The Brian Lehrer Show

We open the phones to ask: What don't we know about and should? It could be a news item that missed our radar; something from your personal life worth sharing; or just an interesting fact that most people don't know about. Call 212-433-9692 or post below to share you item for other WNYC listeners!

We want to find four listeners who grew up outside of New York City who want to talk to each other. And once we do... Brian's going to step completely aside! Want to chat with some other non-native New Yorkers? Call 212-433-9692 to take part.

Kathy Hudson, Deputy Director for Science, Outreach, and Policy at National Institutes of Health discusses the NIH's announcement that they will greatly reduce the number of chimpanzees used in bio-medical research, and where the chimps will go now.

Elizabeth Nash, Guttmacher Institute’s State Issues Manager, looks at the landscape of abortion rights across the country.

Stephen Vladeck, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Scholarship at American University Washington College of Law, explains extradition in light of Edward Snowden.  

This summer Emily Yoffe, also known as the Dear Prudence advice columnist for Slate, takes listener questions on thorny ethical and etiquette questions and offers her advice. This week: how do you let a stranger know he or she is accidentally exposing a body part...that is not usually exposed? Think an unzipped fly or a see-through shirt.  Have advice about this situation? Post it below.  Need advice? Post your own dilemma here and maybe you'll join Emily on the air next week! Or give us a call during the show at 212-433-9692. Some of the advice that came in today about the lady in the cafe with the see-through shirt: Emily: "In general, you don't say to women, particularly in their 60s, 'excuse me, I can see your breasts.'" She figures the woman may have known, and the writer was correct to mind his or her own business. Caller Bettina: Said she lives by the golden rule - she'd want to know, so she would gently alert the person.  Wilson in Queens: Suggested he would have asked the waitress to discreetly mention it to the woman. Plus, several commenters on our website suggested that the woman may have dressed like that on purpose.  Got more advice? Keep posting more in the comments. 

We open the phones to discuss two white Southern women in the news this week: Paula Deen and Wendy Davis. Over at Slate, Tracy Thompson argues that too many Americans think all Southern women are like Paula Deen, and that it's time for Southerners to speak up and voice their difference and diversity. A day after Deen was fired by the Food Network, Wendy Davis began her filibuster on the floor of the Texas State Senate to block a restrictive abortion bill. White Southern women: How do you see yourself reflected -- or not reflected -- in Deen, Davis, and this week's national conversation? Call 212-433-9692 or post your comment below.

Brigid Bergin, WNYC politics reporter, updates us on the race: from Anthony Weiner leading in a major poll, to Christine Quinn working in the City Council to pass two major police oversight bills.

Troy Stevenson, executive director of Garden State Equality, discusses what Wednesday's Supreme Court rulings on marriage equality mean for civil unions in New Jersey.

The affirmative action and gay marriage rulings got most of the headlines, but several of this year's smaller Supreme Court rulings had a decidedly pro-business bent. New York Times Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak discusses how the Chamber of Commerce pulled off a "clean sweep", and why the Roberts court is so friendly to corporate America. This Term's Four Pro-Business Rulings American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant Class action waiver provisions would be enforced even if doing so would make it impossible for small businesses to protect their rights under federal law. Vance v. Ball State University In discrimination cases, an employee is considered a "supervisor" only if he/she has hiring and firing power. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar Ruling limits employees' ability to prevail in cases alleging retaliation under Title VII, must be proved according to traditional principles of but-for causation, not the lessened causation. Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett Federal law related to pharmaceuticals preempts a plaintiff's right to sue the drug company under state law. The plaintiff, Karen Bartlett, had suffered severe injuries after she took a generic pain drug.

After key rulings on gay marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action (not to mention adoption, employee discrimination, and gene patenting) -- what will be the lasting legacy of this season's Supreme Court opinions? Slate's Emily Bazelon discusses what we've learned and how our legal landscape has changed. Plus: why we were so riveted by Texas State Senator Wendy Davis's all-night filibuster. Get Up To Speed on the Key Decisions: Our SCOTUS Reading List Still to Be Decided The Same-Sex Marriage Cases: -- Hollingsworth vs. Perrry: Challenges Prop. 8, which amended the California state constitution to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. -- Windsor vs. United States: Challenges the federal definition that marriage — and the associated benefits — is between a man and a woman. USA Today Primer | WNYC Breakdown | United States v. Windsor (Scotus Blog) | Holligsworth v. Perry (Scotus Blog) The Voting Rights Act Case: On Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which mandates that certain parts of the country get “preclearance” from the federal government before making election law changes. Primer from The Root | Heritage's Shelby 101 | Shelby County v. Holder (Scotus Blog) The Indian Adoption Case On whether an unwed biological father, who initially renounced his custodial rights to his daughter, can rely on a federal law – the Indian Child Welfare Act – to block her adoption by the couple who had cared for her since birth. Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (Scotus Blog) | "Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl" (Radiolab) Already Decided The Affirmative Action Case (Decided Monday):  A white plaintiff, denied admission, claims that University of Texas’s policy of taking race and class into account when admitting students constitutes racial discrimination. Court ruled to send the case back to the lower court. Fisher Opinion (PDF) | Analysis from Geoffrey Stone | WNYC Explainer | Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Scotus Blog) | Sherrilyn Ifill Op-Ed (NYTimes) | Valerie Strauss Response to Iffil (Washington Post) The Workplace Discrimination Case (Decided Monday) Court issues a pro-business decision that claims workplace discrimination under Title VII of the voting rights act only counts in cases where a supervisor has hiring and firing power over an employee. Vance Opinion (PDF) | Analysis from Geoffrey Stone | NPR Recap | SCOTUSBlog Info The Voter Registration Case (Decided Last Week): Read the Decision | More on Arizona vs. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (Scotus Blog) The Gene Patenting Case (Decided Last Week): Noah Feldman's Analysis | The Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. | Full Opinon (PDF)

Today is the last day the Supreme Court will issue opinions this summer, and two key rulings on gay marriage are expected. We provide the breaking news and analysis all morning with William Eskridge of Yale Law School, author of Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America. In a 5-4 vote, Supreme Court rules that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Here is the opinion. On California's Prop 8, the court has vacated the case, making gay marriage legal once again (for now) in California.

Our series of interviews with candidates for Mayor continues. Sal Albanese, former teacher, city council member and Democratic mayoral hopeful, discusses the campaign and his policy agenda.

Jonathan Chait, daily columnist at New York Magazine, discusses the president's climate change speech yesterday and his overall record on the environment.

The Supreme Court struck down the part of the Voting Rights Act that determined which states get extra scrutiny for voting procedures. Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at NYU's Brennan Center for Justice, is here to explain how it applied to New York State historically and what it means for the future. Plus: Mayoral candidate Sal Albanese; New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait on President Obama’s climate change plan; and Slate’s Emily Bazelon has more reactions and analysis of the major Supreme Court decisions.