The Brian Lehrer Show

NYC-DSA co-chairs Grace Mausser  and Gustavo Gordillo respond to Mayor Mamdani's preliminary budget and tax hike proposals, as well as some recent policies, like restarting sweeps of homeless encampments. Photo: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani releases the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Preliminary Budget. City Hall. Tuesday, February 17, 2026. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. Hosted by Simplecast, a...

Again, this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Ryan White , documentary producer and director, talks about his film " Come See Me in the Good Light ." "Come See Me in the Good Light" is streaming on Apple TV and available for rent on Prime.   Image: Andrea Gibson in "Come See Me in the Good Light," now streaming on A...

Following a storm update, Jonathan Lemire , co-host of Morning Joe on MSNOW; writer for MSNOW and contributing writer to The Atlantic , talks about the latest national political news, including Friday's Supreme Court tariffs ruling and this week's State of the Union address. Photo: Front Gate of the White House on a Warm Sunny Day (2018) by Mathieu Landretti, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons H...

Queens and Brooklyn borough presidents Donovan Richards and Antonio Reynoso  talk about how Queens and Brooklyn are handling the big snowstorm, including how the city is trying to help its most vulnerable residents. Photo: People walk along snow covered streets as snow falls during a blizzard on February 23, 2026 in Flatbush. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)   Hosted by Simplecast, an A...

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. California Billionaire Tax  (First) | Alabama Solution  (Starts at 28:29) | Central Park Cyclists  (Starts at 43:15) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

Recent  reporting in  The New Yorker  examines how schools, teachers and students in Minneapolis are being impacted by the recent actions of federal immigration enforcement agents. But conversations about how to navigate ICE's presence on and around school property are taking place among educators around the country. The Trump administration has also defended certain enforcement actions in court,...

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), breaks down the latest as the Trump administration repeats its calls for Iran to end its nuclear program while sources tell CNN that the U.S. military is prepared to strike the country as early as this weekend. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compa...

As Lunar New Year celebrations kick into full swing, we speak with Master Pun-Yin , Feng Shui Consultant and Chinese Zodiac expert, about the significance of the year of the fire horse and hear from callers about their new year's traditions. Image by Rhododendrites, Wikimedia Commons. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pers...

New York State passed a law limiting class size for city schools, but the city is struggling to fund it. Jessica Gould , education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist , talks about the roadblocks schools are encountering as they try to comply with the law. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration issued a memo directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to detain lawful refugees who have yet to secure permanent U.S. residency. Jonathan Blitzer , New Yorker  staff writer and the author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis (Penguin Press, 2024), discusses the latest news, including hi...

Greg David , contributor covering fiscal and economic issues for THE CITY and director of the business and economics reporting program and Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, talks about the city's fiscal woes and Mayor Mamdani's preliminary budget proposal, which includes a property tax hike.   photo:  Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani releases the Fiscal Year...

J. David Goodman , New York Times  Texas bureau chief, talks about the candidates vying for their parties' nomination in the primary races for U.S. Senate in Texas, and the national implications of the outcome of the now-underway voting. Then, Scott Nover , media reporter for The Washington Post , talks about the dispute between Stephen Colbert and the FCC over an interview with one of the Democra...

This year, we hear from the creators of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman talk about their film "The Alabama Solution," which documents abuses in the Alabama state prison system using cellphone footage recorded by incarcerated men over several years. "The Alabama Solution," photograph by Courtesy of HBO.    Host...

The production group Theater of War invites top-notch actors to perform readings of works of real, hard-hitting journalism. Bryan Doerries , artistic director of 'Theater of War', previews Thursday evening's live program on WNYC, in which actors Sam Waterston, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Julianne Moore will read reporting from Minneapolis, about how schools and educators are navigating the incursion of...

Karsonya Wise Whitehead , president of ASALH, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, professor of communications and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland and the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, talks about the history of how Black History Month has been observed, from the 1970s to the...

Stephen Nessen , transportation reporter for WNYC and Gothamist and author of the On the Way newsletter, and Ian Coss , host and creator of The Big Dig podcast from GBH News, talk about why New York City can't seem to fix the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which experts have warned is in danger of falling apart in certain stretches, and what the options are to fix the crumbling roadway. Note: Tuesday...

The Department of Justice has faced backlash from members of Congress and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein following the release of millions of documents with inconsistent redactions of key names and details. Vicky Ward , investigative journalist and author of books including Kushner, Inc. (St. Martin's Press, 2019) and, with James Patterson, The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy (Little, Brown and Comp...

Dhruv Khullar , practicing physician, associate professor of health policy and economics at Weill Cornell Medical College and contributing writer at The New Yorker , talks about the effect GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, are having on curbing addictions and what researchers are studying about that phenomenon. Photo by: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Hosted by Simplecast, an A...

Again this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, documentary filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir talks about her film "The Perfect Neighbor" which uses police body cam footage to tell the story of a Florida community and the deadly consequences of "stand your ground" laws.   Photo Courtesy of Message Pictures.  Hosted by Simplecas...

California's richest residents are threatening to leave the state over a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires. Suzanne Jimenez , chief of staff at SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, an architect of the proposal, explains how the tax would work. Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. News...

U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D NJ) talks about his work in the Senate and the issues in New Jersey, including his trip to the Munich Security Conference and how Sec. Rubio's speech was received. photo credit: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Karsonya Wise Whitehead , president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and professor of communications and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland and the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, talks about the history of Black History Month, which was established first as ""Negro History W...

For Presidents' Day, Jon Meacham , Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian and the author of American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union (Random House, 2026), puts today's political conflicts in the historical context of tensions going back to the country's founding. => EVENT : Jon Meacham will be in conversation with John Dickerson at 92NY on Tuesday, Febr...

Sophia Lebowitz , reporter for Streetsblog, explains the new 15 mile-per-hour speed limit in effect for all vehicles in Central Park, including bicycles and e-bikes, designed to make the drive safer for pedestrians, while Neile Weissman , cycling advocate and contributor to Streetsblog, argues that more options for cyclists would be a more effective strategy. Photo: cyclists in Central Park, 2011....

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. What NYC's CEOs Want From the Mamdani Administration (First) | An Argument for 'Tax the Rich'  (Starts at : 33) | Tow Truck Turmoil  (Starts at 1:14) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collectio...