Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast
Daily thoughtful conversation about the latest news and politics.
Getting rich as president: conflict of interest?
Elected officials are not supposed to use their positions to boost their own personal wealth.
On Today's Show:
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.
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Trillionaire breaks campaign spending record
With affordability, income inequality, and other consequential pocketbook policy items at play in this year's midterm elections, we look at the financial lay of the land.
On Today's Show:
Theodore Schleifer, who 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.
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Talarico, El Sayed, Buttigieg, more, on how to reform the Supreme Court
Ahead of the midterm elections, one consequential issue centers the Supreme Court, and whether, amid ethics concerns, the judicial branch needs reform.
On Today's Show:
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.
H...
The fake Russia cease-fire explained
Amid reports that would suggest a favorable relationship between President Trump and Russian President Putin, where does that leave Ukraine?
On Today's Show:
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), shares her analysis of some recent wins that President Trump has handed Russian President Vladimir Putin, and how Russia...and Ukraine have responded.
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Francis Fukuyama on why history didn’t end
A new memoir from an academic international relations
On Today's Show:
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.
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Pete Hegseth invites you to watch an execution on your phone (JD Vance says no thanks)
With the news that the US will publicly execute the Fort Hood shooter, and the recent botched execution of a woman in Tennessee, capital punishment has taken center stage in the national conversation.
On Today's Show:
Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA, talks about the history and current state of the death penalty and public execution, here in the United States and around the world.
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Thursday’s NY ICE shooting becomes swing district issue
With last week's ICE shooting, how are swing districts in the area responding on the political hot-button midterm issue of immigration enforcement?
On Today's Show:
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.
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AI as an issue in hotly contested House race
With AI technology and its accompanying data centers taking up some of the spotlight as a midterm issue, we look at how it's playing out in a key house race.
On Today's Show:
Timmy Facciola, founder of the local news outlet Judge Street Journal, which focuses on New York politics, unpacks Mike Lawler and Cait Conley's positions on AI and data centers.
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'Socialist Manifesto' author on past failures and governing in the real world
As the DSA and other ideologies on the political left begin to gain footholds in elected offices including NYC's mayoralty, we look at what 'socialism' really is, in practice.
On Today's Show:
Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, founding editor of Jacobin, publisher of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, former vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality (Basic Books, updated 2026) and co-author of The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World (Verso, 2026), talks about t...
Affordability debate clips from crucial house race
With affordability as a central political issue this midterm season, how are candidates in a key New Jersey race addressing it?
On Today's Show:
Timmy Facciola, founder of the local politics news outlet Judge Street Journal, talks about several 'pocketbook issues' that came up in the debate between U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler and his Democratic challenger Cait Conley, including energy, tariffs, and housing.
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Algorithms price gouge us. This guest wants to change that
The free market supposedly sets fair prices based on supply and demand. How are algorithmic pricing models helping profiteers charge more for the same?
On Today's Show:
Lindsay Owens, president and CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative and the author of Gouged: The End of a Fair Price–and What That Means for Your Wallet (Viking, 2026), talks about the proliferation of "junk fees" and the hidden risks of loyalty programs, plus the use of data and algorithms to hike prices.
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The right and women’s sports (not about trans athletes)
With right wing voices taking aim at transgender athletes, who they say create unfairness in women's sports, a look at the Trump administration's cuts to Title IX enforcement.
On Today's Show:
Maggie Mertens, journalist, author of Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women (Algonquin, 2024) and host of "The Forecast: Seattle’s Weekly Women’s Sports Show" on KVRU 105.7FM, talks about her Slate article on the Trump administration's stated goal of "protecting" women's sports, while cutting the staff at the Department of Education that would investigate violations.
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The law and politics of the Cornell gang rape investigation
The national discussion about sexual assault on campus has been revived in the wake of a scandal at Cornell.
On Today's Show:
Alexandra Brodsky, civil rights lawyer and author of Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash (Henry Holt 2021), unpacks a recent lawsuit against Cornell University accusing the administration of negligence in their investigation and handling of a reported gang rape
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The departing UN Sec’y General cared about climate change. Did he make a difference?
With a host of geopolitical issues including military conflicts, trade wars and more, a look at the legacy of outgoing UN Sec. Gen. António Guterres.
On Today's Show:
David Gelles, reporter on The New York Times climate team who leads The Times’ 'Climate Forward' newsletter and events series, talks about Guterres' efforts to achieve results in combating climate change.
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Malcolm Gladwell thinks we’re having the wrong gun control debates
Longstanding discussions about gun control in the US and the 2nd Amendment may be missing some of the important pieces of the conversation.
On Today's Show:
Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of several books, including his latest, The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic (Little, Brown and Company, 2026), asks why the U.S. suffers from higher rates of gun violence than any other wealthy country.
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Trump and Gen Z soften on China
After a big week for international politics, we look at one of the key geopolitical relationships of our era.
On Today's Show:
Ishaan Tharoor, global affairs columnist at The New Yorker and Edward Murrow Press Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, talks about this week's UN General Assembly, the meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jingping and President Trump's take on globalism.
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How to end the partisan redistricting wars
For today's policy deep-dive ahead of the midterms, we look at the redrawing of electoral district lines, gerrymandering and fair representation.
On Today's Show:
Dan Vicuña, senior director of voting rights and redistricting at Center for Inclusive Democracy, discusses how this year's redistricting efforts may make the midterms elections less representative, and what each party is arguing with respect to redistricting.
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'People are wild.' Sarah Longwell on our weird political contradictions
Focus groups are often a good way to pair political opinions with voters' identity and demographics in ways that polling can't.
On Today's Show:
Sarah Longwell, political strategist, CEO and publisher of The Bulwark, host of The Focus Group podcast and the author of How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time (St. Martin’s Press, 2026), talks about what she's learned from focus groups on building an opposition to MAGA Republicans.
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30 Issues Election Series Debut: Universal Health Care?
This midterm year, several candidates have included a version of "Medicare for All" in their campaigns.
On Today's Show:
Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about how health care policy is playing out in the midterm elections, including which Senate candidates are running on "Medicare for all," and which candidates have different approaches.
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What can the U.N. do without US funding?
This week, the United Nations General Assembly gavels into session as numerous conflicts around the world draw international attention.
On Today's Show:
Mark Leon Goldberg, editor-in-chief and publisher of UN Dispatch and host of the podcast "Global Dispatches," previews the UNGA as world leaders gather at the United Nations.
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How state abortion bans are affecting women's health nationwide
On today’s show: Shefali Luthra, reproductive health reporter at The 19th, breaks down a lawsuit against Texas AG Ken Paxton, which claims a state abortion ban led to a woman's death. Then, we look at the rising numbers of pregnancy-related deaths in states with similar bans.
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Riding the MAGA wave for racial purity and profit
A new article argues that the Trump administration's foreign policy approaches are more about enriching officials than national security or prosperity.
On Today's Show:
Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, historian and author of Autocracy Inc. (Penguin, 2024), shares her reporting on how influential figures in MAGA world, including private citizens looking for personal gain, and others peddling anti-Democratic values, have become the primary way the U.S. does foreign policy, and are realigning the world order.
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One Democrat’s formula for building a supermajority
In a midterm year, many in the political sphere have ideas about the direction of their party.
On Today's Show:
Adam Jentleson, former chief of staff to Senator John Fetterman and a former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid and the author of Supermajority: How Democrats Can Build Lasting Power (WW Norton, 2026), argues Democrats need a supermajority in Congress and offers advice for achieving it, and suggestions for what legislation to enact if it's achieved.
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Close read of Amodei’s existential AI threat essay
A recent essay from a leader in the AI industry raised concerns about the threats that this technology poses to humanity.
On Today's Show:
Will Oremus, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses the uproar over the warnings of potential threats to humanity from unregulated AI, then Andrew Prokop, senior politics correspondent at Vox, talks about possible government actions to prevent disaster from the purposeful or inadvertent consequences of AI harm.
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Alaska , Ohio and Iowa are in play?
After the Republican National Convention, have the political conditions in battleground midterm states changed?
On Today's Show:
Stephen Fowler, political reporter with NPR's Washington desk, and Lisa Lerer, national political reporter for The New York Times, talk about the politics of the midterm elections, after Republicans held a convention.
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Hillary Clinton grapples with pre- and post-9/11 failures
The September 11th, 2001 terror attacks were an inflection point for New York, and for the United States.
On Today's Show:
Hillary Rodham Clinton, former U.S. Senator (D-NY, 2001-2009), First Lady, Secretary of State and the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party (2016), reflects on what's been learned in the 25 years since 9/11.
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FDNY 9/11 Chief on the hidden documents and lessons learned
Disaster response around the world can draw on the lessons of 9/11.
On Today's Show:
Joseph Pfeifer, retired FDNY assistant chief, founding director of the FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness, and the author of Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11 (Portfolio, HC 2021, PB 2026), talks about the lessons learned from the 9/11 response, and the heroes who stepped up that day and after.
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Asma Khalid on Islamophobia after 9/11 and now
On today's show: Asma Khalid, co-host of the BBC's The Global Story and former NPR White House correspondent, talks about the rise in Islamophobia following the 9/11 attacks and how it has changed over 25 years.
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Trump calls Iran War 'small potatoes'
On Friday, Pres. Trump used the phrase "it's small potatoes for us," in characterizing the conflict in Iran.
On Today's Show:
Jonathan Lemire, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNOW, writer for MSNOW and staff writer for The Atlantic, talks about the latest developments in the war in Iran and the president's influence on midterm elections.
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What the shaky bond market means for the global economy
Amidst rising inflation, ongoing wars in Iran and Israel, and the U.S. national debt climbing to a record $40 trillion, the global bond market is rattled.
On Today's Show:
Mary Childs, host of the talk show podcast Mary in America, author of The Bond King, and former co-host of Planet Money, explains why bond yields are so high right now and what it all means for the global economy—and for your wallet.
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The real costs of the war with Iran
When we talk about the 'cost' of war, how much is about financial costs? How much is about military costs? And what about humanitarian costs?
On Today's Show:
John Cassidy, staff writer at The New Yorker talks about how analysts, politicians, and every day people are calculating the cost of the Iran War.
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Wisconsin's Gov Race is a Test Case for Data Center Opposition
Wisconsin is becoming a major hub for AI data centers, and likewise, local advocacy and backlash against them.
On Today's Show:
Dan Kaufman, journalist and author of The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics (W. W. Norton & Company, 2018), reports on the movement against data centers in the state, and how it's turning into a major issue there and nationally ahead of the midterms.
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How 'Lake America' is about culture, not just tariffs
The Trump campaign to name things in his image continued this week as he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario Lake America. On today's show. Politico’s Ottawa bureau chief Nick Taylor-Vaisey talks about this and the escalation in President Trump's trade war with Canada.
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Can we fix polarization on campus?
Do college students need to interact more with those who hold different political views?
On Today's Show:
Neil Gross, sociology professor at Colby College in Maine and the author of What Happened to College?: How Politics Broke Higher Education and What We Can Do to Fix It (Simon & Schuster, 2026), discusses how political polarization on campuses has grown more pronounced, what the implications are for democracy, and what is being done to counteract it.
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Trump’s economic 'D-Day'
The cease-fire in the Iran war expires as Pres. Trump threatens an "economic D-Day" in an effort to gain leverage in the conflict.
On Today's Show:
Yeganeh Torbati, the Iran correspondent for The New York Times based in Istanbul and co-author (with Bozorgmehr Sharafedin) of Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran (Doubleday, 2026), reports on the latest developments.
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China's growing favorability around the world
For the first time, China was viewed more positively than the U.S. globally in a recent Pew report. On today's show, Adam Segal, Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council of Foreign Relations, talks about China's foreign policy and soft power.
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Heritage Foundation defector on 'crackup' of Project 2025 think tank
As part of a 3-part series on the divisions within political movements, we explore divisions within the conservative movement, through the lens of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank with a number of recent high-profile departures over issues like misogyny and anti-semitism.
On Today's Show:
Andrew Hale, fellow for international relations, economics, and trade at Advancing American Freedom, talks about the ideological and generational fight inside the think tank behind Project 2025, and what the battle over its direction says about where the Republican Party is headed after Trump.
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David Hogg on next-gen Dem politics
As we continue our series about internal divisions within different political groups, today, a look at the Democratic Party.
On Today's Show:
David Hogg, founder and president of Leaders We Deserve, co-founder and board member of March for Our Lives, and former vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, talks about what's dividing the party, from the fallout over the DNC's 2024 autopsy to the primary challenges his group is backing heading into the midterms.
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DSA platform vs. DSA politicians
In part one of a three-part series on the divisions within political movements, a look at the differences between the national DSA party platform and the policies espoused by DSA candidates winning elections.
On Today's Show:
Eric Blanc, assistant professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University, author of several books including We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big (University of California Press, 2025), and the Substack newsletter LaborPolitics.com, talks about what's dividing members of the Democratic Socialists of America, as the party is having some electoral success.
...
Winners and Losers in the Big Midwestern Primaries
Some recent primary elections in the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin and Michigan, have changed the landscape for November's midterms.
On Today's Show:
Rachel Leingang, Midwest political correspondent for Guardian US, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Teo Armus, reporter for The Washington Post focused on politics, demographics, voters and immigration, offers political analysis of the latest primary election results, including in Wisconsin and Michigan, and what they might signal about the midterms this fall.
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