The Brian Lehrer Show

Ages 12 and older are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the FDA and the CDC say. S. Mitra Kalita , co-founder of URL Media and CEO and publisher of Epicenter-NYC, and Dr. Victor Peralta, a private practice pediatrician in Jackson Heights and a member of SOMOS Community Care, answer questions about where to get your child vaccinated and address concerns about health and safety.

The CDC updated mask guidance for vaccinated people, saying they can go maskless in most indoor and outdoor settings. Stephanie Silvera, epidemiologist at Montclair State University, talks about how this affects unvaccinated people, especially those who can't get it yet, like kids.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio takes calls from listeners and discusses this week in NYC, including services for people experiencing mental health crises, closing the jail on Rikers Island and how to transition the city's fleet of vehicles to green energy sources.

Elizabeth Kim , senior editor for Gothamist, and Josefa Velásquez, senior reporter for THE CITY, recap the first official Democratic mayoral debate.   Re-watch the debate here:  </p>

Brooklyn Borough President and 2021 mayoral hopeful Eric Adams, talks about his plans for the City's economy, both in recovering from the pandemic losses and in addressing pre-existing inequality.

John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast at Slate and the author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever (Avery, 2021), joins to discuss his new book on profanity, where swear words come from and why they hold so much power.

Imam Khalid Latif, university chaplain for New York University, and executive director of the Islamic Center at NYU, talks about this year's celebration of Eid Al Fitr as Ramadan 2021 comes to a close and hears from listeners about how their holiday plans.

United States Representative Kathleen Rice (NY 4th, Long Island) talks about the latest news from Washington, including the development of offshore wind farms, and the ouster of Liz Cheney as a GOP party leader.

Gene Kritsky, dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati and author of Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition (Ohio Biological Survey 2021), talks about the coming of trillions of cicadas from underground into parts of the Northeast and Midwest and the science behind why they only emerge every 17 years. 

As the Biden Administration works on the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan, Paul Rieckhoff, activist and veterans advocate, founder and president of Righteous Media, host of Independent Americans podcast, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) and frequent contributor on CNN and MSNBC, and Allison Jaslow, adjunct professor at the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University, Iraq war veteran and former executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) honor the lives lost over 20 years of war, and talk about what the US may be leaving behind.

April's jobs report was a huge disappointment as many expected hundreds of thousands more jobs to be added than the report showed. Jim Tankersley, New York Times White House correspondent with a focus on economic policy, talks about all the issues at play that might have led to the jobs numbers.

Kathryn Garcia, 2021 mayoral hopeful and former commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation, talks about her plans for the City's economy, both in recovering from the pandemic losses and in addressing pre-existing inequality.

Duaa Eldeib, investigative reporter for ProPublica, talks about her reporting that avoiding healthcare settings during the worst of the pandemic has led in some cases to cancers being found at later stages when treatment options are more limited. She is joined by Pam Khosla, MD, chief of hematology oncology at Chicago's Mount Sinai Hospital where she chairs the cancer committee and associate professor of internal medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Health Sciences, who shares what she's seeing in her practice. →"A Crisis of Undiagnosed Cancers Is Emerging in the Pandemic’s Second Year" (ProPublica, May 4, 2021)

As more and more offices are setting return dates for their employers, workers are hoping to bring some freedom and flexibility back from the pandemic with them. Amanda Mull, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about why she thinks "two" is the perfect number of WFH days a week, and takes listener calls.

Gwynne Hogan, reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, reports from the latest on the mayoral campaign trail, including the news that The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Kathryn Garcia, and previews this week's Democratic candidate debate.