The Brian Lehrer Show

David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the latest legal turn in the controversial sale of 5,000 rent-stabilized apartments owned by Pinnacle, the current bankrupt landlord, to another company that has a sketchy record of maintaining apartments.

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By threatening to take control of Greenland, President Trump has undermined a once-strong alliance with Denmark. Now, several NATO countries are deploying small numbers of troops to Greenland. Margaret Talbot, staff writer at The New Yorker, reports on anxiety and anger in Denmark and Europe.

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The West Park Presbyterian Church, a 135-year-old Upper West Side landmark, could soon have its landmark protections strip, allowing developers to turn the lot into luxury housing. Mark Ruffalo, award-winning actor and activist, and Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, discuss the community's effort to save the building from the wrecking ball, and hear from callers about their own connections to the space, which has served as an arts and community center for decades.

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Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now a cryptocurrency entrepreneur. But his recently launched crypto token—which he claimed would combat antisemitism—crashed almost immediately, fueling scam accusations. Leo Schwartz, senior writer at Fortune, talks about the former mayor's curious venture.

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Laura Jedeed, freelance journalist focused on American conservative and far-right movements and author of the Substack Firewalled Media dot com, talks about the shoddy screenings hopeful applicants to become ICE agents receive, which became clear when she was offered a position after applying at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hiring expo - despite her public profile as a journalist critical of ICE and the Trump administration. 

=> "You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof." (Slate, Jan 13, 2026)

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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is term-limited out and will be replaced by Mikie Sherrill on January 20th. Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and host of “Ask Governor Murphy,” offers the final recap of her monthly call-in show.

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At least 1,850 protesters have been killed in a brutal crackdown by Iran's government. Robin Wright, contributing writer and columnist for The New Yorker and author of several books on Iran, explains the political upheaval and why President Donald Trump has canceled meetings with Iranian officials and encouraged protesters to keep demonstrating, saying that "help" from the U.S. is on the way.

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Jimmy Vielkind recaps the proposals in Gov. Hochul's "state of the state" address, where she focused on affordability, and offers analysis of the speech as the governor is running for re-election.

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Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny, and a contributing opinion Writer with the New York Times talks about the justices' responses to arguments in two cases involving transgender student athletes, plus other Supreme Court news.

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The Queens neighborhood of Astoria has recently elected so many democratic socialists that political observers have dubbed it the "people's republic" and a part of the so-called "commie corridor" (which also includes its neighbors in western Queens and north Brooklyn). Naaman Zhou, member of The New Yorker's editorial staff, talks about the neighborhood's political shift and why its voters are so open to electing socialists.

→ How Did Astoria Become So Socialist?

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