A total of 29 people were killed in the unrelated mass shootings over the weekend. As the President addresses a nation, divided over how to solve the crisis of gun violence, John Nichols, The Nation national affairs correspondent, and Adriano Espaillat, U.S. Representative (D, NY 13), respond.

"There’s little doubt at this point that this president has been trafficking in racist and xenophobic tropes since he began his candidacy in 2015," says @NicholsUprising. "It has been amplified in recent months, not dialed down, as we head towards the 2020 race."
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) August 5, 2019


"[The President] tries to pivot to the death penalty when in fact someone like the shooter in El Paso made up his mind very early on that he would face death when he committed those horrendous acts," says @RepEspaillat on Trump's speech on last weekend's mass shootings.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) August 5, 2019


More info on @RepEspaillat's vigil here: https://t.co/1fwbFW4Cg3
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) August 5, 2019

Trump Addresses the Nation After Back-to-Back Massacres

Newsmakers meet New Yorkers as host Brian Lehrer and his guests take on the issues dominating conversation in New York and around the world. This daily program from WNYC Studios cuts through the usual talk radio punditry and brings a smart, humane approach to the day's events and what matters most in local and national politics, our own communities and our lives.  WNYC Studios is a listener-supported producer of other leading podcasts including Radiolab, On the Media, Death, Sex & Money, Nancy, and many others.

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Erica Orden, Politico reporter, talks about the media diets of the jurors on the Trump "hush money" trial. Plus, she recaps the testimony of David Pecker, the former publisher for the National Enquirer, who talked about that publication's "catch and kill" strategy, which suppressed negative stories about people like Donald Trump. 

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With teachers and students off of school this week, we open up the phones to hear stories from local classrooms that would otherwise be missed if not for the vacation.

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Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics, university professor at Columbia University, chief economist at the Roosevelt Institute, and author of The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society (W.W.Norton, 2024), argues the neoliberal idea of freedom has led to economic crises and social unrest and argues for a more humane, 21st-century reframing of the concept.

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Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event, including when the NYPD intervenes on campus protests and the pushback on his reported selection of attorney Randy Mastro to lead NYC's legal department.

Reporters Ask the Mayor: Arrests on Campuses; Randy Mastro

Jane McAlevey, labor organizer, columnist for The Nation and the author of several books, including (with Abby Lawlor) Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 2023), reflects on her life's work in organizing and recent wins for labor, and what she sees as crucial for workers to do if they want to continue the positive streak for unions.

Trump Addresses the Nation After Back-to-Back Massacres

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