The Brian Lehrer Show

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Kathy Hochul considers a ban on cell phones in NYC public schools (First) | Tiya Miles on Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (‎Penguin Press, 2024)  (Starts at 43:15) | A guide to summer wedding outfits (Starts at 1:07:00)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

DW Gibson, journalist and the author of One Week to Change the World: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests (Simon & Schuster, 2024), tells the story of the protests against globalization and their impact on subsequent activism, including today's climate protests.

Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago and author of the forthcoming The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's recent opinions on taxes and the First Amendment, and previews the major decisions still outstanding.

As summer begins and New York feels its first heatwave of 2024, listeners share their tips and tricks for beating the heat and keeping cool as temperatures rise. 

Stephen Petrus, director of Public History Programs at LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College and curator of “The Battle for Intro. 2: The New York City Gay Rights Bill, 1971 – 1986", talks about the work he and his students did in putting together a digital exhibit on the New York City Gay Rights Bill, which passed after a long fight between advocates and opponents, and Allen Roskoff, civil rights activist, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, and the co-author of the nation’s first gay rights bill, recalls his involvement in the bill and the activism that led to its passage.

Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes, journalists and podcast hosts, talk about their new podcast "Backfired: The Vaping Wars," about the public health debate over Juul and vaping in general.

Wardrobe guidance for some weddings is getting increasingly specific, sometimes even including "mood boards" to provide inspiration. Listeners planning -- or attending -- summer weddings call in to share how these new types of dress codes are a factor in their plans.

President Biden's latest executive action aims to help DACA recipients, and the undocumented spouses and stepchildren of American citizens. Allan Wernick, senior legal advisor to CUNY Citizenship Now!, CUNY's free immigration law service program, explains in more detail what the orders are meant to do, when they might take effect, and offers advice for callers in those groups.

New York City schools have a patchwork of rules surrounding phones in class, and students, teachers and parents say they are confused and frustrated. Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat New York bureau chief, shares her reporting on the issue, and talks about why Gov. Hochul is mulling a statewide ban on phones in schools.

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 a proposed mask ban, the rent hike, Muslim New Yorkers, and more.

Juneteenth's popularity is helping families discover details about enslaved ancestors. Listeners call in to share what they've discovered over the years and what tools they've used to uncover their ancestry.

On Juneteenth, Tiya Miles, professor of history and former chair of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History  at Harvard University and the National Book Award–winning author of All That She Carried, talks about her new book, Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (‎Penguin Press, 2024), that places Harriet Tubman in the context of the natural world she inhabited and her spirituality.

South Jersey political power broker George Norcross has been indicted on racketeering and other charges. Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and editor, and host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show,  who has been reporting on Norcross for years, explains what happened and what this could mean for Democratic politics in New Jersey.

Each year the news division hosts the WNYC Health Convening with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as an opportunity for healthcare experts and practitioners to inform WNYC's health reporting. This year, Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Columbia University, cancer researcher, co-founder of a new company named MANAS.Ai, which integrates AI and medicine, and author of several books, most recently, The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human (Scribner, 2022), Shinjini Kundu, M.D., PhD, fellow physician and computer scientist at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Paul Friedman,  M.D., chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, discuss how artificial intelligence is currently interacting with healthcare, including AI's role in diagnosing diseases, discovering the building blocks for medication, and  concerns related to patient privacy and algorithm bias.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D NY) talks about her work in Washington, including recent Supreme Court decisions and President Biden's immigration policies, and more.

The EU parliament has moved to the right after this month's elections, and climate initiatives are in the crosshairs. Karl Mathiesen, senior climate correspondent at Politico Europe,  offers analysis.

Mike Madrid, political consultant and the author of The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy (Simon & Schuster, 2024) , argues both parties misunderstand the many Latino voters and what resonates with them.

Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller, talks about his plans to take legal action over Gov. Hochul's indefinite "pause" of the congestion pricing plan, and other city news.

Muslim listeners call in to share how they are observing the holiday Eid al-Adha, which is the feast of sacrifice. 

Jamaal Bowman, U.S. Representative (D-NY16), talks about facing a challenge in the June 25th Democratic primary and the issues at stake in the race.