The Brian Lehrer Show

David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic daily newsletter, plus author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2025), talks about the context and implications of Pres. Trump's takeover of policing in Washington, D.C., plus other national news.

Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), member of the Vaccine Integrity Project, and the author, with Mark Olshaker, of the forthcoming book, The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics (Little, Brown Spark, 2025), talks about RFK Jr.'s cuts to mRNA vaccine development and what they mean for public health and science, plus other vaccine-related news.

Myles Ehrlich, WNBA senior writer covering the New York Liberty for Winsidr.com and co-host of the podcast "Pull Up with Myles and Owen," talks about ongoing negotiations between WNBA players and owners, where owners say the league is not yet profitable, despite a boom in growth and popularity, and players say they deserve more of a share of the revenue.

Adam Gopnik, staff writer for The New Yorker, and author of The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery (Liveright, 2023), talks about some of the key people in the history of gambling in NYC.

Caroline Lewis, health care reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, and Joe Hong, investigative data reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talk about the ongoing Legionnaires' outbreak in Central Harlem, why New York is a hot spot for the disease, and why city inspections of cooling towers were at a low point ahead of the outbreak.

After many delays and negotiations, most of President Donald Trump's tariffs went into effect last Thursday, August 7th. Eric Levitz, senior correspondent at Vox, break down the latest news — including why Trump’s tariffs, no matter how tough they might be on American pocketbooks, might be very hard to reverse.

Tad Friend, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of In the Early Times: A Life Reframed (Crown, 2022), talks about his article "How to Live Forever and Get Rich Doing It" about researchers selling the idea of defeating death.

Arun Venugopal, senior reporter for WNYC's race & justice unit, shares his reporting on how the tourism industry in NYC is suffering because of President Trump's tariffs and other policies.

Martha Barnette, co-host of the radio show and podcast A Way with Words and author of Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland (Harry N. Abrams, 2025), shares some fascinating stories of where words like "spam" and "cocktail."

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. Robert Reich's Critique of Fellow Boomers (First) | What to Know About the Eating Disorder ARFID (Starts at :33) | The Gen Z Intimacy Recession (Starts at :52) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

For this "Summer Friday" we've put together some of our favorite conversations this year: David GrahamThe AtlanticThe Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping AmericaDeb WhitcraftEmil SalviniAndrew MarantzThe New YorkerAntisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American ConversationTina JordanThe New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review: 125 Years of Literary History These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity and the original web versions are available here: Catching Up on Project 2025 (Apr 25, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: The Jersey Shore (Aug 12, 2024) How the Left Can Connect with Young Men (Mar 28, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: Best Sellers (May 21, 2025)

The animal shelters in New York are full. There are feral cat colonies around the city. So what do we do? Will Zweigart, executive director of Flatbush Cats, a nonprofit cat rescue group, explains how we got to this point and makes some suggestions for what New York can do about all the cats.

Carter Sherman, author of The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future (Gallery Books, 2025), and a reproductive health and justice journalist at the Guardian, talks about the decline in sex and intimacy among young people and what role the internet and hookup culture have played in shaping a generation's new cultural mores.

Amy Nofziger, director of victim support at AARP's Fraud Watch Network, discusses the latest trends on how scammers are tricking people into giving them money and personal information and brings tips on how to avoid scams.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, offers political analysis of Brian's candidate interview with Zohran Mamdani, and other campaign-related news.

New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D-AD36), the Democratic nominee for mayor, makes his pitch to voters as he runs for mayor of New York City.

ARFID is an eating disorder that often presents as extremely picky eating, but that can quickly turn serious. Caitlin Moscatello, author and contributor to New York Magazine, and William Sharp, director, Children’s Multidisciplinary Feeding Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; and associate Professor, Division of Autism and Related Disorders & Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition in the Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, explain how to recognize signs and how treatment is evolving.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, talks about the latest news from the campaign trail, as some national Democrats have endorsed Mamdani and others haven't, plus why Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Adams continue to criticize Zohran Mamdani over policing.

With Congress on summer recess after passing the big spending bill, GOP representatives are now tasked with defending their legislative records to their constituents. Eleanor Mueller, congress reporter at Semafor, talks about the particularly tough crowd Republican congressman Mike Flood faced on Monday evening and other news coming out of Congress.

Patrick Willingham, executive director of the Public Theater, and Saheem Ali, associate artistic director at the Public Theater and director of the upcoming run of Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Teater, talk about the reopening of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and the return of Free Shakespeare in the Park.