The Brian Lehrer Show

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the so-called "don't say gay" bill into law. Dana Goldstein, national education correspondent at The New York Times and the author of The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession (Anchor, 2015), explains what the law actually says, and how that differs from what teachers and students can learn about and discuss in other states.

Eugene J. Cornacchia, president of Saint Peter's University, talks about the history-making wins by the Peacocks' men's basketball team in this year's NCAA tournament, and shares a bit about the Jesuit university in Jersey City.

With the April 1 deadline approaching, Albany reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, Jon Campbell and Karen DeWitt, Capitol bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, talk about the status of the negotiations between Gov. Hochul and the leaders of the Assembly and Senate, including the deal to use taxpayer money to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, and the pivotal role rolling back bail reform is playing in final negotiations.   

Last week, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker gave an emotional speech during the confirmation hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Black listeners call in to talk about what it meant to see the judge up there, and react to more of Sen. Booker's words and Judge Brown Jackson's tearful reaction.

Only 10 percent of New York City's trash waiting for pickup is stored in containers, the rest sits in trashbags piled on the street. Christopher Robbins, contributor to Streetsblog and Clare Miflin, executive director for the Center for Zero Waste Design, talk about why New York City is particular in this way, and programs that could cut waste and clear sidewalks.

U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D NJ 6th), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, talks about gas prices and Ukraine, making daylight saving time permanent, and securing funding for COVID tests and treatments.

This year's Oscars certainly had its moments but in general viewership has gone down over the years. Bilge Ebiri, film critic for New York magazine and Vulture, talks about how movies and the Oscars have changed. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein, health care reporter for Politico Pro, discusses the impasse over federal COVID spending, the lack of a clear strategy to secure more funding, and the latest on the BA2 omicron subvariant.

Kevin Rudd, president and CEO of Asia Society, former Australian Prime Minister and the author of The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict Between the US and Xi Jinping's China (PublicAffairs, 2022), argues that conflict between the two superpowers is heightened by cultural misunderstandings.

Uber announced that soon passengers will be able to summon a yellow cab through the Uber app. Yellow cab drivers call in to talk about what they think about this news, and whether they will participate. 

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-20th, including parts Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, South Slope, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn), Elections Committee chair, talks about the NYS budget proposals related to crime and elections, including his "Clean Slate" bill and the governor's call to roll back bail reform.

This week Mayor Adams announced he would drop the vaccine mandate for sports players in New York City. Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, infectious-diseases specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, argues it's time to drop strict employee vaccine mandates for all employees, not just wealthy athletes, "there are other ways, as opposed to firing, to keep people safe."

Three segments you might have missed from this week's show: Getting the Truth About Ukraine to Russians (First) |  Did Propaganda Lead Your Family Into Unjust War (Starts at 12:43) | When the NYPD Secretly Collects Your DNA (Starts at 40:56) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.    

Masha Gessen, The New Yorker staff writer and the author of Surviving Autocracy  (Riverhead Books, 2020), talks about their latest reporting on how Russians are reacting to Putin's war in Ukraine.

Vincent Schiraldi, former Commissioner of both the New York City Department of Probation and Correction and co-director of the Columbia University Justice Lab, talks about his brief tenure as correction commissioner at the end of the de Blasio administration, and whether the crisis on Rikers could be partly addressed by going into a federal receiv­er­ship.