Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Extremism is a problem around the world. Today, we wanted to talk about what it looks like to de-radicalize extremists, including white supremacists and Taliban fighters. On Today's Show:Carla Power, author of If the Oceans Were Ink and her latest book, Home, Land, Security: Deradicalization and the Journey Back From Extremism (One World, 2021), talks about her new book that explores the process of "deradicalization" and how to respond to extremism to lessen its grip.

The availability of at-home rapid COVID tests add a new dimension to our ability to prevent the spread of the delta variant. Could they play a key role in school reopenings? On Today's Show:Michael Mina, MD, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, talks about how schools are preparing to test students, the science on boosters and who gets them, and more of the latest COVID-19 news.

The last of the U.S. military left Afghanistan last night. After 20 years of war and occupation, we look at the cost of the mission, and what it means for those personally invested in it. On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11) talks about the final Afghanistan withdrawal.

The rise of the delta variant of COVID means that ending the pandemic looks different than it did a few months ago. So when will we know that COVID is behind us? On Today's Show:Ed Yong, staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers science, talks about how the delta variant and vaccine uptake plateauing changed the end game of the pandemic -- and lays out a road map for how and when it will probably be over.

As the US begins talking about approval for vaccine boosters, the rest of the world is dealing with a supply problem. On Today's Show:Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine and director of the Global Health Initiative at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, talks about the status of getting people vaccinated around the world and why vaccinations elsewhere could protect U.S. residents.

The US military's departure from Afghanistan has consequences for our partners in the region, and globally. What's the rest of the world saying about our withdrawal? On Today's Show:Missy Ryan, national security reporter for The Washington Post, talks about the global pressure on President Biden to extend the Afghanistan evacuation deadline beyond August 31.

Democrats moved a joint human-and-physical infrastructure bill through Congress, to the chagrin of moderates who wanted it split into two distinct bills. On Today's Show:U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, NJ-12), vice chair at large of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, talks about the House deal on the budget and infrastructure bills, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and more.

Over the weekend at a press conference, President Biden talked about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. His aides spent the rest of the weekend clarifying his remarks. On Today's Show:Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (Twelve, 2019) and the forthcoming Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, April 2021), talks about the latest in national politics, including the Afghanistan withdrawal and the infrastructure and budget bills in the House.

There's no shortage of hot-takes about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. But what does a former State Department official who worked out of Kabul have to say about the situation? On Today's Show:Annie Pforzheimer, non-resident associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Afghanistan until March 2019, and deputy chief of mission in Kabul from 2017-2018, talks about the sudden fall of the Afghan government and the continued efforts to evacuate Americans and those who worked with them.

With the news that the Biden administration is recommending the CDC approve COVID vaccine boosters, listeners called in to ask an expert what it means for them. On Today's Show:Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, discusses the latest COVID news, from the rise in delta variant cases to the distribution of booster shots.