Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

On Today's Show: A shooting at three spas in Atlanta left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. Joo Han, deputy director of the Asian American Federation, reflects on the murders and talks about how her group is organizing to #StopAsianHate amidst a surge in violence. Plus, Asian-Americans listeners call in to describe their experiences this year and how they're reacting to the seemingly endless reports of violence against the Asian-American community. 

Some US states are loosening COVID restrictions early, while much of Europe has suspended the use of a previously approved vaccine. On Today's Show:Ravina Kullar, PharmD, epidemiologist and infectious disease physician based in Los Angeles, discusses the latest COVID-19 developments — from the suspension of use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries to the news that officials in many states in America are loosening pandemic restrictions despite the danger of new variants.

Biden and Harris have hit the road, traveling the country to sell the public on the idea that masking up and staying cautious is the patriotic way to end this pandemic. On Today's Show:A conversation from right after Biden's prime-time speech last Thursday with Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and author of the forthcoming Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021); and Kai Wright, host of The United States of Anxiety from WNYC Studios, about the politics, and the substance, of the newly passed COVID relief bill.

The relationship between criminal justice and technology is complicated, especially given that the tools marketed to law enforcement often perpetuate racial biases in mass incarceration. On Today's Show:Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, talk about the data and information systems that track individuals in the criminal legal system.

People are uncertain about the CDC's guidance on safety once your vaccinated. But are public health messengers missing an opportunity to tie the vaccine to a return to normalcy? On Today's Show:Leana Wen, emergency physician, professor at George Washington University, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, CNN medical analyst, and former Baltimore Health Commissioner, shares her take on the new CDC guidance for vaccinated people, and talks about whether she thinks we'll be hit with a fourth wave of cases, helped along by the many variants, or if enough people will be vaccinated quickly enough to stave it off.

Biden's speech last night laid out a timeline for "independence from this virus." But unlike his predecessor, he made it clear that a return to normalcy means masking up and getting vaccinated. On Today's Show:Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent for NPR, talks through the latest news coming out of Washington, including highlights from President Biden's address to the country after signing the $1.9 trillion economic relief package.

The team at the Daily Show knew that Trump's Jan. 6 rally could turn violent. So they did what they do best: find the funny. What's the role of satire when Democracy is under attack? On Today's Show:Jordan Klepper, comedian, television host, and correspondent for The Daily Show, reflects on his time covering Trump rallies throughout the former President's term.

The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is nearing the finish line. So what wound up in the package, and what got cut? Who's getting a check, and how much? On Today's Show:Bonnie Watson Coleman, U.S. Representative (D, NJ-12), talks about recent legislation passed by the House, her work in Washington and her NJ district, and her recent bout with COVID.

When companies sell supplies to prisons, does their influence over inmates' lives stop with the inventory? On Today's Show:Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and WNYC/Gothamist reporter George Joseph, talk about the equipment and supplies corporations that provide nearly everything used in prisons and jails from desks and uniforms to restraint jackets and tear gas.

President Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM) to be Secretary of the Interior would put a Native American (Laguna Pueblo) in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time ever and perhaps mark a new era for the relationship between the federal government and American Indians. Is it time for a new relationship between the U.S. government and America's Indian nations? On Today's Show:- Joy Harjo (Muscogee Nation) U.S. Poet Laureate, performer and writer, editor of When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), who has a new album "I Pray For My Enemies" - out tomorrow. Then,- Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band) vice president of policy and strategy with Data for Progress; narrative change director of the Natural History Museum; and a fellow of the Type Media Center, NDN Collective, and the Center for Humans and Nature