Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Schools around the nation weigh the safety of students and staff against pressure from parents who can't go back to work with their kids staying home. Part 1 of a 2-part discussion: What do parents need in the discussion about  re-opening schools? On Today's Show:Brigid Schulte, director of the Better Life Lab and author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play when No One has the Time, and New York City Council Member Brad Lander  (39th district in Brooklyn) discuss the school and child care puzzle that New York faces. NOTE: After this interview was completed on Wednesday, July 15, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan along the lines of the proposal Councilman Lander presented on the show. Lander's reaction to the mayor's plan is included at the end of this episode.

You might know her from MSNBC as AM-JOY, but now, Joy-Ann Reid is getting her own show, making her the first Black woman in the host chair on prime time TV since Gwen Ifill. On Today's Show:Joy-Ann Reid, MSNBC political analyst, host of the new show "The REIDOUT" and the author of The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story (William Morrow, 2019), discusses her career, her new show and being the only Black woman news host in prime time.

An open letter in Harper's Magazine argues that social media public shamings hamper free speech. A rebuttal letter argues that cancel culture is about shuffling who has a platform and the power to wield it. Claire Potter, professor of history at The New School, and the executive editor of Public Seminar, a digital magazine of politics and culture based at The New School, signed the letter, and Malaika Jabali, writer, activist and attorney, signed a response letter that argued the original letter “does not deal with the problem of power.”

As the rest of the country contends with rising COVID-19 numbers, the North East is concerned that returning travelers will bring the virus back with them. On Today's Show:Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and Baltimore's former Health Commissioner, talks about the rise in Covid-19 cases, including the surge in Florida; quarantining travelers coming to New York, and more.

With President Trump is still leaning on the racist rhetoric that helped him win in 2016. But this time, it's not working. So what's different now? On Today's Show:Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer for FiveThirtyEight, breaks down the latest national political data and news, including Biden's vice-presidential options, and Trump's falling poll numbers.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced that international students would have to leave the country unless they were enrolled in an in-person class. On Today's Show:Nicole Agu, vice chair for international student affairs University Student Senate of CUNY, and Dan Berger, partner at Curran, Berger & Kludt, specializing in academic immigration, discuss the response to a new ICE policy requiring international college students in the U.S. to attend in person classes in the fall in order to remain in the country.

The Supreme Court ruled on whether President Trump has to release his tax returns. The verdict? It's complicated, but we got two people deep on this beat to explain it. On Today's Show:Andrea Bernstein, WNYC senior editor, co-host of WNYC's and ProPublica's podcast Trump Inc., and the author of American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power (W.W. Norton and Company, 2020), and Jami Floyd, WNYC's legal editor and host of All Things Considered, break down what these rulings mean and what's likely to come next.

People are struggling right now, and the Federal government is now deliberating over a 5th-round stimulus. But are there sustainable solutions that look beyond today's urgent needs? On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) talks about the Senate's response to the public health and economic crisis.

In this episode, we look at the distant, and not-so-distant past in the context of today's Republican Party and the confederate statues being torn down around the country. On Today's Show:Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, CNN political analyst, co-host of the podcast Politics and Polls, and author of Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party (Penguin Press, 2020), talks about his new book and offers historical context for today's news.

The US has tightened its borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But it's not raising a drawbridge, there are visas and green cards at play. What do those policies mean for immigrants? On Today's Show:Anu Joshi, vice president of policy at the New York Immigration Coalition, talks about the latest immigration news, including President Trump's suspension of new work visas until the end of the year.