The Brian Lehrer Show

Every Thursday from 1 to 2 PM on WNYC, through Election Day, WNYC senior political reporter Brigid Bergin hosts a pop-up local politics call-in show called Who's Running This Place. You can find out more on WNYC.org, and stay tuned to this podcast feed. We'll be sharing Brigid's conversations here every Thursday evening. 

Congressional hopeful Claire Valdez talks about her race to represent parts of Brooklyn & Queens, and what it might look like to bring Democratic Socialist priorities to Washington. Then, L. Joy Williams, president of the New York State NAACP, shares her thoughts on the importance of g...

Sam Kessler, Wall Street Journal reporter, talks about the billion dollar profits the president and his family have made in his second term, especially from crypto-related deals.

Photo: Donald Trump reacts at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, TN. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Julie Menin, City Council Speaker (D-5, Upper East Side), talks about the latest developments in the City Council and takes calls from listeners in the latest installment of our monthly series.

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For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today, questions about the TV shows The New York Times listed as the best of the century so far.

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Katie Drummond, global editorial director at WIRED, discusses her cover story on Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's widely-acclaimed documentary 'You Can See Everything,' which follows disgraced businesswoman Elizabeth Homes.  

Photo: Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford in 2003 as a 19-year-old to start Theranos, a company now poised to disrupt the medical diagnostic test market. (Photo by Karl Mondon/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)

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Each day during this pledge drive, we're talking fall food--or in today's case, drinks. Carla Lalli, video host and author of several cookbooks, including her latest, Food is a Feeling (Clarkson Potter, 2026), talks about some of the best seasonal cocktails and mocktails to make when hosting. 

Photo: A cocktail glass garnished with star anise stands alongside autumn pumpkins and seasonal warm drinks on a wooden patio table during golden hour in Krakow, Poland (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, previews the state of the competitive midterm elections in our area as early voting is set to begin in a few days. 


Photo: A sign directs voters to a polling station on the first day of early voting for the midterm elections. (Photo by Tim Evans / AFP via Getty Images)

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Theodore Schleifer, covers billionaires and their impact for the New York Times, talks about the massive amounts of money currently at play in the midterm elections, the billionaires who donate it and how it affects what happens.

Photo: Demonstrators protest against the Trump administration and billionaire class outside the New York Public Library. (Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today, name five things in a category. 


Photo: Stock illustration by MaxMariz via iStock / Getty Images Plus

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Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, Foreign Policy columnist, NPR contributor, scholar in residence at the Brennan Center for Justice, author of The Long View on Substack and author of many books, including Rumble on the Promenade: The Clash of Justice and Power at the 1964 Democratic Convention (W.W. Norton, 2027), talks about today's political news through his lens as a presidential historian.

Photo: Julian Zelizer attends Authors Night 2025 With East Hampton Library. (Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for East Hampton Library)

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Each day during this pledge drive, we're talking fall food. Today, Carla Lalli, video host and author of several cookbooks, including her latest, Food is a Feeling (Clarkson Potter, 2026), talks about her favorite warming spices and how to use them in creative ways. 


Photo: Hot mulled wine in ceramic pot with spices, orange and autumn leaves over black wooden background. (Photo by: Natasha Breen/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, talks about the national political news of the day, plus the conversations happening soon at The New Yorker festival.

Photo: Jon Stewart talks with David Remnick during The 2025 New Yorker Festival at Webster Hall on October 26, 2025 in New York City. (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New Yorker via Getty Images)

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Chelsea Cirruzzo, Washington Correspondent for STAT news, talks about how vaccine policy could change, depending on which party gains control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Photo: A woman receives the seasonal influenza vaccine. (NIAID, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons)

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For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is 2026 news oddities.

Stock illustration by MaxMariz via iStock / Getty Images Plus

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Many critics panned the new Tom Cruise climate movie Digger. Jayson Greene, critic and author of the novel UnWorld and Molly Taft, senior writer for WIRED, covering climate change, energy, and the environment unpack why they think might actually be a great climate movie, despite not being a great movie movie.

Photo: Tom Cruise attends the "Digger" Korea Press Conference on October 01, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images for Warner Bros. via Getty Images)

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Each day during this pledge drive, we're talking fall food. Today, Carla Lalli, video host and cookbook author, including her latest, Food is a Feeling (Clarkson Potter, 2026) walks us through how to make a perfect loaf bread with different kinds of fall produce.

Photo by jeffreyw,CC Attribution 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons. 

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Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of The Queen and Her Presidents (HarperCollins, 2026), talks about the challenges of covering the Trump administration, as the president has tried to ban reporters from certain outlets from accessing the White House.

Photo: US Capitol, west side (Martin Falbisoner via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny and a contributing opinion writer with the New York Times, talks about the various proposals to reform the Supreme Court, including term limits, ethics reforms and reining in the so-called "shadow docket," which she says Democrats must do if they take control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

Photo: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett listen as US President Donald...

For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is 2026 news, so far.

Stock illustration by MaxMariz via iStock / Getty Images Plus

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As part of the yearlong series "Wild NYC," Marielle Anzelone, urban botanist and ecologist and the founder of NYC Wildflower Week, and Monica Medina, board member and podcast host of Scientista, former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the first U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources at the U.S. State Department talk about the global biodiversity conference underway this week.

Photo: Guerilla gardening along queens boulevard in tree pit along fence, Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Each day during this pledge drive, we're talking fall food. Today, Carla Lalli, video host and cookbook author, including her latest, Food is a Feeling (Clarkson Potter, 2026), discusses how to make a cozy and tasty kitchen sink soup. 

Stock photo of Irish Stew or Guinness Stew made in a crockpot or slow cooker. (by sumnersgraphicsinc via iStock / Getty Images Plus)

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

Kate Manne, professor at the Cornell University Sage School of Philosophy, offers her take on the casual misogyny that allows rape culture to thrive (First) | The Left's pleas for Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch (Starts at 45:00) | The literary legacy of brothers Frank and Malachy McCourt (Starts at 1:10:00)

If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

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Maria Ressa, journalist, CEO of the news outlet Rappler, professor at Columbia University and the author of The Fight Back: A Citizen's Guide to Standing Up to Dictators (Harper, 2026) talks about the role of the press and individuals in maintaining democracy, especially in this age of AI.

Photo: Maria Ressa at the book fair Frankfurt 2025 (Jaramo81, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons)

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Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about how the issue of affordability came up in this week's debate between Gov. Hochul and her Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman.

Photo: New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate, current Gov. Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman face off in the only scheduled debate ahead of the November New York gubernatorial election at the Spectrum News NY1 studios on October 13, 2026 in New York City. (Anna Connors, Pool via Getty Images)

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Ash Wu, books news reporter at The New York Times, talks about Anne Carson, the Canadian poet, essayist and novelist who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, and where to start if you’ve never read her.

Photo: Anne Carson, poet, at the 2024 National Book Awards finalist reading in the NYU Skirball Center (Jay Dixit, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons)

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Kate Manne, professor at the Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, author of the Substack newsletter More to Hate, and many books, including Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (Crown, 2020), offers her take on the casual misogyny that allows rape culture to thrive.

Photo: Students walk the campus grounds at Cornell University, on October 8, 2026, in Ithaca, New York. (Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)

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Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, offers analysis of how the ICE shooting in Marble Hill, and immigration and crime more broadly, came up in the debate between Governor Hochul and her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman.     

Photo: People participate in a march against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities on October 9, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

 

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Julia Ioffe, founding partner and Washington correspondent of Puck and the author of Motherland: A History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy (Ecco, 2025), offers analysis of some recent wins that President Trump has handed Russian President Putin, and how Russia...and Ukraine have responded.

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Kristin LaBuz, executive director of Open House New York, talks about OHNY's annual festival this weekend.

Photo: Bandaloop performs dance routines off of the facade of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center during their open house weekend on October 29, 2022 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld via Getty Images)

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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, offers analysis of the issues in New York's governor's race, and in the debate that he moderated.

Photo: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul debates in the race for governor at the studios of WNBC4-TV June 16, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Ruttle-Pool/Getty Images)

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Francis Fukuyama, senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, former State Department official and the author of The End of History and the Last Man (Free Press, 1992) and his latest, In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026), tells his story and how it intersected with events and his political beliefs.

Photo: Francis Fukuyama, author and political scientist, poses for a portrait during an interview at the Javeriana University of Colombia. (Photo by Ovidio Gonzalez/Getty Images)

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After ICE shot and arrested a 28-year-old man in Marble Hill last week, some DSA members are accusing the NYPD of collaborating with ICE and calling on Mayor Mamdani to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Ben Feuerherd, Gothamist/WNYC reporter covering public safety and policing, unpacks Mamdani's relationship with Tisch and digs into the Mayor's evolving approach to public safety more broadly.

Photo: Federal agents walk near the scene where a man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an operation in the Bronx borough of New York. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP...

Inspired by a Washington Post piece on grandmothers picking names like “Gigi,” “Mimi” and “Glam-Ma” instead of “Grandma,” listeners call in to share what their grandkids call them and how they landed on the name.

Photo: Grandmother and grandaughter sharing quality time together. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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TK TK TK 

Photo: The United States Disciplinary Barracks, where Nidal Malik Hasan is being held on death row, is seen in Fort Leavenworth. Hasan, the U.S. Army Major who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, has been approved by U.S. President Donald Trump for execution by military firing squad. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Grace Rauh, executive director of Citizen's Union explains the five proposals on the ballots aimed at streamlining city government and why Citizens Union supports them.

=> "2026 Ballot Proposals" (NYC Votes)

Photo: Democratic voters in the 2025 primary elections cast their ballots at PS 153. (SWinxy, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons) 

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TK TK TK 

Photo: Kimbles Beach, looking North. Pre-restoration, 2013. (Eric Schrading/USFWS, Wetlands Institute, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons)

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Tom Allon, founder and publisher of City & State New York, talks about the essays of the Irish-American writers (and brothers) Frank and Malachy McCourt, that they originally published in local New York City outlets.

Photo: A memorial service for Frank McCourt at Symphony Space on October 6, 2009 in New York City. (Michael Loccisano via Getty Images)

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Gwynne Hogan, senior reporter covering immigration and homelessness for The City Reporter, shares the latest reporting on the shooting of a man by ICE officers, that took place Thursday afternoon in a busy neighborhood, in front of the man's young son. And, Carmen De La Rosa, NYC Council Member (District 10, Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill) discusses its impact on her district.

Photo: People participate in a rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities on October 9, 2026 in New York City.(Stephanie Keith via Getty Images)

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Billy House, Washington/Congress reporter for Newsday, talks about the issue of immigration and ICE funding in New York's 4th Congressional district, where the incumbent Democrat Laura Gillen is trying to fend off a challenge from Republican Jeanine Driscoll.

Photo: Advocates and community members rally marking the implementation of New York's ban on 287(g) agreements on August 25, 2026 in Mineola, New York in front of the Nassau County Police Department. (Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

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Jeff Jarvis, visiting professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism, fellow at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, emeritus professor at CUNY's Newmark School of Journalism, co-hosts the podcasts "Intelligent Machines" and "AI Inside" and the author of Hot Type: The Magnificent Machine that Gave Birth to Mass Media and Drove Mark Twain Mad (Bloomsbury, 2026) tells the story of the Linotype machine that made mass media possible and how technology changes societies.

Photo: Linotype machines, Anthony Hordern and Sons department store, c. 1935, (AE Foster, public domain via Wikimedia Com...