The Brian Lehrer Show - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

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:

History of Black History Month: The Second 50 Years Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president of ASALH, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, professor of communications and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland and the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, talks about the history of how Black History Month has been observed, from the 1970s to the present-day, including the museums and holidays dedicated to African-American history that have been established, and more.

Photo by Robert R. McElroy/Getty Images.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What to Do About the Crumbling BQE Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for WNYC and Gothamist and author of the On the Way newsletter, and Ian Coss, host and creator of The Big Dig podcast from GBH News, talk about why New York City can't seem to fix the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which experts have warned is in danger of falling apart in certain stretches, and what the options are to fix the crumbling roadway.
Note: Tuesday's event in The Greene Space is sold out, but there will be a live stream. Click the link for more information.

photo credit: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Epstein Files: Redactions and International Fallout Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

The Department of Justice has faced backlash from members of Congress and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein following the release of millions of documents with inconsistent redactions of key names and details. Vicky Ward, investigative journalist and author of books including Kushner, Inc. (St. Martin's Press, 2019) and, with James Patterson, The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy (Little, Brown and Company, 2025), and David Enrich, deputy investigations editor for The New York Times, talk about some of the recent developments in the Epstein case and its growing international fallout.

Photo: This photograph taken in Le-Perreux-sur-Marne, outside Paris on February 9, 2026 shows undated pictures provided by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026 as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files (Photo by Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What GLP-1s Know About Addiction Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Dhruv Khullar, practicing physician, associate professor of health policy and economics at Weill Cornell Medical College and contributing writer at The New Yorker, talks about the effect GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, are having on curbing addictions and what researchers are studying about that phenomenon.

Photo by: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oscar Docs: The Perfect Neighbor Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Again this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, documentary filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir talks about her film "The Perfect Neighbor" which uses police body cam footage to tell the story of a Florida community and the deadly consequences of "stand your ground" laws.

Photo Courtesy of Message Pictures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Proposed Billionaire Tax in California Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

California's richest residents are threatening to leave the state over a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires. Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff at SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, an architect of the proposal, explains how the tax would work.

Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. Newsom opposes this proposal. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Call Your Senator: Sen. Andy Kim on Munich, and More Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D NJ) talks about his work in the Senate and the issues in New Jersey, including his trip to the Munich Security Conference and how Sec. Rubio's speech was received.

photo credit: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

History of Black History Month: The First 50 Years Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and professor of communications and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland and the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, talks about the history of Black History Month, which was established first as ""Negro History Week"" in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, and how it evolved over the mid-20th century."

Image by courtesy of Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

American Conflicts: As It Ever Was Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

For Presidents' Day, Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian and the author of American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union (Random House, 2026), puts today's political conflicts in the historical context of tensions going back to the country's founding.

=> EVENT: Jon Meacham will be in conversation with John Dickerson at 92NY on Tuesday, February 17th, 7 pm (tickets here).

cover image courtesy of the publisher

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Slowing Down Cyclists in Central Park Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

Sophia Lebowitz, reporter for Streetsblog, explains the new 15 mile-per-hour speed limit in effect for all vehicles in Central Park, including bicycles and e-bikes, designed to make the drive safer for pedestrians, while Neile Weissman, cycling advocate and contributor to Streetsblog, argues that more options for cyclists would be a more effective strategy.
Photo: cyclists in Central Park, 2011. Credit: Lynn Kim/WNYC.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Related Podcasts