The Brian Lehrer Show

Theodore Schleifer, covers billionaires and their impact for the New York Times, talks about the impact of dark money on the 2026 midterms, why the spending source is growing, and where it's being spent.

Photo: Stock image by fStop Images - Antenna via Getty Creative

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Eileen Markey, assistant Professor of journalism at Lehman College CUNY, longtime journalist covering the Bronx and author of the forthcoming book, All They Had: How The Bronx Survived a Death Sentence (Duke University Press, 2027), talks about the recent news of layoffs, shutdowns and shrinking of local news outlets in the Bronx, and how that impacts the borough.

Photo: The final issue of Norwood News (Courtesy Norwood News)

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Many gaming companies have been moving towards subscription payment models and away from the sale of physical games, to the dismay of many players. Jason Schreier, reporter for Bloomberg News covering the video-game industry and co-host of the podcast Triple Click, unpacks what the death of physical games means for consumers, and what it can tell us about the future of the quarter billion-dollar industry.

Photo: A Nintendo 64 game console with the game "Mario Kart." (Jan Woitas/dpa via Getty Images)

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WQXR's longtime morning show host Jeff Spurgeon is retiring at the end of this week. He joins us to reflect on his long career at New York Public Radio's classical music station and what he hopes listeners will keep learning about classical music.

Photo: WQXR host Jeff Spurgeon (WNYC staff photo)

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John Cassidy, staff writer at The New Yorker talks about how analysts, politicians, and every day people are calculating the cost of the Iran War.

Photo: A pedestrian walks past a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump inside a catering container, installed on a building along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. Iran attacked US military targets in the Middle East on August 31 in retaliation for American strikes on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, the first exchange of fire for a month in a war that has engulfed the region. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

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