The Brian Lehrer Show

Ezra Levin, the Executive Director of the Indivisible Project, discusses the grassroots advocacy group’s rules to counter the Trump administration’s agenda.  "The basic idea of how American democracy works," says Ezra, "is that any individual member of congress cares more about his or her re-election than anything the Trump administration is trying to get done, and for that reason local constituents have an enormous amount of power" if they show up to town hall meetings and make their voices heard.  And they are: so far 6,000 groups, all over the country, have registered with Indivisible to resist the Trump Administration on their home turf.   

With warmer weather finally upon us, Marielle Anzelone, urban ecologist, botanist and founder and executive director of NYC Wildflower Week, and Sarah Aucoin, NYC Parks Department chief of education and wildlife, preview some of the early signs of summer and tell us what plants and animals to look, and look out, for.

On Wednesday The Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation between President Trump's campaign and Russian interference into the 2016 Presidential election.  Matt Zapotosky who covers the Justice Department for the Washington Post's National Security team, explains how officials in Washington are reacting to Mueller's appointment and how the appointment will affect the scope and timeline of the Russia investigations.

Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for The Washington Post, discusses the latest in national political news, including how much of the White House is turning in on itself. "I do think what we are seeing is almost 'The Empire Strikes Back,'" said Tumulty. "There is a lot of leaking going on out of the Trump White House itself where everyone seems to be completely stressed out and also feeling very insecure about their own positions these days."

John Chaneski, co-host of TriviaNYC's QNA podcast, as well as a puzzle guru on NPR's "Ask Me Another,” stumps listeners – and Brian – with some ‘on this day in history’ trivia.

Nina Martin, a ProPublica reporter covering gender and sexuality, and Renee Montagne, a special correspondent for NPR's Morning Edition, discuss their story about the surprisingly high rate of maternal mortality in the United States. "We have a very fragmented healthcare system," said Martin. "We don’t pay attention to patients from beginning to end." Do you know someone who died or nearly died after childbirth? Share their story or your story to help keep reporting this story by emailing maternal@propublica.org or maternalhealth@npr.org.

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (R), the former president of Midland University in Fremont, NE and the author of The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis — and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance (St. Martin's Press, 2017), argues that what he calls "extended adolescence" is bad for America's civic society, and offers advice for becoming an adult.

New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush talks about the latest news from the Trump administration, including how a number of Republicans are approaching a call for an independent investigation into the administration's ties to Russia. "Trump is trashing their whole agenda, there's genuine anger," said Thrush. "There’s nothing that Senators or members of the House hate more than being brought down by a scandal." 

Gail Collins says Trump did not do anything illegal when he described highly classified material about a ISIS plot to Russian officials at an Oval Office meeting last week. Instead, she says, he violated “espionage etiquette,” revealing information without the permission of the ally who provided it. “This is not surprising at all,” Gail reflects, “when you think about the great ongoing narrative: this man cannot shut up.” But when Gail Collins sits down to write her opinion column for The New York Times she tries not to concern herself with the President's latest scandal. "I worry more about the people he put into power [...]  the most anti-choice, anti-woman anti-birth control people he could find."  "You've got to divide this stuff up between the things we have to live with," Gail says referring to the President's erratic demeanor, "and things we've got to fight," like keeping healthcare accessible to women.    

Brooke Gladstone, host and managing editor of WNYC's On the Media and the author of The Trouble With Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time  (Workman Publishing Company, 2017), talks about fake news, post-truth, and why reality itself has become a hotly contested issue of our time.  “It isn’t like there are two bubbles in this country,” says Brooke. “I think there are as many bubbles as there are individuals. They are bespoke, hand crafted.” The remedy for reality is not so simple. "Fact checking alone won’t stop Trump," Brooke says, "We are wired to lie to ourselves to keep our worlds consistent." 

Tobin Low, co-host of the WNYC podcast Nancy, and David Gebel, who does admin work for Radiolab at The Takeaway at WNYC, talk about WNYC's new(ish) podcast Nancy, and the latest episode, which looks at living with HIV/AIDS then and now. 

Paul Wagenseil, cyber editor at Tom's Guide, discusses the latest WannaCry Ransomware attack and offers advice. "This is a cyber criminal effort, entirely for financial gain," said Wagenseil. "You pay [the ransom to release your data] to a BitCoin address, no one knows where that address is." Wagenseil says that hospitals and small businesses will be the most vulnerable to the attack, since they don't always have the capacity to update their security systems. So, what can you do? Keep your system updated with the latest patch level and have a certain awareness of fishing attacks. 

Scott M. Stringer, New York City comptroller, talks about his school-by-school assessment of state-mandated arts education and the uneven distribution of resources around the city.

Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter and author of Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of a Creative Mind, discusses his new book, which details how his creativity helped him develop such popular Internet mainstays as blogging, podcasting and Twitter.  .@biz on Jelly: "There's far more people willing to answer questions than people willing to ask." http://t.co/DC0qs32uBo — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014 "I had seen what an unrestrained platform for freedom of speech [could do]... but Twitter blew it all away." - @biz — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014 How does @biz feel about the so-called fake Cuban twitter? "Maybe validated." Not worried that it hurts the brand. http://t.co/DC0qs32uBo — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014 "I use full sentences. I don't abbreviate. I don't use emoticons." - @biz. "I think emails should begin with 'Hello, person's name." — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014 "To think that you could build it and the technology would create a revolution of some kind is backwards," says @biz re: fake Cuban twitter. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014 .@biz, on Twitter's #NewProfiles: "As long as the system fails gracefully..." ^ @BrianLehrer #UX #UI #redesign — Josh Weinberger (@kitson) April 8, 2014 "Creativity is a renewable resource." RT @lospapamatt: "Manufacture opportunity". Love that. @WNYC @BrianLehrer @biz — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) April 8, 2014

Today is a special installment of our occasional feature - radio advice roulette! In honor of Equal Pay Day, women listeners can ask fellow listeners for job-related advice live on the radio. By some estimates, women still earn on average about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, and so today symbolizes how long into the new year a woman has to work to earn what a man in the same job earned just in 2013. So this special edition of advice roulette is for women to give and get advice about careers, the workplace, and their home/work balance. Here's how it works: If you need advice on anything work-related, whether it's how to ask for a raise, a promotion, more time off, anything - call 212-433-9692 and we'll pair you with a fellow WNYC listener. The catch? Before you get to ask for advice from someone, you have to give advice to another caller.  Some of the Questions Asked During Our Segment Got advice about these or any of the other topics that came up on the show today? Post in the comments! How truthful are you when you disclose your current salary when you’re applying for a new job?  How do you approach a co-worker you have a dispute with?  A caller in college says that she doesn't love her major as much as her other studies. Should she switch majors, even if it means taking on more school, and more debt? If your colleague is skeptical of your sick days, how do you walk the line between explaining your doctor's appointments and disclosing personal information?  How do you go about switching industries in the middle of your career?  How do you change the perception of who you are as a co-worker mid-career? Maybe you’ve changed as a person, or as a worker...How do you make sure people recognize who you have become? @BrianLehrer have the switching industries person reach out to me. I have successfully worked in three different industries. — Vanessa Alexandra (@tastelifewrite) April 8, 2014