The Brian Lehrer Show

Both Super Bowl teams are staying in Jersey City - Mayor Steven Fulop discusses how the New Jersey economy will be affected. Plus: the Jersey City mayor's reaction to Bridgegate. #JerseyCity mayor @StevenFulop will hype the #SuperBowl on @WNYC's @BrianLehrer. But is it really all good news? pic.twitter.com/q2IWWj6xIJ — Jane Allison Havsy (@WriterJane74) January 27, 2014 "He doesn't like me personally. I could care less. We'll just move forward." - @StevenFulop on @GovChristie (on @BrianLehrer on @WNYC) — Matt Katz (@mattkatz00) January 27, 2014

In today's "Metropolitan Diary," a man writes about how a native New Yorker taught him how to properly eat a bagel. We ask: Who taught you something about how to live in the city? Post your story below, or calll 212-433-9692... @BrianLehrer my first landlord, by trying to not give me my deposit back. (He lost) — Megan McCoy (@GoTeamMegan) January 27, 2014 @BrianLehrer People who broke into my car three times over a span of 6 years: not even quarters should be left visible in your car. — Yüksel Günal (@yuksel_gunal) January 27, 2014 @BrianLehrer My workmates. And it was mostly a matter of feeling comfortable in cabs and not being afraid to yell at strangers. — Chris Kissel (@Chris_Kissel) January 27, 2014 @BrianLehrer my first landlord, by trying to not give me my deposit back. (He lost) — Megan McCoy (@GoTeamMegan) January 27, 2014 @BrianLehrer ppl on buses/streets: opened doors, helped carry box, gave up seats when pregnant. It's all about sharing public space. — Gabby Hedlund (@gabbyh) January 27, 2014 // Post by Brian Lehrer.

The heroine of novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen's latest work, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, is a 60-something prize-winning photographer figuring out what to do next. →EVENT: Anna Quindlen will be interviewed by Katie Couric on Jan. 28 at 7:00pm at Barnes & Noble Union Square .The event space opens at 5:00 pm. Priority seating goes to those with book purchase. Excerpt: Still Life with Bread Crumbs Rebecca didn’t have a copy of the poster herself. She hadn’t even seen one for years, unless you counted a glimpse of it on a wall in a movie about a bunch of women sharing a house and discovering their own self-worth through yoga and sex. (In her defense, she had seen the movie on a plane, and hadn’t been paying much attention.) But for years she had lived off it and its satellites, the reprints and licensing, as well as its free-floating reputation. It had paid for Ben’s boarding school tuition, paid for the roomy apartment she’d moved them into after the divorce and had just sublet, paid for trips to Paris (for the Musée d’Orsay) and Lon- don (for the Tate Modern). It had paid her restaurant bills and her hairdresser tips and she hadn’t even really noticed how much money it brought in until it started to dry up and then disappeared. Her second show of photographs had been called the Kitchen Counter series, and it was seen as an iconic moment in women’s art. But in fact at the time she took those photographs Rebecca had just been tired, tired in that way a woman with a child and a husband and a house and a job and a life gets tired, so that it feels like a mild chronic illness. She had been thirty-six years old and had a toddler and a husband who was contemptu- ous of husbands who helped around the house. “Peter is so European,” women would say, and later Rebecca wondered if that was their way of telling her that he slept around. But that was later. One evening Benjamin had had an ear infection, and by the time she had gotten him dosed with bubble-gum-flavored antibi- otic and settled down in his crib Peter had shown up with two assistant professors and their spouses. That had been one of his favorite tricks, to show up with dinner guests unannounced, the guests apologetic, Peter not a bit, as though it was a test for her, to see what she could manage. “I’m surely not expected to ask if I can bring guests to my own home?” he had said one night when she had complained. After everyone had staggered away tipsy into the night, call- ing compliments on the osso buco (in the freezer for exactly this purpose) and the flourless chocolate cake (ditto) over their tweedy shoulders, Peter had gone right to bed, once again con- fident that a kitchen magically cleaned itself sometime in the witching hours between brandy and breakfast. Rebecca had needed a moment before she started on the dishes and had lain down on their new modern couch, with its tubular frame and clean square lines, so uncomfortable that only a person as weary as she was could fall asleep there. At dawn a thin needle of sun- light through the living room window woke her even before Ben- jamin was screaming to be set free, and she had picked up her new Hasselblad, a gift from her father, and started to take pictures. She never really knew why, why that, why then. The truth was she never had known, before or after. Talking about art requires artists to sound purposeful and sure of themselves, but she’d never felt that way. Over the years she’d made up a lot of reasons because people didn’t seem to like the arbitrariness of the reality. They also didn’t believe that she’d simply photographed what was already there—a bottle lying on its side with a puddle of olive oil shimmering along its curved lip, a handful of greasy forks glistening in the overhead lights, and, of course, what was later called Still Life with Bread Crumbs, a vaguely Flemish com- position of dirty wineglasses, stacked plates, the torn ends of two baguettes, and a dish towel singed

City Council deputy majority leader and chair of the Rules Committee (Brooklyn 39th) Brad Lander talks about his City Council leadership role and the progressive bloc's agenda.

President Obama's team is promising that 2014 will be a "year of action," starting with tomorrow night's State of the Union speech. NPR national politics correspondent Mara Liasson previews the address and discusses the latest news out of Washington. Starting now through tomorrow night, taking your tweets. Complete the sentence: "#TheStateOfOurUnionIs ________" — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 27, 2014

In light of California Governor Jerry Brown's declaration of a drought emergency, Lauren Sommers, science and environmental reporter at KQED, discusses the political and environmental effects of the drought. 

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. The NSA segment is first; the segment on dangerous intersections begins at 22:45; and the call-in on illness blogs begins at 52:00. If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.

In New Jersey, Chris Christie and his staff face allegations that they punished their political opponents by causing traffic jams and threatening to withold Sandy relief funds. In New York City, new City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is rewarding her allies with plum jobs. So what counts as effective carrot-and-stick politics, and what's crosses the line? Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, and David Plotz, editor of Slate and host of their Political Gabfest, discuss when political favors and punishment can be used to achieve good, and when they turn into corruption. // Post by Brian Lehrer.

Liz Feld, president of Autism Speaks, examines the realities of caring for autistic children after the tragic news of Avonte Oquendo's death.

Dan Hurley, journalist and author of Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power (Hudson Street Press, 2013), looks at, and tries out, the latest research that intelligence is not a "given" but can be boosted through training.  →EVENT: Dan Hurley will speak with two leading brain training scientists on Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. at an Empiricist's League gathering in Williamsburg.  The event is free, but reservations are requested. Hurley used his own brain as a guinea pig for the book. He spoke to hundreds of researchers and spent years traveling around the country in the hopes of get his brain in better shape. Hurley says: “I tried just about everything that there’s scientific evidence for, and seems relatively safe.” Here are four things we learned from his experience. Four Ways to Make Yourself Smarter Enlist the help of the internet. The brain exercises that helped Hurley the most were “n-back” games he played online. The player is shown a sequence of colors, letters, or objects, and must identify when the thing he or she is being shown matches the object a certain number (“n”) steps ago.  Consider nicotine, but don't smoke. Certain studies suggest that nicotine might help boost brain power – for instance, smokers are half as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. However Hurley strongly advised against picking up a cigarette in the name of getting smarter, nor did he advise just anyone try wearing a nicotine patch (for the record, he wore a 9mg patch). Meditation for focus, spacing out for "aha!" moments. Mindfulness meditation will help you focus, but it could come at a cost. Hurley says: “It seems to improve test scores if you're trying to take the GRE, it improves working memory, other things like that. But when you’re trying to be super creative and have a 'break though,' mind wandering seems to be more useful.” Nurture, not nature. Humans are not inherently born with a fixed amount of intelligence or IQ.  Instead, intelligence is something anyone can build or improve on. Some encouraging words from Hurley:  “This is not something you’re stuck with just because some psychologist gives you a number, or someone told you something when you were a kid.” Good luck! 

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker , talks about his recent Obama profile, his upcoming work with NBC at the Sochi Olympics, and more. Plus an "Ask the Editor" call-in. On @BrianLehrer, David Remnick confides Michael Bloomberg has entered and never won The @NewYorker's caption contest. — David Gura (@davidgura) January 24, 2014 Commenter: "Best change in the NYer is the mailing label can now be peeled off w/o marring cover." Remnick confirms they changed the glue! — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 24, 2014 David Remnick says he will talk about gay rights, Putin's power, more to "gigantic audience" on NBC during Olympics. — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 24, 2014 David Remnick says he doesn't understand reaction to his piece that Obama seemed withdrawn or depressed. "I don't buy that at all." — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 24, 2014

Mayor de Blasio is aiming for zero traffic deaths, and after three pedestrian fatalities in 10 days near 96th Street and Broadway, the police began to issue tickets to jaywalkers. Former NYC Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz, known as Gridlock Sam at the Daily News, president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, takes a look at why that UWS intersection is so dangerous, and when traffic enforcement should include pedestrian penalties. Plus New York State Assembleyman Daniel O'Donnell discusses his proposal to reduce NYC's speed limit from 30mph to 20mph. → BONUS: Sam Schwartz answers a left-turn conundrum. "We have a culture in NYC where people jaywalk all the time." @GridlockSam advocating warning, not tix/arrests, on @BrianLehrer — Kate Hinds (@katehinds) January 23, 2014 @BrianLehrer @GridlockSam @DanielJODonnell Boerum + Pacific (And Dean for that matter) folks speeding off atlantic don't honor the stop sign — Isaac Butler (@parabasis) January 23, 2014 @BrianLehrer Myrtle & Wyckoff, on the Queens/Bklyn border. Memorial vigil there on 1/26 for Ella Bandes, killed 1 year ago — Make Queens Safer (@MakeQueensSafer) January 23, 2014 @BrianLehrer @WNYC @GridlockSam @DanielJODonnell 79th& Broadway,particularly South E /W crossing,dangerous for pedestrians crossing legally — Mira Schor (@miraschor) January 23, 2014 @BrianLehrer @GridlockSam @DanielJODonnell Queens Blvd, boulevard of death. — Myles Miller (@myles_nm) January 23, 2014

After a conflict between elderly Korean residents in Queens and a local McDonald's where the seniors congregate, Bobbie Sackman, Director of Public Policy at the Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, explains the importance of community spaces where seniors can socialize. She is joined by New York State Assembly Member Ron Kim, who talks about the compromise he brokered between the elderly patrons who linger at a Flushing McDonald's and the fast-food restaurant.

Godfrey Reggio, director of "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982) and his new film, "Visitors", talks about this latest collaboration with composer Philip Glass and his style of wordless film-making. VISITORS Official Trailer from Cinedigm Online Screening Room on Vimeo.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer alleges that Sandy funding was tied to a development deal in Hoboken. Caren Matzner, editor at the Hoboken Reporter, discusses the history of the Rockefeller project. Then Steve Kornacki, MSNBC host and Salon writer, discusses his reporting on the Zimmer allegations and the growing Chris Christie scandals.