The Brian Lehrer Show

Susan Glasser, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of a weekly column on life in Washington and co-host of The Political Scene podcast and the author (with Peter Baker) of The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 (Doubleday, 2022), as well as Evan Osnos, staff writer at The New Yorker, co-host of the podcast "The Political Scene" and the author of The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich (Scribner, 2025), comment on the latest national political news, including the outlook for the 2026 midterm elections.

Photo: James Talarico, Democratic nominee for a closely-watched U.S. Senate race in Texas this year, delivers remarks at a rally in September 2025. (Credit: H. Michael Karshis via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0)

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Arya Sundaram, WNYC and Gothamist reporter covering race and immigration, breaks down the latest in New Jersey, including why the mayor of Newark on Sunday announced a partial curfew following repeated clashes near a federal immigration detention center, and Charles Stile, political columnist at The Record / northjersey.com, offers a preview of Tuesday's NJ congressional primaries.

Photo: Police clash with protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 30, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Antonio Pagliarulo, writer and author of Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession (Weiser Books), talks about the role of saints in people's lives, within the Catholic Church and beyond, and offers his list of saints specifically for the LGBTQ+ community.

Photo: Cover art for Queer Saints. (Credit: Red Wheel/Weiser Books)

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be joining the show tomorrow for his inaugural "Ask the Mayor" segment. Listeners call in to share questions they'd like to ask the new mayor.

Photo: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks about the fiscal year 2027 budget in New York City Hall, New York, U.S., May 12, 2026. (Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

The States and Redistricting (First) | Marriage in Context (Starts at 31:00) | All of It Summer Reading Challenge (Starts at 57:15)

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Photo: Oliver Larkin, Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida’s 23rd district, speaks during an emergency town hall that he held to address Florida Republicans’ newly approved congressional redistricting map (seen on wall) on May 04, 2026 in Coral Springs, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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