The Brian Lehrer Show

On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including:

The U.S. fertility rate dropped to another record low in 2025, according to provisional CDC data, marking a 23% drop since 2007. Jill Filipovic, attorney and author of several books, including OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2020),  and Karen Guzzo, director of the Carolina Population Center and a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explain what's behind the decline, the current Republican and far-right conservative policy plans to try and reverse those trends and what actually works to incentivize a growing population.

Alex Mayyasi, a longtime contributor to Planet Money and the author of Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026), and Mary Childs, a co-host of NPR's Planet Money, offers insight into making decisions on getting and spending money and why markets work the way they do.

Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR's TED Radio Hour and author of Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being (Flatiron, 2026), talks about the impact on our bodies of our interactions with our phones and other tech -- and how to stay healthy and stay connected.

Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families and the author of The Way We Never Were; Marriage, a History; and now, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage (Viking, May 26, 2026), offers historical context for the institution of marriage and examines the attitudes and policies that can strengthen it.

Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago and the author of The Republic of Love: Opera & Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2026), offers her analysis of opera as an arm of the Enlightenment, from Mozart to today.

 

These interviews were lightly polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here:

Why U.S. Birth Rates Are Dropping

Planet Money: The Book

Our Bodies & Our Tech

Marriage in Context

Opera and Democracy

 

Photo: Labor Day weekend crowds at Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York, September 2020. (Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons).

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Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR national correspondent covering immigration, talks about the latest on the fatal shootings by ICE agents and current policy directives for the department.

Photo: SCARBOROUGH, MAINE - JULY 14: People protest outside of a federal immigration office after a man was fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, on July 14, 2026 in Scarborough, Maine. The victim has been identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old man from Colombia. (Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)

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Katelyn Jetelina, founder and author of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist, shares what you need to know about cyclosporiasis, the stomach bug that’s sweeping through dozens of states, including New York and New Jersey. 

Photo: Cyclosporiasis outbreak as a foodborne parasitic illness caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis as an outbreak with contaminated food or water resulting in explosive diarrhea and digestive illness.

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Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses how the new data available on inherited maladies can save lives but can also complicate the decision people make about treatment.

Photo: Female doctor sharing electronic test results with patient at clinic. Medical expert and woman are examining reports. They are sitting in examination room.

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Benji Jones, senior correspondent at Vox, talks about his summer project hunting for a new insect species in New York City.

Photo: (GERMANY OUT) New York, Manhattan: Central Park. (Photo by Hohlfeld/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

 

 

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