The Brian Lehrer Show

Dan Kaufman, journalist and author of The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics (W. W. Norton & Company, 2018), reports on the movement against data centers in Wisconsin, a major hub for the centers, and how it's turning into a major issue there and elsewhere ahead of the midterms.

Photo: Protesters gather for a statewide data center day of action at the Wisconsin State Capitol on February 12, 2026 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Joe Timmerman/Catchlight/Wisconsin Watch via Getty Images)

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The Brooklyn Democratic Party passed a series of rule changes last week which reformers are calling a 'power grab' by the old guard, aimed at keeping the party's existing leaders in power, despite the protest of several prominent democrats. Gwynne Hogan, senior reporter at The City Reporter, and Jeff Coltin, editor-in-chief of City & State NY, unpack the saga, and what it tells us about the role of local party chapters in the city's changing political landscape.

Photo: Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn delivers remarks. (Ben Fractenberg at The City Reporter)

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Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, talks about how the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have re-shaped the First Amendment and press freedom in the United States, and how this is still affecting speech today.

Photo: A salesman in an electronics store in Mexico City watches the World Trade Center in New York City collapse September 11, 2001. (Susana Gonzalez/Getty Images)

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Suresh Shahi, editor for Khasokhas, talks about how the Nepalese community in Queens is coping with devastating floods in Nepal, and how they are helping friends and family members back home.

Photo: People salvage belongings from their home following flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 31, 2026. Nepal was burying on August 31 some of the hundreds of bodies retrieved after a deadly, tsunami-like flood crashed through the Himalayan region, sweeping away villages and leaving thousands still missing. (Arun SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Inside Meta's settlement over social media addiction (First) | The big business of sports grows even bigger (Starts near 49:30) | Tributes to the late Dolly Parton (Starts near 1:12:40)

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