Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Just because there's one particular global threat -- COVID-19 -- that's got our attention in the U.S., it doesn't mean it's the only global threat we need to keep our eye on. On Today's Show:Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZero Media and the author of Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism (Portfolio, 2018) and the forthcoming The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World (Simon & Schuster, 2022), offers his analysis of the biggest geopolitical risks likely to play out in 2022.

On MLK Day, we wanted to look at how Dr. King's legacy of civil rights, and particularly voting rights, has evolved since his efforts toward equality. On Today's Show:Kai Wright, host of the WNYC podcast The United States of Anxiety, talks about the push for voting rights in the United States today and in history.

The leader of the white supremacist militia the Oath Keepers has been charged with sedition. What does that tell us about what Jan. 6 could have looked like if they succeeded? On Today's Show:Devlin Barrett, reporter focusing on national security and law enforcement for The Washington Post, discusses the Justice Department's response to last January's attack on the US capitol, including news that the founder of the right-wing extremist group Oath Keepers was arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the riot.

The president has thrown his support behind a Senate rule change that would allow Democrats to pass voting rights reforms by ending the filibuster. Senators Manchin and Sinema support the reforms, but oppose the repeal of the filibuster, without which, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act are unlikely to pass. On Today's Show:Theodoric Meyer, national political reporter and co-author of the Power Up newsletter at The Washington Post, discusses the latest news from Washington, including ongoing reactions to Biden's speech on voting rights and the filibuster as the MLK day deadline approaches.

As President Biden urges Senate rule changes to secure voting rights reforms, a conversation about the intersection of voting rights and civil rights. On Today's Show:Al Sharpton, civil rights leader, host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN) and the author of Righteous Troublemakers: Untold Stories of the Social Justice Movement in America (Hanover Square Press, 2022), talks about his new book and civil rights in NYC and the country today.

There are some confounding stats coming out about COVID hospitalizations amid the omicron surge. On Today's Show: Craig Spencer, New York City emergency medicine physician and director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, describes the landscape of omicron infection in New York City hospitals, from "incidental infections" to staff shortages caused by doctors and nurses having to isolate after testing positive.

The Senate could vote soon on a key voting rights bill ahead of the 2022 midterms. What changes are proposed, and what could the political impacts be? On Today's Show:Mara Liasson, NPR national political correspondent, talks about the latest national political news.

It's been a year since the Jan. 6 insurrection. What does it mean that thusfar, the Justice Department has focused on rioters, and not those who allegedly incited them? On Today's Show:Jason Johnson, MSNBC contributor, author, professor of Politics and Journalism at Morgan State University and host of the Slate political podcast 'A Word … with Jason Johnson,' rounds up this week's political news and reacts to speeches from Pres. Biden and Atty Gen. Garland on the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.

On the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, we take a look at how the Republican party has been reshaped over the past year, and what it means for the midterms. On Today's Show:Amanda Carpenter, columnist at The Bulwark, director of Republicans for Voting Rights, author of Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us (Broadside Books, 2018), and former communications director to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, explains the potential future of the Republican party as various actors defending Trump or conservatism or democracy remain divided.

One year ago tomorrow, extremists stormed the Capitol Building. How have militant groups changed their tactics since then? On Today's Show:Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter for NBC News where she covers misinformation, extremism and the internet, talks about the landscape of extremism since January 6th and her new investigation that finds some militia and white supremacist groups have shifted tactics, going from protesting to putting energy into local politics and school boards.