The Brian Lehrer Show

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Poverty in Black and White (First) | The City's First Official Trash Can (Starts at 35:37) | "Weird Al" Yankovic Celebrates 10 Years of "Mandatory Fun" (Starts at 1:04:11)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

10 years after his comedy album "Mandatory Fun" became the first comedy album in history to hit number 1 on the Billboard charts, "Weird Al" Yankovic, musician, comedian, and actor,  looks back on his career parodying hit pop songs, previews his latest single "Polkamania!", and takes calls from his multi-generational fanbase.

Clayton Guse, WNYC/Gothamist editor on the NYC Accountability desk, and Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for the WNYC Newsroom, break down the latest city data that show more New Yorkers were killed by drivers during the first six months of 2024 than those who were fatally shot over the same period.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D NY-8th, Brooklyn) talks about the debate engulfing the Democrats on whether President Biden should stay in the race, plus reacts to Trump's speech at the RNC and listeners share their views.

Charlie Sykes, founder of The Bulwark, MSNBC contributor and author of How the Right Lost Its Mind (St. Martin's Press, 2017), recaps President Trump's speech and the whole week at the Republican National Convention.

Brittany Kriegstein, WNYC and Gothamist reporter, and Tom Warren, senior editor and author of "Notepad" for The Verge, talk about the effects of the massive tech outage, including critical infrastructure, apps, travel and more -- as callers share issues they're finding with work, travel, and making purchases.

Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation, talks about the NYC Bin, the City’s first "official trash can" which will be mandated for use by residential buildings with 1-9 units in a continuing effort to deprive rats of access to garbage. 

McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Romney: A Reckoning (Simon & Schuster, 2023), recaps the happenings at the Republican National Convention, including JD Vance's speech, plus offers analysis on Nikki Haley's apparent evolution into a Trump believer. 

Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent at Vox and the author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World  (PublicAffairs, 2024), explores the resistance to democratic ideals that has always accompanied progress toward greater freedom and how that reactionary movement is active here and around the world.

Classical pianist Lara Downes previews a free outdoor concert in which she'll perform a new arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," which turns 100 this year.On Saturday, July 27 at 6 p.m., WNYC and St. Ann’s Warehouse will present Rhapsody for This Land: The American Odyssey in Music, a free concert in Brooklyn Bridge Park that celebrates a century of hope, protest and change as expressed through American music.RSVP for free here.WNYC is celebrating its centennial with live events, audio programming, public art, a city-wide storytelling initiative and partnerships with other New York institutions. Visit wnyc.org/100to learn more about how you can join the celebration of WNYC’s first — and next — 100 years.