Rev. Michael Blake, former state assemblyman, talks about his campaign for the Democratic nomination for NYC Mayor in the June primary.

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On Presidents Day, as our centennial series continues, Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, talks about the history of U.S. presidents, their exercise of executive power and how President Trump's actions compare.

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

Historian Jefferson Cowie offers a history White backlash to federal authority (First) | Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie discuss their Oscar-nominated documentary "Sugarcane" and the long history of abuse at residential schools in Canada (Starts at 22:20) | Shiori Itō, director of "Black Box Diaries," talks about her Oscar-nominated documentary about her investigation of her own sexual assault case (Starts at 39:35)

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Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter and host of the “Ask Governor Murphy” monthly call-in show, recaps her conversation with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

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Dan Goldman, US Representative (D, NY-10), formerly lead counsel for the impeachment investigation of Pres. Trump in 2019 and former assistant US attorney SDNY, responds to President Trump's executive orders, and to the moves by Elon Musk and DOGE to drastically cut the federal work force. 

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Antonio Pagliarulo, writer and author of The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery & Magic of the Quiet Curse (Weiser Books, 2023) and the forthcoming The Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles and Modern Intercession, tells us about the saint for whom  Valentine's Day is named, and listeners tell us about their secret loves.

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This month we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Julian Brave NoiseCat, writer and filmmaker, and Emily Kassie, filmmaker and investigative journalist, discuss their film "Sugarcane" that documents the long history of abuse at one Indian residential school in Canada and the damage to individuals, families and communities from the century-long practice across the U.S. and Canada.

Sugarcane is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

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Samantha Max, reporter covering public safety for WNYC/Gothamist, talks about the news that the acting Manhattan U.S. attorney quit rather than comply with the DOJ's request that her office drop the charges against Mayor Adams, and explains the prosecutor's reasoning.

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As our centennial series continues, Jefferson Cowie, historian at Vanderbilt University and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (Basic Books, 2022), reviews the history of white Americans fighting the federal government over civil rights legislation and more.

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Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny, and a contributing opinion Writer with the New York Times, talks about the constitutional issues at stake with some of the actions taken by the White House.

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This month we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Johan Grimonprez, director of "Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat", discusses his film's "fusion of jazz and geopolitics" that touches on colonialism, racism, the 1961 assassination of Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, and a State Department-backed goodwill tour by jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone.

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Scott Stringer, former NYC Comptroller, talks about his campaign for the Democratic nomination for NYC Mayor in the June primary.

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With the news that President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reverse a federal push away from plastic straws, Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics, professor at Bennington College and former EPA Region 2 administrator, provides the broader state of plastic pollution in the United States, which efforts from former President Joe Biden actually worked and what the current president could rollback.

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This month we hear from the makers of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best feature documentary. Today, Shiori Itō, director of "Black Box Diaries," talks about her film that tells the story of her investigation of her own sexual assault case, credited with starting Japan's #metoo movement.

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The DOJ directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the corruption charges against Mayor Adams. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, reports on how the mayor is reacting, whether it will affect how City Hall cooperates with the Trump administration, and how the news may shake up the mayoral campaign.

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President Trump has been clear he'd like to dismantle the Education Department. Dana Goldstein, education reporter at The New York Times and the author of The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession (Anchor, 2015), reports on how Elon Musk and DOGE have started to do that, and how their plans will affect schools and education.

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At the end of January, the New York State Public Service Commission approved the creation of a new New York City area code. Listeners call in to share what their area codes mean to them as a personal point of pride.

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Bahar Ostadan, Nassau County politics reporter at Newsday Media Group, reports on the news that Nassau County has authorized its police detectives to work with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants accused of committing crimes.

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Monica Gorman, managing director at Crowell Global Advisors who served as special assistant to the president for manufacturing & industrial policy under former President Joe Biden, talks about the new 25% tariffs announced by President Trump on steel and aluminum imports, plus the broader trade policy.

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Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, talks about the DOJ memo instructing prosecutors to drop the charges against Mayor Adams.

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Since 2012, a total of 23 states have legalized cannabis. Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, author of Addiction: A Very Short Introduction, and a member of the Stanford Network on Addiction Policy, discusses why he thinks legalization has led to more frequent consumption and increased potency, arguing that those factors raise a range of concerns, for both mental and physical health.

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Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of several books, including The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters (Simon & Schuster, 2024), talks about the latest national political news, as President Trump enters week four of his second administration.

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Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO for the Partnership for New York City, talks about polling on congestion pricing showing its popularity with New Yorkers, as well as the local business climate under the new Trump administration.

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As our centennial series continues, David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and the author of The Stained Glass Window: A Family History as the American Story, 1790-1958 (Penguin, 2025), discusses his new book, which turns the historian’s lens on his own family tree.

EVENT: David Levering Lewis will be in conversation with fellow historian Annette Gordon Reed at 92Y on Thursday, March 13th at 7 PM. Details can be found here:  www.92ny.org/events. 

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

The State of Crime in the City  (First) | 100 Years of 100 Things: Housing Inequality (Starts at 35:17) | Adam Gopnik's Insomnia (Starts at 1:11:4 0)

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

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Micah Loewinger, co-host of WNYC's On the Media, offers guidance from reporters and consumers on how to navigate the "flood" of news items under the new Trump administration.

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Kavitha Davidson, sportswriter and host of the podcast Sportly, previews the Super Bowl game between the Eagles and the Chiefs, as well as the pop culture sideshow, and listeners call in to share how they'll watch the game, the halftime show, the ads -- or their counter-programming plans.

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Stephen Vladeck, professor of federal courts at Georgetown University Law Center, talks about some of the legal challenges to early actions by the Trump administration.

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Chris Crowley, senior writer at Grub Street, talks about his reporting on the fears among local restaurant workers over potential ICE raids.

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Federal agencies like the CDC, NIH and the FDA had to remove and alter some data from their websites to comply with executive orders issued by President Trump. Katelyn Jetelina, founder and author of the newsletter "Your Local Epidemiologist," explains why data is "gold," and how these changes may affect our health.

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