The Brian Lehrer Show

Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, reports on the arrest of a former aide to Gov. Hochul, plus updates the investigations of members of Mayor Adams' administration.

As we look to Tuesday night's highly anticipated presidential debate between vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, Molly Ball, senior political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal  and host of the new podcast  "Red, White and Who?", shares how the candidates are preparing for the event, what issues may be on the forefront of the conversation, and her analysis on the state of the race leading up to the debate. 

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.The details and politics of an abortion-related ballot measure in Florida  (First) | A record-breaking U.S. Open (Starts at 27:05) | A deep dive on the 100-year history of unions for Labor Day (Starts at 39:16)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Lora Kelley, associate editor at The Atlantic and an author of The Atlantic Daily newsletter, looks at how e-commerce hasn't stopped stores from opening, but they're smaller and serve a different purpose. 

Robert Tucker, commissioner of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), talks about his new role and the challenges facing the department, and Daniel Flynn, chief fire marshal of the FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigation (BFI), discusses the department's efforts to prevent lithium-ion battery fires.correction: There have been 31 deaths from lithium-ion battery fires since 2021, not since last year. 

For only the sixth time, both the Mets and the Yankees teams could make the playoffs. Brendan Kuty, MLB staff writer for The Athletic, assesses the chances of October baseball in NYC and the state of the game. 

A school shooting in Georgia this week has thrust gun violence back into the spotlight, as both presidential contenders (and their VPs) clarify their positions. Chip Brownlee, a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit news site covering gun violence, breaks down what we know about the shooting, gun violence in schools and what each candidate has proposed to address the issue. 

A recent op-ed in Slate written by a psychiatrist notes how the author, and her patients, are recently starting to identify as introverted. Listeners who found their personalities have shifted from extrovert to introvert call in to share what inspired the change, what difficulties it may sometimes cause and how they're dealing with it.

A ballot measure to protect and expand abortion rights will be on the ballot in Florida this year. Grace Panetta, political reporter at The 19th, and Kimberly Leonard,  Politico politics reporter and author of Florida Playbook, explain the measure and why former President Donald Trump, who is registered to vote in Florida, has publicly said he'd vote against it. 

Over Labor Day weekend, thousands of hotel workers went on strike nationwide. Chris Isidore, senior writer for CNN Business, explains the conditions that led to the strike, which impacted nine cities, the broader issues and why it's the second year in a row that hotel workers walked off of the job.  Plus, he looks ahead to potential strikes at ports, United, and Boeing and the latest on the sale of US Steel to a Japanese company.