WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show

President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to suppress demonstrations against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Leah Litman , professor of law at the University of Michigan and a former Supreme Court clerk, co-host of the podcast "Strict Scrutiny" and the author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2025), offers legal analysis.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

Katie Barnes, award-winning LGBTQ sports journalist, on trans women and girls in sport (First) | A recap of the first NYC mayoral debate (Starts at 47:30) | A 100-year history of Cancer research in the United States (Starts at 1:25:10)

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Senators are currently negotiating their version of the so-called "big, beautiful bill." Ursula Perano , senate reporter at NOTUS , and Matt Brown , Associated Press reporter covering national politics, race and democracy issues, explain why some key provisions in the bill are under extra scrutiny, including one that would prohibit state and local governments from regulating AI for ten years.

This year's WNYC Health Convening with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation continues with a look at the current state of cancer research in the United States. Sudip Parikh , Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher of the Science family of journals, and Otis Brawley , professor of oncology at The Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkin and co-editor of The Cancer History Project, and Julie Rovner , chief Washington correspondent at KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, discuss what the impacts of the Trump administration's funding cuts to the National Health Institute have meant to clinical trials, and what a future without government funding to find a cure might look like should the science continue to be underfunded.

Each year the news division hosts the WNYC Health Convening with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as an opportunity for healthcare experts and practitioners to inform WNYC's health reporting. This year, as part of our centennial series "100 Years of 100 Things," Paul Goldberg , editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter and co-editor of The Cancer History Project, discusses the century of cancer treatment advancements and how the U.S. government played a major part in funding the science for treatment, early detection and prevention.

After a transgender high school athlete won two events at last weekend's California track and field championships, President Donald Trump has threatened to defund the state. Katie Barnes , ESPN senior writer covering the intersection of sports and gender, and author of Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates (St. Martin's Press, 2023), discusses the controversy surrounding trans women in competitive sports, fact-checks ideas the broader public holds about fairness and gender in athletics, and talks about current rules various leagues already set in place to ensure equity and inclusion.

Nicole Gelinas , senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal , a columnist at the New York Post and the author of the new book, Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car (Fordham Univ Press, 2024), and Dave Colon , reporter for Streetsblog NYC , talk about the mayoral candidates' proposals for making mass transit safe, affordable and reliable and for managing the "chaos" of use of streets by pedestrians, two-wheeled vehicles, and cars.

The Trump administration announced it would "aggressively revoke" student visas for Chinese students who are planning to study in the United States. Liam Knox , the admissions and enrollment reporter for Inside Higher Ed and author of their Admissions Weekly newsletter, reports on the latest on that plus the dispute between the administration and Harvard over enrolling foreign students.

Child care has become a big issue in the mayoral primary campaign as families with young children continually cite the cost as a major factor in whether they can stay in the City or not. Madina Touré , New York education policy and politics reporter for Politico New York, compares and contrasts the various policies Democratic candidates are pitching to try to help the youngest New Yorkers and their families.

Leah Litman , professor of law at the University of Michigan and a former Supreme Court clerk, co-host of the podcast "Strict Scrutiny" and the author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2025), offers her take on the current Supreme Court, the major decisions coming this term and why she says it's running as “no law, just vibes.”

CUNY recently lost federal funding for more than 70 research grants. Denis Nash , professor of epidemiology at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and executive director of CUNY’s Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, talks about the funding he recently lost on research related to COVID vaccine uptake, plus comments on the changes coming to how the COVID vaccine is rolled out for the next season.

As we observe Memorial Day, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations from the centennial series:
Katherine Sharp Landdeck , professor of history and director of Pioneers Oral History Project at Texas Woman's University and the author of The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II (Crown, 2020), talks about American women in the military over the last century. David Remnick , editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, talks about another centenarian, The New Yorker , which published its first issue on February 21, 1925. Phil Brown , University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University, founder and president of the Catskills Institute and the author of several books, including Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat's Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area (Temple University Press, 1998), takes us through the last 100 years in The Catskills -- the hotels, the camps and the people. Sam Barzilay , creative director & co-founder of Photoville, looks at the history of street photography, from the invention of the Leica hand-held 35mm camera which made capturing "the decisive moment" possible, to the challenges presented by AI and smartphone technology of today.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: Women in the Military (Apr 30, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: The New Yorker Magazine (Jan 31, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: Catskills Hotels (Aug 14, 2024)

100 Years of 100 Things: Street Photography (Apr 22, 2025)

Enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations from the centennial series:

Mark Mather , demographer and associate vice president for U.S. Programs at the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) walks us through the shifts over the past 100 years in U.S. birth rates, followed by changes in U.S. mortality statistics.

Julie Suk , a law professor at Fordham University and the author of We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020), reviews the history of the Equal Rights Amendment, from its introduction by Alice Paul in 1923 through its current disputed status, following passage by a 38th state and President Biden's declaration that it's the "law of the land."
Liza Donnelly , writer and cartoonist at The New Yorker and the author of Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Women Cartoonists, 1925-2021 (Prometheus, 2022) and the substack "Seeing Things", talks about the evolution of the "New Yorker cartoon" over the magazine's 100-year history. Co-hosts of The Season Pass podcast, Robert Coker , author of the book Roller Coasters: A Thrill Seeker's Guide To The Ultimate Scream Machines (Main Street, 2002) and Douglas Barnes , talk about the history of roller coasters, from the "Golden Age" of 1920's wooden coasters like Coney Island's Cyclone through modern steel "stratacoasters," like the late lamented Kingda Ka, which was recently imploded to make room for something even bigger.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: US Population Shifts (Jan 2, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: US Mortality Causes (Jan 6, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: The ERA (Mar 4, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: New Yorker Cartoons (Mar 20, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: Roller Coasters (Apr 11, 2025)

Catch up with the summer cultural calendar with this pledge-drive miniseries. Today, Jordan Lauf , producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It , recommends some of the books coming out this summer.

Some of the books on Jordan's list:

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen (out now)

The Antidote by Karen Russell (out now)

Flashlight by Susan Choi (out June 3rd)

King of Ashes by SA Cosby (June 10th)

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (June 3rd)

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (July 8th)

Baldwin– A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs (out August 19th)

Audition by Katie Kitamura (Get Lit with All Of It selection, May 29)

The Republican House spending bill seeks to cut some of the clean energy tax incentives in the former Biden administration’s 2022 climate law. Kelsey Brugger , reporter covering energy and climate politics on Capitol Hill for Politico's E&E News, breaks down her reporting and explains why some Republicans lawmakers are urging leaders to spare credits that benefit clean energy projects in red states.

New York State's Adult Survivors Act brought a flood of lawsuits against the city by women who say they were abused at Rosie's (the women's jail) on Rikers Island. Jessy Edwards , writer and editor for Hell Gate, and Christopher Werth , senior editor at WNYC and Gothamist focusing on investigations, talk about their reporting on serial sexual abuse at the jail, which was recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting.

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), offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court decision to continue to prohibit the Trump Administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, and shares her take on how the courts are limiting executive power (or not).

Jonathan Capehart , associate editor at The Washington Post , co-host of the morning edition of The Weekend on MSNBC, contributor, PBS NewsHour and author of Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home (Grand Central Publishing, 2025), talks about his personal new book, which includes stories from his upbringing and his early career at WNYC, plus the latest national political news.

Catch up with the summer cultural calendar with this pledge-drive miniseries. Today, Rossilynne Culgan , Things to Do editor at Time Out New York , tour guide, and the author of Secret New York City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure (Reedy Press, 2024), talks about some of the fun things to do this summer after dark -- night markets, outdoor movies, and fireworks on the beach, including:

Movie Nights in Bryant Park

Films on the Green

Brooklyn Bridge Park's "Movies with a View"

Riverside Park's Pier I Picture Show

Rooftop Films

Rooftop CInema Club

Intrepid Free Friday Movie Nights

TimeOut NY's list of Night Markets

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation nationwide. Jessica Steier, DRPH, PMP, CEO of Unbiased Science and host of the Unbiased Science Podcast and Linda Birnbaum , scientist emeritus and former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, as well as the National Toxicology Program and scholar in residence at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, parse fact from myth and what the science says about water fluoridation.

Civil rights groups in New York City have filed a lawsuit challenging the NYPD's gang database, which these groups call discriminatory. Meanwhile, City Council and the Adams administration have clashed over the issue. Babe Howell , professor at CUNY School of Law, and Peter Moskos , professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, former Baltimore City police officer and author of Back from the Brink: Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop (Oxford University Press, 2025), debate the efficacy of the gang database

In president Trump's first administration, he stated that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "not money". Now, he heads his own crypto company. David Yaffe-Bellany , technology reporter for The New York Times , covering the crypto industry, shares his reporting on the ways the Trump family has financially benefitted from embracing the industry in these first few months of his second presidency.

Rick Seltzer , senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education who writes their Daily Briefing newsletter, talks about the latest news in the fights between Columbia, Harvard and other universities and the Trump administration, and how the funding cuts are hitting the schools so far. Plus, Max Kozlov , science reporter covering biomedical research at Nature , talks about his reporting on the research topics that the Trump administration's NIH has cut funding to, especially areas the administration finds "problematic," like those related to LGBTQ+ health.

Communication blackouts, delayed flights, staffing shortages -- New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport has been in crisis mode for the past week. Pete Muntean , CNN correspondent covering aviation and transportation, pilot, and flight instructor, takes us behind the scenes of the "multi-day" meltdown at Newark, and explains what's caused these problems for travelers and staff alike.

Last week, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Food and Drug Administration would require all new vaccines to be tested against placebos and to develop new vaccines without using mRNA technology. Christina Jewett , reporter covering Food and Drug Administration for The New York Times , explains what that will mean for future vaccines, including COVID-19 booster shots, plus more FDA-related news headlines.

Kimberly Adams , senior Washington correspondent for Marketplace and the co-host of the Marketplace podcast “Make Me Smart,” talks about the latest news on tariffs, including the end of the de minimis exemption, which may lead to higher prices for consumers. Plus, Arthur Dong , teaching professor of strategy and economics at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, offers analysis of the US-China relationship as Beijing is considering whether it should begin to negotiate with President Trump on trade.

Scott Bok , former board chair of the University of Pennsylvania, longtime CEO of the M&A advisory firm Greenhill & Co., and the author of Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy and Timing (Wiley, 2025), talks about his life and facing crises on Wall Street and, most recently, his resignation from the Penn Board in December 2023.

=>EVENT: New York Public Library's Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library Event Center at 455 Fifth Avenue, tonight 6-7PM

Louisa Tatum , Career Services Manager at the New York Public Library, talks about the job and career landscape for people without college degrees—and we'll take calls from listeners who are looking for career advice.

EVENT:
The New York Public Library is hosting a free job fair and career expo at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building's Celeste Bartos Forum. That's on Friday, May 23, 2025, 10 AM - 3 PM. More information at the link below:
https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2025/05/23/nypls-free-tech-job-fair-expo-2025-connect-learn-get-hired

Support of WNYC’s coverage of economic mobility and opportunity is provided in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information about how the Gates Foundation supports economic mobility and opportunity, visit usprogram.gatesfoundation.org .