The Brian Lehrer Show

New York City Council Member Antonio Reynoso (34th), Democratic candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, talks about the primary results and what his win means for his borough.

With his Democratic primary opponents conceding defeat and the fact that Manhattan is overwhelmingly a "blue" borough, Alvin Bragg, presumptive Democratic candidate for Manhattan D.A., is likely to succeed Cy Vance, Jr. as Manhattan district attorney. He talks about his campaign and his plans for the office, if elected.

After testing positive for marijuana usage, Sha’Carri Richardson will not be competing in this summer’s Olympic Games. Hayes Brown, writer and editor for MSNBC Daily, and Kavitha Davidson, sports and culture writer for The Athletic and host of the podcast Culture Calculus, join to break down the policies that got her here and the public’s response.

As shootings continue to plague the city, Rachel Swaner, research director at the Center for Court Innovation; Elise White, deputy research director at the Center for Court Innovation; and Basaime Spate, community-based research coordinator at the Center for Court Innovation, talk about their 2020 report "Guns, Safety, and the Edge of Adulthood in New York City"—a year-long study into the reasons young people carry guns in NYC.

Jovenel Moïse, the president of Haiti, was assassinated earlier today. Garry Pierre-Pierre, journalist and publisher of The Haitian Times, joins to talk about what happened and what may be in store for Haiti.

The city is hosting a "hometown heroes" ticker tape parade in Lower Manhattan honoring essential workers. Listeners call in to honor essential workers in their lives. WNYC reporter Karen Yi and Gothamist freelancer reporter Scott Heins drop in from the parade to report who is there, plus, Oren Barzilay, the president of Local 2507, the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Fire Inspectors union at FDNY, talks about why his group is boycotting the parade and Nancy Hagans, a nurse at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn and the newly-elected president of the New York State Nurses Association, drops in to honor her colleagues.

Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, joins to break down the news that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will be the Democratic nominee for mayor.

David Cruz, WNYC/Gothamist news editor, discusses the results of the other primaries around the New York City, including for borough president and city council, and Josefa Velásquez, senior reporter for The City, talks about her reporting on absentee ballots in the mayoral primary.

India Walton, Democratic nominee for mayor of Buffalo, talks about how she managed to beat a 16-year incumbent in June, and how other democratic socialists can use her win as a blueprint.

Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and moderator of Washington Week, and a political contributor to NBC News and MSNBC, discusses the latest headlines coming out of Washington, D.C.

Teachers are invited to call in and share how they're resting and relaxing after this school year like no other. Plus, report how they feel the past two school years will affect students moving forward.

The Brian Lehrer Show observes the Independence Day holiday with these recent interviews: Ibram X. Kendi, professor in the humanities and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, columnist at The Atlantic, and Keisha Blain, University of Pittsburgh historian and president of the African American Intellectual History Society, talk about this moment in Black history and their new collection of 80 writers' and 10 poets' take on the American story, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 (One World, 2021). Told five years at a time, the book documents the history of Black people across this country's 400-year history. Census data revealed in April that Puerto Rico lost almost 12% of its population since the last count. Alana Casanova-Burgess, host of WNYC and Futuro Studio's La Brega and producer for WNYC Studios, talks about the conditions that led to so many people leaving the island, and listeners who moved to the mainland call in to talk about why they did and where they went. David Schleifer, director of research at Public Agenda, a nonpartisan public opinion research organization, and Gerard Robinson, USA Today opinion contributor, AEI scholar and a former secretary of education in Virginia and former Florida education commissioner, talk about the latest report on America's "Hidden Common Ground" and what issues research shows run counter to narratives of "bubbles" and separate realities. Gregory Jost, adjunct professor of sociology at Fordham University; a researcher, facilitator, and organizer with expertise on the history of redlining and the Bronx; and a consultant with the Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association — and Wanda Salaman, a longtime activist and the executive director of Mothers on the Move, a member-led community organization that advocates for the well-being of low-income people of color in the South Bronx, offer a historical and sociological overview of a neighborhood in the Bronx that has become the epicenter of the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City, West Farms, zip code: 10460. These interviews were edited slightly for time, the original versions are available here:  A 'Community History' of Black America (February 3, 2021) What the Census Revealed About Puerto Rico (April 30, 2021) Finding Common Ground (May 19, 2021) West Farms 10460: An Overview (February 4, 2021)

Jessica Hopper, music critic, producer and author of several books, including a forthcoming expanded second edition of The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic (MCD × FSGO, 2021), out next week, discusses how Joni Mitchell's 1971 album "Blue" was shaped by its time and has influenced music for generations to come.

Sean Morales-Doyle, acting director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center for Justice, talks about the effect yesterday's Supreme Court decision will have on state laws rolling back voter access and the impact of proposed federal voting reform bills.

After this week's release of erroneous RCV results, New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D, WF - 28th, Manhattan's East Side), chair of the Finance Committee, talks about her proposed legislation to reform the how the Board of Elections is run. Plus, updates on other state news.