Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

As we close out the second month of the 2024 election year, numerous anti-trans laws have been enacted across the country. On Today's Show:Alejandra Caraballo, Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic, looks at the latest in anti-trans policies including an executive order in Nassau County that targets young trans women athletes as well as Oklahoma’s anti-trans laws that are under new scrutiny after a 16 year old nonbinary child died a day after an altercation in their school’s bathroom.

After a recent visit to the region, a local congress member, Navy veteran and House Armed Services committee member shares her thoughts on the situation in Gaza. On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11) talks about U.S. foreign policy

With so much political news being bound up with legal cases and proceedings, we bring you some legal analysis. On Today's Show:Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation and the author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (The New Press, 2022), breaks down the latest on Trump's legal woes, Alabama's ruling on IVF and more.

How might the Israel-Hamas war impact the standing of the United States in the eyes of Muslim moderates around the world?  On Today's Show:Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Institute focusing on Islam and modernity, and the author the forthcoming book The Islamic Moses: How the Prophet Inspired Jews and Muslims to Flourish Together and Change the World (St. Martin's Essentials, 2024), argues that perceived indifference to Palestinian suffering in Gaza is alienating the Islamic world and has the potential to tarnish the appeal of liberal democratic values in the United States and the West.

Five years ago this month, progressives in Congress began pursuing the passage of a legislative package known as the Green New Deal. On Today's Show:U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14th District), talks about the anniversary of the idea, its accomplishments so far, and the national and global priorities on climate change ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Democratic constituencies around the world appear happy to support 'strongman' style leaders, in the name of nationalism. On Today's Show:Idrees Kahloon, Washington bureau chief for The Economist, talks about his recent reporting on the rise of illiberal leaders, plus responses to the death of Alexei Navalny, the Munich Security Conference, Israel and Gaza and more.

Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist and political prisoner Alexei Navalny has died. On Today's Show:Masha Gessen, The New Yorker staff writer and the author of Surviving Autocracy (Riverhead Books, 2020), digests this news and offers analysis as Putin's war in Ukraine approaches its second anniversary.

Last week's news of comments from Special Counsel Robert Hur's report on Biden's age and mental agility hit a nerve. On Today's Show: Damon Linker, senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania and writer of the Substack newsletter “Notes from the Middleground,” explains his argument expressed in a recently published piece for The Atlantic that "Democrats Should Pick a New Presidential Candidate Now." 

Last night, voters elected Tom Suozzi over Republican Mazi Pilip to replace disgraced House member George Santos in New York's 3rd congressional district. On Today's Show:Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, and Randi Marshall, editorial board writer and columnist for Newsday, talk about the results of the special election.

To reach the target of 100% clean energy production by 2035, more wind and solar plants need to be built. On Today's Show:Elizabeth Weise, national correspondent for USA TODAY covering climate change and the energy transition, talks about her year-long investigation into why and how communities across the United States are banning wind and solar energy, despite clean energy goals and the consequences of a warming climate.