Eric Blanc, assistant professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University, author of several books including We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big (University of California Press, 2025) and author of the Substack newsletter Labor Politics, talks about the history of general strikes, and what makes them effective, and listeners call in if they are participating in Friday's general strike.

President Donald Trump and Democrats say they have reached a deal to avert a partial government shutdown. Siobhan Hughes, a reporter covering Congress in The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau, talks about the latest and whether Republicans will agree to limit funding and impose restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security. 

As the cold snap continues and the piles of snow linger, listeners share if they've taken up a hobby appropriate to the season.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter talks about Mayor Mamdani's first month in office, including challenges like this week's big snowstorm and a major budget crisis.

Russell Berman, a staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about how Republicans in Congress are speaking out against the deportation operation (and the fatal shootings), in a rare intra-party rebuke to President Trump, and what this might signal ahead of this year's midterm elections.

Lloyd Minor, M.D., dean of Stanford University School of Medicine and VP of medical affairs at Stanford University, talks about the big changes artificial intelligence is bringing to research and health care, especially related to cancer and chronic diseases, and shares how Stanford is training physicians to use AI.

Nostalgia for 2016 is a trend on social media this month, so we ask our listeners to reflect on the recent past. Are you nostalgic for 2016?

Reuven Blau, reporter for The City who covers criminal justice and the city’s prison system, talks about the man appointed by a federal judge as "remediation manager" and what that means for the jail's future.

As the cold weather continues, Patrick Spauster, City Limits housing and homelessness reporter, talks about the obligations landlords have to keep apartments heated, and what tenants should do if their heat or hot water isn't working.

Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast and Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School, and Rachel Poser, features editor at The New York Times Magazine, discuss their reporting on the The Federal Bureau of Investigation under the leadership of Kash Patel, after speaking to forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.