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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:

Radical Joy and Music in Prospect Park May 06, 2026

Show notes

Wes Jackson, president of BRIC, unveils the lineup for the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! festival in Prospect Park, where the theme this year is "radical joy."

Photo: A Celebrate Brooklyn! performance at the Lena Horne Bandshell in July 2022. (Credit: BailieSchaefer via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

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The Abortion Pill Lands in the Courts May 05, 2026

Show notes

On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily reinstated a Food and Drug Administration rule allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed via telemedicine. Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent at The Nation and author of Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights (Hachette, 2026), explains the legal battle over the abortion pill playing out in courts and how abortion access in the United States could be upended if reproductive care becomes inaccessible through the mail. Plus, Kristyn Brandi, MD, abortion provider in New Jersey and previous board chair with Physicians for Reproductive Health, explains how abortion access has expanded via telemedicine post-Dobbs and how abortion care providers are navigating shifting policies.

Photo: Trans man and abortion rights advocate Artemis Duffy of New England shows a box of mifepristone he is taking outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by Shuran Huang for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Justice for Epstein Victims Through NYS May 05, 2026

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Zellnor Myrie, New York State Senator (D-20, parts of central Brooklyn including Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Park Slope), talks about his bill that would allow survivors of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein to seek damages from the Epstein estate, plus other budget-related news of the day.

Photo: State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, center, questions New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James, Daniel Martuscello III, commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and Joseph Popcun, deputy commissioner of the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, during a joint legislative budget hearing on public protection on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)

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The Constitution, For Better Or Worse May 05, 2026

Show notes

Melissa Murray, NYU law professor, co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, MSNOW commentator and the author of The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader (Simon & Schuster, 2026), explains the Constitution and how all the problems inherent in the founding are contained in it, not solved by it.

Photo: The first page of the US Constitution. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration via Wikimedia Commons)

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How to Avoid Sneaky Phishing Scams May 05, 2026

Show notes

WNYC has been targeted by scammers who posed as hosts and offered authors interviews -- for a fee (which WNYC would never do). Rachel Tobac, co-founder and CEO of Social Proof Security, and Kenneth Atkins, assistant director of IT and data security at WNYC, talk about how to spot sneaky online phishing scams, and how to deal if you fall for it.

Photo: Stock image (Vertigo3d via Getty Creative)

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Monday Morning Politics: The Coming 'Redistricting Wars' May 04, 2026

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Nick Corasaniti, New York Times reporter covering national politics, with a focus on voting and elections, talks about how the Supreme Court's recent voting rights decision could fuel "endless redistricting wars," and how this may affect this year's midterm elections and beyond.

Photo: Campaign signs in Takoma Park, Md. on Oct. 27, 2018. (Credit: Edward Kimmel/Wikimedia Commons BY CC 2.0)

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Meet NYC's New Human Rights Commissioner May 04, 2026

Show notes

Christine Clarke, commissioner and chair of the NYC Commission on Human Rights, talks about her new role, the Mamdani administration's priorities in human rights and the state of New York's anti-discrimination laws.

Photo: Christine Clarke, chair and commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. (Credit: New York City Commission on Human Rights)

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Uniting Amazon Workers May 04, 2026

Show notes

Derrick Palmer, cofounder of the Amazon Labor Union and the author of Handbook for the Revolution: Building a More Perfect Union for the Twenty-First Century (Auwa Books, 2026), tells the story of organizing the first successful labor union for Amazon workers at the JFK8 Warehouse on Staten Island and offers advice for other workers seeking to organize.

Photo: Cover art for Handbook for the Revolution: Building a More Perfect Union for the Twenty-First Century by Derrick Palmer. (Credit: Macmillan Publishers)

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Your College Decisions May 04, 2026

Show notes

Last Friday was "decision day" for high school seniors who are making plans to go to college in the fall. Listeners call in to share how much politics - or the job market - played into their decision (or their child's decision) on where to go.

Photo: Stock image via fotosipsak/Getty Creative

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Theater of War on the Radio: Our Longing for Inconvenience May 03, 2026

Show notes

Join WNYC and Theater Of War for a series of programs hosted by Kai Wright and TOW artistic director Bryan Doerries that re-imagine works of journalism in innovative and engaging ways, including performances by acclaimed actors.

Actors Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave, Pariah, The Big Short) and Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate) performed “Our Longing for Inconvenience,” a recent essay written by Hanif Abdurraqib for The New Yorker. The essay helped kick off a conversation with WNYC listeners about “falling in love the old fashioned way” in a world mediated by phones and apps. We explored the tension between our desire for convenience and the friction of older technologies — like Walkmans, disposable cameras, and VCRs — that transport us back to less distracted, seemingly more authentic, times. And we talked about strategies for staying present and resisting the allure of instant gratification to feel more alive.

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