The Brian Lehrer Show

Michael Sol Warren, New Jersey reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the proposal to hike New Jersey's sales taxes for non-residents during World Cup this summer and updates the status of the state budget.

Photo: The Panini America FIFA World Cup 2026™ Sticker Collection Album Cover for Canada and the United States, unveiled today at MetLife Stadium on December 03, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Panini America)

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Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist and science educator at the American Museum of Natural History, explains the Artemis II mission, which marks the first time since 1972 that a crewed spacecraft has traveled to the 'lunar neighborhood,' beyond Earth's gravitational sphere of influence. Plus, listeners call in with their questions about the mission, and the future of lunar exploration. 

Photo: NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. (Credit: NASA, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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President Trump recently said it was "not possible" for the federal government to fund Medicaid and Medicare, despite a White House budget proposal that boosts defense spending to $1.5 trillion. Maya Goldman, healthcare reporter at Axios, unpacks what that means for the millions of Americans who rely on those programs and the states who'll have to fill the gaps.

Photo: Department of Health & Human Services, Washington, D.C., September 16, 2011. Credit: Sarah Stierch via Wikimedia Commons.

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Alex Mayyasi, longtime contributor to NPR's Planet Money, and now author of the book, Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026), and Mary Childs, a Planet Money co-host, share insights into making decisions on getting and spending money and why markets work the way they do.

EVENT:  You can see Alex and Mary, plus their colleagues at Planet Money, Darian Woods and Amanda Aronczyk, in conversation with Emily Oster, tonight at 92nd Street Y at 7.  Ticket info for in-person or streaming

(cover image courtesy of the publisher)

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Nick Reisman, POLITICO Albany bureau chief covering New York state government and politics and co-author of the New York Playbook, discusses the latest in state budget negotiations and the major sticking points, including early pension access for public school teachers and the buffer zones for protestors around religious institutions.

Photo: State Senators Liz Krueger, left, and Thomas O'Mara, right, debate a bill (S9631) that would extend various expiring laws that allow the Department of Motor vehicles to collect certain fees and pay operating costs on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Tuesday was the last day of the state's fiscal budget year. (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)

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Listeners call in on the question, "where do you find meaning, ritual, and the sense that you are part of something larger than yourself outside of a religious context?"

Photo: a book club meeting. Credit: Alex Dos Santos via Pexels.

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Sarah Fitzpatrick, staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and the Department of Justice, discusses the latest news from the U.S. military, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recent firing of the Army’s top officer and more.

photo:  The US department of Defense building is known under the metonym "The Pentagon" due to its shape. (Master Sgt. Ken Hammond, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Two of our favorite segments for this week, in case you missed them.

How Gaza and Zionism Are Dividing Synagogues (First) | A Christian Perspective on the Politics of Immigration (Starts at :41)  

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photo: Jerusalem, old city, historical religious sights (Ahed izhiman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Some politicians have been claiming that a Christian revival is occurring among young Americans. Luis Parrales, staff writer at The Atlantic, breaks down what the data says and listeners call in to share their experiences.

Photo: A large crowd sings and prays together at Together 2016, a Christian revival on the National Mall on Saturday, July 16, 2016, in Washington, DC (by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images).

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Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than a year after participating in protests near Columbia University, discusses what she endured in an ICE detention facility in Texas and speaks about the conditions that she describes as "horrific," joined by her attorney Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a clinical associate professor at Boston University School of Law.

Photo: Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student Leqaa Kordia greets family, friends and supporters at a welcome home rally on March 22, 2026, in Paterson, New Jersey.  (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

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