Politics Brief

The culture of Washington D.C. has come under scrutiny in light of allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. For years, the center of political power in America has been a boys club. Joining The Takeaway's Tanzina Vega to talk about the culture of the capital are Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a long-time national correspondent based in D.C. for the New York Times, and Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. Senator from Illinois and ex-Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.

Anna Kaplan, candidate for New York's 7th Senate District, and Michele Sterlace-Accorsi, Executive Director of Feminists Choosing Life of New York, join The Brian Lehrer Show to debate whether New York should pass the Reproductive Health Act, a measure that would allow for late term abortion in the state. This is the third installment in the series "30 Issues in 30 Days." 

On National Voter Registration Day, the New York City Campaign Finance Board led efforts to get more people registered to vote in the November midterms by the Oct. 12 deadline. As it turns out, getting young people to register is easy. Getting them to vote is a different story. Hear more, from WNYC reporter Shumita Basu, here.

Paula Casey wants to put up a statue dedicated to the women who fought for a woman's right to vote more than a century ago, but a confederate monument stands in her way. Hear her story on episode 3 of The United States of Anxiety.

Heather Hurlburt, columnist at New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer and former White House and State Department official under Bill Clinton, offers analysis of the president's speech at this week's United Nations General Assembly in New York on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Anthony Pappas, an associate professor of economics and finance at St. John's University calls himself a compassionate conservative, and he's hoping that'll endear him to his would-be constituents as a Congressman representing parts of the Bronx and Queens, even if not to his local GOP. The issue he really wants to talk about: the courts. "We are living under a judicial dictatorship," Pappas says, pointing to his own rocky divorce. Hear the full story, from WNYC reporter Jessica Gould, here.

Last week, McDonald’s workers rallied to demand the company enforce its sexual harassment policy and better train its managers and employees. This was the first multi-state strike to protest sexual harassment in the workplace in US history, and it united organizers of the TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund and the Fight for $15.

Annelise Orleck, author of "We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now", has surveyed movements to empower the powerless worldwide. She joined On The Media to explain how low-wage workers have been taking collective action to raise awareness of their stories around the world.

On The New Yorker Radio Hour, historian Jill Lepore speaks to David Remnick about her new book, These Truths, a survey of six-hundred years of American history with a focus on immigration, suffrage and the media. 

Washington Post national correspondent Philip Bump is on The Brian Lehrer Show, catching us up on the latest news regarding the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and how senators—and the president—are handling them. 

1992 was hailed as the "Year of the Woman" for the record number of female candidates elected to national office. Today, a wave of women candidates, many inspired by the results of the 2016 election and emboldened by the #MeToo movement, may help Democrats tip the balance of power in Washington. Joining The Takeaway are Tiffany Shedd, who is running for the Republican nomination in AZ-01, and Lauren Underwood, the Democratic nominee in IL-14. Later, we'll hear from Senator Patty Murray, who was sent to Washington in 1992's historic election cycle, and more.