The Brian Lehrer Show

U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries  (D NY-8th, Brooklyn and Queens), House Democrats chairman, discusses the year since the January 6th uprising at the Capitol and the state of U.S. democracy. 

Jon Campbell, Albany reporter for WNYC/Gothamist (formerly with the USA TODAY Network), offers excerpts and analysis of Gov. Hochul's first State of the State address.

January 6 is also Three Kings Day, celebrated for 45 years with a parade through East Harlem organized by El Museo del Barrio. This year, the COVID surge has again meant the parade is virtual. Willie Perdomo, New York State Poet Laureate, author of Smoking Lovely: The Remix (Haymarket Books, 2021) and The Crazy Bunch (Penguin Books, 2019), and one of this year's honorary "Kings" in El Museo's Three Kings Day celebration, and Suni Reyes, actress and comedian, host of El Museo's Three Kings celebration, talk about what this holiday means for Latino New Yorkers and listeners call in to share their Three Kings traditions.

Dave Chokshi, MD, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, talks about the post-holiday situation, and the latest on testing and cases in NYC.

Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter for NBC News where she covers misinformation, extremism and the internet, talks about the landscape of extremism since January 6th and her new investigation that finds some militia and white supremacist groups have shifted tactics, going from protesting to putting energy into local politics and school boards.

Ernesto Londoño, New York Times Brazil bureau chief overseeing coverage of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, talks about recent victories by leftist leaders in Latin America, attributed to pandemic and economic suffering. "Leftists Are Ascendant in Latin America as Key Elections Loom" (NYT, Jan. 4, 2022) 

Julie Beck, senior editor at The Atlantic, where she oversees the Family section and is the creator of its “The Friendship Files" series, discusses the history of hobbies in the United States and the country's obsession with “productive leisure.” "How Hobbies Infiltrated American Life" (The Atlantic, Jan. 4, 2022)

Dr. Michael Mina, former Harvard epidemiologist and current chief science officer for eMed, a company that verifies at-home test results, discusses the landscape of rapid testing in the United States.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, a host of the StarTalk Radio podcasts, one of the authors of A Brief Welcome to the Universe: A Pocket-Sized Tour (Princeton University Press, 2021), and the author of Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going (National Geographic, 2021), discusses 2022's space-related events.

Neil Irwin, chief economic correspondent at Axios, discusses how Reagan era Fed chairman Paul Volcker reduced high inflation 40 years ago by jacking up interest rates and muddling through a recession. With an almost opposite economic landscape leading into 2022, current Fed chair Jerome Powell might need to pull off a tricky reverse of that strategy.

The majority of the New York City Council members are new to the office and are part of a class that is the most diverse and progressive in city history. Over the next year Brian Lehrer will get to know all 51 members. Up first, Councilmember Christopher Marte on his priorities for District 1, which covers much of Downtown Manhattan including Chinatown, Tribeca, and Lower East Side. He says he opposed the now passed SoHo/NoHo rezoning, and that his number one policy goal is passing the community-based Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan, which would limit the height of new buildings.  We're interviewing all 51 Council Members + asking them to bring a "show and tell," something that represents them + their district. @ChrisMarteNYC chose a 823-foot highrise by the Manhattan Bridge, an example of what goes wrong when "luxury developers influence politicians" pic.twitter.com/H406iByrV1 — The Brian Lehrer Show and A Daily Politics Podcast (@BrianLehrer) January 4, 2022

On this first show of the new year, listeners share the things they're looking forward to—from personal milestones to highly anticipated live music performances.

Leana Wen, MD, emergency physician, professor at George Washington University, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, CNN medical analyst, former Baltimore Health Commissioner and the author of Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health (Metropolitan Books, 2021), offers the latest guidance on the COVID surge including the effectiveness of boosters, the need to upgrade masks and how to keep young people protected in and out of schools. 

Eric Adams was sworn in as NYC's new mayor in Times Square as 2022 began. Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, host of the podcast FAQNYC, and author of Black Ethnics (Oxford University Press, 2013), and Elizabeth Kim, reporter who covers mayoral power for the People and Power team at Gothamist and WNYC, talk about his start in office and where he'll need to focus.

Amber Phillips, Washington Post political reporter and author for The 5-Minute Fix, takes listeners through her burning political questions in the new year like whether the Jan. 6 committee focuses too much on Trump, how voters will likely approach the 2022 midterm elections and how redrawn congressional maps could define political power for the next 10 years.