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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:

Should Democrats Appear With Hasan Piker? Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has become a litmus test for Democrats after a campaign appearance with Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Jonathan Cowan, co-founder and president of the centrist think tank Third Way, and Daniel Denvir, journalist, host of the Jacobin podcast The Dig, and author of All-American Nativism (Verso Books, 2020), address Piker's statements and debate whether or not politicians should interact with him, and more broadly, if he belongs in the Democratic coalition.

Photo: Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, addressed his supporters after the historic mayoral election victory on Tuesday night, November 4, 2025, in New York City, United States. Famous online streamer Hasan Piker attends Mamdani's election watch party (by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images).

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Will the US or Iran Blink First? Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024), talks about Iran's military capabilities even as President Trump extended the ceasefire, plus offers his analysis of President Trump's unconventional negotiating tactics.

Photo: A man reads a newspaper with a front page article referring to anticipated US-Iran peace talks, at a stall in Islamabad on April 22, 2026. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked US President Donald Trump for extending a ceasefire with Iran and indefinitely pushing back the end of the two week truce, with Tehran silent on the decision early on April 22. (by Asif HASSAN / AFP via Getty Images)

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Earth Day from Space Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist and science educator at the American Museum of Natural History, gives an astrophysicist's view of Earth Day.

Photo: In this handout image provided by NASA, a view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Reid Wiseman/NASA via Getty Images)

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Advice for Finding Your Life's Work Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Jodi Kantor, New York Times investigative reporter, co-author of She Said (Penguin, 2019) and author of How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work (Hachette, 2026), expands on her Columbia University commencement address where she tried to answer the question: “How, in this environment, is anyone supposed to find and start their life’s work?”

Photo: Cover art for How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work. (Credit: Hachette)

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Earth Day: How Far Has the Trump Admin Gone to Dismantle Climate Goals? Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

On Earth Day, Lisa Friedman, reporter covering climate policy and politics at The New York Times, talks about her reporting on how EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has drastically changed the mission of the EPA, and more related environmental and climate news.
Photo: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is shown during CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

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A Brownsville Story Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Abigail Savitch-Lew, a former staff reporter for City Limits and now the author of the novel Livonia Chow Mein (Simon & Schuster, 2026), talks about her novel about inter-generational and cross-cultural conflict and community in Brooklyn.

Photo: Cover art for Livonia Chow Mein. (Credit: Simon & Schuster)

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Mayor Mamdani's Lessons From Mayor La Guardia Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, recaps her event with Mayor Mamdani, where they talked about the lessons he has taken from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, and other news from his first 100+ days in office.

Photo: Mayor Zohran Mamdani appears live at a WNYC forum entitled “Mamdani's First 100 Days: Lessons from La Guardia" on April 20, 2026. (Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

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Fast-Tracking Psychedelics Research Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Frederick S. Barrett, director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, talks about the use of psychedelics for mental illness and the effects of President Trump's executive order speeding up research.

Photo: Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub with hallucinogenic properties, grows in Cameroon. (Credit: Marco Schmidt via Wikimedia Commons CC 2.5)

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Celebrating Library Workers Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

It's National Library Week, and today we're asking library workers (and patrons) to talk about the services their libraries provide.
Photo: The Brooklyn Public Library. Credit: Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons.

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Jazz Legacies Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

Elizabeth Alexander, president of The Mellon Foundation, poet, educator, memoirist and scholar and the author of The Trayvon Generation (Grand Central Publishing, 2022), talks about the latest cohort of the Mellon Foundation's (in partnership with the Jazz Foundation of America) jazz legacies fellows, and the importance of the genre. Also in this segment, saxophonist Gary Bartz reflects on his long career in jazz.

Photo: An alto saxophone. (Credit: Rama via Wikimedia Commons CC 2.0)

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