Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Between the more contagious delta variant, and the need for vaccine boosters possibly on the horizon, the COVID risk calculus has changed. How should we be thinking about safety now? On Today's Show:Leana Wen MD, emergency physician, professor at George Washington University, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, CNN medical analyst, and former Baltimore Health Commissioner and the author of Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health (Metropolitan Books, 2021) joins to discuss the new COVID risk calculus.

We're in the midst of long-term national conversation about policing, crime, race and justice, and we wanted to hear what a career member of the policing establishment thought about it. On Today's Show:Bill Bratton, former New York City police commissioner and the author (with Peter Knobler) of The Profession: A Memoir of Community, Race, and the Arc of Policing in America (Penguin Press, 2021), talks about his law enforcement career as commissioner of police in some of the biggest cities in America, and shares his views on current crime stats, including rising gun violence.

This week, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles said that she wasn't in the right headspace to compete. So what happens when trailblazers, those known for breaking glass ceilings, need a minute? On Today's Show:Candace Buckner, reporter focusing on the intersection of race, gender and diversity issues in the world of sports for The Washington Post, breaks down the intersectional pressures Biles is under in the Games and her influence beyond the sport. Plus, listener calls with the unique mental health challenges facing BIPOC trailblazers.

As Congress begins hearings into the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, the question of whom to hold accountable is front and center. What did we hear at the hearing, and what does it mean? On Today's Show:Washington Post congressional reporter Jacqueline Alemany and national security and law enforcement reporter Devlin Barrett, breaks down the first hearing of the special House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The CDC just rolled back its guidance that vaccinated people could safely go maskless indoors. COVID breakthrough infections are becoming more common as the Delta variant spreads quickly. So how should people be thinking about public health and risk management these days? On Today's Show:Dara Kass, MD, emergency medicine physician at the Columbia University Medical Center, explains why it's happening (and why you shouldn't panic), and what to do if you are vaccinated and become infected anyway.

Tomorrow, a congressional panel will convene to begin hearings into the Jan. 6 insurrection. What should we expect from the hearings, and just how bi-partisan is this effort? On Today's Show:Mara Liasson, national political correspondent for NPR, ticks through the biggest political stories from over the weekend and what to watch for in the coming days, including tomorrow's hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection and vaccination efforts around the country.

This year, we've seen flooding on the east coast, wildfires on the west coast, and a late-winter snow storms in Texas that knocked out the power grid. So what's up with the weather? On Today's Show: Adam Sobel, professor at Columbia University, director of Columbia's Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate, host of the podcast "Deep Convection" and author of Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future (Harper-Collins, 2014)

We've learned a lot more about Trump's insurrection in the months since it happened. But we didn't know how far his military advisors went to avoid a constitutional crisis. On Today's Show:The Washington Post's White House senior Washington correspondent Philip Rucker and national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig, authors of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (Penguin Press, 2021), tell the untold story of 2020 and the Trump White House and how last year's events reverberate today.

At some point after the election, AG Barr reversed course on Trump's 'Big Lie.' But how did his actions before the election enable the former president's behavior? On Today's Show:Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and author of Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department (HarperCollins, 2021) talks about his new book examining the Bill Barr era at the Department of Justice, plus offers analysis of current legal issues.

The anti-government protests in Cuba are sparking debates here in the US about the embargo and our icy diplomatic relationship with the island. How are Cuban-Americans thinking about it? Today:Dr. Andy S. Gomez, Retired Director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies and former Assistant Provost and Dean of International Studies of Cuban Studies at the University of Miami, and Frances Robles, national and foreign correspondent for the New York Times, break down the recent anti-government protests in Cuba as well as abroad in solidarity. Plus, listeners with connections to the island help report the story.