools have raised some eyebrows. For insight, we turn to the issues faced by the New York City school district, the largest district in the country in the hardest-hit city in the world. On Today's Show: This marks the third week of distanc...

With some hopeful signs coming out of hard-hit Italy and Spain that social distancing measures are flattening the curve, New York, Detroit and the state of Louisiana are projected to reach peak infections in the coming week. Going into this critical moment, we look at the federal response to the pandemic. On Today's Show: White House reporter for the Associated Press and political analyst for MSNB...

Somehow, this pandemic has become partisan. We've been hearing from callers and other reporting that ardent supporters of President Trump have been making a point of  breaking  social distancing guidelines to try to paint the crisis as an inflation of the media and Trump's political opponents. On Today's Show: McKay Coppins , staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Wilderness: Deep Insi...

National policy conflicts with state policy conflicts with world policy on wearing masks to protect from COVID-19. Should you make your own? And if so, how? On Today's Show: As calls mount for a change in official guidelines on masks for non-healthcare workers, science journalist Roxanne Khamsi  discusses the reasons for (and against) everyone wearing masks to protecting themselves and others agai...

ABC's White House correspondent asked the President recently whether everyone who needs a life-saving ventilator will have access to one. The President dodged, and called it a "cutie-pie" question. On Today's Show: That very correspondent, Jonathan Karl talks about what it's like to cover a public health crisis from inside Trump's White House. His advice for those looking to understand the adminis...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , U.S. congresswoman representing parts of Queens and the Bronx, talks about the federal relief package which is to include cash payments to everyone, as well as rent and mortgage relief, plus what social distancing means for the census. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adve...

New York, now the epicenter of the global pandemic, has hit a threshold of 1,200 deaths from COVID-19. That comes as a U.S. navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, docked this morning in the Hudson River. Based on epidemiological projections, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says the worst is yet to come. On Today's Show: As the U.S. attempts to tame the exponential spread of the coronavirus pandemic,  Euni...

Can you catch COVID-19 from a cardboard box? What about a plastic takeout bag? Today, tips and best practices for safely getting things delivered to your home while social distancing. On Today's Show: Stephen Morse , professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, explains what we know in terms of how long COVID-19 lives on various surfaces, and best practices...

As government officials have sparred this week over a massive $2 trillion relief package, President Trump is chomping at the bit to get the economy back up and running. With a sizable subset of healthy Americans in tenuous employment situations, and worried about how they'll pay April's rent, economic concerns have overshadowed the issue of navigating this pandemic as a public health crisis. On To...

As the economy crashes amid the coronavirus pandemic,  Catherine Rampell , syndicated opinion columnist at  The Washington Post , political and economic commentator at CNN and special correspondent at  PBS Newshour , talks about the federal government's stimulus proposals, and how the Defense Production Act could address manufacturing shortages of PPE and much-needed ventilators. Hosted by Simplec...

The Senate passed a $2 trillion stimulus and relief package yesterday, aimed at making sure the global COVID-19 pandemic doesn't send individual Americans, and the economy at large, into an inescapable financial hole. The bill goes to the House floor tomorrow, before it reaches the White House for President Trump's signature. On Today's Show: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11) dives into the recently-r...

As members of the public are asked to stay home, and keep distant from others to help stop the spread of COVID-19, what about those in jail or in prison, where inmates are most often housed in close dormitory quarters, with limited access to hygiene products like hand sanitizer? An outbreak in a jail could prove fatal for aging inmates, and could threaten the health of communities outside, who cou...

President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, which empowers the White House to order private manufacturers to produce certain goods, but has thusfar resisted using it directly, instead using it as a bargaining chip to get companies to voluntarily pivot to medical supplies like ventilators, respirator masks and other protective gear. In lieu of that, how is the federal government getting the...

If you work in healthcare, food distribution, delivery services, telecommunications, and other fields deemed "essential." We take calls from folks in those jobs on their safety concerns. And, to answer those questions, an occupational safety official and a workplace justice advocate. Elizabeth Joynes Jordan , supervising attorney on the Workplace Justice Team at Make the Road New York, and  Charle...

After a week of accelerating government responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Federal Government is working out how to put money in the hands of the workers and businesses whose finances are in jeopardy from the social distancing efforts we've all been asked to take part in. Part one of those efforts, a federal package that expands paid leave and promises that testing for the virus will be free,...

With election officials weighing the importance of their role in democracy against the massive public health threat posed by COVID-19, should primaries be called off? Should early voting and vote-by-mail systems be expanded? If today's primary elections are postponed, does that set a precedent for potentially putting the general election on hold? This is just one of the places where pandemic meets...

Experts have told us to keep "social distance." But what does that mean? Is dog walking OK? Can I have dinner with a friend at their apartment? And how does social distancing work? There are a lot of questions about the most responsible way to behave right now. We've got answers to some of those questions, and on the questions we can't answer, some clarity on why that is. On Today's Show: James Ha...

With the spread of novel Coronavirus looking to spread the health system thin, and with social distancing casting millions of workers into uncertainty, what's Congress doing about it? From an unemployment relief package, to sick leave, to maybe mobilizing the army reserves to help build temporary hospitals and coordinate contingencies, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries fills us in on what's being done on Capit...

Bill de Blasio is the mayor of the most populous city in the U.S. And right now, that means he's at the helm of efforts to navigate an outbreak of novel coronavirus. The situation changes, "not daily, but hourly," the mayor says, and is likely to get worse before it gets better. Some are calling on him to shut down the New York City public school system, which serves over 1 million students. The d...

Last night, just hours after the World Health Organization officially designated COVID-19 a pandemic, President Trump announced new measures to combat its spread and mitigate its impacts, with proposals including payroll tax relief and small business grants. He also implemented a ban on travelers from most of Europe, with carve-outs for the U.K., Ireland, which both host golf courses owned by the...

After two March shellackings, the Sanders campaign appears to have lost its path to the nomination. With Biden's lead poised to widening enough to avert a brokered convention, the question for the Democrats going forward is decreasingly, "Who?" and increasingly, "How?" How should Biden try to bring Sanders supporters on board? And will Sanders do a better job than in 2016 of uniting his base behin...