Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

With the conflict continuing to develop between Israel and Iran, we consider the role of the United States and President Trump. 

On Today's Show:
Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024), offers analysis of the Iran-Israel conflict and discusses his recent column appraising the odds of the United States joining the fight.
 

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court's decided to uphold Tennessee's ban on gender affirming care for minors in the United States v. Skrmetti case. 

On Today's Show:
Jack Turban, MD, MHS, adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist and author of Free to Be: Understanding Kids & Gender Identity (Atria Books, 2024), offers his perspective on the ruling and how it will affect transgender children and their families.

Last week, a congressional staffer at a district office was detained by officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

On Today's Show:
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D, NY-12), talks about the incident, and more about his work in Washington.

On today's show: Jason Marczak, vice president and senior director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, and Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, vice president for Global Studies and Fellows at New America and host of the Audible/Fresh Produce Media podcast "In the Room with Peter Bergen," offer analysis of President Trump's statements in his inaugural address about taking back the Panama Canal.

Yesterday's inauguration of President Trump began a whirlwind day of executive orders, unofficial speeches and attention grabbing gestures. 

On Today's Show:
Jon Favreau, host of Pod Save America, Offline with Jon Favreau, and co-founder of Crooked Media, and Jon Lovett, host of Pod Save America and co-founder of Crooked Media, round up the latest news from Washington.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we present a live event exploring King's legacy, and what the lessons of his activism can offer us today. 

On Today's Show:
For the centennial series "100 Years of 100 Things," Rev. Jacqueline Lewis, senior minister and public theologian at the Middle Collegiate Church, and author of Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness that Can Heal the World (Harmony, 2021), and Jeanne Theoharis, professor of political science at Brooklyn College, and the author of many books on the civil rights and Black Power movements and the contemporary politics of race, reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and legacy, on the day that honors him.

The popular social media app TikTok could be banned for U.S. users starting this Sunday, when a new law goes into effect. 

On Today's Show:
Social media reporter for The Information, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan discusses the latest news, including how President-elect Donald Trump may react to the ban, and 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), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban.

The US Surgeon General has been raising the alarm about the health risks of alcohol, as well as what he calls the 'loneliness epidemic.' 

On Today's Show:
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talks about the recent report highlighting the cancer risk of even moderate alcohol consumption, and other public health issues as he prepares to leave his post at the end of the Biden administration.

Political pundits frequently express concerns about the intense partisanship in our political culture. But could our divisions be productive and useful?

On Today's Show:
Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, CNN political analyst, NPR contributor, and author of several books, including his latest, In Defense of Partisanship (Columbia Global Reports, 2025), shares his analysis of politics today, and shares some key presidential inauguration speeches from the last 100 years.

On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate will hold confirmation hearings for confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. 

On Today's Show:
Hear lines of questioning from Sen. Cotton and Sen. Gillibrand at the hearings, plus analysis afterward from Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and the author of several books, including Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump (Princeton University Press, 2021)