The Brian Lehrer Show from WNYC f3n6w

The Trump istration announced it would "aggressively revoke" student visas for Chinese students who are planning to study in the United States. Liam Knox, the issions and enrollment reporter for Inside Higher Ed and author of their issions Weekly newsletter, reports on the latest on that plus the dispute between the istration and Harvard over enrolling foreign students.

Danny Nguyen, reporter at Politico covering national politics and policy, shares his reporting on how DOGE is continuing its work in the federal government even though Elon Musk is reportedly leaving Washington to focus on his businesses.    

Child care has become a big issue in the mayoral primary campaign as families with young children continually cite the cost as a major factor in whether they can stay in the City or not. Madina Touré, New York education policy and politics reporter for Politico New York, compares and contrasts the various policies Democratic candidates are pitching to try to help the youngest New Yorkers and their families.  

Long lines that snake down entire blocks or more are not an uncommon site in New York City. Listeners call in to share when they've waited on a really long line, what it was for and whether it was worth it.

Grace Rauh, executive director of Citizen's Union, and John Avlon, chair of the Citizens Union board of directors, journalist and former candidate for Congress, talk about the priorities of Citizens Union, including open primary elections and moving local elections to even-numbered years in order to increase voter turnout, and other issues important to the good-government group.

Natalie Wynn, creator of the YouTube channel Contrapoints, discusses her work including her latest video titled "CONSPIRACY", in which she delves into the history of conspiracies in American politics, the allure of conspiratorial thinking and how this way of thought negatively impacts democracy.  

Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Program, talks about the impact of raising the cap on SALT (state and local tax) deductions that benefit many New York and New Jersey taxpayers and what options there are to make up the difference in revenue.

Gerry Shih, Jerusalem bureau chief for The Washington Post, covering Israel, the Palestinian territories and the greater Middle East, discusses the latest news on how Israel is ramping up its attacks on Gaza and more.

As graduation season continues, listeners call in to share the wisdom they heard from a commencement speaker. 

Elizabeth Kim, WNYC and Gothamist reporter, and Brigid Bergin, senior political correspondent for WNYC and Gothamist, talk about the latest news from the campaign trail, including Adrienne Adams' criticism of Cuomo on COVID, Eric Adams' statements related to ICE's arrest of a student, and more.

Leah Litman, professor of law at the University of Michigan and a former Supreme Court clerk, co-host of the podcast "Strict Scrutiny" and the author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2025), offers her take on the current Supreme Court, the major decisions coming this term and why she says it's running as “no law, just vibes.”

U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D NJ) talks about his work in the Senate and the issues in New Jersey, including the arrest of Rep. McIver after an incident at an ICE facility, what President Trump is saying about Putin and Ukraine and more.

As our centennial series continues, Katie Thornton, host of The Divided Dial, a series on WNYC's On the Media, independent journalist, public historian, and Fulbright fellow, talks about the new season of her 4-part series, about the history of shortwave radio.

CUNY recently lost federal funding for more than 70 research grants. Denis Nash, professor of epidemiology at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and executive director of CUNY’s Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, talks about the funding he recently lost on research related to COVID vaccine uptake, plus comments on the changes coming to how the COVID vaccine is rolled out for the next season.

As we observe Memorial Day, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations from the centennial series: Katherine Sharp Landdeck, professor of history and director of Pioneers Oral History Project at Texas Woman's University and the author of The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II (Crown, 2020), talks about American women in the military over the last century. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, talks about another centenarian, The New Yorker, which published its first issue on February 21, 1925. Phil Brown, University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University, founder and president of the Catskills Institute and the author of several books, including Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat's Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area (Temple University Press, 1998), takes us through the last 100 years in The Catskills -- the hotels, the camps and the people. Sam Barzilay, creative director & co-founder of Photoville, looks at the history of street photography, from the invention of the Leica hand-held 35mm camera which made capturing "the decisive moment" possible, to the challenges presented by AI and smartphone technology of today.   These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here: 100 Years of 100 Things: Women in the Military (Apr 30, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: The New Yorker Magazine (Jan 31, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: Catskills Hotels (Aug 14, 2024) 100 Years of 100 Things: Street Photography (Apr 22, 2025)

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. 100 Years of 100 Things: New York Films  (First) | 100 Years of 100 Things: Best Sellers (Starts at 17:31) | Summer Culture Calendar: Classical Music (Starts at 31:42) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

Enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations from the centennial series: Mark Mather, demographer and associate vice president for U.S. Programs at the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) walks us through the shifts over the past 100 years in U.S. birth rates, followed by changes in U.S. mortality statistics. Julie Suk, a law professor at Fordham University and the author of We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020), reviews the history of the Equal Rights Amendment, from its introduction by Alice Paul in 1923 through its current disputed status, following age by a 38th state and President Biden's declaration that it's the "law of the land." Liza Donnelly, writer and cartoonist at The New Yorker and the author of Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Women Cartoonists, 1925-2021 (Prometheus, 2022) and the substack "Seeing Things", talks about the evolution of the "New Yorker cartoon" over the magazine's 100-year history. Co-hosts of The Season podcast, Robert Coker, author of the book Roller Coasters: A Thrill Seeker's Guide To The Ultimate Scream Machines (Main Street, 2002) and Douglas Barnes, talk about the history of roller coasters, from the "Golden Age" of 1920's wooden coasters like Coney Island's Cyclone through modern steel "stratacoasters," like the late lamented Kingda Ka, which was recently imploded to make room for something even bigger.   These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here: 100 Years of 100 Things: US Population Shifts (Jan 2, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: US Mortality Causes (Jan 6, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: The ERA (Mar 4, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: New Yorker Cartoons (Mar 20, 2025) 100 Years of 100 Things: Roller Coasters (Apr 11, 2025)

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, offers his analysis of how the House budget bill that Republicans ed early this morning may affect NYC - in both good and bad ways.

Catch up with the summer cultural calendar with this pledge-drive miniseries. Today, Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It, recommends some of the books coming out this summer. Some of the books on Jordan's list: Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen (out now)  The Antidote by Karen Russell (out now) Flashlight by Susan Choi (out June 3rd)  King of Ashes by SA Cosby (June 10th)  The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (June 3rd) A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (July 8th)  Baldwin– A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs (out August 19th)  Audition by Katie Kitamura (Get Lit with All Of It selection, May 29)

Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab from WNYC, tells the story of the huge impacts one small discovery made, brought to us by federally-funded scientific research -- and what we might lose as so much of the funding has been cut by DOGE.