Former teacher, city council member, Democratic mayoral hopeful, Sal Albanese talks about his campaign for Democratic nomination for mayor against the incumbent Bill de Blasio. He explains his vision for fixing mass transit with an improved signal system and for subsidizing rents to lessen homelessness.  

Primary elections for Mayor, Brooklyn District Attorney, City Council and more are coming up on Tuesday September 12. Learn more about the races in your district with WNYC's guide created with City Limits and Gotham Gazette.

After North Korea's latest nuclear test over the weekend, the largest yet, Jean Lee, global fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and former Associated Press Pyongyang Bureau Chief, talks about President Trump's bellicose response, how that affects the U.S. relationship to longtime ally South Korea, and what else to expect from the North. However, Trump's response and the Trump administration response are different. "The mixed messages are going to help North Korea," explains Lee, who is stationed in Seoul, South Korea currently. And she says that "as a proud American," she is worried, "that [Trump] will lead us into a military conflict that will destroy this region." 

On Tuesday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the executive action that protected young undocumented immigrants from deportation from the Obama era will be rescinded. There will be a "wind down process" of the program, also known as DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and could potentially affect around 800,000 individuals who currently benefit from it. The New York Immigration Coalition's Executive Director, Steven Choi, responds to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' briefing on the Trump DACA policy. 

Kurt Andersen, novelist, cultural commentator, host of Studio 360, and author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House, 2017), looks back through U.S. history, from the Salem witch trials to the 2016 election, and finds plenty of evidence that Americans have always cherished their "alternative facts." 

EVENTS: Andersen will be in conversation with Kwame Anthony Appiah, followed by a Q&A, and signing on Tuesday, September 5th, at the New York Public Library, 11 West 40th Street at 6:30 P.M. More information here. Additionally, he will be at the Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, September 26th, at 7:30 P.M. More information here. 

Meet the Democratic candidates running for Brooklyn DA. 

Primary elections for Mayor, Brooklyn District Attorney, City Council and more are coming up on Tuesday September 12. Learn more about the races in your district with WNYC's guide created with City Limits and Gotham Gazette.

Kathleen Rice, U.S. Representative (D-NY, 4th), talks about what she heard in the district during the recess and what Congressional Democrats need to do in September, and going forward. Rep. Rice has been vocal about trying to get rid of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in efforts to get in touch with a broader Democratic base. "We need to show we are hearing the voters that didn't vote for us," she says.  

In case you missed them, hear three of our favorite segments from the week:

How Miniskirts Swayed U.S. Military Intervention in Afghanistan (First) | Many Ways of Seeing the World with The Ethicist (Starts 25:25) | New Jersey in the House (Starts 47:40)

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

Since the Charlottesville rally earlier this month, debates on whether to keep confederate monuments are heating up. Listeners call in with their take on whether or not controversial monuments should be taken down. Will bringing them down bring more division? Or will it enlighten people to history and open their minds? 

If you think the Trump presidency is a moral outrage, do you want the grown ups in his administration to quit to help discredit him or to stay because someone with adult judgment needs to be there in a crises? Should there be a Trexit: an exodus of cabinet members or other key figures from the Trump administration? Listeners call in with their opinions on the responsibility of those around Trump.

Former white nationalist Derek Black went to college and his belief system was totally changed from that point on. For Black, being in a space to dialogue with other people who didn't just shoot him down, but rather who exchanged ideas and beliefs with him, helped usher him out of the movement. What did college open your eyes to? Or what in your life challenged the beliefs that you were taught as a kid? Listeners share their stories of a change of heart.