The Brian Lehrer Show

Three of our favorite segments from the week, in case you missed them. The Anthropic-Pentagon Standoff (First) | Vaccine Hesitation & Misinformation (Starts at 17:30) | Wild NYC - Spring is Coming (Starts at 33:00 ) If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here. Photo: Trout Lily, a NYC woodland wildflower that blooms in early spring. (Marielle Anzelone)

During Ramadan, Sohaira Siddiqui, executive director at the Al-Mujadilah Center and the host of the podcast "More Muslim", talks about the diversity of the Muslim community in New York and around the world. Photo: Mayor Mamdani attends Taraweeh prayers in Staten Island. Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

Data centers are booming and taking the blame for spiking power costs because of how energy intensive they are. Rosemary Misdary, WNYC and Gothamist health and science reporter, talks about what Gov. Hochul says she plans to do to reign in the costs to consumers. Image: Data center infrastructure in the United States, November 2025 (DOE — NREL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about her reporting on a mixed immigration status family who felt the risks of staying in the U.S. were too great, and moved to Mexico. Plus Rachel Cruz and Irvi Cruz talk about why their family made the decision to move to Mexico, where Irvi is originally from. Photo credit: Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., references a DHS advertising campaign while questioning DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during the House Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security," in Rayburn building on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Lydia DePillis, New York Times reporter covering the American economy, talks about how the war with Iran could affect the economy at home, as issues with oil prices, supply chains and the massive cost of the war begin to pile up.

Drawing on his long experience covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins, New Yorker staff writer and author of The Forever War (Knopf Doubleday, 2008), talks about the United States' objectives in the war with Iran. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Steven Levy, editor at large for Wired, breaks down the latest news as the Pentagon is reconsidering its relationship with artificial intelligence company Anthropic, after the company has stated it doesn’t want its technology used in autonomous weapons or government surveillance, and explains the way that AI is reshaping national defense. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images: CEO and co-founder of Anthropic Dario Amodei speak onstage during the 2025 New York Times Dealbook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 03, 2025 in New York City.

Heidi Sabertooth, a NYC-based singer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer and co-founder of Synth Library NYC, talks about electronic music and the library which is dedicated to giving “equal access to the means of production,” giving access to a wide array of synthesizers and creating a diverse community around it. Photo: TR-808 Musical instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ (Bryan Pocius from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is landmarks. Photo: Jones Beach Water Tower in New York in 2021 (Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, FACP, a general internis­­­t and medical educator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he directs AI Programs for the Carl J. Shapiro Center for Education and Research, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, talks about his recent New York Times op-ed outlining best (and worst) practices for patients wanting to incorporate AI into office visits with their physicians. → Take It From a Doctor: It’s OK if Your Medical Advice Comes From A.I. Photo: Stethoscope and Laptop Computer. Source: National Cancer Institute via Unsplash.

U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D NJ) explains why he does not support President Trump's decision to go to war with Iran. Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images. A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on March 3, 2026.

Marielle Anzelone, urban botanist and ecologist and the founder of NYC Wildflower Week, and Theresa Crimmins, director for the USA National Phenology Network, associate professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona, and the author of Phenology (The MIT Press, 2025), introduce the year-long series on local wildlife with a look at signs of spring and what changes in plants and animals will signal the coming season. => We want to see your signs of spring! Post a picture to your Instagram story; tag @brianlehrershow; and use the hashtag #BLWild and we’ll repost them to our Instagram stories this month. Photo: Trout Lily, a NYC woodland wildflower that blooms in early spring. (This year that might be mid-April). (Marielle Anzelone)

Patricia Nicholson Parker, executive director of Arts for Art, talks about her group, which calls itself "a NYC-based non-profit founded in 1996 focused on promoting and advancing multicultural improvised arts." Photo: Photograph of last set of second day of the 13th Vision Festival. From left to right: Billy Bang, Fred Anderson, William Parker and Kidd Jordan, 11 June 2008, (One dead president, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is suburban towns. Photo: Shingle-style coastal house with white picket fence at a quiet street corner in Quogue, Long Island, New York. Source: Lumin Osity/Unsplash.

Lisa Lerer, national political correspondent for The New York Times, talks about the results and issues in the midterm primary elections for senate seats in both Texas and North Carolina. Photo: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D-TX) speaks at a campaign rally on March 2, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Danielle Villasana/Getty Images)

Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center, an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the author of Autism's False Prophets (Columbia University Press, 2008) and Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to Deciphering COVID Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World (National Geographic, 2024), talks about the changes to vaccine recommendations and conceptions of public health in the current HHS. Photo by Pablo la Rosa, 10 April 2025, Wikimedia Commons.

Musicians Neel Murgai and Roshni Samlal, artistic directors of Brooklyn Raga Massive, talk about their group, which they say is a "nonprofit musicians' collective that creates cross-cultural understanding through the lens of South Asian classical music." photo: Neel Murgai and Roshni Samlal (courtesy of the guests)

For this pledge drive, listeners try their hand at a quiz. Today's theme is NYC neighborhoods. (Photo by cisc1970 CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED)

U.S. Representative Pat Ryan (D, NY-18) offers his take on the war with Iran, the upcoming vote in the House on war powers and more. Photo: An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes yesterday, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. The United States and Israel have continued the joint attack on Iran that began on February 28, resulting in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel, and targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

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), offers analysis of the war with Iran after President Trump said he was not opposed to boots on the ground and a military leader said more U.S. casualties are expected. Photo: Firefighters work at the scene of an airstrike that destroyed shops and residences on March 2, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was confirmed killed after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel, and targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)