As part of a 3-part series on the divisions within political movements, Eric Blanc, assistant professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University, author of several books including We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big (University of California Press, 2025), and author of the Substack newsletter LaborPolitics.com, talks about what's dividing members of the Democratic Socialists of America, as the party is having a moment.

Photo: New York City Democratic Socialists (NYC-DSA) hold a rally in Union Square marking the start of a campaign to tax the rich and win universal childcare on November 16, 2025, in New York City, United States. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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

Should Democrats Bring 'Woke' Back? (First) | Who is Running Venezuela? (Starts at 28:30) | Public Shaming as Public Policy (Starts at 50:00)

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Photo: Marcia Fudge with Stay Woke Vote t-shirt in 2018. (Marcia Fudge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is publicly sharing the process of freezing her eggs, all while people are speculating about her plans to run for higher office. Annie Karni, congressional correspondent for The New York Times and co-author (with Luke Broadwater) of Mad House: How Donald Trump, Maga Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby and a Man with Rats in his Walls Broke Congress (Random House, 2025), talks about how women are reacting and how this might connect to her political future.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to reporters near the House steps after a series of votes at the U.S. Capitol on July 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is running against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul for governor of New York, and a new poll shows the county executive is just ten points behind the governor. Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, and Bahar ...

End-of-life doulas are becoming an increasingly common part of how Americans approach death, helping people to navigate the dying process outside of traditional medical care. Alexandra Schwartz, staff writer at The New Yorker and co-host of the Critics at Large podcast, talks about the rise of death doulas, what they actually do, and why more people are rethinking how they want to die.

Photo: Pauline Ramsey is on hospice care through Heartland Hospice. She has pancreatic cancer. Her nurse is Carly Bond and her aide is Nadege Filsaime. (Susan L. Angstadt via MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle & Getty Images)

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Summer's wrapping up, but if your PTO is high and your budget is low, you can still make the most of it here at home. Hannah Frishberg, culture reporter for WNYC/Gothamist, shares some of the best ways to have an epic staycation in New York City.

Photo: People relax at a man-made beach during a heat wave in Manhattan on July 02, 2026, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Rachel Leingang, Midwest political correspondent for Guardian US, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Teo Armus, reporter for The Washington Post focused on politics, demographics, voters and immigration, offer political analysis of the latest primary election results, incl...

New York City Council member Lincoln Restler (District 33, Greenpoint, Northside Williamsburg, South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Boerum Hill, Vinegar Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Navy Yard) talks about his bill, which he expects to pass, that will bring back year-round outdoor dining after the Adams administration had heavily restricted it.

Photo: People dine al fresco, or open air, in Hell's Kitchen on July 21, 2020 in New York City. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

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Nikki Sapiro Vinckier, PA-C, OB/GYN physician assistant, reproductive health advocate and author of We Deserve More: Why Reproductive Healthcare is Broken--And What You Can Do About It (Jossey-Bass, 2026), explains the symptoms of postpartum psychosis, a rare but serious psychiatric emergency that affects about 1-2 mothers per 1,000 births, as the trial of a Massachusetts mom has brought the condition to the forefront. Plus NSV talks about the overall problems with postpartum health care in the United States.

Stock illustration by Lin Shao-hua via iStock/Getty Creative

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Writer, YouTuber and science communicator Hank Green was found to have used AI in his work, disappointing the AI-skeptics in his fanbase. Marina Bolotnikova, senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect section, talks about one big lesson to come out of the controversy: you need a personal AI policy.

Stock illustration by Mikhail Seleznev via iStock/Getty Creative

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Over the past several years, a license-plate tracking company called Flock has partnered with over 40 percent of police departments nationwide, allowing local law enforcement to track people's whereabouts across state lines. Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media, unpacks how officials, including ICE, are using the technology, and why anti-surveillance activists on both sides of the are pushing back against the cameras.

Photo: A Flock camera records passersby on July 9, 2026 in Jefferson, Ga. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Lena H. Sun, Washington Post national reporter focusing on health, provides an update on the nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak and the response from U.S. public health agencies.

Photo: Spinach is displayed for sale on shelves at a Target store on July 23, 2026 in Austin, Texas. The cyclosporiasis outbreak, an intestinal illness caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, has spread across multiple states and remains under investigation by federal health officials after the first known illness onset was reported in early May. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Jessica Gould, education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the steep drop in ELA test scores on last year's state test among city students, and what stakeholders think might be the cause of the decline.

Photo: A student in the library reads a book after receiving candy and a red envelope in a cultural celebration of the Lunar New Year at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 on February 02, 2022 in New York City. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

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After a 15 year hiatus, the NYC Department of Sanitation has resumed putting bright green stickers on cars that don't follow alternate-side parking rules. Listeners call in to talk about other examples of public officials using shaming to change behavior, and share some ideas of their own.

Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Sanitation

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Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, talks about proposed e-bike regulations by City Council and the Mamdani administration, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's potential run for higher office in 2028.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to reporters near the House steps after a series of votes at the U.S. Capitol on July 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Jasmine Green, editorial & audience associate at The Bulwark, offers her take on the word "woke," the evolution of wokeness, and how Democrats might re-claim it from its current status as a mostly pejorative term.

Photo: Some protesters hold signs reading ''Stay Woke'' and ''F*** a fascist every day'' during the International Women's Day demonstration in Paris, France, on March 8. (Stefano Lorusso/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Nicholas Freudenberg, professor emeritus of public health at the City University of New York School of Public Health and the author of Fighting for New York: Activism for Health and Social Justice Since the 1960s (Columbia University Press, 2026), talks about his long career advocating for solutions to public health crises in NYC and analyzes the successes of the activists working to improve the health of New Yorkers.

Photo: People wait to recieve the Monkeypox vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Manhattan on July 26, 2022 in New York City. (Liao Pan/China News Service via Getty Images)

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Emily Keegin, photo editor, creative consultant, and author of The New York Times Opinion piece "The Museum of America," walks through her collection of 25 objects that define American life, from Crest Whitestrips to the T-shirt cannon, as listeners add their own to the exhibit.

Photo: Director Jorma Taccone of his film “Over Your Dead Body” shoots a t-shirt cannon on stage during the 2026 Beyond Chicago at the Music Box Theatre on April 05, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images)

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Jon Allsop, contributing writer at The New Yorker, discusses the latest national political headlines and his recent story, "What Does It Even Mean to Be a Moderate?"

Photo: DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 04: U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), candidate for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, speaks during a primary night watch party at the Hotel Saint Regis Detroit on August 04, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens is facing Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary to determine who will run against former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in the general election. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

 

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David Leven, executive director emeritus and senior consultant to End of Life Choices New York, and Amy Paulin, New York State Assembly member (D-88, Westchester, including Scarsdale, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Pelham Manor, and parts of New Rochelle and White Plains) and chair of the Assembly health committee, talk about the new law, now in effect, that allows terminally ill New Yorkers with six months or less left to live to end their lives.

Photo: ALBANY, NY - JUNE 9: People opposing the Medical Aid in Dying Bill hold signs and line the corridor between the concourse and the Capitol on Monday, June 9, 2025, in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)

 

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Stephania Taladrid, contributing writer at The New Yorker, offers analysis of all the ways the US, especially Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is involved in running Venezuela as the popular opposition leader María Corina Machado is living in exile, and discusses Rubio's ambitions with regards to Cuba.

Photo: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) walks out of the El Arepzo 2 restaurant on February 28, 2014 in Doral, Florida. Rubio and Florida Governor Rick Scott held a meet and greet with the Venezuelan community to discuss the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Faith Hill, staff writer at The Atlantic, unpacks why so few young people are finding love. 

Stock photo by We Are/Getty Creative

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

NYS Sues Kalshi (First) | Wildfires Are Burning Through Europe (Starts at 28:30) | Social Media's Influence on Our Lives (Starts at 1:12:00)

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

Photo: VIOTIA, GREECE - AUGUST 2: Volunteers battle a wildfire burning near Porto Germeno, 70 kilometres northwest of Athens in the region of Viotia, Greece, on August 2, 2026 (Photo by Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including: Each year WNYC hosts a "health convening," with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, as an opportunity for healthcare experts and practitioners to inform WNYC's health report...

It's been more than 50 years since President Richard Nixon resigned on August 9th over the Watergate scandal. Jill Wine-Banks, legal analyst, former Watergate special prosecutor, co-host of the podcasts "#Sistersinlaw" and "Just the Facts" and the author of The Watergate Gir...

Ciarán Donnelly, senior vice president for International Programs at International Rescue Committee talks about the ongoing war and displacement crisis in Sudan, plus Mark Townsend, senior global development reporter at the Guardian and the author of No Return: The True Stor...

Joshua Mitts, Columbia Law School professor specializing in corporate, business, and transactional law, talks about New York State's suit against the prediction market platform Kalshi for allegedly "running an illegal gambling operation.”

Photo: Kalshi's logo is displayed on a smartphone placed on a reflective surface onto which a betting curve is projected in Creteil, France, on March 9, 2026, during a major scandal and a $54 million lawsuit concerning bets related to recent strikes in Iran. (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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As summer begins its slow wind down, listeners call in to share what's still on their summer bucket lists.

Photo: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 15: A beachgoer sits in the shade under an umbrella at the beach at Coney Island in Brooklyn on July 15, 2026 in New York City. New York City is under an Air Quality Health Advisory as the Canadian and Great Lakes wildfire smoke gradually moves through the area, creating a thick haze in the heat. New York City and much of the East Coast are experiencing temperatures with the heat index over 100 degrees as the region confronts another heat wave. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

 

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This week marks the 81st anniversary of the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist, contributor to The iPaper and the author of many nonfiction books and his latest, a novel, A Capital Calamity (Miniver Press, 2024), recalls the history and discusses the current state of nuclear weapons, especially as it relates to the war with Iran.

Photo: People stand along the Motoyasu river as Kagaribi, ceremonial bonfires, are lit in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome to remember the victims on the eve of the 81st anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack, in Hiroshima on August 5, 2026. (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP via Getty Images) / Japan OUT

 

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New York City's Department of Finance sent letters to thousands of high-value homeowners regarding a so-called pied-à-terre tax, but many of the people who received those letters say these are their primary residences. Kathryn Brenzel, senior political reporter at Crain's New York Business, explains the roll-out, the extended appeal deadline, and the rules for who qualifies.

Photo: BROOKLYN, NY - APRIL 15: Brooklyn Brownstones in a Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York on April 15, 2016. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

 

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