Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

Several cases of the Trump administration's immigration detentions and deportations have raised questions about due process.On Today's Show:Nick Miroff, staff writer for The Atlantic who covers immigration and the Department of Homeland Security, talks about the behind the scenes negotiations between the Trump administration and the president of El Salvador about the US sending deportees there, regardless of their country of origin. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously discussed  blocking women from military service, though has since backed off on those efforts.On Today's Show:Katherine Sharp Landdeck, professor of history and director of Pioneers Oral History Project at Texas Woman's University and the author of The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II (Crown, 2020), talks about American women in the military over the last century.

After 100 days of Trump's second term, questions have arisen about birthright citizenship, the arrests of judges and deportations without due process.On Today's Show:David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, offers his assessment of Trump's second term so far, and the opposition that is beginning to form.

Recently, NJ Sen. Andy Kim made an unannounced visit to a federal immigration detention facility. On Today's Show:Andy Kim, U.S. Senator (D-NJ), talks about his work in the Senate and the issues facing the Garden State.

After his first few months in office, where have the initial actions of the Trump administration aligned with Project 2025?On Today's Show:David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of their daily newsletter, and author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2025), shares his analysis of President Trump's agenda.

The global influence of the Catholic church has been a historically important force on the international stage. On Today's Show:Daniel Rober, associate professor and department chair of the Catholic Studies department at Sacred Heart University, talks about the leading contenders to be the next pope, the fraught process in the Vatican and the different directions the next leader of the world's Catholics might take the church.

What constitutes an "authoritarian" government, and what causes them to fail?On Today's Show:Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, historian and author of Autocracy Inc. (Penguin, 2024), argues the checks on presidential power, put in place by the founders, have so far failed in the second Trump administration.

The National Institute of Health is set to cut funding for climate research.On Today's Show:Maggie Astor, New York Times reporter covering the intersection between health and public policy, explains the broader impact these cuts may have on our public health.

The Trump administration's recent deportation efforts have raised questions about the law around citizenship and the removal of non-citizens from the country.On Today's Show:Quinta Jurecic, contributing writer at The Atlantic, fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, and senior editor at Lawfare, offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's recent rulings on deportation and how the Trump administration is responding.

President Trump has frozen some federal funds to Harvard University, and has a list of demands in order to unfreeze it.On Today's Show:Rick Seltzer, reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, talks about the latest news in the escalating fight between the Ivy League and the Trump administration, including how Harvard would likely have used that money, and what it means for higher education in the U.S. more broadly.