Claim OwnershipBrian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast
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Daily thoughtful conversation about the latest news and politics.
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One of the nation's most prolific historical documentarians takes on the American Revolution, ahead of next summer, when the US will celebrate its 250th birthday. On Today's Show:Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, and Sarah Botstein, co-director of "The American Revolution," talk about their new, 12-part docuseries on PBS called "The American Revolution," which is being released ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, in July 2026.
Due to the government shutdown, millions of Americans are likely to miss their Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) paychecks starting this Saturday. On Today's Show:Grace Yarrow, food and agriculture policy reporter for POLITICO and author of POLITICO Pro's daily Morning Agriculture newsletter, reports on which states will be most impacted and how recipients are preparing. Plus, Karen Yi, WNYC and Gothamist reporter covering homelessness and poverty, explores how local and state resources are responding to the expected needs of NYC's communities.
The federal shutdown continues, as President Trump continues to push the limits of executive power.On Today's Show:Joyce Vance, a legal analyst for MSNBC and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, University of Alabama School of Law professor, and author of the Civil Discourse Substack, and of the new book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy (Dutton, 2025), talks about the rule of law and offers legal and historical context for the current moment in American history as she calls for citizens to uphold the Constitution.
On Today's Show:Julia Ioffe, founding partner and Washington correspondent of Puck and the author of Motherland: A History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy (Ecco, 2025), talks about her new book that delves into the feminist history of Russia and why it offers context for the war in Ukraine, and the latest news of Melania Trump's backchannel conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The nation's largest city is in the midst of both a mayoral election, and various standoffs with the Trump administration.On Today's Show:Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of Inside City Hall and The Big Deal with Errol Louis, New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast "You Decide," talks about how each mayoral candidate says they will respond to ICE or other federal agents conducting raids in the city, like the one that happened earlier this week in Chinatown.
In response to the "No Kings" protests this weekend, President Trump shared an AI-generated video involving brown liquid that surely signifies excrement. On Today's Show:Stuart A. Thompson, reporter at The New York Times covering online influence, breaks down his latest reporting on how President Donald Trump is using fake artificial intelligence generated imagery to attack his perceived enemies and successfully rouse his supporters.
Recently, President Trump commuted the sentence of former Long Island congressman George Santos.On Today's Show:Grace Ashford, New York Times reporter covering New York State politics and government, talks about why Trump wanted Santos's early release after serving less than three months of his long sentence for crimes related to theft and fraud.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called this weekend's "No Kings" protests "hate America" rallies. On Today's Show:Listeners call in to share what they were rallying for and against, and respond to Johnson's characterization of the marches.
The Supreme Court has, over the past few years, opted to grant the federal government and the executive branch more and more leeway. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019) previews the cases the Supreme Court will take up in its new term, including a redistricting case they are hearing arguments on this week, and offers analysis of just how much presidential power the court will afford to President Trump in upcoming decisions.
President Trump has been using different executive agency programs to target certain cities. On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D NJ) weighs in on the Trump announcement that the Gateway tunnel project is "terminated."
The federal government shutdown is now in its 15th day.On Today's Show:David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, talks about the latest national political news, including the latest on President Trump's 'autocratic' tendencies.
On Saturday, the Trump administration rescinded the layoffs of hundreds of scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were mistakenly fired the day before. On Today's Show:Apoorva Mandavilli, science and global health reporter at The New York Times, explains what happened and who remains at the CDC.
On today's show: Julian Brave NoiseCat, writer, filmmaker, student of Salish art and history and the author of We Survived the Night (Knopf, 2025), talks about his new book, the story of North American indigenous people through his reporting and his own story, all in the style of a traditional "coyote story."
Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado has been named as the 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.On Today's Show:Gideon Rose, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the former editor of Foreign Affairs and author of How Wars End (Simon & Schuster, 2010), talks about Corina Machado's work, and related world news.
The federal government shutdown continues, as Trump's efforts in the Middle East draw praise.On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, co-host of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, contributing writer at The Atlantic and author of the book,The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022), talks about what he calls the "project 2025 shutdown" and more national political news.
As the federal government shutdown enters its second week, a Democrat in the Senate shares his insights.On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) talks about the ongoing shutdown and how issues like the Affordable Care Act are a part of the negotiations.
President Trump is making moves to deploy national guard troops to cities like Chicago and Portland, OR. On Today's Show:Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, talks about how states are reacting and why a federal judge keeps blocking the plan for Portland.
As the federal government shutdown continues, how is the White House using it for political leverage?On Today's Show:Russell Berman, a staff writer at The Atlantic talks shares the latest shutdown news. Note: This conversation was recorded on Friday morning about a developing story.
It's the second day of the latest federal government shutdown over funding.On Today's Show:Politico congressional reporter Nicholas Wu talks about the latest on the impasse, who is getting blamed for the shutdown, and what it will take to end it.
Universities have had to contend with a climate of protest, and pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on it. On Today's Show:Christopher Eisgruber, president of Princeton University and the author of Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right (Hachette, 2025), talks about issues of free speech and campus politics at Princeton, and the university's relationship with the Trump administration.
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because Dems love voter fraud
I am very confused. why did we just listen to him say the days and dates?
seems to me that if they weren't a danger to anyone, then they should have never been incarcerated in the first place.
we need to support our health care workers who have children and other family responsibilities
trump's Russian playbook
3 minutes in and I am very confused.....
i call false equivalency. the dems level of desire for witnesses in the clinton impeachment versus the trump impeachment are apples and oranges, and not, as you say, a product of political expediency. the clinton impeachment senate had special prosecutor starr's ~massive~ investigation to work from, which included an enormous number of depositions from any and all witnesses, along with infamous reams of documents. in the trump case, the house was forced to do the investigation on their own, and were denied access to almost every single document and witness. so obviously, witnesses are a magnitude more essential now than before.
I'm thinking that when trump says to his sycophants that he needs a big tough guy event that segways into his rallies , a kickoff to his 2020 campaign, they think this Iranian general is the ticket. they could blow him up, surgically, with no collateral damage, and insto presto trump's next political ad shoots itself. how shortsighted...this one act has taken a divided Iran and unified them under 1 bloody ideology of America's destruction. way to go trump.
Jesus of Nazareth was accused of blasphemy, not treason.
yes
This Is true Xmas cheer! “When this comes out...Ukraine will look like spilt milk“ Michael Moore.
she sounds rational but I don't trust it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
who knows what the truth is but this is seriously the craziest saga with really bad actors who keep acting bad
Ok...so does this mean Michael Isikoff is saying "nevermind" to his own book? Since apparently nothing in the Steele dossier is corroborated?
just found this show and I must say that in the midst of severe division and ugliness that pervades us currently, this show presented a constitutional perspective that really adds to this conversation of impeachment. thanks and great work.
Hilarious and expected that you only interview liberals. Can you get anymore biased??? #FakeNews #Trump2020 #AMERICAFirst #BuildTheWall #EndLiberalism
Just say something for something else. Translate the Latin & have done with it.