It's the Brian Lairn Show on WNYC.

I'm Matt Katz from the WNYC in Gothamist Newsroom, filling in for Brian today while he preps for tonight's WNYC centennial birthday party at Central Park

Summer Stage, which is free, by the way, and you're all welcome. There is no RSVP required.

Starts at 7 p.m. Brian will be there along with many of our WNYC colleagues, including

Allison Stewart, Brooke Gladstone and others,

Ira Glass will make an appearance. There will be a musical performance by Freestyle Love Supreme,

plus Not a Surf and Lori Anderson. That's all happening tonight. Anyone can attend. It's free.

Just at the summer stage in Central Park for the 7 p.m. show. I hope I'll see you there. Come say hi.

But coming up on today's show, we'll talk about this wild week in investigations into city and state officials here in New York.

We'll talk about that with my colleague John Campbell, plus our centennial series.

A hundred years of a hundred things continues with the history of music here on WNYC with another

colleague, John Schaefer, and we'll wrap the show today with a conversation about

loneliness and friendship.

How often do you see your friends in person?

Is it enough?

We'll want to hear your experiences on this.

It's all inspired by an article about it from Olga Hazan, a writer at the Atlantic,

headlined The Friendship Paradox. We all want more friends, but we're spending more time alone.

But first, let's get inside the prep rooms of our presidential candidates as they

gear up for the make or break debate tomorrow night. Former President Donald Trump and current

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet for the very first time and perhaps the only time on a

debate stage. It'll be in Philadelphia. It comes less than a week before early voting is set

...