Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Many school districts across the country choose to represent themselves using mascots that dehumanize native cultures and derive pride from harmful stereotypes about them. On Today's Show:John Kane, Mohawk activist, member of the New York State Indigenous Mascot Advisory Council, and host of the shows Let's Talk Native and Resistance Radio with John Kane, discusses the New York State Board of Regents decision to ban school team names and mascots that reference indigenous people. Update: Officials from the New York State Education Department reached out after hearing the segment and shared the information below:  "Additional guidance from the Department is forthcoming but that guidance will mirror the language in the regulation. Each district will need to review the history and current potential of its team name, mascot, or imagery on a case-by-case basis. The Department can provide assistance to any school or district that have questions. The Department’s position is that any team names, logos, or mascots that contain vestiges of prohibited team names, logos, or mascots will not be considered acceptable."

  After two separate shootings of young people, a Black man in Missouri and a white woman in New York, we explore 'stand your ground' laws, media fearmongering and race. On Today's Show:Imani Perry, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and the author of books including South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation (Ecco, 2022) and Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Beacon, 2019), reflects on the shootings of Ralph Yarl and Kaylin Gillis. Yarl, a Black teenager, was shot in the head and arm after ringing the doorbell of a white homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri. Gillis, a white 20-year-old, was killed after turning into the wrong driveway in Hebron, New York.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) discusses the latest from Congress on the fiscal cliff, the farm bill, mifepristone and more.

After Dominion's settlement over Fox News's false claims in its coverage of the 2020 election and the company's voting machines, we look at the limits of a free press. On Today's Show:Floyd Abrams, first amendment lawyer, senior counsel at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, author of The Soul of the First Amendment (Yale University Press, 2017), discusses the historic settlement ($785 million) Fox News has reached with Dominion Voting Systems and its first amendment implications.

After the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on crime in Manhattan, a local representative explains the underlying politics. On Today's Show:House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D NY-8th, Brooklyn) shares his thoughts on the committee's hearing on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, and other political news of the day.

As the news develops on the mifepristone court cases, and on Justice Clarence Thomas's financial involvement with an influential GOP donor, a court watcher breaks down the stories. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing, and law at Yale Law School, and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019), talks about the latest national legal news.

In the wake of SCOTUS's Dobbs decision, new questions about legislative and judicial barriers to abortion access have recently come to the forefront of our national conversation. On Today's Show:Jessica Valenti, writer and feminist, author of the substack newsletter Abortion, Every Day, author of multiple books on women and politics and co-editor of Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World (Seal Press, 2020), talks about the latest on the rulings over mifepristone, in state legislatures and for individuals.

In the wake of a school shooting in Nashville, and the news that firearms are now the number one cause of death among children, we look at the political, legal and moral issues involved in gun control policy. On Today's Show:Jonathan Metzl, professor of sociology and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University and director of its Department of Medicine, Health, and Society and the author of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland (Basic Books, 2019), talks about the sharp resistance to gun control measures in red states, while at the same time guns are now the leading cause of death for children in the United States.

What does Vladimir Putin hope to gain by arresting Americans like Brittney Griner, and now a Wall Street Journal reporter, and what can US officials do about it?  On Today's Show:Julia Ioffe, founding partner and Washington correspondent of Puck, a new media company, talks about Putin's motivations after The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia. Plus, Julia weighs in on what the leaked classified documents reveal about Russia's war in Ukraine.

As the nation watches for two federal courts' divergent rulings on medication abortion drugs, we explore the medicine, and the law underlying the cases.  On Today's Show:Nancy Northup, President & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, explains what's on the horizon legally for mifepristone, and Dr. Kristyn Brandi, MD, OB/GYN, and abortion provider in New Jersey and Board Chair with Physicians for Reproductive Health, covers the medical ramifications of the rulings for those in need of the drug.