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Brian Lehrer: No talk to you right now. That was the re-air of our America: Are We Ready? special from last night. Thanks again to Brooke and Micah from On the Media. Now we're back live, and we'll end today's show for these last 15 minutes with a little Halloween fun. A call in on the question, what kind of political costume are you wearing or did you already wear this year for Halloween? 212-433-WNYC. You know the number, 212-433-9692. Call or text. Do any of you have a political Halloween costume on right now? Or maybe it's lined up for your post-work or post-school Halloween festivities later on? Or maybe you did this already at a party over the weekend, or you're going to the parade later. What did you go as, or what will you go as, or what are you going as, even as we speak? That includes a political costume. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Call or text.

Word is there have been various ways people have been going as Kamala Harris. Anyone listening right now doing that and want to tell us how, maybe a good pantsuit, pearl necklace, American flag pin for Black women donning this costume or Indian women donning this costume. It's the first time in history where you can embody a presidential nominee from a major party without sort of going as another race, right?

That's got to feel good. Is anyone having that experience? 212-433-9692. Does your Handmaid's Tale costume have a different feeling to it this year? Or in a similar vein, maybe you've decided to dress up as a childless cat lady. Anybody going as a cat lady? Any new takes on looking like Donald Trump? The hair makes him pretty easy compared to most politicians, but what other touches did you add this year?

How about brat Kamala? You know what that means? Any of you playing on the coconut tree meme that seemingly launched her campaign among young, disaffected progressive Americans online back in July? Anybody trying to dress up as Tim Walz or JD Vance? We got a text from someone in another vein altogether, local vein, going as a. Well, I guess this is national too. Going as a superhero that they call super librarian. Super librarian protecting people's right to read banned books. Wish I could see what that one looks like. Or Mayor Adams.

New York Magazine has a New York City trash revolution costume idea out there. Or maybe some things that are really low effort, like go as John Fetterman. Just wear an oversized hoodie and sweatshirts, but tell us what your political costumes are or have been or will be anytime in this Halloween season. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We'll take your calls and text right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. All right. We have nine minutes for your political Halloween costumes. Jess, in Manhattan, you're going as a swing state?

Jess: Hello. Despite Taylor Swift and all the other famous things going on the Yankees, I couldn't help but do something political because last time I did, it worked out. In 2008, I dressed like all the swing states and had the states just swinging around on my shirt from a string. I'm going to do it again. Don't steal my idea. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: Like little jigsaw puzzle pieces-

Jess: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: -in the shape of the states?

Jess: Yes, the exact shape, yes, and I think I won't have to say anything, but in case, I'll be holding a map of the states and showing them all in purple.

Brian Lehrer: That is creative.

Jess: Thank you so much. It's great to speak with you. Yes, I hope--

Brian Lehrer: That is awesome and creative, Jess. Thank you very much. Jenny in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jenny. What you going as?

Jenny: Hello there. It's good to be on again. Thanks for doing this. I am going to be marching in the Halloween Day Parade in Parksville. All of my activista besties, all my friends that we've been organizing together since Trump got elected, and we're going to be spreading the word about Prop 1. We'll be dressed in Liberty crowns and all in green, and we've got a little mini float, and we're going to be passing out information about Prop 1 because we really need to get it passed. We can do that by getting lots of people to vote for it in New York City.

Brian Lehrer: Will the connection between the Statue of Liberty and Prop 1, which is the New York State Equal Rights Amendment, be explicit? Why Statue of Liberty?

Jenny: Well, because it makes us think of our freedoms and our rights. That's what Prop 1 is going to do. It's going to make it so that you can't be discriminated based on your age, on your-

Brian Lehrer: Yes, gender identity [crosstalk].

Jenny: -identity status, on your gender, sex. You've been covering it on the show.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Jenny, thank you. Thank you very much. All right, look for Jenny electioneering at the Park Slope Halloween Parade. Oh, here's another Statue of Liberty dresser upper as, but I think differently. Pat in Tribeca, you're on WNYC. Hi, Pat.

Pat: Hi, Brian. I'm going to be the Statue of Liberty with a crown that has little, this is from a different era, has little dolls looking out of the crown. I've created a caricature of Trump based on a very huge inflated beach ball. He has little tiny arms and legs. I'm going to be kicking him down the avenue in the Halloween Parade as Dumpty Trumpty.

Brian Lehrer: Dumpty Trumpty. Pat, thank you very much. Here's some coming in on text messages. Let's see. There's so many. Let me pick out a few. A couple's costume RFK with a brain worm and a whale head. I guess it's going to take two people to do that.

Another one dressing up as Alexander Hamilton, because I see him as a self-starter and a motivational figure. So earnest compared to most of our callers. Wearing my blue Make America not embarrassing again anymore. My "I voted Early" bracelet and my Harris-Walz floral hoodie with shorts and sandals because climate change is legit. Yes, it's going to be like 80 degrees on Halloween, right?

Another one, I have a half Uncle Sam, half Rosie the Riveter costume that's encouraging people to vote.

Another one, the best local political costume I've come up with is sexy Turkish Airways ticket. You can figure that one out, right? Sexy Turkish Airways ticket.

Connor in Larchmont, you're on WNYC. Hi, Connor.

Connor: Hey, can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Connor: Great. Thank you for taking my call. I'm going to go as an unwanted pregnancy. I was adopted, and my biological mother didn't have access to abortion, and I'm the result of it. I'm just going to have a little cap with a little label on it, unwanted pregnancy.

Brian Lehrer: Connor, thank you very much. Crystal in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Crystal.

Crystal: Hi, Brian. This is Councilmember Crystal Hudson. I'm going as a Secret Service agent along with my wife, and she's Indian. I'm Black, and our daughter is going to be Kamala Harris for Halloween.

Brian Lehrer: How is she going to dress as Kamala Harris?

Crystal: She has a little blazer, a string of pearls, and Converse sneakers. We have a wig, but she's 15 months, so we don't know how long the wig will last.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Crystal, thank you very much. Love the pearls. Avi in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Avi.

Avi: Hey, good morning. I'm going as a garbage man with a Make America Great Again hat.

Brian Lehrer: Because Trump was driving the garbage truck around yesterday to make fun of what Biden said?

Avi: No, because Biden made fun of me and called me garbage. That's why.

Brian Lehrer: Same idea. Avi, thank you very much. Risa in Huntington, you're on WNYC. Hi, Risa.

Risa: Hi. Good afternoon. I am going as Ms. Disinformation.

Brian Lehrer: How does one go as Ms. Disinformation?

Risa: Well, I'll be wearing a tiara. I'll be wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and boots. I will have a banner across my chest saying Ms. Disinformation. I paste it all over my shirt examples of disinformation recently and over the years.

Brian Lehrer: Want to share one of them?

Risa: One of them? Sure. Kamala happened to turn Black.

Brian Lehrer: Simple enough. Risa, thank you very much. Happy Halloween. Elaine in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Elaine. Elaine, you there? What you going as?

Elaine: Yes, [chuckles] I'm going as Kamala. I have my pantsuit, I have my flag pin, I have my pearls. I have a brown wig, and I have a bag of Dorito chips.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Dan in the East Village. I think wants to recall a costume that was political from once upon a time in your life. Right, Dan?

Dan: Yes, so 1973 in deeply liberal Evanston, Illinois, I went as Richard Nixon. I had a great Nixon mask and a briefcase with recording tape, reel to reel tape spilling out of it in a bad blazer.

Brian Lehrer: Right. The erased 18-minute incriminating tape.

Dan: Exactly, I have.

Brian Lehrer: Famous people, then including to Bob Woodward, who, by the way, is going to be our first guest tomorrow. Dan, thank you very much. Let's see. We're going to end with that memory, or do we have one more? How about, let's see. All right, Frank, and no, I think it's Brett-- It's Scott. I'm sorry. Scott in New Hyde Park. We have 10 seconds. Shout it out.

Scott: Faithless elector from a red state, and when can I get the audio of last night's program, America: Are We Ready?, because--

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. It's online. You can go to America: Are We Ready? Go to wnyc.org, it should be there. Well, thanks, everybody. That's great. Sounds like a lot of y'all are going to have a lot of fun on Halloween. A lot of other people are going to have fun seeing you. Happy Halloween. Happy trick or treating. If you're in it for the candy. Enjoy the day. Have fun with your kids. The whole thing. Happy Halloween, everyone.

That's the Brian Lehrer Show for today, produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Our interns this term are Andrés Pacheco-Girón and Olivia Green. Juliana Fonda at the audio control. Stay tuned for Alison.

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