The Brian Lehrer Show

Martin Lewis, senior lecturer in history at Stanford University, and author of the book The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography, explains why determining what makes a continent a continent involves both physical and human geographical criteria, and why people around the world don't agree on how many there are.

James Comey, former director of the FBI and author of non-fiction, including A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, and the crime novels Central Park West (2023) and his latest, Westport (Mysterious Press, 2024), talks about his new career as a crime novelist and offers his take on the Trump trial.

Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter at Guardian US, shares her investigative series on "Big Oil," including more on an alleged "deal" offer from former President Donald Trump to big oil that could save industry $110 billion in exchange for campaign donations.

Roger Cohen, Paris bureau chief of The New York Times and author An Affirming Flame: Meditations on Life and Politics (Knopf, 2023), discusses Spain, Norway and Ireland's decision to recognize a Palestinian state as well as the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.

The Brian Lehrer Show observes the Memorial Day holiday with a selection of favorite interviews: Eric Klinenberg2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything ChangedGeorge TakeiMy Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II StoryJon MeachamAnd There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American StruggleJay Caspian KangThe New YorkerThe Loneliest AmericansJoe RichmanSusan Hurlburt These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity and the original web versions are available here: How 2020 Changed Us (Feb 16, 2024) George Takei on 'My Lost Freedom' (Apr 16, 2024) What We Should Learn from Lincoln (Oct 19, 2022) Jay Caspian Kang on 'The Ideology of the Internet' (Mar 15, 2024) Stories from Hart Island (Nov 8, 2023)

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. The Expanding Market for Weight-Loss Drugs (First) | Anne Lamott on Love (Starts at 25:00 ) | Searching for Something in Our Childhood Homes (Starts at 38:00) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

With beach season getting started, Chris Allieri, founder of the NYC Plover Project, and Aydon Gabourel, founder of Laru Beya Collective, talk about their work in the Rockaway Beach community.

It's impossible to ignore the chatter about Ozempic, Wegovy, and other weight-loss medications that have hit the market in the last few years. This week, Hims & Hers -- a telehealth company known for discreetly treating erectile dysfunction, balding, and other sensitive conditions -- announced the launch of their own off brand weight-loss injection, sparking a boost in their stock prices. Melissa Lee, Host of CNBC's Fast Money, takes us into the marketplace for GLP-1 agonist drugs, Ozempic dupes sold online, and what the popularity of these drugs on Wall Street means for patients.

It's "NYC Small Business Month" and Kevin D. Kim, commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, talks about the upcoming Small Business Expo, the services the department offers small business owners and what the "City of Yes" could mean for city storefronts and more.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling that will allow a gerrymander in South Carolina to stand, on the basis that it was done for partisan, not racial, reasons. Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and author of Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), explains how this will affect voters in South Carolina and beyond, and explains the larger voting rights context of the decision.

Cheryl Mendelson, author of Home Comforts, and her latest,Vows: The Modern Genius of an Ancient Rite (Simon & Schuster, 2024), reflects on the state of marriage today, through the traditional wedding vows, from their feudal origin to contemporary interpretations.

Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, "Get Lit with All Of It," shares some of the new on-or-off the beach reads. She highlights these great summer books: Memory Piece by Lisa Ko (This month's Get Lit selection - the event is Tuesday, May 28!) The Ministry of Time by Kuh-lane Bradley In Ascension by Martin MacInnes One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon (out June 11th)

Faith Hill, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about what people are looking for when they visit their childhood homes, and how it can be stressful, or sweet.

Each day during the spring membership drive, The Brian Lehrer Show is inviting listeners to try their hand at quiz questions, this time loosely based on the titles of radio shows that air on WNYC. Today's quiz questions are inspired by the title "All Of It." It turns out which landmasses are "continents" is not that clear. So we are awarding a prize to the caller who got the answer "wrong".

An upside-down American flag was displayed outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's house just after January 6, 2021. Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School, and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019), talks about this act - widely thought to symbolize belief in "the big lie" promoted by former President Trump - plus another flag apparently flown at the justice's summer home - and what the symbols say about the ethics of the Supreme Court.

In this membership drive mini-series, we run through some of can't miss things to see and do this summer. Today, Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine senior art critic and the author of How to Be an Artist (Riverhead, 2020), shares some art highlights from plazas, galleries and museums.

Anne Lamott, author of twenty books, including Bird by Bird and her latest, Somehow: Thoughts on Love (Riverhead Books, 2024), talks about turning 70, and why love has been the answer to the many challenges she's faced in her own life.

Each day during the spring membership drive, The Brian Lehrer Show is inviting listeners to try their hand at quiz questions, this time loosely based on the titles of radio shows that air on WNYC. Today's quiz questions are all about famous people named Ted, inspired by the title "TED Radio Hour."

Mayor Adams holds one off-topic press conference per week, where reporters can ask him questions on any subject. Elizabeth Kim, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, recaps what he talked about at this week's event, including the NYPD's response at a protest for Palestine in Bay Ridge, the city's lifeguard shortage and more.

Andrea Bernstein, journalist reporting on Trump legal matters for NPR, host of many podcasts including "Will be Wild" and "Trump, Inc." and the author of American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps and the Marriage of Money and Power (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), reports on the latest news from Trump's so-called "hush money" trial, where witness testimonies have finished and attorneys are preparing their closing arguments for next week.