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The Brian Lehrer Show — News
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.

Copyright: © WNYC

Latest Episodes:

Is ICE Racially Profiling Latino New Yorkers? May 28, 2026

Show notes

An investigation by The CITY, built from a database of more than 1,200 lawsuits filed against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, found that of the 430 street arrests it documented across the New York City area, more than 93% targeted Latinos -- far out of proportion to their share of the undocumented population. Gwynne Hogan, senior reporter covering immigration and homelessness for The CITY, and Rosalind Adams, investigative reporter for THE CITY, share their findings and what the numbers reveal about how ICE is operating across the city.

Photo: An immigration court sign is seen as federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Ted Weiss Federal Building on May 12, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Marriage in Context May 28, 2026

Show notes

Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families and the author of The Way We Never Were; Marriage, a History; and now, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage (Viking; May 26, 2026), offers historical context for the institution of marriage and examines the attitudes and policies that can strengthen it.

Photo: Stock image by Christoph Wagner/Moment via Getty Creative

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Democratic Primary Forum: Dan Goldman and Brad Lander May 27, 2026

Show notes

Dan Goldman, US Representative (D, NY-10), and Brad Lander, former NYC comptroller and former mayoral candidate, discuss key issues as they campaign in the June primary election to be the Democratic nominee for Congress for New York's 10th congressional district.

Photo: On August 7, 2025, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) speak outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on August 07, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Mayor Mamdani's 'Housing Plan for A New Era' May 27, 2026

Show notes

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled his plan to build 200,000 affordable units and preserve another 200,000 over the next decade. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, relays the standout details of the Mamdani administration's "Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era."

Photo: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks to the media as he stands with some of the people he has appointed to help with his transition to City Hall on November 24, 2025 in New York City (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Diversity's Long History May 27, 2026

Show notes

David B. Oppenheimer, clinical professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, co-director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law and the author of The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea (Yale University Press), argues that the idea that there is value in diversity in education and politics has a long history, and that attacks on the concept today are misguided.

Cover art courtesy of Yale University Press

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All of It's 2026 Summer Reading Challenge May 27, 2026

Show notes

Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It, introduces this summer reading contest from All Of It and Get Lit, six books across six categories.

Photo by Luke Green/WNYC

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Sen. Murphy on Reclaiming the Common Good May 26, 2026

Show notes

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., talks about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2026). In it, Murphy identifies the underlying crises that have resulted in our current politics and offers solutions that could reinvigorate Americans' sense of the common good.

Photo: Cover art for Crisis of the Common Good. (Credit: Macmillan Publishers)

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Can New York State Get 'Beyond Plastic?' May 26, 2026

Show notes

New York State lawmakers are considering the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics, professor at Bennington College, former EPA Region 2 administrator and author of The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late (The New Press, 2025), talks about why she is advocating for its passage and what the bill would do if it becomes law.

Photo: A recycling bin in New York City. (Credit: RockyJennifer/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

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American 'Participatory Inequality' May 26, 2026

Show notes

Jeffrey Winters, professor of political science at Northwestern University and the director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies Program at Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and the author of The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies (Scribner, 2026), talks about the history of oligarchy, how to fight it, and why it maintains power in a democracy.

Photo: Cover art for The Blind Spot. (Credit: Simon & Schuster)

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The Knicks Win! Your Stories of Sports Exuberance May 26, 2026

Show notes

After the Knicks dominant performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, New York fans are feeling an overwhelming sense of exuberance. Listeners call in to share other sporting moments in their lives that brought this feeling—whether with a professional team or at a lower level.

Photo: Knicks fans celebrate winning the eastern conference championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 25, 2026 in New York City. Credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images.

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