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.
Episodes
Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It, offers recommendations for new books to read that are coming out in the next few weeks, plus shares the details on the new Get Lit With All of It newsletter.
Sign up for the newsletter at wnyc.org/getlitnewsletter
James Solomon, mayor of Jersey City, talks about the major budget deficit of about $250 million dollars he is facing, which he blames the former mayor, Steve Fulop for, and other Jersey City news.new)
It's been more than two weeks since the big snowstorm hit, and hardened piles of dirty snow are still everywhere. Javier Lojan, acting commissioner of the New York City Sanitation Department, talks about the challenges the Sanitation Department has faced as the extreme cold settled in after the storm.
Chelsea Cirruzzo, Washington Correspondent for STAT news, explains what the Trump administration's new prescription drug marketplace aims to do, and who might save money by using it.
Annie McDonough, senior City Hall reporter at City & State New York, talks about Mayor Mamdani's plans for a Department of Community Safety to send social workers instead of police officers to respond to mental health crises.
Nadira Goffe, staff writer of culture at Slate, recaps Bad Bunny's joyful halftime show at the Super Bowl and talks about the political divide over the performance, the commercials and general vibes of the big game.
→ Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Performance Was Pure Joy
The latest Epstein files to be released exposed more embarrassing revelations for more powerful men, including the president of Bard College, the (former) chairman of the law firm Paul Weiss, and one of the owners of the Giants. Vicky Ward, investigative journalist and author of Kushner, Inc. (St. Martin's Press, 2019) and, with James Patterson, The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy (Little, Brown and Company, 2025), and Steve Eder, ...
Steve Fulop, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, talks about what they want from the new mayoral administration, and the group's critiques of Mayor Mamdani so far.
Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.
Mayor Mamdani on the Cold, Budget and More (First) | Tracing the Path from Bernie Goetz and Reagan to Today (Starts at 16:00) | What Makes Your Dog the Best? (Starts at 41 :00)
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President Trump has been knocking down data sharing protections between federal agencies to empower ICE's growing surveillance apparatus. Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media, a digital media company focused on technology, discusses his recent investigations into how big tech is helping ICE to gather data on civilians and ultimately identify, track, and detain undocumented immigrants.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Louisa Thomas, staff writer at The New Yorker, who writes the weekly column The Sporting Scene, talks about the shifting expectations of the public on how famous athletes should respond to politics.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-5, Upper East Side) talks about the council's priorities, working with Mayor Mamdani, and new proposals—including year-round outdoor dining.
David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic daily newsletter, plus author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2025), talks about actions and statements by the president that are raising alarms over election integrity with midterms months away.
Alana Casanova-Burgess, host of the podcast La Brega, talks about the new season of La Brega, which spotlights Puerto Rico's champions, and what they teach us about Puerto Ricans and the diaspora.
Heather Ann Thompson, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy and her latest, Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage (Pantheon, 2026) argues that the roots of white rage and violence can be traced back to the Reagan Era and, specifically, the Bernie Goetz shootings of four Black teenagers on a NYC subw...
Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayor, talks about the latest news, including how the administration is protecting vulnerable New Yorkers from the cold, the budget gap and more city issues. Then, Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, offers context and analysis of the mayor's interview.
Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics, former New York Times columnist now on Substack, distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and the author of Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), talks about how President Trump's economic policies are affecting investors, and what that could mean for the overall economy.
For years, the deed theft crisis has been forcing New Yorkers out of their homes. New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé (District 36, Bedford Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) discusses his efforts to protect homeowners from eviction while their cases are pending, plus some other news of the day.
Jason Zengerle, staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind (Crooked Media Reads, 2027), talks about the development of right-wing media through the story of Tucker Carlson.
Listeners call in to talk about the movies, TV shows, books and music they're consuming as the cold temperatures mean more indoor time.
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.
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