The Brian Lehrer Show

Jessica Gould, education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the latest steps in, and funding for, implementing a cellphone ban for NYC public schools.

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Elaine Godfrey, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about her article on ways to extend the small joys of vacation into daily life, and listeners share their ideas.

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Jeffery Mays, New York Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall, offers political analysis of Andrew Cuomo's campaign interview and talks about what Mamdani's success might mean for the influence of the Democratic Socialists of America.

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Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York, makes his pitch to voters as he runs for mayor of New York City as an independent. 

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

Charter Revision Questions Are Set  (First) | HRT and the FDA (Starts at 33:36) | The NYPD Cracks Down on Cyclists (Starts at 56:27)

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For this "Summer Friday" we've put together some of our favorite conversations this year:

• Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of the "Work in Progress" newsletter and host of the podcast "Plain English," and Ezra Klein, New York Times opinion columnist and host of their podcast, the "Ezra Klein Show," co-authors of Abundance (Simon & Schuster, 2025), discuss their new book that argues limits placed by past generations to protect jobs and the environment are preventing solving shortages today.
• Bob Costas, sportscaster and talk show host, recent recipient of the Baseball Digest lifetime achievement award, reflects on the state of baseball and other sports today.
• Katie Barnes, ESPN senior writer and author of Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates (St. Martin's Press, 2023),Katie Barnes, ESPN senior writer and author of Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates (St. Martin's Press, 2023), discusses the controversy surrounding trans women in competitive sports, fact-checks ideas the broader public holds about fairness and gender in athletics, and talks about current rules various leagues already set in place to ensure equity and inclusion.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity and the original web versions are available here:

Building Solutions (Mar 18, 2025)

Bob Costas Reflects (May 7, 2025)

Parsing the Facts of Trans Women in Competitive Sports (Jun 3, 2025)

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Emma Wartzman, senior kitchen and dining writer at New York Magazine's The Strategist, offers the latest on "black spatulas" and how and why to avoid plastics around food, during The Strategist's Plastic-Free Kitchen Week.

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Speaker Mike Johnson sent members of the House of Representatives home for their August break a few days early in order to avoid a vote on releasing Epstein materials. Annie Karni, congressional correspondent for The New York Times and co-author (with Luke Broadwater) of Mad House: How Donald Trump, Maga Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby and a Man with Rats in his Walls Broke Congress (Random House, 2025), talks about how the years-old story is roiling Republicans and delighting Democrats, and more Congressional news.

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Chris Feliciano Arnold, director of the creative-writing program at Saint Mary’s College of California and the author of The Third Bank of the River: Power and Survival in the Twenty-First-Century Amazon (Picador, 2018), talks about his Atlantic article on the threats of denaturalization against citizens not born in the U.S. by the Trump administration and the chilling effect on free speech.

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WNYC/Gothamist reporters Stephen Nessen and Paige Oamek talk about the NYPD enforcement push against cyclists violating traffic rules, where the most summonses are issued and why violations often require trips to court.

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