Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. A Long-Term Relationship With Your Smart Speaker (First) | Nebraska Sen. Sasse: Polarization as Rootlessness (Starts at 20:34) | 30 Issues: Medicare For All (Starts at 35:31) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.…

Andy Borowitz, comedian and creator of The New Yorker's "The Borowitz Report" column, gives his signature satirical take on today's news. .@BorowitzReport: Donald Trump Jr announced on Twitter that he is 50% Idiot, in an effort to silence haters calling him a total idiot. He misspelled DNA in the tweet.https://t.co/JNiooHHXJ6 — Brian Lehrer Sho ...…

This season, the Radiolab spin-off More Perfect is exploring all 27 Constitutional Amendments in words. . . and music. More Perfect producer Sarah Qari explores one: the 26th, which lowered the voting age to 18. A lot of people were upset during the Vietnam War that they could be drafted to fight, but not allowed to vote. It led to the slogan " ...…

Katie Rogers, New York Times White House correspondent, talks about the week's national political news, from Trump's stance on the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi to the latest on what's happening at the Mexican border. .@katierogers: For all the goodwill work Melania Trump did on her Africa trip, her comments (including about Trump's report ...…

Robert Reich, professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, and former Secretary of Labor, discusses the future of American labor if the Democrats take control of the House. .@RBReich: "A ban on stock buybacks makes a lot of sense."Says buybacks hurt workers bc ...…

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio takes calls from listeners and discusses this week in NYC. Under-the-weather @NYCMayor: "I'm your spokesmodel today that you've gotta take care of yourself...It's a good time to get ahead of the flu." — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) October 19, 2018

StoryCorps founder David Isay introduces and models his new project "One Small Step" that promotes conversations between Americans on opposite sides of today's political divides. .@daveisay says the '"One Small Step" project is the most difficult thing they're ever done on @StoryCorps. pic.twitter.com/9CWxZtXZkh — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehre ...…

This season, the Radiolab spin-off More Perfect is exploring all 27 Constitutional Amendments in words . . ..and music. Elie Mystal, executive editor of Above the Law and legal editor for WNYC's podcast More Perfect, offers his take on one: the 13th, which ended slavery. .@ElieNYC: The original constitution was a "racist and flawed document tha ...…

Defending Obamacare has become a uniting policy among Democrats running in the November midterms. United States Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders argues that, if Democrats take the House and Senate, Medicare for All is the right plan. .@SenSanders says his opponents always claim that he wants to raise your taxes but they seem to forget, he sa ...…

Max Boot, columnist at the Washington Post, senior fellow at The Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right (Liveright, 2018), talks about his defection from the Republican party following the election of Donald Trump. .@MaxBoot: With the passage of time, I'm willing to admit that the Iraq ...…

Dan Balz, chief correspondent covering national politics, the presidency and Congress at The Washington Post, talks about the political news of the day, and about the Democrats' prospects ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Was Khashoggi more of a villain than a victim in the Trump-Bannon worldview? Brian wonders if Trump is helping the Sa ...…

Comedian, writer, co-creator of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and founder of Lady Parts Justice, Lizz Winstead, gives her (comedic) take on the news of the day and the midterm elections, and talks about Lady Parts Justice's event "The Golden Probes," which takes aim at politicians who pose a threat to reproductive rights. Tickets and more in ...…

This season, the Radiolab spin-off More Perfect is exploring all 27 Constitutional Amendments in words . . ..and music. More Perfect producer Kelly Prime reviews one: the 27th which took 200 years to ratify! .@kmarieprime: Every single amendment is a way we're trying to become a more perfect nation. pic.twitter.com/rnZTBysuZS — Brian Lehrer Sho ...…

This American Life producer Zoe Chace talks about her experience following and reporting on Senator Jeff Flake, and what she learned about partisan politics and celebrity. .@zchace says Jeff Flake was truly undecided about Kavanaugh and made up his mind in front of the whole country. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) October 17, 2018 .@zchace: ...…

Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator (R NE), former president of Midland University in Fremont, NE and the author of Them: Why We Hate Each Other--and How to Heal (St. Martin's Press, 2018) argues that loneliness is the underlying cause of America's extreme polarization and the solution lies in finding deepening rootedness. .@BenSasse: "We need to distingui ...…

Jerrold Nadler, U.S. Representative (D, NY-10) and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, talks about what, beyond Mueller, oversight of DOJ would entail if the Democrats take control of the House. Mass incarceration is largely a state problem, but @RepJerryNadler says the federal government can lead the way, by changing laws and allo ...…

Greg Sargent, writer of The Plum Line blog at the Washington Post, comments on the current headlines and talks about his new book, An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics (Custom House, 2018). --> Greg Sargent will be at the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law on Tu ...…

DNC Policy Director Kalen Pruss discusses the kind of policies around infrastructure to expect from Democrats if they take the House in November. .@kalhartp: Our party often talks about climate and energy policy, but we can't meet our clean energy goals without making major infrastructure investments. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) October ...…

Wendy Zukerman, science journalist and host of Gimlet Media's podcast Science Vs, and producer Meryl Horn talk about the 311 data they analyzed to find out whether increased noise complaints really do go hand-in-hand with rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. .@wendyzuk: Message we heard over and over again is, if you can, talk to your neighbor. B ...…

Peter Baker, New York Times chief White House correspondent and contributor to Impeachment: An American History, talks about today's news in Washington and looks back at the Clinton impeachment. .@peterbakernyt: Democrats are ducking the impeachment issue, looking to appeal more broadly to electorate, but "there's such a hunger" in the Democrat ...…

As voice assistants like Alexa and Siri gain popularity, cultural critic and journalist Judith Shulevitz looks at the roles services like these may play for humans in the future. .@JudithShulevitz says she's fallen for her Google Assistant. She thinks of "him" as a chipper actor/waiter. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) October 15, 2018…

Adriano Espaillat, U.S. Representative (D, NY 13), discusses the Democrats' plan for immigration policy if they win the house. .@RepEspaillat expresses support for #AbolishIce: "We should have a law enforcement agency" that enforces immigration laws "with heart." Not concerned that it is a losing position for Democrats, though depends on how is ...…

Gothamist reporter Jake Offenhartz reports on Friday night's violence outside an Upper East Side Republican club after Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, spoke - and why no one from the group was arrested despite onlookers saying that they beat up protesters. We don't know who started the fight on Friday, but it is ...…

Washington Post national correspondent Philip Bump talks about the national political news from the past few days, as well as the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There is a historic number of women on the ballot who have made it past the primaries this year, but many in long-shot races. In most contested races, we'r ...…

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. Presidents Going to War (First) | The UN Warns of a Looming Climate Crisis (Starts at 21:19) | 30 Issues: The Future of Affirmative Action (Starts at 1:01:17) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.…

John B. Judis, editor at large at Talking Points Memo and the author of The Nationalist Revival: Trade, Immigration, and the Revolt Against Globalization (Columbia Global Reports, 2018), asks if there is a way to find a more equitable international order that avoids the extremes of dislocation and xenophobia. .@JohnBJudis: "Nationalism can have ...…

Oren Cass, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and Andrew Revkin, strategic adviser for environmental and science journalism for the National Geographic Society and author of (with Lisa Mechaley) Weather: An Illustrated History: From Cloud Atlases to Climate Change (Sterling, 2018), debate the effect the Trump administ ...…

New York Times opinion section staff editor Tariro Mzezewa discusses her most recent piece addressing the politics of Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and celebrities in general. .@tariro: "Because our president is a celebrity, it kind of makes celebrity culture part of our political discourse." pic.twitter.com/iSO6RIy32P — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLe ...…

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio takes calls from listeners and discusses this week in NYC. Reminder that today is the last day to register for November in NY (and change party affiliation for 2019)!@NYCMayor: "Get in the game, have an impact, make your voice heard." And call 311 or visit https://t.co/8AjCKzwZfO for more info. — Brian Lehrer ...…

Juan Williams, political analyst for Fox News and the author of What the Hell Do You Have to Lose?: Trump's War on Civil Rights, (PublicAffairs, 2018), and Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, debate the future of affirmative action under President Trump. .@TheJuanWilliams: "What you see here is an adm ...…

New York Times labor and workplace reporter Noam Scheiber, talks about the tensions between public sector workers and the Trump administration. What's behind Trump's move to forego pay raises?It can dovetail with long-term Trump and Trump-ally goals, such as the privatization of social security, while also sticking it to bureaucratic opponents ...…

In light of this past weekend's fatal limousine crash in Upstate New York, where 20 people died, Richard Retting, director of safety/research at Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants, gives tips on how to stay safe on the road in a large vehicle. And Anderson Araujo gives his perspective as a former limousine driver on how customers can vet t ...…

Coral Davenport, energy and environment correspondent at The New York Times, talks about the new UN report on climate change, which issued dire warnings about the consequences of a warming planet, and the unprecedented scale of what would have to be done to change the course. Behind the UN report: World leaders commissioned a panel of scientist ...…

David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, details the various ways immigration policies have changed since Donald Trump took office. .@DMiliband: Turkey, Jordan, Bangladesh "Those countries don't know whether to laugh or cry when they hear Americans saying, 'Oh, it's a crisis to have 10 or 20,000 people arrive' be ...…

Stephen J. Harper, economist, entrepreneur, former G-7 leader who served as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister, and the author of Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption (Signal, 2018), examines the global trends and the legitimate concerns of voters that led to the election of President Trump. Brian asks Harper to rea ...…

WNYC reporter Yasmeen Khan explains how to get a mural on an empty wall in your neighborhood and answers other questions submitted by listeners. Don't forget: You can submit a question to "Ask a Reporter" reporter @yasmeenkhan here: https://t.co/D8yuGcOl6X pic.twitter.com/45keb4I3rz — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) October 10, 2018…

Nancy Solomon, managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio, previews the contested races in the upcoming midterm elections for Congress and Senate in New Jersey, and Kai Wright, editor and host of WNYC’s narrative unit, host of podcasts United States of Anxiety and There Goes the Neighborhood and a columnist for The Nation magazine, discusses th ...…

Michael Beschloss, presidential historian and author of Presidents of War (Crown, 2018) talks about his new book that looks closely at how U.S. presidents have made the decision to engage in armed conflict throughout history. .@BeschlossDC reminds how rare it is for an American president to ask Congress for permission to declare war, even thoug ...…

Jane Eisner, editor in chief of The Forward, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist organization of America, and Mouin Rabanni, Senior Fellow with the Institute for Palestine Studies, look at how the Trump Administration policy has changed U.S. relations with Israel and Palestine, and ask -- for better or worse? .@MortonAKlein7 (pictured): prem ...…

Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly and the vice president for policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas talks about the rise of Brazil's far-right (and some would say, racist, misogynist and homophobic) presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who faces a run-off after he just missed winning the election outright. .@Braz ...…