The Brian Lehrer Show

Noah Shachtman, contributing editor at WIRED and contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, discusses his investigation into how Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan has surveilled his arenas and compiled databases of high-profile guests, allegedly tracking a trans woman, lawyers and protesters.

Photo: NEW YORK, NY - June 30: General views around Madison Square Garden on June 30, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images)

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As part of the yearlong series "Wild NYC," Marielle Anzelone, urban botanist and ecologist and the founder of NYC Wildflower Week, and Jessica Ware, entomologist and division chair of Invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History and co-founder of Entomologists of Color, talk about the moths, beetles, flies, and butterflies living around us and their role in making the ecosystem work.

Photo: Ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), a striking damselfly species native to New York City. (Photo by Marielle Anzelone)

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Ilan Stavans, publisher of Restless Books, professor of humanities and Latin American and Latino culture at Amherst College and the author of A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands (Restless Books, 2026), talks about the broad spectrum of American religious thought, from Cotton Mather to Lana Del Rey.

Photo: KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA - JULY 03: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 03, 2026 in Keystone, South Dakota. Trump is holding a rally and fireworks show at Mount Rushmore, kicking off a weekend of 250th Independence Day celebrations across the country. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Post-COVID, New York state and city officials have enacted a range of measures and tax breaks to speed up the conversion of old office buildings into new apartment complexes. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist discusses the latest, including an extreme structural failure that recently happened at Pfizer's former headquarters in Midtown. Plus, Peter Varsalona, principal and building design group team leader at RAND Engineering & Architecture, talks about office-to-residential conversions, additions to existing buildings and the engineering considerations involved.  

Photo: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani briefs the media with NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and New York City Emergency Management Department (NYCEM) officials on a Structurally Compromised Midtown Building on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

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As the NATO summit is underway, Drew Hinshaw, senior reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and Joe Parkinson, chief, world enterprise team at The Wall Street Journal, share their reporting on the changing relationship between Europe and the USA under President Trump, especially in light of complications from the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Photo: ANKARA, TURKIYE - JULY 8: U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, President of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit pose for a family photo at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Binnur Ege Gurun Kocak/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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NPR recently reported on a University of Michigan study that found that more than half of parents track their young adult children's locations. Listeners call in to share whether they do this or not, and if they do, if they think the benefits outweigh the potential costs.

Photo: Australia, Queensland, Brisbane Central Business District, Ann Street Asian girl daughter man father woman mother family smartphone ignoring each other absorbed in. (Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Astead Herndon, host and editorial director at Vox, talks about the state of the midterm elections, including the fallout in Maine after an ex-girlfriend accused Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner of rape, a tight senate race in Michigan and more.

Photo: BLUE HILL, MAINE - JUNE 9: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Collins (R-ME) for Maine's U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Photo by CJ Gunther/Getty Images)

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Michael Lange, New York City based writer, researcher, strategist, and political organizer, digs into the demographics of who voted for the DSA candidates in New York City's June primary, both for Congress and for state legislative offices, and what it tells us about political power in New York.

Photo: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 18: Congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at Kings Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined Mayor Zohran Mamdani ahead of next week's primary, and the start of early voting on Saturday, as the pair campaigned for Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who are challenging incumbents in Democratic primary contests. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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As the number of adults who report reading books has declined, Rose Horowitch, staff writer for The Atlantic, argues that we're living in a "post-literate world" and talks about what that means for society.

Photo: 28 April 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: Visitors to the Leipzig Book Fair get an overview of the book offerings at the Penguin Random House publishing group's booth. At the spring meeting of the book industry, some 2,000 exhibitors from 40 countries present their new book products. Austria will be the book fair's guest country. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa (Photo by Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

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Julia Moskin, food correspondent for The New York Times, breaks down her deep dive into how global production of berries has tripled since 2000, becoming the fastest-growing category in American produce, and how that consumer demand is being met by farmers and distributors.

Photo: 06 July 2026, Brandenburg, Beelitz: Blueberries are available for pick-your-own at the Jakobs-Hof in Beelitz during an event announcing the start of the 2026 blueberry season in Brandenburg. Photo: Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa (Photo by Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)

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