Politics Brief

The United States of Anxiety is back with a new season. In the first episode, hear from Jennifer Willoughby and Saily Avelenda, women who toppled two political giants. Plus, want to know the real reason the 2018 midterms could make history? It has to do with a number political scientists call the "gender gap."

John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance, and Aaron W. Gordon, transportation reporter and author of the weekly subway newsletter Signal Problems, join The Brian Lehrer Show to talk about the future of NYC's deteriorating subway system in light of last week's primaries. 

Allegations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a high school classmate decades ago have thrown the judge's Supreme Court confirmation into disarray. The Senate has been here before, in 1991, when Anita Hill testified that she was sexually harassed by Clarence Thomas. In the 27 years since then, lots of things have changed, including the number of women in the Senate who will decide whether or not Kavanaugh will be confirmed. This season the WNYC podcast The United States of Anxiety looks at the role of gender in today's political landscape.

Facing the criticism that nearly 3,000 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, President Trump has claimed that the death toll was a fabrication by Democrats. Joining On The Media is Yarimar Bonilla, political anthropologist. She argues that Trump's lies could be an opportunity. Instead of allowing the president to drag the debate back to the basic facts of Maria, Bonilla says, Puerto Ricans and their allies could harness the attention for deeper understanding of how the island's problems do not begin or end with President Trump. 

On The Brian Lehrer Show, Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, argues New York's elections are in need of reforms. Later, Gloria Pazmino, politics reporter at Politico New York, talks about who may be on the ballot in the November election, and how thay might affect the political makeup of the New York State Senate. 

The Pew Research Center has been studying American’s public political values since 1994, and says the gap between Democrats and Republicans is wider than it's ever been. Carroll Doherty, the director of political research at Pew, joins The Takeaway to explain how we got here.

Also joining are John Tanner, a former member of congress; Bruce Reed, former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden; Helen Milby, founder and board chair of the progressive organization The New Deal; and John Murray, who served as deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Bill Lipton, director of the Working Families Party in New York, and Maurice Mitchell, the WFP national director, join The Brian Lehrer Show to talk election results and look ahead to November. Later, City Comptroller Scott Stringer weighs in.  

In the state of Florida, 40 percent of black men cannot vote, and suppression strategies like voter ID laws and voting roll purges make this possible. Carol Anderson, professor of African-American studies at Emory University joined the Brian Lehrer Show to discuss this and her new book, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy. 

Lauren Chooljian, politics reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio, joins the Takeaway to break down the results of a couple key races in her state.

It’s the day before the New York state primaries, and if you’re a registered Democrat, you might find something a little different in your mailbox. Not those glossy, full-color filers from the candidates. Something a little more … motivating. WNYC’s Shumita Basu explains.