The Brian Lehrer Show

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, offers his assessment of the first 100 days of President Trump's second term, and the opposition that is beginning to form.

Michelle Morse, M.D., interim commissioner of health at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and an internal medicine and public health doctor, talks about the areas where the health department says it will really feel the impact of federal budget cuts, including responding to disease outbreaks, vaccine outreach and more.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a tentative budget agreement almost one month late. Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, reports on where the big policy issues landed, including on a cell phone ban in schools, masks and discovery laws—plus the financial details of the deal.

President Donald Trump recently asked U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to intervene in defense of the Massapequa school district, saying the school should be able to their use of Native American mascots, names and logos. Darwin Yanes, Newsday education reporter, explains the latest on the entrenched battle between the Long Island public school district, the New York Education Department — and now — the president.

As our centennial series continues, Ana Raquel Minian, associate professor of history at Stanford and the author of In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States (Viking, 2024), reviews U.S. detention of immigrants over the past century.

Andy Kim, U.S. Senator (D NJ), talks about his work in the Senate and the issues in New Jersey. Topics this week include the state of Democracy in the buildup to the midterm elections, tariffs and ceasefire in Ukraine. 

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Congestion Pricing, Penn Station and More (First) | Goodbye to Federal Regulations (Starts at 39:00) | 100 Years of 100 Things: Street Photography (Starts at 1:04:00)

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Listeners share stories of navigating career pivots at moments when they felt their college degree took them as far as it could go.

Support of WNYC’s coverage of economic mobility and opportunity is provided in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information about how the Gates Foundation supports economic mobility and opportunity, visit usprogram.gatesfoundation.org.

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), looks at where the initial actions of the Trump administration align with the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, and what's still to come.

Mike Lawler, U.S. Representative (R, NY-17), talks about the issues facing his district and the country and his role as part of the Republican majority in Congress.

Nick Reisman, Politico New York reporter covering New York state government and politics and co-author of the New York Playbook, talks about the issues holding up the New York State budget negotiations, due April 1.

Daniel Rober, associate professor and department chair of the Catholic Studies department at Sacred Heart University, talks about the leading contenders to be the next pope, the fraught process in the Vatican and the different directions the next leader of the world's Catholics might take the church.

Betsy Smith, president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, talks about Saturday's opening of the revamped Harlem Meer area of the park, plus other news.

Layla O'Kane, a senior director at Opportunity@Work, and Cole Napper, vice president of People Analytics at Lightcast, a labor market analytics company, talk about the latest data on career and career advancement opportunities for skilled workers without a college degree.
→ State of the Paper Ceiling | Opportunity@Work

John "Janno" Lieber, chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), talks about the MTA's fight with the federal government over congestion pricing, how the tolling program is going, the Trump administration's takeover of the Penn Station revamp and more transit news.

Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, historian and author of Autocracy Inc. (Penguin, 2024), argues the checks on presidential power, put in place by the founders, have so far failed in the second Trump administration, and talks about what causes authoritarian governments to fail.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, talks about how both state assembly member Zohran Mamdani and Comptroller Brad Lander are vying to be the top progressive candidate in the Democratic mayoral primary, and more news from City Hall and the campaign trail.