Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller, shares his reaction to the news that Mayor Adams has been indicted.

Andrew Weissmann, professor of practice at NYU School of Law, lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel's Office and the co-author of The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024), reacts to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams's statements on Eric Adams's indictment.

Valerie Volcovici, reporter at Reuters covering U.S. climate and energy policy from Washington, DC., talks about the climate priorities at the UN General Assembly and during Climate Week NYC, which is also happening this week.

James Traub, veteran journalist and the author of True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America (Basic Books, 2024), talks about the legacy of Hubert Humphrey and the 1968 Democratic convention and election year versus this year's.

Kamala Harris once called for a ban on fracking, but on the campaign trail this time around her tone has shifted. Ben Geman, energy reporter at Axios, talks about the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on fracking and the politics of it all.

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, recaps the first night of the Democratic National Convention, including several speeches by New Yorkers, including Gov. Hochul, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hillary Clinton, and President Biden's headlining speech.  Plus, Sue Altman, Democratic candidate for congress in New Jersey's 7th district, joins Brian briefly to talk about her race against one-term Republican incumbent Tom Kean, Jr.

As our centennial series continues,  Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University, editor emeritus of Dissent and the author of several books, including What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party (FSG, 2022), reviews the past century of Democratic conventions and presidential candidates.

Katy Tur, anchor of MSNBC's Katy Tur Reports and the author of books including Rough Draft (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2023),  and Luke Russert, host and creative director of MSNBC Live and author of the memoir Look For Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself (Harper Horizon, 2023),  talk about the latest national political news, as the Democratic National Convention is about to kick off in Chicago, plus discuss MSNBC's new live in-person events.

A city initiative known as “Operation Padlock to Protect” has shut down more than 900 illegal cannabis shops across the city since it launched in May. Caroline Lewis,  health care reporter for WNYC/Gothamist discusses the crackdown, where to buy legal weed, and takes cannabis questions from callers. 

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

Walz's Climate Record (First) | Ask Governor Murphy: August Recap (Starts at 41:24) | 100 Years of 100 Things: The Jersey Shore (Starts at 01:10:45)

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:

Ali Velshi, MSNBC host and chief correspondent and the author of Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy (Macmillan, 2024), shares the story of his grandfather's work with Gandhi and Mandela and how their influence continues in his generation.

Jack Turban, M.D., director of the Gender Psychiatry Program and assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of Free to Be: Understanding Kids & Gender Identity (Atria, 2024), talks about the science, the medicine and the politics surrounding gender identity in children and teens.

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.

Every year, 50 teenage girls representing each state in America descend on Alabama to compete for large scholarship checks in the Distinguished Young Women program. Shima Oliaee, host and creator of "The Competition," creator of Pink Card, co-creator of Dolly Parton's America and founder of Shirazad Productions, discusses her new podcast, "The Competition", which follows these young women on their two-week journey and offers a peak into what it's like to be a teenage girl in America today.

These interviews were polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

A Family Heritage of Social Justice (May 17, 2024)

Kids & Gender Identity (Jun 12, 2024)

Kids & Gender Identity, Part Two (Jun 24, 2024)

The Protests that Set the Stage (Jun 21, 2024)

What "The Competition" Says About Teenage Girlhood (May 3, 2024)

Jay Chang, member of the K-Pop groups B.D.U and One Pact, and participant in Build Up, shares his story of growing up in New Jersey, moving to Korea to become a K-Pop idol, and returning back to New Jersey on tour with his group B.D.U.

Amy Maxmen, PhD, public health correspondent and editor at KFF Health News, talks about the latest data on the spread of avian flu, what monitoring is underway, and the current state of public health preparedness.

Lynne Peeples, science writer and the author of The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms (Riverhead Books, 2024), reviews the latest science on our internal "clocks" and how to use them to improve sleep and learning.

Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and editor, and host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show recaps her conversation with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, where they talked about who he will choose to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, his friendship with Tim Walz, electric charging stations for the turnpike and more.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are in a tight race in key swing states. Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, unpacks the latest presidential polling and offers analysis.

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 the new FDNY commissioner, migrant encampments, and more.

For the twelfth "thing" in our centennial series, Phil Brown, University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University, founder and president of the Catskills Institute and the author of several books, including Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat's Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area (Temple University Press, 1998), takes us through the last 100 years in The Catskills -- the hotels, the camps and the people.

Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti, professor of political science and executive director of the Moynihan Center at The City College of New York, and author of the forthcoming 20 Years of Rage: How Resentment Took the Place of Politics (Mondadori, 2024), explains the origins of freedom in political rhetoric and how the Harris-Walz ticket is seeking to redefine freedom after the American right carried the mantle as the party of freedom for decades.

Will Leitch, contributing editor at New York Magazine, columnist at MLB.com, and founding editor of Deadspin, recaps the highs and lows of the Paris Olympic games.

Amidst the current loneliness epidemic, listeners call in to tell us whether they live near their friends and how that proximity--or lack thereof--impacts their daily lives. 

The number of English language learners in New York City schools is growing, and there's been a slight uptick in poverty among students. Michael Elsen-Rooney, reporter at Chalkbeat New York, takes a look at the shifting demographics in the enrollment data.

Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter at Guardian US, talks about Tim Walz's record on climate as governor of Minnesota, and why environmental advocates are mostly pleased with Harris's choice of him as VP.

Alex Shephard, senior editor of The New Republic, talks about the latest national political news, including Trump's VP pick JD Vance's media rounds and more on Harris's VP pick Tim Walz.

NYPD officers shot at a man wielding a knife at a subway station in Brooklyn, leaving four people injured. Critics and observers are wondering how an attempt to enforce a relatively minor fare-evasion offence spiraled out of control. Tiffany Cabán,  NYC Council Member (District 22, Astoria, Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Woodside and Rikers Island) discusses this incident as well as her call for Mayor Eric Adams to resign amid a web of scandals and investigations.

For the eleventh thing in our centennial series, Deb Whitcraft, president of the New Jersey Maritime Museum,  and Emil Salvini, author of several books on the history of the Jersey Shore and host of "Tales of the Jersey Shore" for NJTV, take us through the larger history of the Jersey Shore as listeners share their memories and stories from the towns and beaches that fit under that giant umbrella of "the shore".

Greg David, contributor covering fiscal and economic issues for THE CITY and director of the business and economics reporting program and Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, delves into new analysis showing new migrants do not pose a threat to employment opportunities for native New Yorkers of color. 

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

Why Nassau County Republicans  Ban on Masks in Public (First) | Reluctant to Retire (Starts at 22:20) | Tree Resiliency and Extreme Weather (Starts at 49:15)

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:

• Anthony Fauci, M.D., longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, now a professor at Georgetown University in the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy, and the author of On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service (Viking, 2024), talks about his life and the public health crises the country faced.
• Sarah McCammon, national correspondent for NPR and the author of The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church (Macmillan, 2024), shares her story of growing up within, and leaving, evangelican Christianity, and what her reporting shows of others like her and their impact on American politics and culture.
• Anne Lamott, author of twenty books, including Bird by Bird and her latest, Somehow: Thoughts on Love (Riverhead Books, 2024), talks about turning 70, and why love has been the answer to the many challenges she's faced in her own life.
• 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 MANAS.Ai, and author of several books, most recently, The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human (Scribner, 2022), and 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, MN, discuss how artificial intelligence is currently interacting with healthcare, including AI's role in diagnosing diseases, discovering the building blocks for medication, and cover concerns related to patient privacy and algorithm bias.

These interviews were polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

Dr. Fauci Looks Back (June 28, 2024)

Faith & Politics & Ex-Evangelicals (April 3, 2024)

Anne Lamott on Love (May 22, 2024)

A Roundtable on A.I. in Health Care (June 18, 2024)

This year, 41 million members of Gen-Z will be eligible to vote for the first time. Erika Weisz, principal behavioral scientist at Murmuration, explains her findings from two reports authored by Murmuration on the civic engagement of this diverse generation, including their opinions on democracy, how political leaders can activate these voters, and which issues are of top priority in the upcoming presidential election.

New York State's Adult Survivors Act brought a flood of lawsuits against the city by women who say they were abused at Rosie's (the women's jail) on Rikers Island. Jessy Edwards, WNYC and Gothamist reporter covering incarceration and public safety, reports what she learned about allegations of serial sexual abuse when she looked into the lawsuits, and whether the city has initiated an investigation.

NYBG lost one of its oldest oak trees in this week's storm. Eric Sanderson, vice president of urban conservation at The New York Botanical Garden, talks about why losing just one tree can seriously affect the broader ecosystem, and how the garden is caring for its trees as extreme weather and flooding becomes more common.

Fueled in part by disinformation on social media, the United Kingdom has seen days of rioting and vandalism targeting Muslims, migrants and other minorities. Max Colchester, U.K. correspondent at The Wall Street Journal, discusses the unrest.

For the tenth thing in our centennial series, Laura Weiss, journalist and author of Ice Cream: A Global History (Reaktion Books),  gives us the scoop on the history of an iconic summer treat: ice cream, as listeners share their stories.

Nassau County Republicans passed a ban on face coverings in public, with supporters saying it's in response to antisemitic incidents, and Democrats accusing their GOP colleagues of stoking a culture war. WNYC and Gothamist's Charles Lane reports on what he says was a "raucous debate," and what may happen next.

J. Ann Selzer, unaligned public opinion researcher and president of the Des Moines, Iowa-based polling firm Selzer & Company, talks about the latest polling in Iowa that shows the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump narrowing, and talks about the issues that make the race competitive in the state of Iowa. And Alexandra Samuels, senior editor at Texas Monthly, does the same regarding Texas. 

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 what some have deemed a humanitarian crisis in Midtown.

Ernesto Londoño, Midwest correspondent for The New York Times based in Minnesota, provides a full biography of Minnesota governor turned Democratic vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz.

The canonization of the first millennial saint has sparked calls for a queer saint. For some, Father Mychal Judge, New York City Fire Department chaplain and the first certified 9/11 casualty, is at the center of these calls. Antonio Pagliarulo, writer and author of The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery & Magic of the Quiet Curse (Weiser Books, 2023), makes the case.

In the past decade, millions of Americans made the switch from cigarettes to vaping in hopes of avoiding the worst smoking-related illnesses. In the process, many who never smoked cigarettes have found themselves addicted to nicotine without strong guidelines on how to quit. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, FSAHM, professor of pediatrics/adolescent medicine at Stanford, and founder/director of the Stanford REACH Lab, explains how we got here and shares medical advice on how to quit vaping.

Bill McKibben, environmental activist, founder of Third Act and author of many books, most recently The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened (Henry Holt and Co., 2022), talks about why he hopes Gov. Hochul will sign a bill passed by the New York State legislature earlier this year that would require fossil fuel companies to pay for damages associated with climate change. Plus, he talks about how climate activists are feeling about the presidential election, now that Kamala Harris is on the top of the Democratic ticket.

Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, talks about the stock market sell-off, the latest jobs report, how to gauge the health of the economy, and why he thinks the stock market "is a bit like a toddler."

Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early" on MSNBC, Politico White House bureau chief, and the author of The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022), talks about Kamala Harris's choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, and listeners weigh in with their thoughts.

Governor Hochul's pause on congestion pricing has left transit improvement projects in the lurch. Ana Ley, transportation reporter for the New York Times, discusses how officials are coping with the upheaval that's come with the loss of projected revenue.

For our ninth thing in our centennial series, Ian MacAllen, Italian-American food expert and author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), covers the history and development of a beloved New York City food: pizza.

As Joe Biden knows, stepping away from a high-powered job can be a difficult decision to make. Charley Locke, freelance writer, discusses her reporting on why some people put retirement off, and listeners weigh in.

→ Retirement Gets Harder the Longer You Wait

Sahalie Donaldson, City Hall reporter at City & State New York, talks about the ballot questions that will appear on New York City voters' ballots in November, and why a progressive group has formed to encourage people to vote "no" on certain measures.

With Vice President Kamala Harris about to name her V.P. pick, Nancy Cook, senior national political correspondent at Bloomberg News, talks about the top contenders to be Vice President Harris' running mate, plus what the latest polls show about the changes in the presidential race.
 

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

A hundred years of James Baldwin  (First) | Election integrity as a matter of national security (Starts at 27:50) | New York City etiquette rules (Starts at 57:35)

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:

• Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post columnist, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, and the author of Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024), looks back at other turbulent eras for insights into navigating this one.
• Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher university professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, host of "Finding Your Roots" on PBS and that author of The Black Box: Writing the Race (Penguin Press, 2024), talks about his new book that examines the history of Black self-definition.
• Judith Butler, professor at UC-Berkeley and the author of several books, including Gender Trouble and their latest, Who's Afraid of Gender? (Macmillan, 2024), talks about her pioneering academic work on the concept of gender and how fraught, and misunderstood, the topic has become.
• Appliances are rarely built to last, but many from the past are still as good as new. Anna Kramer, technology and climate journalist, author of the newsletter, "Bite into this," talks about her Atlantic article "KitchenAid Did It Right 87 Years Ago" as listeners call in to share which gadgets and technologies have survived years of use in their homes.

These interviews were polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

Revolutionary Eras, Then and Now (May 21, 2024)

Defining 'Blackness' Through Literature (Mar 22, 2024)

Judith Butler on Gender (Apr 4, 2024)

Appliances That Lasted (Mar 1, 2024)