The Brian Lehrer Show

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Researcher and strategist Michael Lange on the broad coalition that propelled Zohran Mamdani to victory in the NYC mayoral election (First) | A post-election interview with New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherril (Starts at 46:55) | A.J. Jacobs tries life without A.I. (Starts at 58:30)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Hannah Frishberg, New York City arts and culture reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, shares some non-politics related activities for the weekend as listeners share how they're shifting their attention away from the mayoral race and back to cultural activities or other forms of civic engagement. 

Mark Levine, Manhattan borough president and Comptroller-Elect, talks about his election victory, the transition from Manhattan borough president to citywide office, and more.

Toluse Olorunnipa, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses the latest national political news as Rep. Nancy Pelosi announces her decision to retire from Congress in 2027 and the government shutdown, already the longest in U.S. history, goes on.  Photo: The western front of the United States Capitol. The Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. (Noclip, Public domain, via  )

Molly Fischer, staff writer at The New Yorker, talks about her reporting on Costco's storied company culture and whether it can endure as the company continues to grow.  

Michael Lange, New York City-based writer, researcher, strategist, and political organizer, talks about the broad coalition that Zohran Mamdani put together for his decisive win in the New York City mayoral election.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week on the legality of President Trump's tariffs.  Aziz Huq, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and author of The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), offers legal analysis of the case, and how the justices might be inclined to rule, based on their questions.

Irin Carmon, senior correspondent at New York Magazine, co-author of Notorious RBG (Dey Street Books, 2015), and, most recently, author of Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America (Atria/One Signal, 2025), explores what it means to be pregnant today in America through reporting and personal stories.EVENT: Wednesday, November 12th from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge at 40 Washington Square South in Manhattan. More information here.

Amit Singh Bagga, campaign director for the Yes on Affordable Housing PAC and Democratic strategist, talks about the results of the three controversial housing-related ballot questions, which New York City voters approved, and what that will mean going forward for housing development and the new mayor's agenda.

Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University, co-host of the podcast FAQNYC, and the author of How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams (Cambridge University Press, 2024), offers an analysis of the results of the New York City mayoral race and what's next for the city's new mayor.

Gothamist and WNYC reporter Elizabeth Kim offers analysis of the New York City mayoral race results, plus Ethar El-Katatney, editor-in-chief of Documented, shares Documented's reporting on the mayoral race from the perspective of different immigrant communities in the city.

Mike Hayes, WNYC/Gothamist reporter covering the New Jersey governor's race and the author of The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform (Kingston Imperial, 2023), talks about the results of New Jersey's contentious governor's race.

Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey governor-elect, talks about her big win and what comes next for New Jersey's next governor.

Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of several books, including The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters (Simon & Schuster, 2024) and the forthcoming The Queen and Her Presidents (Harper, April 2026), talks about what the New York City mayoral results might mean for Democrats moving forward, and offers analysis of election results in Virginia, New Jersey, and California.

Markus Schmidt, senior Virginia politics reporter and deputy editor at The Virginia Mercury, breaks down the latest on Virginia's gubernatorial race on election day, where Democratic nominee and former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger has maintained a lead in polls since very early in the race over Republican nominee Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

Nancy Solomon, host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show, talks about the Election Day news in the New Jersey governor's race, and listeners call for an informal, unofficial, thoroughly unscientific exit poll.

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, offers analysis of what the early vote numbers might mean for the New York City mayoral race, and more news from the campaign trail on Election Day.  Plus, Zohran Mamdani, New York State assembly member (D, D-36, Queens) and the Democratic nominee for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York and independent candidate for mayor of New York City, and Curtis Sliwa, Republican nominee for NYC mayor, former WABC radio host and founder of the Guardian Angels, make their last minute pitches to voters.

U.S. Representative James Clyburn (D, SC 6), recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and author of The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation  (Hachette, 2025), tells the story of the first eight Black members of Congress during Reconstruction, and the gap that followed up until his election in 1992. Event: On Leadership, Legacy, and Democracy: Jim Clyburn in Conversation with Sharon McMahon at The 92nd Street Y on November 11th.

Catherine Rampell, anchor at MSNBC and economics editor at The Bulwark, talks about the latest economic news, including on President Trump's tariffs and China, inflation numbers, SNAP benefits and more.

Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and the author of the memoir, The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports (Random House, 2025), talks about why he runs and joins listeners in sharing stories from Sunday's NYC Marathon. 

A. J. Jacobs, host of the "Hello Puzzlers" podcast, essayist, and the author of The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, It's All Relative and his latest, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning (Crown, 2024), reports back on how AI is already woven into daily life with another take on being a "human guinea pig," going 48 hours without using AI.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.ACA Open Enrollment Starting  (First) | 30 Issues in 30 Days: NYC's Overdose Prevention Centers (Starts at 34:26) | Your Newsy Halloween Costumes (Starts at 1:07:42 ) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Ahead of Halloween weekend, listeners call in to share their costumes based on news and current events.

Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker and co-director of "The American Revolution," and Sarah Botstein, co-director of "The American Revolution," talk about their new, 12-part docuseries on PBS, which is being released ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, in July 2026. 

Eric Blanc, assistant professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University, author of several books including We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big (University of California Press, 2025), and writer of the Substack newsletter Labor Politics, and Michael Aronson, Daily News editorial page editor, debate the mayoral candidates' ability to fulfill their campaign promises, given that many will require action at the state level.

John Heinis, reporter for the Hudson County View talks about the Jersey City mayoral race, where seven candidates are running in the nonpartisan election and if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, the top two vote-getters will move on to a run-off election in early December.

Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York Campaign, talks about what people can expect with next year's health insurance costs and how the government shutdown over ACA subsidies will affect open enrollment.The live-answer helpline to reach a Navigator at CSS is:  1-888-614-5400The New York State of Health Marketplace phone number is:  1-855-355-5777The Get Covered New Jersey (Official state health market place) phone number is: 1-833-677-1010

Nikita Biryukov, reporter who covers state government and politics for the New Jersey Monitor, talks about the latest in New Jersey elections news, including early voting turnout, how Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump are weighing in on the gubernatorial race and Justice Department election monitoring for Passaic County.

Jessie Gómez, reporter at Chalkbeat Newark covering Newark Public Schools, discusses the New Jersey gubernatorial candidates' visions for public education in the state—and how they intend to fund the schools.

Arlan Fuller, Project HOPE's director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, talks about the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and other countries, as listeners report what they're hearing from friends and family in the area.

Calder McHugh, reporter at POLITICO Magazine, talks about the scandal surrounding leaked messages from the Young Republicans' group chat, and why he thinks they might be a "sign of where we could be headed."

Ethan Geringer-Sameth, discusses the mayoral candidates' stances on overdose prevention centers in New York City, including Zohran Mamdani's reversal of his longstanding stance to increase the centers, Andrew Cuomo's stance to keep existing centers but not expand them and Curtis Sliwa's stance against the existing centers. Plus, Sam Rivera, executive director of OnPoint NYC, talks about the two overdose prevention centers that OnPoint runs, in East Harlem and Washington Heights.

Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, and Brigid Bergin, Gothamist and WNYC senior political correspondent, talk about the early voting numbers—which are way up from both the primary and the last mayoral election, so far—and other news from the campaign trail in the last week before Election Day.

Seth Berkley, MD, an infectious disease epidemiologist currently advising vaccine, biotechnology, and technology companies; an adjunct professor and senior adviser to the Pandemic Center at Brown University; former CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; cofounded COVAX; founded and served as CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; and the author of Fair Doses: An Insider's Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity (University of California Press, 2025), talks about the need for vaccine equity and lessons learned (and ignored) from the COVID pandemic.

Nick Garber, politics reporter at Crain's New York Business, talks about where the NYC mayoral candidates stand on jobs and the minimum wage, and discusses their relationships with the broader business community.

Listeners still making up their minds on whether and how to vote share their dilemmas on candidates for any office and ballot questions.

Due to the government shutdown, millions of Americans are likely to miss their Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) paychecks starting this Saturday. 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, breaks down the latest news of how New York State will provide an additional $11 million to fund SNAP benefits for some 2.8 million New Yorkers.

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.

Nick Corasaniti, New York Times reporter covering national politics, with a focus on voting and elections, talks about how both Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill say they would deal with President Trump if they are elected governor, and other ways the president's influence is being felt in the tight race.

Rosemary Misdary, WNYC and Gothamist health & science reporter, explains the statewide ballot question about preservation in the Adirondacks and expanding skiing facilities.

New York City voters will see several questions on their ballots that aim to make it easier to build housing. Alec Schierenbeck, executive director of the Charter Revision Commission argues in favor of the measures, and Lincoln Restler, New York City Council member (District 33, Greenpoint, Northside Williamsburg, South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Boerum Hill, Vinegar Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Navy Yard), explains why much of the City Council is opposed to the changes. Then, Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, shares why his group is opposed to ballot questions 2 through 4.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.30 Issues in 30 Days: ICE in the City  (First) | 30 Issues in 30 Days: The Case for a Free CUNY (Starts at 17:50) | 30 Issues in 30 Days: Climate and Energy Policy (Starts at 33:13)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

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.

Samantha Maldonado, senior reporter for THE CITY, offers her takeaways on the mayoral debate and talks about other races on the ballot in NYC.