The Brian Lehrer Show

Yasmeen Abutaleb, Washington Post White House reporter and co-author of the book Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration Response to the Pandemic that Changed History (Harper, 2021), offers analysis of the U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza after President Biden apparently warned Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu the humanitarian situation in Gaza had to improve.

Alexander Gates, department chair and professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University and co-author of Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes New Edition (Facts-on-File Inc., third edition, 2006), discusses the preliminary information on New Jersey's 4.8 magnitude earthquake which occurred on Friday morning and was felt in the tristate area.

In a lawsuit, the state of New Jersey is arguing against congestion pricing, citing environmental concerns. Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for the WNYC Newsroom, reports on how the state's lawyers presented their case in the courtroom this week, and how likely it seems to derail the toll program's June launch. Plus, a check-in on the state of infrastructure after the tristate area was hit by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake and updates from Governor Kathy Hochul.

Brian and WNYC host Sean Carlson provide live coverage of the earthquake, including a press conference with Mayor Adams and other officials, calls from listeners all over (including near the epicenter), seismologists Antonios Marcellos (from Hofstra University) and Benjamin Fernando (from Johns Hopkins), and officials including MTA chair Janno Lieber and NYC Commissioner of Emergency Management Zach Iscol. 

David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC/Gothamist, talks about the deal taking shape on housing in the state budget; whether "squatters" are a real and growing issue and a state Court of Appeals decision that might upend NYC's property tax system.

Judith Butler, professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of several books, including Gender Trouble, and their latest, Who's Afraid of Gender? (Macmillan, 2024), talks about their pioneering academic work on the concept of gender and how fraught and misunderstood the topic has become.

Listeners who speak a second language call in to share which words in English are commonly used in that language, and what it might say about that culture.

Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent for Axios, host of the Slate Money Podcast and author of The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal (‎Harper Business, 2023), talks about both Reddit and Truth Social going public and what that means for their investors and users.

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 analysis of a contentious interview with the Mayor on The Breakfast Club, plus more.

Michael Waters, writer and author of the forthcoming book The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), explores the significance of middle names and what they say about our lives and our values.→ Middle Names Reveal More Than You Think