The Brian Lehrer Show

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, talks about the competitive congressional races in New York's primary, and what voter turnout is signaling so far. Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the Democratic primary in NY-17, where the candidate that wins will take on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the general election in November.

Photo: Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani votes at Frank Sinatra School of Arts in the Queens borough of New York City on November 4, 2025. New Yorkers will pick a new mayor on November 4 after an unpredictable race that has drawn attention from far beyond the largest city in the United States, with President Donald Trump branding frontrunner Zohran Mamdani "a communist." Breakout Democratic Party candidate Mamdani, a naturalized Muslim American who represents Queens in the state legislature, leads former governor and sex assault-accused Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent after losing his party's primary contest to Mamdani. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)

 

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Micah Loewinger, co-host of WNYC's On the Media, draws on his reporting from On the Media's series on FEMA to talk about the future of the agency, the Trump administration's new nominee to run it and how a weakened FEMA will affect New Yorkers just as the Atlantic hurricane season is beginning.

Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sign is displayed at their headquarters on May 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

 

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Isaac Butler, culture historian, critic, podcaster and the author of The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars (Bloomsbury, 2026) revisits the late 1980s start of the culture wars as the religious right took on the contemporary art world.

Photo: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - August 21: Banned books are chained to a table in "JD Vances Livingroom" at the Hotties For Harris party during the DNC in Chicago, Illinois on August 21, 2024. (Photo by Nick Oxford for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

 

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Listeners call in to share a news story from the country they’re cheering on at the 2026 World Cup.

Photo: An Indian (R) and Nepalese football player (L) vie for the ball during a qualifier match for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 at Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu on March 17, 2015. The teams drew 0-0. AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH MATHEMA (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP via Getty Images)

 

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Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist, contributor to The iPaper and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024) offers analysis of what's in the Iran deal, and whether it will even hold up amid on-and-off violence.

Photo: TEHRAN, IRAN - JUNE 18: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY â" MANDATORY CREDIT - 'IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signs a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war between Iran and the United States, brokered by Pakistan, at his office in Tehran, Iran, on June 18, 2026. (Photo by Iranian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)

 

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