The Brian Lehrer Show

Arline Bronzaft, environmental psychologist on the board of GrowNYC, talks about the effects of noise and offers practical advice for dealing with it. Alan Fierstein, an acoustic consultant and the owner and founder of Acoustilog, joins her to share tales of noise mitigation from the 5,000+ jobs he's handled.

Eric Smouha, associate professor of otolaryngology and director of otology and neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, answers questions about the inevitable effect of noise over time -- hearing loss.

Emily Thompson, historian at Princeton University and the author of Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933, talks about her study of sound and her website featuring sounds of New York City in the 1920's.

Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, gives his first interview with WNYC since taking office. De Blasio's first month in office has seen the city drop its appeal against the controversial policing practice of stop-and-frisk, major new benefits added to the city's living wage policy and ambitious plans to create and fund universal pre-kindergarten. Asked to asses how he's doing, de Blasio seemed pleased with his administration's progress, and said the unifying theme of all initiatives is aimed at addressing the city's gap between rich and poor. "We've got a lot of momentum for our agenda," he said, "And we have very consistently gone after issues that defined inequality crisis in the city." The mayor also recapped his encounter with a groundhog Sunday during a Groundhog Day ceremony, during which de Blasio dropped a scrambling Staten Island Chuck.  "That is a feisty groundhog there," he said. Bill de Blasio says that a crackdown on jaywalking is not part of "Vision Zero" agenda - says it's up to local precincts. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 3, 2014 "I am unabashedly pro-Israel" says de Blasio while saying that "it doesn't mean I agree with every decision of the Israeli government." — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 3, 2014 Discussing efforts to raise wages and benefits, Bill de Blasio admits even some low-paid city workers are living in shelters. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 3, 2014

Former Port Authority official David Wildstein released a letter Friday claiming "evidence exists" that shows Governor Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closings as they were happening, contrary to what he said in a January press conference. Christie responded with a letter of his own accusing Wildstein and The New York Times of botching the facts. New Jersey Public Radio reporter Matt Katz discusses the latest news, and tries to lay out a "what-Christie-knew-when" timeline.

Kevin Riordan, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, talks about the real story of Camden Mayor Errichetti, who is the basis for one of the characters in the movie, American Hustle. Plus, Dana Stevens, Slate's film critic and co-host of Slate's Culture Gabfest, now airing on WNYC, offers a critic's take on the film.

Charlie Crist, former Florida governor, author of The Party’s Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat (co-written with Ellis Henican (Dutton, 2014)), talks about why he switched from the Republican to Democratic party and his campaign to reclaim the office.

Ron Kim, New York State Assembly Member, explains why the Lunar New Year should be a day off for kids in New York City public schools, and how it could be accomplished. Plus WNYC Data News reporter Coulter Jones discusses some of the reporting Schoolbook has done around Lunar New Year school attendance. Below: Data from 2012 Showing Low Attendance on Lunar New Year

Christie Transparency (First) | Conflicted Football Fans (Starts at 20:25) | Remembering Pete Seeger (Starts at 39:00) We're trying something new on the Brian Lehrer Show -- three of our favorite segments from the week, edited together to listen to on the weekend, in case you missed them. If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.  

The release of subpoenaed documents that exposed the Christie administration's involvement in Bridgegate show how the Governor's Office has been keeping its decisions and expenditures quiet despite laws that require official business to be made public. Matt Katz, New Jersey Public Radio reporter, and Andrea Bernstein, metro editor for WNYC News, discuss his reporting on the transparency within the Chris Christie office.

A call-in segment for local residents who hail from Denver or Seattle, tell us why your city is better - from food to culture to..sure, football. Call 212-433-9692 or post below... Be The Coolest Person at Your Super Bowl Party With These Census Stats Total population: 634,265 for Denver, 634,541 in Seattle. That’s only a difference of 276 people! They Are Both Young: Both cities have median age of about 35. National average is 37.4. Unemployment: Both cities have unemployment rates below the national unemployment rate (as of 2012). 7.2% for Denver, 6.0% for Seattle.  Smallish Households: Average household size is about the same – 2.3 per household in Denver, and 2.1 in Seattle, both below the national average. Though if you’re in Denver, you should buy a little extra guacamole for that 2/10ths of a person…  A Booming Latino Population in Denver: One of the biggest differences has to do with immigrant groups. Denver has a Latino population of 35%, compared to just 7.3% in Seattle.   Seattle Is Highly Educated: Another area of difference. Seattle has one of the highest rates of education in the country. 93% of Seattle residents have a high school diploma, Denver is at 86%, which is about the national average. And 57% of Seattle has a college degree, almost 30 points higher than the national average. A Denver vs. Seattle Census Data Set Data via our friends at Social Explorer. Check out the data set in a new sheet here.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama proposed a new retirement savings plan called MyRA. Richard Rubin, Bloomberg News reporter, explains how myRAs work (. . .and how they're pronounced). Let’s do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don’t have a pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401ks. That’s why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can. And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations of Americans. -- President Obama from the 2014 State of the Union speech.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama referred to "workplace policies that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode." Betsy Reed, executive editor of The Nation, discusses his appeal for women's wage equity and what policy proposals come next. Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship – and you know what, a father does, too. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a “Mad Men” episode. This year, let’s all come together – Congress, the White House, and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street – to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I firmly believe when women succeed, America succeeds. -- President Obama from the 2014 State of the Union

Paul Oyer, Stanford business school economist and the author of Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Economics I Learned from Online Dating (Harvard Business Review Press, 2014), teaches microeconomics and trying out the internet dating scene. He shares the many parallels between both worlds.

Letitia James, new New York City Public Advocate , discusses her goals for the office and the news of the day, including the de Blasio administrations's decision to drop a stop-and-frisk ruling appeal.