Ann Powers, NPR Music critic and correspondent, talks about the legacy of the country music artist Dolly Parton, and listeners call in to share their tiny eulogies, memories and favorite songs and facts about the late icon, who died this week.

Photo: Dolly Parton attends the opening of Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum's new exhibit 'Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker' at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on May 19, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about new CDC data showing kindergartner vaccine exemptions at a record high, and the bipartisan doubts about Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump's nominee to lead the FDA.

Photo: As eight-year-old girl receives a polio vaccine, she watches a closed circuit television broadcast (showing Dr Jonas Salk as he inoculates a boy) of a training telecast for physicians and scientists, New York, New York, April 12, 1955. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

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Chronic flooding in Northeast Queens has prompted many residents to leave their neighborhoods altogether. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards discusses what the city is doing to bolster the sewage system and institute safety measures during floods, and unpacks the city's new potential plan to offer buyouts to homeowners in the hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Photo: A flooded intersection in Queens (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency)

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Jill Lepore, professor of American History at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker, and the author of several books, including The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State (Liveright, 2026), talks about our reliance on data and algorithms and what it means for society and government.

Image: Composite image of Capital Building with binary numbers (TGI/Tetra Images via Getty Creative)

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Yeganeh Torbati, the Iran correspondent for The New York Times based in Istanbul and co-author (with Bozorgmehr Sharafedin) of Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran (Doubleday, 2026), reports on the latest developments in the Iran war as the cease-fire expires and Pres. Trump threatens an "economic D-Day."

Photo: Currency exchange office is seen as daily life continues amid persistent tensions between Iran and the United States in the Iranian capital Tehran, on August 24, 2026. US President Donald Trump said he had announced an unprecedented economic D-Day operations targeting Iran and threatened countries supporting the Tehran administration with severe economic consequences. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Greg David, contributor covering fiscal and economic issues for THE CITY and director of the business and economics reporting program and Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and Nancy Jiang, journalism student and summer intern for The City Reporter, talk about the effects of NYC's "K-shaped" economy, with growing numbers of the very wealthy and the people qualifying for SNAP benefits. Plus, Greg explains the current turmoil in the bond market.

Photo: An EBT sign is displayed on the window of a grocery store on October 30, 2025 in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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John Ourand, sports correspondent at Puck, talks about skyrocketing sports team valuations, a new private equity investment in the Yankees, and the potential 2027 MLB lockout.

Photo: Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Atlanta Braves at Yankee Stadium on August 9, 2026 in New York, New York. (New York Yankees/Getty Images)

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As part of the yearlong series "Wild NYC," Marielle Anzelone, urban botanist and ecologist and the founder of NYC Wildflower Week, and Kelly Vilar, CEO of the Staten Island Urban Center, discuss efforts to add more green spaces to underserved neighborhoods.

Photo: Marielle Anzelone and Kelly Vilar from the Pop UP Forest project they did together at Tompkinsville Park in Staten Island (by Marielle Anzelone)

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Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

Divisions Within Political Movements: The DSA (First) | Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty (Starts at 34:26) | The Elizabeth Street Garden, and More Housing News (Starts at 1:02:02)

If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Photo: New York City Democratic Socialists (NYC-DSA) hold a rally in Union Square marking the start of a campaign to tax the rich and win universal childcare on November 16, 2025, in New York City, United States. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including:

These interviews were lightly polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

Elie Mystal on the Supreme Court & the Constitution (July 7, 2026)

Kimberlé Crenshaw's Life and Work (May 11, 2026)

Today's Inequality & NYC's Post-1970s Recovery (July 7, 2026)

Rossana Rosado's Bronx Attitude (July 15, 2026)

Photo: People resting on grass at Sheep Meadow: Central Park, N.Y.C., 1997 (LBM1948, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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