The Brian Lehrer Show

As the Atlantic Festival takes place in NYC, staff writers and panelists Ashley Parker, staff writer at The Atlantic, former Washington Post White House bureau chief, and Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic, preview their panels and discuss the latest from the White House particularly the events after the the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

On Sunday, the television drama "The Pitt," about emergency room healthcare workers at a hospital in Pittsburgh, cleaned up at the Emmys with several major wins. Listeners who work in the healthcare profession call in to share what the series meant to them and how accurately it depicted post-COVID healthcare.

Meghna Philip, director of the special litigation unit at the Legal Aid Society, talks about its call for the department of investigation to look into all cases of deaths in police custody, after a fifth death occurred this year.

Hilke Schellmann, investigative reporter, assistant professor of journalism at New York University, and author of The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired, And Why We Need To Fight Back (Grand Central Publishing, 2024), talks about AI's expanding role in the job hiring process for both applicants and employers—and its implications.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, and Jimmy Vielkind, New York state issues reporter for Gothamist and WNYC and author of the substack "Notes from Jimmy," talk about the latest in the mayor's race, including Gov. Hochul's endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, and a wrinkle in the relationship between comptroller Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani.

The Trump administration's recent lethal strikes on purported drug boats in Venezuela drew widespread condemnation from experts in international law. Brian Finucane, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group and a non-resident senior fellow at Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU Law, talks about the strikes and breaks down their legality, plus discusses the implications of that analysis.

Democratic nominee U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11) talks about her campaign for governor and takes calls from NJ voters.

Looking ahead to the 250th anniversary of the U.S., Jill Lepore, professor of American history at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker, and the author of several books, including We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution (Liveright, 2025), digs into the history of the country's founding document and what it means for the country that it is so difficult, but still possible, to change.

David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about new City Council legislation to require reporting on unfilled supportive housing units, aimed at decreasing the number of empty units (5,000, as of June).

"To fill empty apartments for homeless people, NYC will first start tracking them" (Gothamist, Sept 12)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has issued a report on the state of children's health. Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about the details of the report and where it fits into the Trump administration's MAHA initiative.

Almost immediately after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, videos were circulating on social media, and many people saw the gruesome crime without meaning to just by logging on. Adam Clark Estes, senior technology correspondent at Vox, talks about how little content moderation big tech companies are doing these days, how the algorithm fed off people pausing to watch the video, and how content like this may traumatize vast swaths of people.

Jeffery Mays, New York Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall, talks about the new worker and vendor protections passed by the City Council, overriding Mayor Adams' vetoes.

A recent Washington Post article explained how most families have a secret language that only they understand, or a "familect" as some linguists call it. Listeners call in to share the words in their family that only they use, which are often conjured in the minds of small children and then used for years down the road.

Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and author of Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), talks about his latest article on the "rapidly escalating" threats to America’s election system, including how the Trump administration is making it harder to vote, the DOJ's civil rights division has dropped cases investigating gerrymandered maps in states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Texas and more.

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

Lawmakers Attempt to Improve the Ticket-Buying Experience  (First) | The City's Rat Czar Shares Progress and Challenges (Starts at 23:40) | Helping Monarch Butterflies Thrive in NYC (Starts at 44:44)

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As the US economy and consumer preferences fluctuate, listeners in the restaurant industry and their customers share how they're adapting to tariffs, slowed job growth, widespread use of GLP-1 medications altering appetites, and other trends.

Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent at Vox and the author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World (PublicAffairs, 2024), talks about the debate among Democrats over whether to go along with the Republican plan to fund the government or withhold their votes, resulting in a shutdown.

=> "The Democrats’ shutdown debate is about something much bigger" (Vox, Sept. 10, 2025)

This week, the French government lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly, forcing the prime minister François Bayrou and his cabinet to resign. Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief at The Economist, breaks down the latest and what's on the table for President Emmanuel Macron to remedy what's being called a "collapse" of his government.

James Skoufis, New York State Senator (D - 42nd District), talks about his bill that would regulate the live events ticketing industry, plus shares why he agrees with Zohran Mamdani's petition to FIFA to improve consumers' ticket-buying experience for the men's World Cup, which will be in the US next year.

Kelly Drane, research director at Giffords Law Center, Ned Parker, investigative reporter at Thomson Reuters, and McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Romney: A Reckoning (Simon & Schuster, 2023), talk about guns and the state of political violence in America after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on a Utah college campus.

Benji Jones, senior environmental correspondent at Vox, shares his reporting on how cities like New York can nurture threatened species, including monarch butterflies.

Steven Markowitz, MD DrPH, an occupational medicine physician, internist, and epidemiologist who directs the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at the City University of New York, talks about the latest data from the World Trade Center Health Program.

Nancy Solomon, host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show, recaps her conversation with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on the assassination of Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Governor's planned economic trip to India and his executive order to ensure COVID vaccinations (and medical insurance coverage) to New Jerseyans. Plus, Nancy talks about the latest news in the governor's race between Jack Ciattarelli and Rep. Mikie Sherrill. 

It has been more than two years since Mayor Adams appointed a "rat czar."  Kathleen Corradi, citywide director of rodent mitigation, reports on progress in the city's fight against the pests, and challenges that remain, like persistent rats nests near playgrounds and in parks. 

Listeners share stories of when they've lost big but managed to come back, inspired by Amanda Anisimova's comeback in the U.S. Open to make the finals after her infamous "double-bagel" loss at Wimbledon.

Gothamist and WNYC reporter Elizabeth Kim and Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of Inside City Hall and The Big Deal with Errol Louis, New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast You Decide, talk about the latest news in the mayoral campaign, including a new poll that shows Mamdani retaining a comfortable lead; Errol's conversation with Mamdani on public safety from earlier this week; the meaning and impact of socialism in the election; and reported efforts by President Trump to narrow the field of candidates.

Ben Casselman, chief economics correspondent for The New York Times, talks about the adjustments to hiring numbers showing 911,000 fewer jobs were created in the 12 months before March 2025, as listeners share their real-world job search stories.

As New York's mayoral election enters its final stretch, Boston voters are casting ballots to narrow their own mayoral field—and President Trump is attempting to influence both races.  Emma Platoff, political enterprise reporter at The Boston Globe, talks about the state of the Boston mayoral election.

Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, codirector of the Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. Mann, presidential distinguished professor and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania and author of several books and co-author and, together, co-authors of Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World (PublicAffairs, 2025), talk about the specific groups promoting anti-science and how they make fighting the...

Kyle Chayka, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of the weekly column Infinite Scroll, talks about his latest column about ghosting and discusses whether our hyperconnected digital moment has made us all expect too much of each other. 

In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court lifted a restriction on ICE from conducting indiscriminate stops and raids in Los Angeles that have been decried as racial profiling. Lindsay Nash, professor of law at Cardozo Law, co-director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic and co-director of the Center for Immigration Innovation, offers legal analysis of the ruling, and other immigration and deportation-related news.

Dana Rubinstein, New York Times reporter who covers New York City politics and government, and Brigid Bergin, senior political correspondent for WNYC and Gothamist, share their reporting on the possibility that Mayor Adams will drop out of the mayoral race to take a job with the Trump administration (despite the mayor's assertion that he's staying in the race).

Cristian Farias, legal journalist who writes for Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and other publications, and the host of The Bully’s Pulpit, a podcast of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, talks about the many legal issues the Trump administration is running into, related to sending the National Guard in to LA and DC, deportations and more.

President Trump announced he will rename the Department of Defense the "Department of War." 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), explains the symbolic and actual implications for this decision, plus talks about the dubious legality of the Trump administration's fatal attack on a Venezuelan boat they say was transporting illegal drugs.

Following up on Thursday's calls from parents of kids whose education was interrupted by the pandemic lockdown, Angela Mora, LMSW, child therapist at Cope With School NYC, talks about some of the emotional health issues children face today.

Jane Arraf, international correspondent covering the Middle East for NPR, talks about the latest developments in Gaza as Israel clamps down on volunteer doctors and threatens more restrictions on humanitarian aid amid reports of famine, plus other news on the war and attempts to end it.  

U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler (D, NY-12) talks about his decision to retire at the end of this session of Congress, plus reflects on his long career in politics, and the latest news of the day.

David D. Kirkpatrick, staff writer for The New Yorker, breaks down his tally of President Donald Trump profiteering during his presidencies, including five Persian Gulf mega-projects, a luxury jet from Qatar and half a dozen projects involving crypto and MAGA merch.

Filip Balunović, research fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade, explains the recent protests in Serbia, where a student-led movement is fighting back against an entrenched autocratic government that is aligned both with autocratic powers in the East, like Russia and China, and democratic powers in the West, like European Union and The United States.

Kids who were in kindergarten when the pandemic hit in March of 2020 are now starting middle school. Parents call in to talk about the lingering educational and social effects of the pandemic that they have noticed in their school-aged kids.