The Brian Lehrer Show

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100 Years of 100 Things: You! Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

It's #100 in the centennial series: your stories of how your life differs from, and what it shares with, that of your grandparents, plus a funny family story from your history.

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First Deputy Mayor on the Budget Jul 07, 2025

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Randy Mastro, first deputy mayor of New York City, shares highlights from the city's new budget, including a pilot for free childcare, expanded library hours, legal assistance for immigrants and more.

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Monday Morning Politics: Washington Reacts to Mamdani, Alligator Alcatraz, Texas Flooding and More Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of several books, including The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters (Simon & Schuster, 2024), talks about the latest national political news including reactions from both sides of the aisle to Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, funding for ICE in the budget bill in light of news of the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility in Florida, environmental funding cuts in the wake of floods in Texas, and more.

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Brian Lehrer Weekend: Comptroller Lander; Tick Season; Young Voters for Mamdani Jul 05, 2025

Show notes

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

Brad Lander Reflects on His Mayoral Campaign (First) | An Abundance of Ticks (Starts at 32:20) | The Voters Who Turned Out for Zohran Mamdani (Starts at 46:41)

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July 4th: 100 Years of America the Superpower; Frances Perkins; New Yorker Poetry; Blacklisting; Celia Cruz Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

On this Fourth of July holiday, highlights from our centennial series, 100 Years of 100 Things:

Richard Haass, American diplomat, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, senior counselor at the global investment firm Centerview Partners, and the author of The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens (Penguin Press, 2023) reviews the history of American's global influence, from World War I to today.
Annie Polland, president of the Tenement Museum, looks at the life and enduring legacy of Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet member as Secretary of Labor who was instrumental in crafting The New Deal, and passing a slew of federal workers protections, including Social Security, a minimum wage and a 40-hour work week.
Kevin Young, poet, New Yorker poetry editor and the editor of A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker (Knopf, 2025), goes through the history of poetry appearing in The New Yorker, and what was left out.
Clay Risen, New York Times reporter and the author of Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America (Scribner, 2025), goes through the history of the Cold War-era struggle inside the US between the FDR progressives and social conservatives and how it continues to reverberate.
Felix Contreras, host and co-creator of NPR's Alt.Latino, talks about the life and legacy of music icon Celia Cruz, born 100 years ago.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity and the original web versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: America the Superpower (Nov 24, 2024)
100 Years of 100 Things: Frances Perkins (Mar 17, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: New Yorker Poetry (Mar 7, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: Blacklisting (Mar 26, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: Celia Cruz (May 8, 2025)

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Summer Best-Of: 100 Years of Summer Camp; Modernism; The Great Gatsby; and Preppy Fashion Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

For this "Summer Best-Of" we've put together some of our favorite conversations our centennial series, 100 Years of 100 Things:

Ashley Stimpson, Maryland-based freelance journalist who writes about science and conservation, takes us through the past 100 years of kids going to the woods for summer camp.

Victoria Rosner, dean of the Gallatin School at NYU and the author of Machines for Living: Modernism and Domestic Life (Oxford University Press, 2020), talks about the post-World War I development of modernism (and post-modernism) across the arts and beyond.
Maureen Corrigan, the book critic for Fresh Air, Georgetown professor and the author of So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures (Hachette, 2014), looks at the 1925 publication of the novel, The Great Gatsby, and why it continues to resonate with readers one hundred years later.
Polo shirts, khaki shorts, and boat shoes: the classic uniform of elites on their days off. Avery Trufelman, host of the podcast Articles of Interest, delves into the last 100 years of preppies and their clothes.

These interviews were polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: Summer Camps (Aug 26, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: Modernism (Jan 8, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: The Great Gatsby (Jan 13, 2025)
100 Years of 100 Things: Preppies and Their Clothes (Mar 26, 2025)

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An Abundance of Ticks Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

The Fordham Tri-State Tick Risk is at 10 out of 10 this summer. Thomas Daniels, research scientist in vector ecology, director of Louis Calder Center in Armonk, the biological field station of Fordham University, talks about what led to the population surge and best practices to avoid picking up ticks outdoors and the diseases they carry.

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City Politics: Mamdani's Winning Streak Continues Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

After the next round of ranked choice voting results came in, Assembly member Zohran Mamdani's lead grew to 12 points, meaning he easily secured the official Democratic nomination. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, reviews the data and talks about what this means for the general election.

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The Voters Who Turned Out for Zohran Mamdani Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

Now that we have the full results of last Tuesday's mayoral primary election, Michael Lange, New York City based researcher, strategist, political organizer, and author of the newsletter "The Narrative Wars" on Substack, talks about the coalition of voters that came together to decisively elect assemblymember Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic nominee after correctly predicting the political winds were in his favor despite polling which showed otherwise.

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Healthcare and the Federal Budget Bill Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent at KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about the House and Senate budget bills and what they would mean for Americans' access to healthcare.

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