The Brian Lehrer Show

Mike Kelly, columnist for The Bergen Record / NorthJersey.com and author of After Ground Zero: Everyday Americans and the Unhealed Scars of 9/11 (Bloomsbury, 2026), tells the stories of ordinary Americans, including many from New Jersey, who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, and talks about his related reporting at home and abroad over the past 25 years.

Photo: The Tribute in Light installation is tested over lower Manhattan in New York City on September 9, 2026, as seen from the "Empty Sky" 9/11 memorial in Jersey City, New Jersey. The twin beams shine from dusk on September 11 until dawn on September 12 every year. (Jeremy Weine/Getty Images)

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Listeners call in to pay tribute to the first responders and other people who put themselves in harm's way to save others on 9/11.

Photo: A victim of the World Trade Center attack is tended to by paramedics Septemeber 11, 2001 en route to the hospital in New York City. (Photo by Carolyn Schaefer/Getty Images)

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Hillary Rodham Clinton, former U.S. senator (D-NY, 2001-2009), first lady, secretary of state and the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party (2016), reflects on what's been learned in the 25 years since 9/11.

Photo: Six weeks after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York Senator Hillary Clinton joins family members of the dead for a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero, October 29, 2001 in New York City. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Joseph Pfeifer, retired FDNY assistant chief, founding director of the FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness, and the author of Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11 (Portfolio, HC 2021, PB 2026), reflects on his experiences as the first FDNY chief to respond to the World Trade Center 25 years ago, and how the attacks led to changes in crisis response, and the lingering health effects of the aftermath of the attacks.

photo: May We Never Forget, 2011 (Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Last week, Mayor Mamdani announced the creation of a new "Office of Worker Power." Julie Su, deputy mayor for economic justice, explains what that office will do, and unpacks some other organized labor initiatives her office has been working on.

Photo: Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 09, 2024 in Washington, DC. Su testified before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee about the Biden Administration's proposed FY2025 budget for the Labor Department. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters (Riverhead Books, 2018) and her latest, The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict (Riverhead Books, 2026), talks about the importance of conflict and offers a framework for resolving it constructively.

Book cover art courtesy of Riverhead Books

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On this first day of school for NYC public school students, composer, pianist, and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill, also the founder of Belongó, talks about his work to bring music education to New York City schools, and for youth on Rikers Island.

Photo: Arturo O'Farrill (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

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Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC, discusses the latest news as Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman attempts to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul to be the next governor of New York.

Photo: US President Donald Trump greets New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman on stage as he delivers remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, on August 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)

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Ralph Thomassaint Joseph, Caribbean communities correspondent for Documented, recaps Brooklyn's annual West Indian Day Parade and how the immigration crackdown targeting Haitian New Yorkers affected the festivities. Plus, Councilmember Rita Joseph, representing parts of Flatbush and Crown Heights, calls in to share how her constituents have been dealing with the changes.

Photo: Parade participants attend the 59th annual West Indian American Day Parade on September 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

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Asma Khalid, co-host of the BBC's The Global Story and former NPR White House correspondent, talks about the rise in Islamophobia following the 9/11 attacks and how it has changed over 25 years.
=> "Islamophobia Has Corroded American Values" (Atlantic, Aug 18)

Photo: Children counter-protesting a rally organized by people opposed to Park51, the so-called Ground Zero mosque, Sunday, August 22, 2010. (Photo by: David Shankbone)

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