Brian Lehrer is host of The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Radio's daily call-in program, covering politics and life, locally and globally. The show airs weekdays from 10am-noon on WNYC 93.9 FM, AM 820 and wnyc.org.
The Brian Lehrer Show was recognized with a 2007 George Foster Peabody Award for "Radio That Builds Community Rather Than Divides."
The New York Times called Lehrer a "master interviewer." Time magazine called the program "New York City's most thoughtful and informative talk show." The Daily News calls it "cutting edge" for its extreme interactivity and creative use of the internet. Guests range from politicians such as Barack Obama, Chris Christie, Michael Bloomberg, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Cory Booker, to cultural figures such as Werner Herzog, Penn Jillette, David Lynch, DJ Spooky and Margaret Atwood, to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, to New York City middle school students.
Lehrer is also a commentator on local and national issues on television and in print. He has appeared on TV networks including CNN, MSNBC, Fox Newschannel, C-SPAN, ABC World News Now, and NY1. He has written op-ed pieces for publications including The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, The New York Sun and Slate.com. He also hosts a weekly television program on CUNY-TV, "BrianLehrer.tv" featuring issue-oriented web video.
In addition to the Peabody, Lehrer has won numerous awards, including seven Associated Press New York Broadcasters "Best Interview" Awards since 2000 and “Best Talk Show” by the Garden State Journalists Association in 2009 and 2011.
Lehrer was a questioner in the 2006 televised campaign debates for U.S. Senate and Governor of New York, and in the televised New York City Mayoral Debates in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013.
He has hosted his eponymous program, originally called On The Line, since its inception in 1989. Prior, he was an anchor and reporter for the NBC Radio Networks, and an award-winning author and documentary producer.
Lehrer holds master's degrees in public health from Columbia University and journalism from Ohio State University and a bachelor's in music and mass communications from the State University of New York at Albany.
Shows:
Brian Lehrer appears in the following:
Bernie and Hillary Compete for 'New Yorker' Status
Friday, April 01, 2016
Encryption Apps and the Paris Attacks
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Years of Talk in One Conversation
Friday, July 17, 2015
WNYC's Resident Yankees Expert on the Ethics of Cheering A-Rod's Comeback
Friday, June 19, 2015
Fear of a Muslim Planet
Friday, May 08, 2015
Brian's Tribute to David Carr
Friday, February 13, 2015
Mario Cuomo: A Liberal 'Mugged' by Crime Rates
Friday, January 02, 2015
America: A Place of Liberty and Justice for Some?
Thursday, December 04, 2014
Video, Chat, and Transcript: President Obama Address on ISIS
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
How To Be Smarter About... Brian Lehrer's Home Audio
Thursday, August 14, 2014
How To Be Smarter About... The Brian Lehrer Edition; Nina Simone; Wildcat! Wildcat! Plays Live
Thursday, August 14, 2014
In this episode: Soundcheck's How To Be Smarter About... series -- about addressing musical blind spots -- continues with WNYC host Brian Lehrer, who tells us a musical topic he’d like to know more on – and we help to fill in the gaps.
Then: Claudia Roth Pierpont discusses her new essay for the New Yorker which explored Nina Simone’s complicated relationship with the civil rights movement and with her own racial self-identification. Pierpont tells Soundcheck about how these issues influenced both the singer’s public persona and works like her perceptive song “Four Women.”
And: Hear the infectious, expansive synth pop of Wildcat! Wildcat! as the L.A. band performs songs from its debut, No Moon At All, in the Soundcheck studio.
The Greene Space
Brian Lehrer Live: Your Privacy
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
10:00 AM
Join The Brian Lehrer Show for a live broadcast with several guests, lots of interaction, and various takes on a single topic: your privacy. We'll discuss what you want to share, what you don’t, and how much of your personal information you’re willing to trade for online conveniences.
This live event has been canceled. You can still hear the conversation live on The Brian Lehrer Show on this date at 10AM on WNYC 93.9 FM and AM 820.
This Week in Politics: Heat and Ice
Saturday, January 04, 2014
Election Night Special Coverage Hosted by Brian Lehrer
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Brian Lehrer hosts a politics special with all the results, speeches, and analysis of what comes next for the region and the country.
On-Demand Video: WNYC's Brian Lehrer Talks Climate Change and Survival
Friday, October 25, 2013
Brian Lehrer: Why Mike Bloomberg Surprised Me
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Michael Bloomberg won't be remembered as the anti-asthma mayor, as he will the anti-smoking, anti-obesity and anti-murder mayor. But he's done a lot more to fight the disease than I ever imagined he would.
"Write. Rewrite. Stop." Brian's Advice to Writers
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
I recently got a chance to speak at the presentation of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, put on by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Here are my remarks, with advice for writers young and old.
I was asked to choose some words of advice to give to young writers. I have three words: write, rewrite and stop.
If you want to make it at something, do it all the time. If you love to write and want to be a writer, write along with your life. Write about the mundane things that happen in your day and you'll wind up finding meaning in them that you didn't know was there until the writing made you start to think. I sometimes tell people I think with my fingers, meaning give me a keyboard, any keyboard, when I want to really think something through. So write along with your life. Then write about things outside your life.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Legacy
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Spitzer Looks for Comeback With Run for NYC Comptroller
Monday, July 08, 2013
What Do You Broadcast When There's Nothing to Say?
Friday, April 19, 2013
After the initial surge of news on Monday, we hit a news lull, so many outlets filled their air with recycled video, speculation, sorrow on the scene, pundits, consultants and blather. We asked the best call-in host we know, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, what you're supposed to say on-air when there isn't new information but people still want to tune in.
