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The Brian Lehrer Show
The Brian Lehrer Show episodes
- Summer Friday: Ben Rhodes; DSA & Climate; Phishing; Oligarchy; Belief in God
On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including:
- Ben Rhodes, contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, co-host of "Pod Save the World," an advisor to former president Barack Obama and the author of All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches (Random House, 2026), talks about his new book that tells the history of the United States and its central conflicts through public speeches, from Benjamin Franklin to Donald Trump.
- Robinson Meyer, founding executive editor of Heatmap, talks about the DSA's evolving relationship to the Green New Deal and climate policy in general, as its members keep winning elections in big cities.
- WNYC has been targeted by scammers who posed as hosts, and offered authors interviews -- for a fee (which WNYC would never do). Rachel Tobac, co-founder and CEO of Social Proof Security, and Kenneth Atkins, assistant director of IT and data security at WNYC, talk about how to spot sneaky online phishing scams, and how to deal if you fall for it.
- Jeffrey Winters, professor of political science at Northwestern University and the director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies Program at Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and the author of The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies (Scribner, 2026), talks about the history of oligarchy, how to fight it, and why it maintains power in a democracy.
- Meghan Sullivan, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame and founder of the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, offers her take on the contemporary context for belief, or doubt, in God as religious affiliation largely declines in the U.S.
These interviews were lightly polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:
Speeches as a Key to American Identity (June 8, 2026)
What the DSA's Popularity Means for Climate Policy (July 7, 2026)
How to Avoid Sneaky Phishing Scams (May 5, 2026)
When Voters Support Oligarchs (May 26, 2026)
How Belief in God Has Changed (May 20, 2026)
Photo: Whimbrel on the beach at Fort Tilden beach, Queens. Rare shorebird for this location, 24 September 2021 (Remydee1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
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1 hr 50 min - Washington's Changing Approach to AI Legislation
Following a recent cybersecurity breech by OpenAI, in which two of their in-progress models autonomously hacked into the AI company Hugging Face, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pushing for an "AI Kill Switch" bill in Congress. Brendan Bordelon, AI and tech influence reporter at Politico, discusses Washington's changing approach to AI regulation amid growing concerns over cybersecurity in every sector, and unpacks how tech giants are hoping to guide the shift.
Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, leaves a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Altman is meeting with lawmakers to discuss artificial intelligence policy ahead of the August 1 deadline for AI leaders to develop a framework to limit AI security threats. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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41 min - The Case Against the SHSAT
After Stuyvesant high school admitted only 3 Black students for next year, Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of Inside City Hall and The Big Deal with Errol Louis, New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast "You Decide," argues it's time to end the use of a single test for admission to NYC's specialized high schools.
Photo: New York, NY, USA - March 21, 2021: Main entrance to Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan
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31 min - Why to Save a Language
Sophia Smith Galer, UK-based journalist and the author of How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words (Crown, 2026), talks about what's lost when a language dies.
Photo: A person leads a finger on the lines in the book, but instead of letters only question marks on the page in the textbook.
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27 min - Defining "Middle Aged"
Julie Beck, a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of their podcast "'How to Touch Grass", talks about the difficulty of determining when being "middle aged" actually starts.
Photo: Portrait of smiling multi-generation family sitting in living room
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12 min - Which Way Will the Senate Go in November?
Jessica Taylor, senate and governors editor for The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, offers analysis of the competitive Senate races ahead of this November's midterm elections, and discusses how likely it may be for Democrats to take control of Congress.
Photo: U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. on a Sunny, Partly Cloudy Summer Day in August
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41 min - Affordable Food in NYC
Karen Yi, WNYC and Gothamist reporter covering homelessness and poverty, talks about the mayor's announcement that the five city-run grocery stores will offer 30% discounts on key products, plus updates the effects of SNAP changes.
Photo: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announce that a core basket of everyday groceries will be 30 percent cheaper at the five new municipal grocery stores. The basket will include all fresh produce, meat and seafood, along with roughly 20 additional categories of pantry staples, dairy and refrigerated goods, Brooklyn on Monday, July 27 2026. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
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28 min - How We (Fail to) Care for the Aged
Lucy Schiller, a nonfiction writer and the author of Aging Out: An Exploration of Caregiving, Community, and How Americans Grow Old (Flatiron Books, 2026), shares what she learned when she investigated aging and eldercare, following her personal experience with her grandmother during the pandemic.
Photo: Male healthcare worker helping senior woman sit in chair - stock photo
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26 min - What Makes a Good Roommate?
Allie Volpe, correspondent covering mental health, relationships, wellness, money, home life, and work at Vox, offers advice for sharing living space with friends, family or strangers, as listeners share their own tips.
Photo: Two young woman hold bags and walk beside each other, in a European apartment complex. Via Getty Images.
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15 min - Tuesday Morning Politics: Trump, Netanyahu, Zelensky and the Midterms
Jonathan Lemire, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNOW; writer for MSNOW and contributing writer to The Atlantic, talks about the latest national political news.
Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
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43 min
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