The Brian Lehrer Show

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled his plan to build 200,000 affordable units and preserve another 200,000 over the next decade. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, relays the standout details of the Mamdani administration's "Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era."

Photo: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks to the media as he stands with some of the people he has appointed to help with his transition to City Hall on November 24, 2025 in New York City (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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David B. Oppenheimer, clinical professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, co-director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law and the author of The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea (Yale University Press), argues that the idea that there is value in diversity in education and politics has a long history, and that attacks on the concept today are misguided.

Cover art courtesy of Yale University Press

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Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It, introduces this summer reading contest from All Of It and Get Lit, six books across six categories.

Photo by Luke Green/WNYC

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U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., talks about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2026). In it, Murphy identifies the underlying crises that have resulted in our current politics and offers solutions that could reinvigorate Americans' sense of the common good.

Photo: Cover art for Crisis of the Common Good. (Credit: Macmillan Publishers)

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New York State lawmakers are considering the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics, professor at Bennington College, former EPA Region 2 administrator and author of The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late (The New Press, 2025), talks about why she is advocating for its passage and what the bill would do if it becomes law.

Photo: A recycling bin in New York City. (Credit: RockyJennifer/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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.

Photo: Cover art for The Blind Spot. (Credit: Simon & Schuster)

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After the Knicks dominant performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, New York fans are feeling an overwhelming sense of exuberance. Listeners call in to share other sporting moments in their lives that brought this feeling—whether with a professional team or at a lower level.

Photo: Knicks fans celebrate winning the eastern conference championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 25, 2026 in New York City. Credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images.

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For Memorial Day, a new interview on its history, and some recent favorites:

The first interview was recorded for today.  The others were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

Advice for Finding Your Life's Work (April 22, 2026)

The Queen & the Presidents (April 14, 2026)

Moral Injuries on the Battlefield and Beyond (April 24, 2026)

A 'People's History' of the Mets (March 31, 2026)

photo: Spring Time at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia on April 9, 2024 (Arlington National Cemetery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

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

National News With Kai and Carter (First) | Hantavirus Fact and Fiction (Starts at 29:48) | How Belief in God Has Changed (Starts at 44:40)

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David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, discusses Mayor Zohran Mamdani's “South of Prospect Plan," which aims to rezone the commercial corridors of McDonald and Coney Island avenues south of Brooklyn's Prospect Park, as well as surrounding blocks, for taller buildings and more housing development.

Photo: Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. (Credit: Jim.henderson/Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0)

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