Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

We check in on how lawmakers in one state capitol are looking at the school shooting in Texas, and asking how to better prevent gun violence. On Today's Show:Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about renewed calls for regulating guns in the wake of two mass shootings. Plus, New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-20th, Brooklyn), Elections Committee chair, joins the conversation to talk about the just-upheld law he sponsored to hold manufacturers liable for gun violence and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon (D-52nd, Brooklyn) calls in to talk about the red flag bill she sponsored.

The small town of Uvalde Texas now joins Newtown Connecticut and Parkland Florida, as a community grieving in the wake of a school shooting. On Today's Show:Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Texas Capitol Reporter at The ​Texas Newsroom, talks about the community of Uvalde, Texas and the victims of yesterday's mass shooting at an elementary school.

How is the electoral map shaping up for Republicans amid primary season, and how are candidates relating themselves to former president Donald Trump? On Today's Show: Henry Olsen, Washington Post columnist and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, previews today's key races and discusses results in Georgia and other states, so far.

We check in on some recent national political polling ahead of this year's midterm elections, and on Biden's policy on supporting Taiwan. On Today's Show:Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), now in paperback, talks about the latest in national politics, including recent polling on midterm issues and President Biden's statement on Taiwan.

The American conservative movement is heading to Victor Orban's Hungary. Why do they want to hold CPAC there? On Today's Show:Mara Liasson, NPR national political correspondent, talks about why CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, is taking place in Hungary this week, and what that says about the movement. Plus, she shares her analysis of this week's primary elections.

How does political rhetoric contribute to violent bigotry and hate crimes, and how does that violence impact communities, beyond the direct victims? On Today's Show:Brian Levin, criminologist, civil rights attorney and professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, talks about the hate crime investigation, and the motivation of the suspect who shot 13 people in a Buffalo supermarket this weekend.

With the ongoing war in Ukraine and the leaked news that President Biden is sending some troops to Somalia, we asked an international affairs expert to explain the latest geopolitics. On Today's Show:Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post columnist, host of CNN’s "Fareed Zakaria GPS," and the author of Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), offers his analysis of the Biden Administration's decision to send troops to Somalia, new members looking to join NATO and the latest on the war in Ukraine. His new CNN special is "Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin."

How has social media shaped society, and particularly, how has it contributed to some of the violence and bigotry we see in our culture today? On Today's Show:It may have begun with promise, but Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist for New York University's Stern School of Business, argues that social media has ripped apart the fabric of society over the past decade. He offers his analysis, and thoughts on how to overcome the major problems it has created.

In politics, popularity is about selling a policy agenda to the public. On Today's Show:Bill de Blasio, former mayor of New York City, draws from his experience and offers advice to President Biden and the Democratic Party on messaging.

As the changing climate continues to shape the planet, and some of the crises that humanity faces while living on it, we explore mental health, and the ethics of having kids. On Today's Show:Britt Wray, Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and author of the new book Generation Dread, talks about how climate anxiety can affect people's decisions on whether to have children, or not.