The Brian Lehrer Show

Last Friday's earthquake in New Jersey was likely a natural phenomenon, but earthquakes can be caused by human interventions -- like fracking. For our climate story of the week, Umair Irfan, staff writer at Vox writing about climate change and energy policy, breaks down how fracking and other natural resource extractions have increased the likelihood of earthquakes in the United States.

Molly Ball, senior political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, talks about the 2024 election and abortion in light of recent developments, including Donald Trump's announcement it should be up to the states and the court's decision to put abortion rights on the ballot in Florida.

Listeners talk about their experiences of the total solar eclipse.

Harry Siegel, editor at The City, FAQ NYC podcast co-host, and Daily News columnist, responds to top police brass calling him names after he published critical columns, and talks about the substance of his critiques of the NYPD.

Megan Cassella, CNBC Washington correspondent, talks about Friday's jobs report, Treasury Sec. Yellen's trip to China, and other national political and economic news.

Molly Webster, senior correspondent for Radiolab, previews the eclipse and offers a thought on why the moon deserves credit in this cosmic event.

Recently, the United States' census moved to recognize people of Middle Eastern and North African descent, creating a separate race and ethnicity option outside of 'White' and allowing for clearer representation. Karen Zraick, reporter for The New York Times, explains the changes to the census coming in six years, how people of MENA navigated government forms previously, and why these changes are coming now.

John Chell, chief of patrol at the NYPD, offers his take on current crime rates, subway safety and explains the department's recent social media strategy, which includes calling out journalists by name.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. Judith Butler on Gender (First) | Robotaxis on New York City Streets? (Starts at 34:45) | English 'Loan Words' in Your Language (Starts at 57:40) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Skies will dim on Monday as the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. Joshua Winter, physics instructor at BASIS Independent Brooklyn with 20 years experience teaching astronomy topics, offers a short preview of the total solar eclipse after a reaction to today's earthquake.