The Brian Lehrer Show

As SNL celebrates its 50th anniversary, Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR talks, about how they've found humor in American politics over the decades.

This month we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Slava Leontyv, Ukrainian artist, former soldier, and filmmaker, and Brendan Bellomo, film and commercial director,  talk about their film, "Porcelain War," telling the story of three Ukrainian artists caught up in the Russian invasion, armed with guns, their art and a camera.

Rev. Michael Blake, former state assemblyman, talks about his campaign for the Democratic nomination for NYC Mayor in the June primary.

On Presidents Day, as our centennial series continues, Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, talks about the history of U.S. presidents, their exercise of executive power and how President Trump's actions compare.

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.Historian Jefferson Cowie offers a history White backlash to federal authority (First) | Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie discuss their Oscar-nominated documentary "Sugarcane" and the long history of abuse at residential schools in Canada (Starts at 22:20) | Shiori Itō, director of "Black Box Diaries," talks about her Oscar-nominated documentary about her investigation of her own sexual assault case (Starts at 39:35)If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show, recaps her conversation with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

Dan Goldman, US Representative (D, NY-10), formerly lead counsel for the impeachment investigation of Pres. Trump in 2019 and former assistant US attorney SDNY, responds to President Trump's executive orders, and to the moves by Elon Musk and DOGE to drastically cut the federal work force. 

Antonio Pagliarulo, writer and author of The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery & Magic of the Quiet Curse (Weiser Books, 2023) and the forthcoming The Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles and Modern Intercession, tells us about the saint for whom  Valentine's Day is named, and listeners tell us about their secret loves. 

This month we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Julian Brave NoiseCat, writer and filmmaker, and Emily Kassie, filmmaker and investigative journalist, discuss their film "Sugarcane" that documents the long history of abuse at one Indian residential school in Canada and the damage to individuals, families and communities from the century-long practice across the U.S. and Canada.Sugarcane is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

Samantha Max, reporter covering public safety for WNYC/Gothamist, talks about the news that the acting Manhattan U.S. attorney quit rather than comply with the DOJ's request that her office drop the charges against Mayor Adams, and explains the prosecutor's reasoning.