The Brian Lehrer Show

Bob Woodward, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, associate editor at the Washington Post and the author of many books, including his latest, War (Simon and Schuster, 2024), talks about his new book covering American presidential policies toward the war in Ukraine and the Middle East and the election.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York and Henal Patel, director of the Law & Policy program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), talk about the nuts and bolts of how to vote in New York and New Jersey, and what to do if problems arise.

Listeners call in to share the political costume they are donning for Halloween, which this year falls just days before the consequential presidential election.

WNYC’s election series “America, Are We Ready?” looks at the state of election coverage during this very abnormal campaign season. Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger, co-hosts of WNYC's On the Media discuss the decisions by several major newspapers to pull their candidate endorsements, the role of mis- and disinformation and more.

From McDonald's Quarter Pounder burgers to frozen waffles to deli meats, it seems like food recalls are all over the place. Ellen Ioanes, world and weekend reporter at Vox, reports on why this is happening, and what to know as a consumer.

Philip Bump, national columnist for The Washington Post and the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America (Viking, 2023), talks about the latest news from the campaign trail, where both Harris and Trump are making their closing arguments to voters.

Listeners call in to share what their book clubs are reading this month, and Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It talks about Get Lit's latest pick and upcoming event.

Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event, including which presidential candidate the Mayor is getting behind and why.

Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024), talks about the latest news on global conflicts, plus his new novel. 

New Yorkers are voting on Proposition 1, which would add some new protections to the state constitution. Liz Krueger, New York State senator (D, WF - 28th, Manhattan's East Side ), chair of the finance committee (and one of the key legislators behind Prop 1), explains the thinking behind the measure, then, Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, talks about what it would do, and how the arguments for and against it have broken down along partisan lines.