After a Columbia student was detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Mayor Mamdani said he spoke about it to President Trump, and she was released. Arya Sundaram, WNYC and Gothamist reporter covering race and immigration, reports the latest on the news. Plus, Brigid Bergin, senior political correspondent for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the mayor's surprise trip to the White House to meet with the president.

Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images: Protestors take part in anti-ICE rally outside Columbia University after federal agents detained a student inside a residential campus building in New York City, New York, U.S., February 26, 2026.

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For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is Black History Month.

Photo: Carter G. Woodson memorial on RI Ave at 7th NW in Washington, D.C. by David from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0.

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Again, this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, directors Sara Khaki, and Mohammadreza Eyni talk about their film "Cutting Through Rocks."

Photo: Still from "Cutting Through Rocks" courtesy of the guests.

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As part of a short series about finding your personal style, Emilia Petrarca, author of the fashion and style newsletter Shop Rat, talks about how getting offline and going outside changed the way she thinks about fashion and style. 

Photo: Evi Wave is seen wearing an oversized puffer jacket in soft pink and taupe-grey clogs in soft suede from Birkenstock, December 3, 2025 in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo by Moritz Scholz/Getty Images)

 

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Jessica Gould, education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about why a funding threat from the Trump administration means some immigrants won't be able to get commercial driver licenses, and how this will affect school bus drivers in New York City.

(Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

 

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Ruth Marcus, contributor to The New Yorker, former columnist for the Washington Post and the author of Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover (Simon & Schuster, 2019), comments on the Supreme Court's tariff's decision and other political news—and the state of journalism in the aftermath of mass layoffs at Jeff Bezos' Washington Post.

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Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Child Care, talks about the deadline for families to apply for 3K/Pre-K and the mayor's plans for expanding child care options, generally.

(Photo by: Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is media history.

Photo: Valentine's Day Cupcakes / Stephanie Clifford, Wikimedia Commons

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Why WNYC and Gothamist digital producer James Ramsay aspires to be the kind of person who wears hard-soled shoes. This the first segment in a short series about finding your personal style.

→ NYC used to be a hard-soled shoe town. Could I be part of a revival?

Photo: Well-dressed in burgundy corduroy trousers and black leather loafers with silver metal bit hardware. Milan Fashion Week - Menswear Fall/Winter 2026-2027, on January 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy (Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)

 

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Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, offers analysis of President Trump's State of the Union address, especially his talk of voter fraud and push to pass the SAVE act.

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the Capitol on February 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images).

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Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, concludes our three-part Black History Month series with a look at current efforts to end DEI initiatives and rewrite museum exhibit information.

 

photo: Smithsonian National African American Museum  by John Brighenti from Rockville, MD, United States, CC BY 2.0 , via / Wikimedia Commons )

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In early February, the EPA repealed the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a landmark regulatory move reversing the determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health. Pat Parenteau, emeritus professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School and former EPA regional counsel under President Ronald Reagan, explains what happens next, including the many challenges the Trump administration is facing from environmental groups, and how the repeal could impact both health and climate change.

Photo: [Smog obscures view of Chrysler Building from Empire State Building, New York City] / World-Telegram photo by Walter Albertin.

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Taylor Jung, digital producer and reporter for Epicenter NYC, offers tips on how to stay safe and be a good neighbor during the aftermath of the blizzard.

 

Photo: Snow, Touro College (320 West 31st Street), 31st Street and 8th Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, 27 February 2010.  credit: Jazz Guy from New Jersey, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Brittany Kriegstein and David Brand, reporters for WNYC and Gothamist, discuss the aftermath of the blizzard, including what's up and running and what is not, plus how the city managed to get vulnerable people to safety so far.

 

photo: Cars are seen buried under snow on Lincoln Avenue on February 24, 2026 in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.  (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Again, this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, David Borenstein, documentary filmmaker, talks about his film "Mr Nobody Against Putin." 

 

photo credit: Pavel Talankin, courtesy of Kino Lorber

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Listeners call in to talk about what they will be watching for at President Trump's State of the Union address tonight.

Photo: President Trump delivering last year's State of the Union address. Credit: The White House via Wikimedia Commons.

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NYC-DSA co-chairs Grace Mausser and Gustavo Gordillo respond to Mayor Mamdani's preliminary budget and tax hike proposals, as well as some recent policies, like restarting sweeps of homeless encampments.

Photo: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani releases the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Preliminary Budget. City Hall. Tuesday, February 17, 2026. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

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Again, this year, we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Ryan White, documentary producer and director, talks about his film "Come See Me in the Good Light."

"Come See Me in the Good Light" is streaming on Apple TV and available for rent on Prime.

 

Image: Andrea Gibson in "Come See Me in the Good Light," now streaming on Apple TV. Courtesy of Apple TV.

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Following a storm update, Jonathan Lemire, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNOW; writer for MSNOW and contributing writer to The Atlantic, talks about the latest national political news, including Friday's Supreme Court tariffs ruling and this week's State of the Union address.

Photo: Front Gate of the White House on a Warm Sunny Day (2018) by Mathieu Landretti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Queens and Brooklyn borough presidents Donovan Richards and Antonio Reynoso talk about how Queens and Brooklyn are handling the big snowstorm, including how the city is trying to help its most vulnerable residents.

Photo: People walk along snow covered streets as snow falls during a blizzard on February 23, 2026 in Flatbush. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

 

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Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them.

California Billionaire Tax  (First) | Alabama Solution (Starts at 28:29) | Central Park Cyclists (Starts at 43:15)

If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

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Recent reporting in The New Yorker examines how schools, teachers and students in Minneapolis are being impacted by the recent actions of federal immigration enforcement agents. But conversations about how to navigate ICE's presence on and around school proper...

Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (MIniver Press, 2024), breaks down the latest as the Trump administration repeats its calls for Iran to end its nuclear program while sources tell CNN that the U.S. military is prepared to strike the country as early as this weekend.

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As Lunar New Year celebrations kick into full swing, we speak with Master Pun-Yin, Feng Shui Consultant and Chinese Zodiac expert, about the significance of the year of the fire horse and hear from callers about their new year's traditions.

Image by Rhododendrites, Wikimedia Commons.

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New York State passed a law limiting class size for city schools, but the city is struggling to fund it. Jessica Gould, education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the roadblocks schools are encountering as they try to comply with the law.

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On Wednesday, the Trump administration issued a memo directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to detain lawful refugees who have yet to secure permanent U.S. residency. Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker staff writer and the author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis (Penguin Press, 2024), discusses the latest news, including his reporting on how the agency's bureaucracy works.

Photo: Observers film ICE agents as they hold a perimeter after one of their vehicles got a flat tire on Penn Avenue on February 5, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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Greg David, contributor covering fiscal and economic issues for THE CITY and director of the business and economics reporting program and Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, talks about the city's fiscal woes and Mayor Mamdani's preliminary budget proposal, which includes a property tax hike.

 

photo:  Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani releases the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Preliminary Budget. City Hall. Tuesday, February 17, 2026. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

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J. David Goodman, New York Times Texas bureau chief, talks about the candidates vying for their parties' nomination in the primary races for U.S. Senate in Texas, and the national implications of the outcome of the now-underway voting. Then, Scott Nover, media reporter for The Washington Post, talks about the dispute between Stephen Colbert and the FCC over an interview with one of the Democratic primary candidates, James Talarico.

Photo by Patrick Feller via Wikimedia Commons.

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This year, we hear from the creators of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman talk about their film "The Alabama Solution," which documents abuses in the Alabama state prison system using cellphone footage recorded by incarcerated men over several years.

"The Alabama Solution," photograph by Courtesy of HBO. 

 

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The production group Theater of War invites top-notch actors to perform readings of works of real, hard-hitting journalism. Bryan Doerries, artistic director of 'Theater of War', previews Thursday evening's live program on WNYC, in which actors Sam Waterston, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Julianne Moore will read reporting from Minneapolis, about how schools and educators are navigating the incursion of immigration enforcement actions in schools. Learn more at our 'Theater Of War On The Radio' page.

Graphic courtesy of Theater of War.

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