Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. Historians for Tubman on the $20 (First) | Primarily New York: The Race For Attorney General (Starts at 22:23) | Twelfth Night in the Park (Starts at 48:42) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.…

In a riff on President Trump's campaign slogan, on Tuesday Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that America "was never that great," and the backlash from Republicans was swift. Listeners talk about whether or not they agree with the governor and why.

American singer Aretha Franklin died Thursday morning at the age of 76. Our listeners share their memories of the "Queen of Soul."

Corey Johnson, Speaker of the New York City Council, talks about issues facing the City Council and takes calls from listeners.

Dan Rivoli, transit reporter at New York Daily News, discusses how the MTA mess is playing out in the governor’s race, what Gov. Cuomo has done to try to rescue the subway, and Cynthia Nixon's plan to fix it.

David Glosser, retired neuropsychologist, formerly a member of the Neurology faculties of Boston University School of Medicine and Jefferson Medical College talks about how White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, one of the officials behind the Trump administrations hard-line immigration agenda, comes from a long line of refugees. As his unc ...…

As the New York State primaries are just about a month away, Juan Manuel Benítez, NY1 Noticias reporter and host of Pura Politica, and Spectrum News NY1 political reporters Grace Rauh and Zack Fink, hosts of their new Off Topic On Politics podcast, talk about the big races, with a focus on the four-way race among Democrats for New York Attorney ...…

We take calls from Catholic listeners who tell us who they feel after new revelations from a Pennsylvania grand jury report show an extensive sex abuse cover up by Church officials.

Listeners call in to share about what new neighborhoods they moved into this summer, and why.

C.J. Chivers, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, New York Times correspondent, former Marine Corps infantry officer and author of The Fighters discusses his new book, which tracks the lives of six U.S. fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and former clerk to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, talks about the record President Trump's SCOTUS nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and what questions he should answer during a confirmation hearing.

James Bennett II, WQXR staff writer, talks about the origins of the Neapolitan Tarantalla, the Italian ethnic stereotypes it signifies, and other pieces of music that are associated with certain ethnicities. Read more in his piece here.

Azi Paybarah, co-host of New York politics podcast FAQ NYC, and Christina Greer, co-host of the New York politics podcast FAQ NYC and political professor at Fordham University, speak about the Independent Democratic Conference and challengers to its members.

Amanda Sloat, Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, and Nahal Toosi foreign affairs correspondent at Politico, discuss how tensions have been simmering between the U.S. and Turkey, and how Turkey's refusal to release an American pastor hasn't helped. They also discuss the Trump administration's n ...…

Franklin Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about how former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, helped shape a new world order of corrupt foreign governments and how his work paved the way for a Trump presidency.

Elizabeth Cobbs, novelist and historian at Texas A&M University and the author of The Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers (Harvard University Press, 2017), and Catherine Clinton, professor of history at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and the author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (Little, Brown and Company, 2004), discuss ...…

A month before New York votes in the primary, Gloria Pazmino, who covers the New York City Council and City Hall for POLITICO New York, Ryan Whalen, Capital Tonight/Spectrum News Western New York Political Reporter in Buffalo New York, and Elizabeth Benjamin, host of @CapitalTonight on Spectrum News, discuss how voters all around the state are ...…

Larry Higgs, commuting reporter for NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, discusses why after many cancellations and delays, New Jersey Transit admits to unresolved problems that have let their customers down. LH discusses the latest news and what solutions might be ahead.

Mark Leibovich, chief national correspondent for the New York Times Magazine and Osita Nwanevu, staff writer for Slate, discuss the latest national political headlines. White supremacists attending the "Unite the Right" Rally in Washington, D.C. are vastly outnumbered by counter protesters; former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman's secret re ...…

Nikki M. James, Tony Award-winning actress, now starring as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and Shaina Taub, co-adapter, composer for and appearing as Fest at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, talk about the Public Works' production of Twelfth Night, a musical based on the Shakespeare comedy, which incorpor ...…

Andrea Bernstein, senior editor for politics and policy and host of the Trump Inc. podcast at WNYC, and Ilya Marritz, WNYC reporter and host of the Trump Inc. podcast at WNYC, talk about the latest developments in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, takes calls from listeners and discusses this week in WNYC. Asked about the NYPD’s release of demographic data on who is arrested for fare subway evasion. @NYCMayor says: “We will be putting forward our policy this month.” — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) August 10, 2018 A caller into @BrianLehrer is Af ...…

Cameron Kasky and Kyrah Simon talk about March For Our Lives effort to educate young people about gun control and bring out the vote. This week their bus tour goes to Newtown, CT.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. New York City Council Votes to Regulate Uber (First) | Mass Incarceration and the Challenge of Reentry (Starts at 25:30) | Middle School on the Screen (Starts at 49:30) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.…

Matthew Horace, former police officer and contributor to CNN, The Wall Street Journal and author of The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism and the Injustice in America's Law Enforcement (Hatchette Books, 2018) talks about racism within American police departments. → Event: Horace will lead a discussion of his book at the Brook ...…

Laura Nahmias, reporter for POLITICO New York and Dan Clark, Albany reporter for the New York Law Journal, talk about the political and financial implications of the NRA's lawsuit against New York State over the state's law banning"Carry Guard" insurance, which covers liability for shooting instructors and concealed-carry permit holders; and Go ...…

New York City is poised to become the first major U.S. city to impose a cap on Uber and other app-based ride-hailing services. Stephen Nessen, WNYC transportation reporter, discusses the implications of regulation and takes calls from drivers.

Elena Schneider, campaign Pro reporter for POLITICO, where she focuses on House and Senate races, talks about the results of Tuesday's primary and special elections, including in Ohio, where a special election for a House seat is still too close to call, and Michigan, Kansas and Missouri.

Leon Neyfakh, reporter at Slate and host of the Slow Burn podcast, talks about season 2 of his podcast on the Clinton impeachment, and discusses the role of impeachment as a political tool and how it relates to today.

Will Sommer, tech reporter for The Daily Beast and creator of the Right Richter newsletter, and Timothy Lee, tech reporter for Ars Technica, talks about the decision by multiple social media outlets and tech companies, including YouTube, Spotify and Facebook to ban content from noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from its platforms, and listen ...…

Dina Bakst, attorney, co-founder and co-president of A Better Balance, a legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights of working families, discusses her class action lawsuit against Walmart alleging discrimination against pregnant women, and Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Women's Rights Project, weighs in on ...…

Through the story of one massive raid, where the NYPD arrested more than 100 people in the Bronx in 2016, Mirela Iverac, WNYC reporter who covers poverty and homelessness, talks about the police department's evolving gang strategy, the community's reaction to it and how historically low crime rates play a part in the strategy. Isn’t “just selli ...…

John Otis, freelance journalist who covers Venezuela for NPR and The Wall Street Journal, talks about Venezuela's plans to launch a new currency in an attempt to get control of the crippling inflation and resulting economic crisis. Otis talks about this and this weekend's assassination attempt- by-drone of the President, Nicolás Maduro.…

Arne Duncan, former United States Secretary of Education and the author of How Schools Work: An Inside Account of Failure and Success from One of the Nation's Longest-Serving Secretaries of Education (Simon & Schuster, 2018), examines the disparity and decline of America's public school system, and how it can better compete in the 21st Century. ...…

George Joseph, staff writer at the Appeal, Simon Davis-Cohen, reporter at The Appeal, and Tom O'Brien staff attorney with Legal Aid's Criminal Special Litigation Unit, show how Bronx prosecutors use techniques to stretch out cases thereby undermining a defendant's right to a speedy trial, and further, how the practice plays out in court and aff ...…

Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA TODAY, discusses the latest in national political news, including details from the special counsel's trial of former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort. "If the special counsel succeeds in getting this conviction [against Paul Manafort], this would make it harder to argue that the investigation and ...…

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Elle Reeve, correspondents for VICE News Tonight on HBO, discuss the anniversary of the United Right March rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, recent Trump rallies and national politics.

Bruce Western, sociologist and co-director of Columbia University’s Justice Lab and the author of Homeward: Life in the Year After Prison (Russell Sage Foundation, 2018), shares his findings from research into the first year after incarceration and argues for more support for reentry.

Heidi Schlumpf, national correspondent at National Catholic Reporter and author of several books, most recently Elizabeth A. Johnson: Questing for God (Liturgical Press, 2016), discusses news from the Catholic Church, including recent allegations of sexual abuse in New York, New Jersey and Washington, and the Church’s stance on the death penalty.…

Jason Kander, president of Let America Vote, former Missouri Secretary of State, former Army Captain who served in Afghanistan, and author of Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I've Learned in Everyday Courage (Twelve, August 2018), talks about voting rights, veterans healthcare and the state of national politics ahead of the midterm elections.…