Claire Maldarelli, associate editor at Popular Science magazine, talks about the shortage of helium that's made lighter-than-air balloons hard to come by, but also has implications for healthcare and space exploration.

Segment now @BrianLehrer on how deregulation of helium supplies in ‘90’s after ceasing investment in ‘70’s led to current helium shortage. So, we can’t manage helium. Seems like a strong case for the full #GreenNewDeal switch from polluting to clean energy. - #keepitintheground
— David Moore (@ppolitics) September 30, 2019


@BrianLehrer Helium balloons are the WORST. Not only do they waste helium, but because they are so often let go or fly off, when they deflate they wind up in the ocean where animals eat/choke on them.
— M DeMarco (@ireallyshouldbe) September 30, 2019

Helium Shortage: It's Not Just About Balloons

Newsmakers meet New Yorkers as host Brian Lehrer and his guests take on the issues dominating conversation in New York and around the world. This daily program from WNYC Studios cuts through the usual talk radio punditry and brings a smart, humane approach to the day's events and what matters most in local and national politics, our own communities and our lives.  WNYC Studios is a listener-supported producer of other leading podcasts including Radiolab, On the Media, Death, Sex & Money, Nancy, and many others.

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On today's show: 

Melissa Murray, NYU law professor, co-host of the "Strict Scrutiny" podcast and the co-author (with Andrew Weissmann) of The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024), previews the oral arguments the Supreme Court will hear on former President Trump's immunity case.







Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.

Special Coverage: Trump's Immunity Case Before the Supreme Court

Erica Orden, Politico reporter, talks about the media diets of the jurors on the Trump "hush money" trial. Plus, she recaps the testimony of David Pecker, the former publisher for the National Enquirer, who talked about that publication's "catch and kill" strategy, which suppressed negative stories about people like Donald Trump. 

The Trump 'Hush Money' Trial, So Far

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics, university professor at Columbia University, chief economist at the Roosevelt Institute, and author of The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society (W.W.Norton, 2024), argues the neoliberal idea of freedom has led to economic crises and social unrest and argues for a more humane, 21st-century reframing of the concept.

Reframing 'Free' Beyond Markets

With teachers and students off of school this week, we open up the phones to hear stories from local classrooms that would otherwise be missed if not for the vacation.

News From Your Classroom

Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event, including when the NYPD intervenes on campus protests and the pushback on his reported selection of attorney Randy Mastro to lead NYC's legal department.

Helium Shortage: It's Not Just About Balloons

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