Mayoral Debate Recap; The Supreme Court's New Term; 10-Question Quiz: City Critters; 30 Issues: Free Buses; City Pets: Cats

The Brian Lehrer Show | Oct 17, 2025
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On today's show:

  • Jeff Coltin, Politico reporter and co-author of the New York Playbook, recaps the mayoral debate between Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

  • Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution  and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019) previews the cases the Supreme Court will take up in its new term, including a redistricting case they are hearing arguments on this week, and offers analysis of just how much presidential power the court will afford to President Trump in upcoming decisions.

  • Listeners try their hand at a quiz with questions about city critters.

  • Charles Komanoff, transit activist and mathematician, and Eric Goldwyn, assistant professor and program director at NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, debate whether free buses, which are a pillar of Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani's transportation plan, are the best way to both speed up the notoriously slow bus system and best help New Yorkers struggling with the high cost of living. Plus, they discuss Andrew Cuomo's proposal to shift management of New York City Transit to the city from the state.

  • Throughout this membership drive we are talking about the animals we love and care for in our homes -- our pets. Today, Maxwell Branch, vice president of programs at Flatbush Cats, talks about cats and the people who share their homes with them.

Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.

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