Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

When it comes to bird flu, the nation's top public health official wants to let the infection burn through flocks to identify birds with high immunity.On Today's Show:Apoorva Mandavilli, reporter for The New York Times, focusing on science and global health, discusses the government's approach to bird flu, and why veterinary scientists say that RFK Jr.'s approach will likely cost more than it helps. 

On Friday, Columbia University's administration agreed to demands from the Trump administration over the institution's responses to pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Columbia faculty members Joseph Howley, associate professor of Classics, and Ester Fuchs, professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science, weigh in. Then Sarah Brown and Kate Bellows from The Chronicle of Higher Education bring their reporting on the situation at Columbia and at other colleges and universities around the country where Trump has attempted to exercise control over issues including campus speech, DEI and Title IX. 

President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at downsizing the Education Department, leaving many who hold federal student aid with major questions about repayment. On today's show: Annie Nova, who covers personal finance for CNBC, unpacks the latest news about the Ed Department and the predicament for student borrowers.

Shane Goldmacher, national political correspondent for The New York Times covering the major developments, trends and forces shaping American politics, shares his reporting on how the Trump administration is attempting to sabotage Democrats' operations, and how it could affect elections and Democrats' ability to gain power in the future.

With Trump squaring off against the federal court system, which has attempted to block some of his actions, we look at the state of the judiciary branch.On Today's Show:Heather Cox Richardson, professor of American history at Boston College and author of "Letters from an American" on Substack and several books, including Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America (Viking, 2023), offers a historian's take on the first weeks of the second Trump presidency.

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 fundingOn Today's Show: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.

On today's show: David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times and the author of New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West (Crown, 2024), talks about the many ways in which President Trump and his administration have challenged the post-WWII international order.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detailed Mahmoud Khalil—a legal permanent resident with a green card and prominent student-activist-turned-negotiator in pro-Palestine demonstrations at Colombia University.On Today's Show:Peter Markowitz, professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and the founding faculty member and co-director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic, offers legal analysis of the detention.

President Trump's U.S. Department of Agriculture has purged the agency's website of  information related to climate change, extreme weather resilience and sustainable farming practices.On Today's Show:Emily Atkin, editor-in-chief of the HEATED newsletter, unpacks the story.

Elon Musk and DOGE are slashing the size of the federal workforce in what they say will bring big savings to taxpayers. On Today's Show:Stephen Fowler, political reporter with NPR's Washington desk, reports on the typos, exaggerations and shoddy math in DOGE's receipts.