The Brian Lehrer Show

Ana González, host of WNYC's new podcast (with Yo-Yo Ma) Our Common Nature, talks about the new podcast she hosts where Yo-Yo Ma travels around the country and collaborates with musicians in nature. Plus, they talk about the pictures people have sent in of their favorite places in nature.

Elizabeth Alexander, president of The Mellon Foundation, poet, educator, memoirist and scholar and the author of The Trayvon Generation (Grand Central Publishing, 2022), talks about the Mellon Foundation's new grants and funding for literary arts and jazz musicians, and why money for the arts from the nonprofit sector is crucial.

David Herzberg, professor of history and director of the drugs, health and society program at the University at Buffalo, offers his take on the fentanyl crisis, and why he says President Trump is wrong about almost every aspect of it.

Michael Scherer, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about his cover story on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other news.

Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Representative (D NY-8th, Brooklyn) and House minority leader, offers his take on how the meeting between President Trump and Mayor-elect Mamdani went, and more national political news.

Jeffery Mays, New York Times metro politics reporter, recaps Mayor-elect Mamdani's Friday meeting at the White House with President Trump, where the two spoke well of each other and pledged to work together.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton premiered ten years ago and pretty much immediately became a phenomenon. Frank DiLella, Spectrum News NY1 theater correspondent and host of “On Stage”talks about the hit play and its affect on Broadway and more.

Edward Larson, chaired professor of history and law at Pepperdine University and the author of Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025) talks about the change in thinking 250 years ago in the American colonies from British subjects protesting the crown to revolution.

After President Trump and Mayor-Elect Mamdani's curiously friendly meeting this past Friday, listeners call in to share their theories as to why the president was all smiles with New York's incoming democratic socialist mayor, whom the president has called a communist many times in the past.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. Climate Advocates Are Angry at Gov. Hochul (First) | The First G20 Summit on African Soil (Starts at 23) | De-Cluttering Legacies (Starts at 45) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

As the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson, professor of history at Tulane and the author of several books, including his latest, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (Simon & Schuster, 2025), digs in on a key sentence in the Declaration of Independence and how its reverberated throughout the country's history.

Jonathan Lemire, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNOW; writer for MSNOW and contributing writer to The Atlantic talks about the national political news of the week, including Mayor-elect Mamdani's meeting with President Trump at the White House.

Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Business Insider, talks about navigating issues around what to do with all the 'stuff' that boomer parents will be leaving their millennial kids.

Vincent Schiraldi, Pinkerton Foundation visiting fellow and former New York City Commissioner of both the Department of Correction and Department of Probation, argues against trying teenagers as adults and defends New York's "Raise the Age" law against pushback from some elected leaders.

Jessica Gould, education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, shares her reporting on how the city's school bus system has been failing the families who rely on it, and if reform is possible.

One in 10 senior citizens in New York City lack reliable access to affordable and nutritious food. Beth Shapiro, CEO of Citymeals on Wheels, the nation’s largest operation to deliver meals to homebound seniors, discusses the state of elder hunger in the city, the lasting impact of federal funding cuts and the long federal shutdown, what everyday New Yorkers can do to support their elderly neighbors during the holidays.

Philip Bump, MSNOW contributor, author of the "How to Read this Chart" newsletter and the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America (Viking, 2023), talks about the national political news of the week, including President Trump's capitulation on the Epstein files vote, his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and how the president is trying to address inflation concerns.

Uché Blackstock, emergency medicine physician, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, author of LEGACY: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine (Viking, 2024) and a former MSNBC and NBC News medical contributor, talks about how the fight over ACA subsidies may deepen health inequities.

Regina Garcia Cano, Andes correspondent at The Associated Press, discusses the Trump administration's latest escalation against alleged drug boats from Venezuela, as the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier is expected to reach the waters off the country in a few days in a show of American power.

Kyle Chayka, staff writer at The New Yorker covering technology and Internet culture, discusses how songs generated using artificial intelligence are dominating top music charts and streaming services like Spotify, sometimes without the knowledge of listeners. => "That New Hit Song on Spotify? It Was Made by A.I." (The New Yorker, November 12, 2025)