The Brian Lehrer Show

As our centennial series continues, Annie Polland, president of the Tenement Museum, looks at the life and enduring legacy of Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet member as Secretary of Labor who was instrumental in crafting The New Deal, and passing a slew of federal workers protections, including Social Security, a minimum wage and a 40-hour work week.

For St. Patrick's Day, listeners call in to share their family's immigration stories, from Ireland to America, plus listeners who have emigrated from the U.S. to Ireland share their stories.

The federal government has issued a list of demands to Columbia University that they say it must comply with in order to restore hundreds of millions of dollars of funding. Jake Offenhartz, New York City reporter for The Associated Press, talks about the nature of the ultimatum and the contentious relationship between the university and the Trump administration.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.The Nation Asks 'Are Men OK?'; (First) | 100 Years of 100 Things: Birth Control (Starts at 33:00) | Can We Change Our Personalities? (Starts at 46:20)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Eamon Whalen, freelance journalist and Nation contributor, offers analysis of the premise that men and boys are suffering, how to help them if they are, and how this intersects with the "manosphere," and the politics of the moment.

Whitney Tilson, former hedge fund manager and philanthropist, talks about his campaign for the Democratic nomination for NYC mayor in the June primary election.

Five years since COVID upended daily life, listeners weigh in on the biggest societal changes brought on by the pandemic. 

Nancy Cook, senior national political correspondent at Bloomberg News, offers analysis of the Democratic split on the budget showdown in Congress, tariff chaos and more economic news from Washington.

Annabelle Williams, publishing editor at The Wall Street Journal, shares tips and best practices for managing "digital debt" in your relationships.  

As our centennial series continues, Jane McManus, sportswriter, an adjunct professor at New York University at the Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport and the editor of The Year's Best Sports Writing 2024 (Triumph, 2024) and author of the forthcoming The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women's Sports (Temple University Press, 2025), talks about early attempts to organize women's sports and its post-Title IX growth.