Raymond Lesniak, State Senator from Union County who has served in the state Legislature since 1978 and a veteran attorney, makes his case to be the next governor of New Jersey ahead of the June 6 primary and discusses his political priorities, including lowering property taxes and criminal justice reform.

Check out the rest of the Senator's policy proposals here.

Philip Bump, writer for The Washington Post's politics blog, The Fix, discusses the latest political news, including whether or not there are actual tapes from the Oval Office that could be subpoenaed, and how Republican Senators are publicly criticizing President Trump's policies while quietly voting with him in hopes of scoring points with "non-Republicans."

"Polling suggests, as long as there is political cover for Republicans to stand with Donald Trump, then they’re going to do so," said Bump.

The Atlantic staff writer Rosie Gray talks about the latest on the James Comey firing and other news from Washington, D.C. Plus: Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and the author of The Fight To Vote (Simon & Schuster, 2016), explains why his organization is troubled by the establishment of a presidential commission to investigate voter fraud.

White House's attempt to spin this that FBI agents are happy about Comey firing "doesn't really pass the smell test," says @RosieGray.

President Trump wants to investigate... voter fraud? Tune in now: @mawaldman explains why @BrennanCenter is concerned about that. pic.twitter.com/w4p4oTkkew

@mawaldman says it does seem like every time there's a Russia storyline, Trump screams 'voter fraud.'

"Between the leaks and the photocopiers, that fell out of the order," says @mawaldman on studying voter suppression in the EO.

"This is one of those areas where 1 example can get blown up into an epidemic by ppl...trying to push a policy." -@mawaldman of voter fraud.

Take two. Melissa McCarthy sliding through the streets of New York in full #SNL Sean Spicer character pic.twitter.com/HC3Uc4QnSx

Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Lamont University professor, professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University and the author of Collective Choice and Social Welfare: An Expanded Edition (Harvard University Press, 2017), revisits his influential writing from 1970 in light of today's global economy.

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

Smells Like Watergate (First) | Einstein's 'Genius' (Starts at 22:43) | '13 Reasons Why' Triggers Teens (Starts at 45:01)

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

Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, former US Ambassador to Germany and now a Democratic candidate for governor of New Jersey, talks about his campaign to be the next governor of New Jersey, ahead of the June 6 primary.

"I'm a complete outsider. I've never held political office anywhere, including New Jersey," says @PhilMurphyNJ.

"The struggles of the middle class are not abstract to me," says @PhilMurphyNJ, talking about his childhood.

Not a fan of the privatization of Amtrak, says @PhilMurphyNJ. Says Amtrak, LIRR + NJ Transit should jointly oversee Penn Station.

Fred Kaplan, Slate's “war stories” columnist and the author of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War (Simon & Schuster, 2016), discusses President Trump's approach to Syrian Kurds (very different from Turkey's Erdogan) and North Korea (very different from South Korea's new, less hawkish president), plus the potential troop build-up in Afghanistan.

On the potential addition of 3-5K troops in Afghanistan, @fmkaplan says he doesn't really see what that would do to improve the situation.

On arming the Syrian Kurds, @fmkaplan says "this is a dilemma" -- on the one hand, Kurds have been most effective force fighting ISIS.

On the other hand, arming the Kurds will definitely anger the Turks, says @fmkaplan.

Trump is trying to increase pressure on N. Korea, & S. Korea's new pres. adopting more of a sunshine policy toward N. Korea, says @fmkaplan.

Evan Osnos, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of, now in paperback, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), and Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today, talk about the latest news from D.C. and the future of the Trump-Russia investigations since James Comey's termination. 

How likely is the fallout and pending investigation to lead to impeachment?

"What is more likely is that President Trump will lose his political clout," said Page. "He will be undercut in the way that Jimmy Carter was."

The new television series "Genius" is based on Walter Isaacson's biography of Albert Einstein. Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute and is the author of Einstein: His Life and Universe  (Simon & Schuster, 2017), the book that inspired the series. He revisits the themes of creativity and freedom that Einstein's story highlights.

Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, takes calls from listeners and discusses this week in NYC, including questions on the probability of home ownership in the City, lowering the Commercial Rent Tax for small businesses and expanding ferry service.