The Brian Lehrer Show

This week marks the 81st anniversary of the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. 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), recalls the history and discusses the current state of nuclear weapons, especially as it relates to the war with Iran.

Photo: People stand along the Motoyasu river as Kagaribi, ceremonial bonfires, are lit in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome to remember the victims on the eve of the 81st anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack, in Hiroshima on August 5, 2026. (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP via Getty Images) / Japan OUT

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New York City's Department of Finance sent letters to thousands of high-value homeowners regarding a so-called pied-à-terre tax, but many of the people who received those letters say these are their primary residences. Kathryn Brenzel, senior political reporter at Crain's New York Business, explains the roll-out, the extended appeal deadline, and the rules for who qualifies.

Photo: BROOKLYN, NY - APRIL 15: Brooklyn Brownstones in a Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York on April 15, 2016. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amanda Ripley, journalist who writes the Substack The Understory, conflict mediator and co-founder of Good Conflict and author of several books, including High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out (Simon & Schuster, 2021) talks about her method of conflict mediation, and moderates a conversation among listeners who have different views on whether they are proud or ashamed of the United States.

Photo: HOBOKEN, NJ - JULY 3: A thunderstorm moves across the Hudson River into lower Manhattan in New York City as a man holds an American flag in the wind on a pier in the Hudson River on July 03, 2026, in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chico Harlan, global climate correspondent at The New York Times, discusses the wildfires in Europe and the ways climate change is impacting the continent right now.

Photo: VIOTIA, GREECE - AUGUST 2: Volunteers battle a wildfire burning near Porto Germeno, 70 kilometres northwest of Athens in the region of Viotia, Greece, on August 2, 2026 (Photo by Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Anthony Fauci returned to Congress to testify on his role in the COVID-19 pandemic after Republican Senator Rand Paul released some of Fauci's diary entries from 2020. Chelsea Cirruzzo, Washington correspondent at STAT News, discusses Fauci's testimony and related news. 

Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci is sworn in before testifying to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Fauci was expected to be questioned about his diary entries during his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.