The Brian Lehrer Show

Jonathan Lemire, co-host of "Morning Joe" on MSNOW; writer for MSNOW and contributing writer to The Atlantic, talks about what the Democrats are planning if the blue wave in Congress materializes, plus what the Trump administration has in store for the post-election time.

Photo: Jonathan Lemire attends the 2023 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California on April 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (David Livingston via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Christina Greer, professor of political science at Fordham University, co-host of the podcast FAQNYC, visiting fellow at Brooklyn Org, and the author of How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams (Cambridge University Press, 2024) talks about the races to watch on Election Day, plus checks in on how voting is going.

Photo: A voter casts their ballot on the first day of early voting for the US midterm elections in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, on October 24, 2026. (Ryan MURPHY / AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lisa Lerer, national political correspondent for The New York Times, talks about major national trends across House and Senate races.

Photo: Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at "Knock Out The Vote Tour" on October 31, 2026 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. El-Sayed, is running against GOP candidate Mike Rogers for the open U.S. Senate seat. (Salwan Georges via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Madison Fernandez, co-author of POLITICO's New York Playbook and Mike Hayes, New Jersey reporter at WNYC/Gothamist, talk about the local races they've got their eyes on in both New York and New Jersey.

Photo: Republican gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks during a press conference on Governor Kathy Hochul's sanctuary policies in front of the New Castle Courthouse on October 06, 2026 in Chappaqua, New York (Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Barton Gellman, senior advisor at theBrennan Center for Justice, where he focuses on building safeguards against threats to democracy, talks about our final issue in this election-year series ahead of the midterms: how to count and certify the vote.

Photo: Signage directs people outside an early voting polling place at Lynnhurst Recreation Center on October 28, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jeff Coltin, editor-in-chief of City & Stateand Charles Stile, political columnist at The Record / northjersey.com talk about the local Congressional races they've got their eyes on in both New York and New Jersey, from the extemely competitive races in NY-17 and NJ-7 to the lesser known sleeper races.

Photo: (L-R) U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), New Jersey Democratic Congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett and Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gather at the end of a rally at Raritan Valley Community College on October 16, 2026 in Branchburg, New Jersey. Bennett will run against incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) for a seat in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. (Kena Betancur via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Domenico Montanaro, NPR's senior political editor/correspondent, offers analysis of all the chatter of an expected blue wave in this year's midterm elections.

Photo: People wait in line to participate in early voting for the midterm elections on October 25, 2026 in Cary, North Carolina. (Photo by Allison Joyce / AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Since 2012, Crash Course has been educating viewers of all ages on everything from science to politics. Kousha Navidar, host at WNYC, co-host of the radio show Climate One, and a host at Crash Course and Meghan Modafferi, Executive Producer of Crash Course, join to talk about their latest series: Big Questions on U.S. Government to help dispel misinformation during the divisive political climate.

Photo: Stockplanets via Getty Images

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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

Halloween's History (First) | NYC Marathon Preview (Starts at 28:30) | Why Birthrates Are Falling (Starts at 48:00)

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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the college context, "diversity" can mean a couple very different things. Neil Gross, sociology professor at Colby College in Maine, and author ofWhat Happened to College?: How Politics Broke Higher Education and What We Can Do to Fix It (Simon & Schuster, 2026) and Natasha Warikoo, professor of Sociology at Tufts University and the author of the book Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College Admissions discuss the two distinct groups fighting for diversity -- one for a diversity of viewpoints, and the other for racial and economic diversity in the student body -- and how candidates are talking about the concept of diversity in the run-up to election day.

Proponents of affirmative action hold signs during a protest at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 1, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ben Max, host of the "Max Politics" podcast and executive editor and program director at New York Law School’s Center for New York City Law talks about the lower profile races ahead of Election Day, including for New York attorney general, comptroller and the Congressional races that are not getting as much attention as those in swingy districts like NY-17.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) speaks to reporters as she arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Anna Louie Sussman, New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty talks about her new book that explores, through analysis and personal stories, the reasons for the falling birthrate, especially the effect of "workism," where jobs went from a career to a calling.

Photo: Nicole Coomber, a Phd management professor at the University of Maryland, returns home after retrieving her two young children from school and daycare, on March, 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As listeners share their costume plans, Kenneth C. Davis, author of Don't Know Much About History andDon't Know Much About Mythology, talks about the history of Halloween and of the Greenwich Village parade.

Photo by Kenneth C. Davis

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every Thursday from 1 to 2 PM on WNYC, through Election Day, WNYC senior political reporter Brigid Bergin hosts a pop-up local politics call-in show called Who's Running This Place. You can find out more on WNYC.org, and stay tuned to this podcast feed. We'll be sharing Brigid's conversations here every Thursday evening.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani discusses this years midterm elections, including the measures and candidates on the ballot , the issues they stand for and what it means for NYC. Then, WNYC/Gothamist reporters Liz Kim and Jon Campbell bring their reporting and political analysis to Mayor Mamdani's conversation, and to the election, for which early voting is underway.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jared Bernstein, economist and former United States chairman of Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden, talks about the rising national debt and why candidates are -- or aren't -- discussing it on the campaign trail ahead of election day.

Photo: A view of a bus shelter at 18th and K St's NW where a poster and electronic billboard displays the current U.S. National debt per person and as a nation at 40 Trillion dollars on August 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An ex-cop allegedly shot and killed a driver on the George Washington Bridge in an apparent road rage incident. Samantha Max, reporter covering public safety for WNYC/Gothamist, reports on what prosecutors say happened on the bridge and what is happening in the courts, as the charges have changed a couple times from murder, to manslaughter and back to murder.

Photo: A 46-year-old man was fatally shot while driving on the George Washington Bridge on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Anna Louie Sussman, New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty, talks about her new book that explores, through analysis and personal stories, the reasons for the falling birthrate.

Photo: Inside a lab at a clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia, Doctor Jordan from Spain, is doing an artificial insemination into an egg that later will be planted into a Georgian surrogate mother. The country of Georgia has become a hub for the international surrogate industry, driven by the poverty of domestic surrogate mothers and the desire of foreign customers to have a child. (Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The New York City marathon is this Sunday, and it's the 50th anniversary of the five-borough version of the race. Rob Simmelkjaer, New York Road Runners CEO, talks about how the race has changed over the past half century, and what to know for this year if you are running or cheering.

Photo: Runners cross the Verrazano Bridge as they compete in the New York Marathon in New York on November 2, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, talks about the ballot initiatives that good-government groups disagree on, plus other information on voting.

Photo: Voters fill out their ballots at a polling station in New York City on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mike Hayes, WNYC/Gothamist New Jersey politics reporter and the author of The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform (Kingston Imperial, 2023), recaps Michael Hill's conversation with New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

Photo: New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), casts her vote on November 4, 2025 in Montclair, New Jersey. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.