The Brian Lehrer Show

Angela Rasmussen, virologist and affiliate at the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security, talks about the latest in vaccine news, including what side effects to expect, distribution speeds, and your calls if you've already been vaccinated. We're taking calls from healthcare workers who have already received that vaccine and taking your questions with @angie_rasmussen. Tune in / call in! 646 435 7280https://t.co/jy6WoMeK3I — The Brian Lehrer Show and A Daily Politics Podcast (@BrianLehrer) December 18, 2020

Imara Jones, founder and creator of Translash Media, Soros Equality fellow and journalist-in-residence at The Greene Spacetalks about the Shop Trans event at The Greene Space, as listeners call in to share their own retail offerings for holiday shopping.

Maricel Presilla, PhD, culinary historian, chef, restaurateur and the author of Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America (W. W. Norton & Company, 2012), offers a recipe and talks about the holidays and the closing her Hoboken restaurant due to the pandemic. David Sedaris, author and humorist, shares a story from his new collection of stories, The Best of Me (Little, Brown and Company, 2020). Maeve Higgins, comedian and contributing writer for The New York Times, tries to stump us with questions from the new citizenship exam. John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast at Slate and contributing editor at The Atlantic, brings his holiday gift of some tricky language questions for listeners to try to answer.      

Jacqueline Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village talks about celebrating Christmas in 2020, in the midst of loss and uncertainty, including that of Middle Church's auditorium, recently destroyed by a fire.  Andy Borowitz, author, comedian, and creator of The New Yorker's “Borowitz Report,” a satirical news column, talks about his holiday traditions and keeping a sense of humor during such a dark winter.  Paul Winter, saxophonist, composer and bandleader of The Paul Winter Consort, shares some music and talks about this year's 41st Winter Solstice concert from St. John the Divine (on streaming video).  Moji Alawode-El, freelance writer for The Root, talks about how she's celebrating Kwanzaa this year.

Carlos Menchaca, 2021 mayoral hopeful and New York City Council Member (D-38, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Greenwood Heights, and portions of Borough Park, Dyker Heights and Windsor Terrace), discusses his bid for NYC mayor in 2021.

The Brian Lehrer Show and WNYC are putting together a time capsule to remember this strange and difficult year. Today, listeners call in to pay tribute to a loved one they’ve lost from COVID but with whom they were unable to share final moments due to pandemic restrictions. Together, we’ll mourn those we held dear but couldn't embrace, honor their memories and lament how we were robbed of making more – and preserve their stories in the time capsule to be opened in ten years.

Janette Sadik-Khan, former Department of Transportation commissioner for New York City under the Bloomberg administration, principal at Bloomberg Associates and author of the book Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution (Penguin Books, 2017) talks about the news that President-elect Biden has nominated his former rival in the presidential campaign (and the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana) to be the next transportation secretary -- and what that means for the transportation and infrastructure needs of the New York area.

Amanda Hoover, reporter at NJ Advance Media covering marijuana legalization, talks about how New Jersey is inching closer to allowing the sale of recreational cannabis.

The Brian Lehrer Show and WNYC are putting together a time capsule to remember this painful year. Listeners call in to share their hopes for our democracy after it was stressed and tested during the 2020 election. These calls will be placed in the time capsule to be opened in ten years.

From outdoor dining to new bikers and drivers, more New Yorkers than ever competed for space on the city's (already crowded) streets this year. Stephen Nessen, who covers transportation for the WNYC Newsroom, and Ben Yakas, arts and culture editor for Gothamist and WNYC, talk about how the city has failed and succeeded in addressing street safety in 2020, and how an upcoming blizzard is about to make everything more complicated. Are you one of the many NYers competing for space on the city sidewalks and streets this year? Are you a biker, a walker, a driver, or do you have an outdoor dining setup, and has 2020 made you think about city planning or street safety differently? 646 435 7280 — The Brian Lehrer Show and A Daily Politics Podcast (@BrianLehrer) December 15, 2020

U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D NY-4), shares the latest on the coronavirus relief bill, plus reacts to some of the big news of the day, including Barr's resignation, President-elect Biden's message of unity, and Mitch McConnell's acknowledgement this morning that Biden won the election.

This week, Gov. Cuomo ordered indoor dining to shut down in New York City and a new study in South Korea suggests that coronavirus spreads much faster and farther inside restaurants than previously thought. Don Milton, MD, professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, explains.

The Brian Lehrer Show and WNYC are putting together a time capsule to remember this painful year. Today, listeners call in share their reflections on the struggle for racial justice as it unfolded this year, to honor the lives of people lost due to systemic racism, and to hold space for their stories. These calls will be placed in the time capsule to be opened in ten years.

Sydney Pereira, NYC reporter at Gothamist, and Caroline Lewis, a regular Gothamist contributor, break down everything we know so far about when the COVID-19 vaccine is coming to the tri-state area and how to get it. 

New Queens Borough President Donovan Richards talks about his first full week in office -- his priorities and the issues facing the borough.