Last spring, Brandon Hole’s mother alerted the police in Indiana about her son’s worrying behavior. Invoking the state’s “red flag” law, officers seized his firearm.

But Mr. Hole was able to legally purchase other weapons, and last week, he opened fire on a FedEx facility, killing eight people and then himself.

Why did the law fail?

Guest: Campbell Robertson, a national correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Red flag laws are supposed to keep guns away from people who should not have them. That did not happen with Mr. Hole.
• Citing shortcomings of the state’s red flag law, the senior county prosecutor in Indianapolis explained why he did not seek a ruling last year that would have barred Mr. Hole from possessing guns.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

On Tuesday, after three weeks of jury selection, another three weeks of testimony and 10 hours of deliberations, Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd.

The jurors found Mr. Chauvin guilty of all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Sentencing will take place several weeks from now. Second-degree murder could mean as long as 40 years in prison.

We look back on key moments from the trial and discuss the reactions to the guilty verdict.

Guest: John Eligon, a national correspondent covering race for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• The verdict against Mr. Chauvin brought a rare rebuke of police conduct.
• After the decision, there was a scene of collective relief and satisfaction in Minneapolis.
• Here are 13 key moments that shaped the trial.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Just four months into 2021 and there have already been more than 80 bills, introduced in mostly Republican-controlled legislatures, that aim to restrict transgender rights, mostly in sports and medical care.

But what’s the thinking behind the laws, and why are there so many?

We look into the motivation behind the bills and analyze the impact they could have.

Guest: Dan Levin, who covers American youth for The New York Times’s National Desk.

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Background reading: 

• Lawmakers in a growing number of Republican-led states are advancing and passing bills to bar transgender athletes in girls’ sports, a culture clash that seems to have come out of nowhere.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

When a nuclear fuel enrichment site in Iran blew up this month, Tehran immediately said two things: The explosion was no accident, and the blame lay with Israel.

Such an independent action by Israel would be a major departure from a decade ago, when the country worked in tandem with the United States to set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

We look at what the blast says about relations between the United States, Iran and Israel.

Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.  

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Background reading: 

• After the blackout at the nuclear plant in Iran, Tehran threatened reprisals, while Washington denied any involvement in the apparent attack.
• Iran vowed to increase uranium enrichment in response to the explosion.
• Another round of talks in Vienna about reviving the 2015 nuclear accord has been positive, despite the feuding over the nuclear plant.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The Skagit Valley choir last sang together on the evening of March 10, 2020. This rehearsal, it would turn out, was one of the first documented superspreader events of the pandemic. Of the 61 choristers who attended practice that night, 53 developed coronavirus symptoms. Two later died.

The event served as an example to other choirs of the dangers of coming together in the pandemic. It also provided crucial evidence for scientists seeking to understand how the coronavirus was being transmitted.

Today, a look at the Skagit Valley case and the choir’s road to singing together once again.

This story was written and narrated by Kim Tingley. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language and emotional descriptions about the challenges of parenting during the pandemic, so if your young child is with you, you might want to listen later.

Several months ago, The Times opened up a phone line to ask Americans what it’s really been like to raise children during the pandemic.

Liz Halfhill, a single mother to 11-year-old Max, detailed her unvarnished highs and lows over the past year.

Guest: Liz Halfhill, a single mother and full-time paralegal, in Spokane, Wash.

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Background reading: 

• The Times followed Liz and two other mothers in different parts of America who shared their experience of pandemic parenting over dozens of interviews. What emerged was a story of chaos and resilience, resentment and persistence, and of course, hope.
• Take a look at “The Primal Scream,” a series from The Times that examines the pandemic’s effect on working mothers in America.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus shot as they examine a rare blood-clotting disorder that emerged in six recipients.

Every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico halted their rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine almost immediately. The same went for the U.S. military, federally run vaccination sites, and CVS, Walgreens, and other stores.

Today, science writer Carl Zimmer explains the decision-making process, how long the suspension might last and the impact it could have not only in the U.S. but around the world.

Guest: Carl Zimmer, a science writer and author of the “Matter” column for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Injections of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine came to a sudden halt across the United States on Tuesday after federal health agencies called for a pause in the vaccine’s use.
• The pause could continue for a week to 10 days, after expert advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined on Wednesday that they needed more time to assess a possible link to a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder.
• What does the pause mean for people who have recently received the Johnson & Johnson shot and how common are blood clots? Here’s what you need to know.
• Safety worries about the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have jeopardized inoculation campaigns far beyond the United States. The actions of American and European officials have stoked doubts in poorer countries, where a history of colonialism and unethical medical practices have left a legacy of mistrust in vaccines.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In a ruling a few days ago, the Supreme Court lifted coronavirus restrictions imposed by California on religious services held in private homes. The decision gave religious Americans another win against government rules that they say infringe on their freedom to worship.

With the latest victory, the question has become whether the Supreme Court’s majority is protecting the rights of the faithful or giving them favorable treatment.

Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times.

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Background reading: 

• Late Friday night, the Supreme Court lifted California’s restrictions on religious gatherings in private homes. The order followed earlier ones striking down limits on attendance at houses of worship.
• A study that considered data from the past 70 years found that the Supreme Court had become far more likely to rule in favor of religious rights in recent years.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

It started with a picture posted on the internet, and ended in an extravagant cryptocurrency bidding war. NFTs, or “nonfungible tokens,” have recently taken the art world by storm. Sabrina Tavernise, a national correspondent for The Times, speaks with the Times columnist Kevin Roose about digital currency’s newest frontier, his unexpected role in it and why it matters.

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The Times who examines the intersection of technology, business, and culture.

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Background reading: 

• NFT mania has reached new highs in recent months, with a digital artwork by an artist known as Beeple selling for $69.3 million. A trading card featuring the quarterback Tom Brady sold for $1.3 million and an NFT of the first tweet from Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter, went for $2.9 million.
• What are these nonfungible tokens and why do people pay so much for them? Here’s a primer.
• A picture of Kevin Roose’s column “Buy This Column on the Blockchain!” was put up for auction and sold for about $725,000. He also wrote about the surreal experience of selling the NFT and spoke to a few people who placed bids.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Europe’s vaccination process was expected to be well-orchestrated and efficient. So far, it’s been neither. Sabrina Tavernise, a national correspondent for The Times, spoke with our colleague Matina Stevis-Gridneff about Europe’s problems and why things could get worse before they get better.

Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Brussels correspondent for The New York Times, covering the European Union.

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Background reading: 

• A cascade of small decisions has led to increasingly long delays in the European Union’s inoculation efforts. While Washington went into business with the drug companies, Brussels took a conservative, budget-conscious approach that left the open market largely untouched. And it has paid for it.
• Falling behind the pace of vaccine rollouts in countries like Britain, the United States and Israel, Europe is now tightening export rules in a bid to speed up its inoculation campaign and stem political criticism.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The author Philip Roth, who died in 2018, was not sure whether he wanted to be the subject of a biography. In the end, he decided that he wanted to be known and understood.

His search for a biographer was long and fraught — Mr. Roth parted ways with two, courted one and sued another — before he settled on Blake Bailey, one of the great chroniclers of America’s literary lives.

Today on The Sunday Read, the journey of rendering a writer whose life was equal parts discipline and exuberance.

This story was written by Mark Oppenheimer and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Odessa is a four-part series. All episodes of the show released so far are available here. 
Last fall, as Odessa High School brought some students back to campus with hybrid instruction, school officials insisted mask wearing, social distancing and campus contact tracing would keep students and faculty safe. And at the beginning of the semester, things seemed to be going OK. But then a spike in coronavirus cases hit town, putting the school’s safety plan to the test. 

In part three of our four-part series, we follow what happened when a student quarantine stretched the school’s nurses to capacity, fractured friendships and forced some marching band members to miss a critical rite of passage: the last football game of their high school career.

In Minneapolis, the tension is palpable as the city awaits the outcome of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of murdering George Floyd last summer.

The court proceedings have been both emotional — the video of Mr. Floyd’s death has been played over and over — and technical.

At the heart of the case: How did Mr. Floyd die?

Today, we look at the case that has been brought against Mr. Chauvin so far. 

Guest: John Eligon, a national correspondent covering race for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Bystanders’ pain had been mostly hidden for the last 10 months. But over the first week of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, it spilled tearfully into the open as witnesses testified to their shared trauma.
• Follow along live here for the latest updates on the trial of Mr. Chauvin.
• What to know about the death of George Floyd.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The I.R.S. says that Bristol Myers Squibb, America’s second-largest drug company, has engaged a tax-shelter setup that has deprived the United States of $1.4 billion in tax revenue.

The Biden administration is looking to put an end to such practices to pay for its policy ambitions, including infrastructure like improving roads and bridges and revitalizing cities.

We look at the structure of these tax arrangements and explore how, and whether, it’s possible to clamp down on them. 

Guest: Jesse Drucker, an investigative reporter on the Business desk for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• The I.R.S. says that Bristol Myers Squibb used an “abusive” offshore setup to avoid $1.4 billion in federal taxes.
• In a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made the case for a global minimum corporate tax rate, kicking off the Biden administration’s effort to help raise revenue in the United States. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

How one woman with a grudge was able to slander an entire family online, while the sites she used avoided blame.

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Two months ago, Myanmar’s military carried out a coup, deposing the country’s elected civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and closing the curtains on a five-year experiment with democracy. 

Since then, the Burmese people have expressed their discontent through protest and mass civil disobedience. The military has responded with brutal violence. 

We look at the crackdown and how Myanmar’s unique military culture encourages officers to see civilians as the enemy. 

Guest: Hannah Beech, the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Four officers speak about life in the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s feared army, which has turned its guns on civilians again. “The Tatmadaw is the only world” for most soldiers, one said.
• Myanmar’s security forces have killed more than 40 children since February. Here is the story of one, Aye Myat Thu. She was 10.
• As the nation’s military kills, assaults and terrorizes unarmed civilians each day, some protesters say there is no choice but to fight the army on its own terms.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

During the pandemic, cheerleader-ish girls performing slithery hip-hop dances to rap music on TikTok has been the height of entertainment — enjoyed both genuinely and for laughs.

Addison Rae, one such TikToker, is the second-most-popular human being on the platform, having amassed a following larger than the population of the United Kingdom.

In seeking to monetize this popularity, she has followed a path forged by many social media stars and A-list celebrities like Rihanna and Kylie Jenner: She has started her own beauty brand.

On today’s Sunday Read, a look at how beauty has entered a phase of total pop-culture domination and how influencers are changing the way the sell works by mining the intimate relationships they have with their fans.

This story was written by Vanessa Grigoriadis and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

President Biden is pushing the boundaries of how most Americans think of infrastructure.

In a speech on Wednesday, he laid out his vision for revitalizing the nation’s infrastructure in broad, sweeping terms: evoking racial equality, climate change and support for the middle class.

His multitrillion-dollar plan aims not only to repair roads and bridges, but also to bolster the nation’s competitiveness in things like 5G, semiconductors and human infrastructure.

Today, we take a detailed look at what his plans entail and the congressional path he will have to navigate to get it passed.

Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• President Biden began selling his infrastructure proposal on Wednesday, saying that it will fix 20,000 miles of roads and 10,000 bridges while also addressing climate change and racial inequities and raising corporate taxes.
• Here is how his $2 trillion in proposed spending on infrastructure breaks down.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Since its earliest days, Amazon has been anti-union, successfully quashing any attempt by workers to organize.

A group of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., just might change that — depending on the outcome of a vote this week.

We look at how their effort came together and what it means for the nature of work in savvy, growing companies like Amazon.

Guest: Michael Corkery, a business reporter for The New York Times. 

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• The outcome of a vote at a warehouse in Alabama could have far-ranging implications for both Amazon and the labor movement.
• Here’s what will happen after this week’s union vote. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Republican-led legislatures are racing to restrict voting rights, in a broad political effort that first began in the state of Georgia. To many Democrats, it’s no coincidence that Georgia — once a Republican stronghold — has just elected its first Black senator: Raphael Warnock. Today, we speak to the senator about his path from pastorship to politics, the fight over voting rights and his faith that the old political order is fading away.

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Georgia Republicans passed a sweeping law to restrict voting access in the state, making it the first major battleground to overhaul its election system since the turmoil of the 2020 presidential contest.
• Last year, Mr. Warnock ran for office in a state where people in predominantly Black neighborhoods waited in disproportionately long lines. Several Black leaders have said Georgia’s new law clearly puts a target on Black and brown voters.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Georgia, a once reliably red state, has been turning more and more purple in recent years. In response, the Republican state legislature has passed a package of laws aimed at restricting voting.

Today, we look at those measures and how Democrats are bracing for similar laws to be passed elsewhere in the country. 

Guest: Nick Corasaniti, a domestic correspondent covering national politics for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Georgia Republicans have moved early in a campaign to rewrite voting rules. Republicans in other states are determined to follow them.
• The country’s most hotly contested state has calmed down after months of drama, court fights and national attention. But new storms are on the horizon.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

On the docket on Monday at a Minneapolis courthouse is the biggest police brutality case in the United States in three decades: the trial of Derek Chauvin, a white former police officer accused of killing George Floyd, a Black man, last year.

The case centers on a 10-minute video, shot by a bystander, showing Mr. Chauvin kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck. That video reverberated around the world.

We look at the contours of the trial and what we know about it so far.

Guest: Shaila Dewan, a national reporter covering criminal justice for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Read an exploration of the life and death of George Perry Floyd Jr., from “I want to touch the world” to “I can’t breathe.”
• Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, faces charges of manslaughter, second-degree murder and third-degree murder in the death of George Floyd. Here’s what you need to know about the trial.
• In more than 19 years on the Minneapolis police force, Mr. Chauvin had a reputation as a rigid workaholic with few friends. He sometimes made other officers uncomfortable.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

It was in the winter of 2016 that Jan Six, a Dutch art dealer based in Amsterdam, made a discovery that would upend his life. He was leafing through a Christie’s catalog when he spotted a painting featuring a young man wearing a dazed look, a lace collar and a proto-Led Zeppelin coif. Christie’s had labeled it a painting by one of Rembrandt’s followers, but Mr. Six knew it was by the Dutch master himself.

Today on The Sunday Read, a look at Mr. Six’s discovery of the first new Rembrandt painting in over four decades, and the fallout from finding it.

This story was written by Russell Shorto and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

The Good Shepherd Nursing Home in West Virginia lifted its coronavirus lockdown in February.

For months, residents had been confined to their rooms, unable to mix. But with everybody now vaccinated, it was finally time to see one another again.

We share some of the relief and joy about the tip-toe back to normalcy for staff members and residents.

Guest: Sarah Mervosh, a national reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• The Good Shepherd Nursing Home, where vaccinations have finished, offers a glimpse at what the other side of the pandemic might look like.
• Nursing homes, once hot spots of the coronavirus, are far outpacing the rest of the United States in Covid declines.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The United States has never undertaken a vaccination campaign of the scale and speed of the Covid-19 program. Despite a few glitches, the country appears to be on track to offer shots to all adults who want one by May 1.

We look at the ups and downs in the American vaccination campaign and describe what life after inoculation might look like.

Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• It’s not clear how easily vaccinated people may spread the virus, but the answer to that question is coming soon. Until then, scientists urge caution.
• Many scientists are expecting another rise in infections. But this time, vaccinations should help to counter the surge. By summer, Americans may be looking at a return to normal life.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In less than a week, the United States has seen two deadly mass shootings: one in Boulder, Colo., and another in the Atlanta area.

These events prompted President Biden to address the nation on Tuesday. In his speech, he said it was time to ban assault weapons.

Mr. Biden has been here before. He has tried several times in his political career to bring in gun-control legislation, all to little avail.

How likely is this latest attempt to succeed, and what lessons can Mr. Biden take from his decades-long effort?

Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• A deadly shooting at a Boulder supermarket left 10 people dead and a state full of grief and anger.
• After the second mass shooting in a week, President Biden has said tighter gun laws should not be a partisan issue, but Republicans in Congress have shown little interest in Democratic proposals.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

For Tejal Rao, a restaurant critic for The Times, a sense of smell is crucial to what she does. After she contracted the coronavirus, it disappeared. It felt almost instant.

“If you’re not used to it, you don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “It’s almost like wearing a blindfold.”

We follow Tejal on her journey with home remedies and therapies to reclaim her sense. 

Guest: Tejal Rao, a California restaurant critic and columnist for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Regaining a sense of smell is tedious and slow, but Tejal is using the only therapy proven to work.
• Listen to our Sunday Read about how the coronavirus could precipitate a global understanding of the sense of smell, which has long been disregarded as the least important sense.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

This episode contains strong language.

Ivan Agerton of Bainbridge Island, Wash., was usually unflappable. A 50-year-old adventure photographer and former marine, he has always been known to be calm in a crisis.

Soon after testing positive for the coronavirus this fall, he began experiencing psychosis. He spent Christmas in a psychiatric ward.

Today, we hear from Ivan and look at the potential long-term neurological effects of the Covid-19

Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• A small number of coronavirus patients have reported severe psychotic symptoms. Most had no history of mental illness.
• Some people experiencing long-term Covid-19 symptoms are feeling better after getting the vaccine, but it is too soon to tell whether the shots have a broad beneficial effect on patients with continuing issues.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The bright elastic throats of anole lizards, the Fabergé abdomens of peacock spiders and the curling, iridescent and ludicrously long feathers of birds-of-paradise. A number of animal species possess beautifully conspicuous and physically burdensome features.

Many biologists have long fit these tasking aesthetic displays into a more utilitarian view of evolution. However, a new generation of biologists have revived a long-ignored theory — that aesthetics and survival do not necessarily need to be linked and that animals can appreciate beauty for its own sake.

Today on The Sunday Read, a look at how these biologists are rewriting the standard explanation of how beauty evolves and the way we think about evolution itself. 

This story was written by Ferris Jabr and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Introducing the new season of “Still Processing.” The first episode is the one that the co-hosts Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris have been wanting to make for years. They’re talking about the N-word. It’s both unspeakable and ubiquitous. A weapon of hate and a badge of belonging. After centuries of evolution, it’s everywhere — art, politics, everyday banter — and it can’t be ignored. So they’re grappling with their complicated feelings about this word. Find more episodes of “Still Processing” here: nytimes.com/stillprocessing

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is known as a hard-charging, ruthless political operator.

But his power has always come from two sources: legislators’ fear of crossing him and his popularity among the electorate.

After recent scandals over bullying allegations, his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths and accusations of sexual harassment, the fear is gone.

But does he still have the support of voters?

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• As he tries to plot a political survival strategy, Andrew Cuomo is an object lesson on the dangers of kicking people on the way up.
• Nearly all of the Democrats in New York’s congressional delegation, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have said that Mr. Cuomo has lost the ability to govern. But the governor has said that he will not bow to “cancel culture.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The pandemic has precipitated a rise in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. However, the full extent of this violence may be obscured by the difficulty in classifying attacks against Asian-Americans as hate crimes. 

A recent shooting at three spas in the Atlanta area, in which the eight victims included six women of Asian descent, has heightened anxiety in the Asian-American community. Many see this as a further burst of racist violence, even as the shooter has offered a more complicated motive. 

Today, a look at why it’s proving so difficult to reckon with growing violence against Asian-Americans and whether the U.S. legal system has caught up to the reality of this moment. 

Guest: Nicole Hong, a reporter covering New York law enforcement, courts and criminal justice for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• The suspect in the Atlanta spa attacks has been charged with eight counts of murder. Six of the people killed were women of Asian descent, setting off a new wave of outrage and fear.
• The killing of eight people in Atlanta and suburban Cherokee County has come amid a rising tide of anti-Asian incidents nationwide.
• Hate crimes involving Asian-American victims soared in New York City last year.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The passage of the stimulus package last week ushered in an expansion of the social safety net that Democrats have celebrated. But one key policy was not included: a doubling of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.  

Today, we look at the history of that demand, and the shifting political and economic arguments for and against it. 

Guest: Ben Casselman, an economics and business reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Earlier this month, a group of senators from both sides of the aisle declined to advance a federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour.
• The politics of a higher minimum wage are increasingly muddled, but some Republicans are gravitating toward the idea, citing the economic needs of working-class Americans.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Wyoming has powered the nation with coal for generations. Many in the state consider the industry part of their identity.

It is in this state, and against this cultural backdrop, that one of America’s largest wind farms will be built.

Today, we look at how and why one local politician in Carbon County, Wyo. — a conservative who says he’s “not a true believer” in climate change — brought wind power to his community.

Guest: Dionne Searcey, a domestic correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• The tiny town of Rawlins, Wyo., will soon be home to one of the nation’s largest wind farms. But pride in the fossil fuel past remains a powerful force. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Just a few months ago, Israel was in dire shape when it came to the coronavirus. It had among the highest daily infection and death rates in the world. 

Now, Israel has outpaced much of the world in vaccinating its population and hospitalizations have fallen dramatically. 

Today, how it is managing the return to normality and the moral and ethical questions that its decisions have raised. 

Guest: Isabel Kershner, a correspondent in Jerusalem for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Israel’s “Green Pass” creates a two-tier system for the vaccinated and unvaccinated, raising legal, moral and ethical questions.
• The pandemic lockdowns brought tensions between Israel’s secular and ultra-Orthodox communities to the boiling point. The political consequences could be felt for years.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Long before it became an archaic and filthy symbol of everything wrong with America’s broken cities, the New York subway was a marvel.

In recent years, it has been falling apart.

Today on The Sunday Read, a look at why failing to fix it would be a collective and historic act of self-destruction. 

This story was written by Jonathan Mahler and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Odessa is a four-part series. All episodes of the show released so far are available here. 
In 1988, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, was so good that it became the inspiration for a book, movie and, eventually, the television series “Friday Night Lights.” And in the decades since, as West Texas has weathered the unsettling undulations of the oil industry, football has remained steady. 

So after the pandemic hit, the town did what it could to make sure the season wasn’t disrupted. And at Odessa High School, where the football team struggles to compete against local rivals, the members of their award winning marching band were relieved they could keep playing. In Part 2 of Odessa, we follow what happened when the season opened — and how the school weighed the decision to start against the possible risks to students’ physical and mental health.

New episodes of Odessa will be released as they become available in this feed. For more information visit nytimes.com/odessa.

This episode contains references to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.

In 1995, Diana, Princess of Wales, made a decision that was unprecedented for a member of the British royal family: She sat down with the BBC to speak openly about the details of her life.

On Sunday, her younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, told Oprah Winfrey of their own travails within the family.

Today, we look at the similarities between these two interviews.

Guest: Sarah Lyall, a writer at large for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• A quarter-century after Diana broke her silence about life among the British royals, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, did the same. Their stories were remarkably similar.
• The Sussexes have accused the royal family of failing to protect them, both emotionally and financially. Here’s what we learned from Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

When Officer Harry Dunn reporter for work at the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 6, he expected a day of relatively normal protests. But the situation soon turned dangerous.

Today, we talk with Officer Dunn about his experience fending off rioters during the storming of the Capitol.

Guest: Officer Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who was on duty during the storming of the Capitol. 

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Background reading: 

• “Black officers fought a different battle” on Jan. 6, Officer Harry Dunn said. Here is what he saw and heard when rioters, including white supremacists, stormed the Capitol.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Even as recently as a year ago, even the most cleareyed analysts thought it was a long shot. But this week, a child tax credit is expected to be passed into law, as part of the economic stimulus bill.

The child tax credit is an income guarantee for American families with children. It will provide a monthly check of up to $300 per child — no matter how many children.

We look at why this provision is so revolutionary and what has changed in the policy landscape to allow its passage.  

Guest: Jason DeParle, a senior writer for The New York Times and frequent contributor to The Times Magazine. 

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Background reading: 

• The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children.
• What’s in the stimulus bill? Here is a guide to where the money will be going. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border is growing — and, with it, anxiety in the Biden administration.

Newer concerns have mixed with longstanding ones to create a situation at the border that could become untenable.

Today, in the second part of our series on what we’re learning about the Biden administration, we look at the president’s response to the growing number of minors at the border.

Guest: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a homeland security correspondent based in Washington for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• In recent months, hundreds of migrant families have been released into the United States by Border Patrol agents. Thousands more are hoping for a chance to enter under looser policies.
• President Biden is trying to untangle an interlocking web of Trump-era border restrictions, leading for now to disparate treatment of migrants and rampant confusion.
• The Biden administration has said it will shorten the detention of migrant families. Researchers say children can show symptoms of trauma after spending long periods in custody.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Thousands die in New York every year. Some of them alone. The city might weep when the celebrated die, or the innocent are slain, but for those who pass in an unwatched struggle, there is no one to mourn for them and their names, simply added to a death table.

In 2014, George Bell, 72, was among those names. He died alone in his apartment in north central Queens.

On today’s Sunday Read, what happens when someone dies, and no one is there to arrange their funeral? And who exactly was George Bell?

This story was written by N.R. Kleinfield and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Joe Biden has had harsh words for the Saudis and the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

It appeared that the period of appeasement toward the Saudis in the Trump administration was over. But the Biden administration’s inaction over a report that implicated the crown prince in the 2018 killing of the dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappointed many of his allies.

Today, the first of a two-part look at what we’re learning about the Biden administration. First, a look at its approach to Saudi Arabia. 

Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The Times. 

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Background reading: 

• For President Biden, deliberation and caution has thus far been his approach on the world stage.
• The president has decided not to penalize the Saudi crown prince over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, fearing a breach in relations. This decision will disappoint many in the human rights community and in his own party. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

It’s been almost a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

And the virus is persisting: A downward trend in the U.S. caseload has stalled, and concern about the impact of variants is growing. Yet inoculations are on the rise, and the F.D.A. has approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, the third to be approved in the U.S.

Today, we check in on the latest about the coronavirus.

Guest: Carl Zimmer, a science writer and author of the “Matter” column for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• After the Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval, President Biden vowed that there would be enough vaccine doses for “every adult in America” by the end of May.
• For more information about the emerging mutations, check out The Times’s variant tracker. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Microsoft founder Bill Gates was the most powerful and provocative private individual operating within global public health.

Today, we look at the role he has played in public health and his latest mission: procuring Covid-19 vaccines for countries in the developing world.

Guest: Megan Twohey, an investigative reporter for The New York Times; and Nicholas Kulish, an enterprise correspondent covering philanthropy, wealth and nonprofits for The Times.

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Background reading: 

• Bill Gates is working with the World Health Organization, drugmakers and nonprofits to tackle the coronavirus, including in the world’s poorest nations. Can they do it?
• An operation to supply billions of vaccine doses to poorer countries got underway last week. But as rich countries buy most of the available supply, stark inequalities remain.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The Senate is preparing to vote on another stimulus bill — the third of the pandemic.

The bill has the hallmarks of a classic stimulus package: money to help individual Americans, and aid to local and state governments. It also contains provisions that would usher in long-term structural changes that have been pushed for many years by Democrats.

Today, we explore the contours of the Biden administration’s stimulus bill and look at the competing arguments. 

Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.  

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Background reading: 

• The stimulus bill is polling strongly across the country, including with many Republican voters, despite a scattershot series of attacks from congressional Republicans.
• Before the vote on President Biden’s stimulus package, here’s a fact check on some of the common talking points. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Even as the cold has lifted and the ice has melted in Texas, the true depth of the devastation left by the state’s winter storm can be difficult to see.

Today, we look at the aftermath through the eyes of Iris Cantu, Suzanne Mitchell and Tumaini Criss — three women who, after the destruction of their homes, are reckoning with how they are going to move forward with their lives.

Guest: Jack Healy, a Colorado-based national correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Even with power back on across most of the state and warmer weather forecast, millions of Texans whose health and finances were already battered by a year of Covid-19 now face a grinding recovery from the storm.
• Here’s an analysis of how Texas’s drive for energy independence set it up for disaster.
• As the freak winter storm raged, historically marginalized communities were among the first to face power outages.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

It all started when Sigrid E. Johnson was 62. She got a call from an old friend, asking her to participate in a study about DNA ancestry tests and ethnic identity. She agreed.

Ms. Johnson thought she knew what the outcome would be. When she was 16, her mother told her that she had been adopted as an infant. Her biological mother was an Italian woman from South Philadelphia, and her father was a Black man.

The results, however, told a different story.

Today on The Sunday Read, what the growth in DNA testing, with its surprises and imperfections, means for people’s sense of identity.

This story was written by Ruth Padawer and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Odessa is a four-part audio documentary series about one West Texas high school reopening during the pandemic — and the teachers, students and nurses affected in the process.

For the past six months, The New York Times has documented students’ return to class at Odessa High School from afar through Google hangouts, audio diaries, phone calls and FaceTime tours. And as the country continues to debate how best to reopen schools, Odessa is the story of what happened in a school district that was among those that went first.

All episodes of the show released so far are available here. 

Five years ago, Judge Merrick B. Garland became a high-profile casualty of Washington’s political dysfunction. President Barack Obama selected him to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, but Senate Republicans blocked his nomination. In the process, Mr. Garland became known for the job he didn’t get.

Now, after being nominated by the Biden administration to become the next attorney general, Mr. Garland is finding professional qualifications under scrutiny once again. In light of the attack on the Capitol, we explore how his career leading investigations into domestic terrorism prepared him for his Senate confirmation hearing.

Guest: Mark Leibovich, the chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, who spoke with Judge Merrick B. Garland.

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Background reading: 

• In his confirmation hearing this week, Mr. Garland said the United States now faced “a more dangerous period” from domestic extremists than at the time of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• Here’s why Mr. Garland described his experience leading the Justice Department’s investigation into the 1995 bombing as “the most important thing I have ever done in my life.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

When the pandemic was bearing down on New York last March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration issued a directive that allowed Covid-19 patients to be discharged into nursing homes in a bid to free up hospital beds for the sickest patients. It was a decision that had the potential to cost thousands of lives.

Today, in the second part of our look at New York nursing homes, we explore the effects of the decisions made by the Cuomo administration and the crisis now facing his leadership. 

Guest: Amy Julia Harris, an investigative reporter on The New York Times’s Metro desk. 

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Background reading: 

• Trying to quell a growing outcry over the state’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched into a 90-minute defense of his actions while hitting back at critics.
• The scrutiny of Covid-19 deaths in New York nursing homes has also put Mr. Cuomo’s aggressive behavior in the spotlight.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

When New York was the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, Gov. Andrew Cuomo emerged as a singular, strong leader. Now his leadership is embattled, particularly over the extent of deaths in nursing homes during the peak.

Today, in the first of two parts on what went wrong in New York's nursing homes, we look at the crisis through the eyes of a woman, Lorry Sullivan, who lost her mother in a New York nursing home.

Guest: Amy Julia Harris, an investigative reporter on The New York Times’s Metro desk. 

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Trying to quell a growing outcry over the state’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched into a 90-minute defense of his actions while lashing out at critics.
• The scrutiny of Covid-19 deaths in New York nursing homes has also put Governor Cuomo’s aggressive behavior in the spotlight.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh died last week. He was 70.

For decades, he broadcast mistrust and grievance into the homes of millions. Mr. Limbaugh helped create an entire ecosystem of right-wing media and changed the course of American conservatism.

Today, we look back on Rush Limbaugh’s career and how he came to have an outsize influence on Republican politics.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The Times Magazine. 

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• With a following of many millions and a a divisive, derisive style of mockery and grievance, Rush Limbaugh was a force in reshaping American conservatism. Read his obituary here.
• Weaponizing conspiracy theories and bigotry long before Donald Trump’s ascent, the radio giant helped usher in the political style that came to dominate the Republican Party.  

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

In recent years, travel — cheap travel, specifically — has boomed. Like all booms it has its winners (including influencers and home-sharing platforms like Airbnb) and its losers (namely locals and the environment). Somewhere in that mix is The Points Guy, Brian Kelly, who runs a blog that helps visitors navigate the sprawling, knotty and complex world of travel and credit card rewards.

Today on The Sunday Read, a look at the life and business of Mr. Kelly, a man who goes on vacation for a living.

This story was written by Jamie Lauren Keiles and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

The end of summer 2021 has been earmarked as the time by which most American adults will be vaccinated. But still remaining is the often-overlooked question of vaccinations for children, who make up around a quarter of the U.S. population.

Without the immunization of children, herd immunity cannot be reached.

Today, we ask when America’s children will be vaccinated.

Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Pfizer and Moderna have begun testing their vaccines on children 12 and older. The vaccine for kids is coming, but not for many months.
• New research has cast doubt on the idea that prior infections with garden-variety coronaviruses might shield some people, particularly children, from the pandemic.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The story of how Paul Rusesabagina saved the lives of his hotel guests during the Rwandan genocide was immortalized in the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda.” Leveraging his celebrity, Mr. Rusesabagina openly criticized the Rwandan government, and is now imprisoned on terrorism charges.

Today, we look at what Mr. Rusesabagina’s story tells us about the past, present and future of Rwanda.

Guest: Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times; and Abdi Latif Dahir, East Africa correspondent for The Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Paul Rusesabagina was mysteriously taken back to Rwanda late last year and arrested. His supporters say he has no chance of getting a fair hearing.
• In a jailhouse interview with Abdi Latif Dahir, Mr. Rusesabagina said he was duped into an arrest. He believed he was being flown to Burundi to talk to church groups.

An intense winter storm has plunged Texas into darkness. The state’s electricity grid has failed in the face of the worst cold weather there in decades.

The Texas blackouts could be a glimpse into America’s future as a result of climate change. Today, we explore the reasons behind the power failures.

Guest: Clifford Krauss, a national energy business correspondent based in Houston for The New York Times; and Brad Plumer, a climate reporter for The Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Systems are designed to handle spikes in demand, but the wild and unpredictable weather linked to global warming will very likely push grids beyond their limits.
• As a winter storm forced the Texas power grid to the brink of collapse, millions of people were submerged into darkness, bitter cold and a sense of indignation over being stuck in uncomfortable and even dangerous conditions.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

There was a sense of fatalism going into former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. Many felt that it would almost certainly end in acquittal.

Not the Democratic impeachment managers. “You cannot go into a battle thinking you’re going to lose,” said Stacey Plaskett, the congressional representative from the U.S. Virgin Islands who was one of the managers.

Today, we sit down with Ms. Plaskett for a conversation with Ms. Plaskett about the impeachment and acquittal and what happens next.

Guest: Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, an impeachment manager in the second trial.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Who is Stacey Plaskett? She could not vote to impeach President Donald Trump, but she made a case against him in his Senate trial.
• As one of the few Black lawmakers to play a role in the impeachment proceedings, Ms. Plaskett plans to turn her newfound prominence into gains for her constituents.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The app Truecaller estimates that as many as 56 million Americans have fallen foul to scam calls, losing nearly $20 billion.

Enter L., an anonymous vigilante, referred to here by his middle initial, who seeks to expose and disrupt these scams, posting his work to a YouTube channel under the name “Jim Browning.”

On today’s Sunday Read, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee follows L.’s work and travels to India to understand the people and the forces behind these scams.

This story was written by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

“Laïcité,” or secularism, the principle that separates religion from the state in France, has long provoked heated dispute in the country. It has intensified recently, when a teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded after showing his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

We look at the roots of secularism and ask whether it works in modern, multicultural France.

Guest: Constant Méheut, a reporter for The New York Times in France.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• For generations, public schools assimilated immigrant children into French society by instilling the nation’s ideals. The beheading of a teacher raised doubts about whether that model still worked.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily.

 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence. 

Victor Rivera has framed his life story as one of redemption and salvation. Escaping homelessness and drug addiction, he founded the Bronx Parent Housing Network, one of the largest nonprofits operating homeless shelters in New York City.

But that’s not the whole story. A Times investigation has found a pattern of allegations of sexual abuse and financial misconduct against him during his career.

We look at the accusations against Mr. Rivera and ask what lessons can be learned.

Guest: Amy Julia Harris, an investigative reporter on The New York Times’s Metro desk. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Victor Rivera gained power and profit as New York’s homeless crisis worsened.
• After the Times investigation, Mr. Rivera was fired and now faces a criminal inquiry.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Almost a year into the pandemic and the American education system remains severely disrupted. About half of children across the United States are not in school.

The Biden administration has set a clear goal for restarting in-person instruction: reopening K-8 schools within 100 days of his inauguration.

Is that ambitious target possible?

Guest: Dana Goldstein, a national education correspondent for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• A slow vaccine rollout and local fights between districts and unions could make it harder for President Biden to fulfill his promise to reopen schools quickly.
• In cities and suburbs where schools are closed, teachers’ unions are often saying: not yet. One powerful union leader is trying to change that.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump will begin today.

This time, the case against Mr. Trump is more straightforward: Did his words incite chaos at the Capitol on Jan. 6?

We look ahead to the arguments both sides will present.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The Times Magazine.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• The impeachment case claims that former President Donald Trump was “singularly responsible” for the Capitol riot. His defense team argues that he cannot be tried.
• Here’s what to watch for as the trial begins.
• Hours after the 2020 vote, Mr. Trump declared the process a fraud. We look at his 77-day campaign to subvert the election.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The departure of President Donald Trump and the storming of the Capitol have reignited a long-dormant battle over the future of the Republican Party.

Today, we look at two lawmakers in the Republican House conference whose fate may reveal something about that future: Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who voted in favor of Mr. Trump’s second impeachment, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a proponent of conspiracy theories.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• The Republican leadership would like to blunt President Donald Trump’s influence over the party. Mr. Trump and his allies want to punish those who have crossed him. A series of clashes loom.
• In back-to-back votes, the Republican conference voted to keep Liz Cheney in a leadership position and the House moved to eject Marjorie Taylor Greene from its committees. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Jay Caspian Kang, the author and narrator of this week’s Sunday Read, spoke with the actor Steven Yeun over Zoom at the end of last year. The premise of their conversations was Mr. Yeun’s latest starring role, in “Minari” — a film about a Korean immigrant family that takes up farming in the rural South.

They discussed the usual things: Mr. Yeun’s childhood, his parents and acting career — which includes a seven-year stint on the hugely popular television series “The Walking Dead.” But the topic of conversation kept circling back to something much deeper.

Today on The Sunday Read, Jay’s profile and meditation on Asian-American identity.

This story was written by Jay Caspian Kang. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for president and vice president of the United States.” So begins the 280-page complaint filed by Smartmatic, an election software company, against the Fox Corporation.

Smartmatic accuses the network of doing irreparable damage to the company’s business by allowing election conspiracy theorists to use Fox News as a megaphone for misinformation.

Today, we hear from Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s C.E.O., and the lawyer Erik Connelly about the $2.7 billion case.

Guest: Ben Smith, the media columnist for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• In the latest volley in the dispute over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has been sued by Smartmatic, which accuses his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the siege of the Capitol.
• In December, Ben Smith spoke with Mr. Mugica and Mr. Connelly about the claims being made against Smartmatic. Read the interview here.  

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Rumors had been swirling for days before Myanmar’s military launched a coup, taking back power and ousting the civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar’s experiment with democracy, however flawed, now appears to be over.

Today, we examine the rise and fall of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Guest: Hannah Beech, The New York Times’s Southeast Asia bureau chief. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• The coup returns Myanmar to full military rule after a short span of quasi-democracy. Here is what we know.
• Myanmar seemed to be building a peaceful transition to civilian governance. Instead, a personal struggle between military and civilian leaders brought it all down.
• Aung San Suu Kyi, once considered a shimmering icon of democracy, has lost her halo.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

When her daughter Karen was kidnapped in 2014, Miriam Rodríguez knew the Zetas, a cartel that ran organized crime in her town of San Fernando, Mexico, were responsible.

From the hopelessness that her daughter may never return came resolve: She vowed to find all those responsible and bring them to justice.

One by one, Ms. Rodríguez tracked these people down through inventive, homespun detective methods.

Today, we share the story of her three-year campaign for justice.

Guest: Azam Ahmed, The New York Times’s bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Armed with a handgun, a fake ID card and disguises, Miriam Rodríguez was a one-woman detective squad, defying a system where criminal impunity often prevails. Read Azam's full story (also available in Spanish here).

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

President Biden’s plans for curbing the most devastating impacts of a changing climate are ambitious.

His administration is not only planning a sharp U-turn from the previous White House — former President Donald Trump openly mocked the science behind human-caused climate change — but those aims go even further than the Obama administration’s.

Today, we look at the Biden administration’s environmental proposals, as well as the potential roadblocks and whether these changes can last.

Guest: Coral Davenport, an energy and environmental policy reporter for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• President Biden, emphasizing job creation, has signed an array of directives that elevate climate change across every level of the federal government. But huge hurdles, some from within his own party, lie ahead.
• On taking office, Mr. Biden brought with him the largest team of climate change experts ever assembled in the White House.
• The Biden administration’s ambitions could mean big changes in America’s trade, foreign relations and even defense strategy.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

This episode contains strong language.

GameStop can feel like a retailer from a bygone era. But last week, it was dragged back into the zeitgeist when it became the center of an online war between members of an irreverent Reddit subforum and hedge funds — one that left Wall Street billions of dollars out of pocket.

Today, we look at how and why the GameStop surge happened, as well as how it can be viewed as the story of our time.

Guests: Taylor Lorenz, a technology reporter covering internet culture for The New York Times; and Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial columnist for The Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• GameStop shares have soared 1,700 percent as millions of small investors, egged on by social media, employ a classic Wall Street tactic to put the squeeze on Wall Street.
• A legion of young people — primarily male — have been pouring into digital trading floors for years, raised on social media and eager to teach themselves about stocks. These are the misfits shaking up Wall Street.
• It has been a weird time in the stock market, where a video game retailer has suddenly become the center of attention. Here are four things you need to know about the GameStop insanity. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

“Smell is a startling superpower,” writes Brooke Jarvis, the author of today’s Sunday Read. “If you weren’t used to it, it would seem like witchcraft.”

For hundreds of years, smell has been disregarded. Most adults in a 2019 survey ranked it as the least important sense; and in a 2011 survey of young people, the majority said that their sense of smell was less valuable to them than their technological devices.

The coronavirus has precipitated a global reckoning with the sense. Smell, as many have found in the last year, is no big deal until it’s missing.

This story was written by Brooke Jarvis and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language. 

Inauguration Day was supposed to bring vindication for adherents of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon.

Instead, they watched as Joe Biden took the oath as the 46th president of the United States.

What happens to a conspiracy theory and its followers when they are proved wrong?

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• As Mr. Biden took office and Mr. Trump landed in Florida, with no mass arrests in sight, some QAnon believers struggled to harmonize the falsehoods with the inauguration on their TVs.
• Valerie Gilbert posts dozens of times a day in support of QAnon. Her story hints at how hard it will be to bring people like her back to reality.
• What is QAnon? Here is an explainer on the “big tent conspiracy theory.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

As Democrats and Republicans haggled over how to share power in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, made one key demand: Do not touch the filibuster rule.

Today, we explore the mechanics and history of the rule and look ahead at its fate. 

Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, the congressional editor for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• The debate over the minority’s ability to filibuster legislation has foreshadowed a fraught landscape ahead over what Democrats should do if Republicans obstruct President Biden’s agenda.
• Mr. Biden doesn’t want to eliminate the filibuster, which can be an impediment to major legislation. Left-leaning Democrats disagree, but they’re holding back for now.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States is falling, but has the country turned a corner in the pandemic? And what kind of threats do the new variants pose to people and to the vaccine rollout?

Today, we discuss the latest in the quest to stamp out the pandemic.  

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• New daily cases are starting to slow, in what some health experts see as a turning point. But they warn of a bumpy vaccination rollout amid the emergence of more contagious variants.
• The C.D.C. has eased coronavirus vaccine rules: The agency now says people can switch authorized vaccines between the first and second doses, and also extend the interval between doses to six weeks.
• One year, 400,000 coronavirus deaths: a look at how the U.S. set itself up for failure.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

This episode contains strong language.

In many instances while advising the Trump administration on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci was faced with a “difficult” situation. Yet he said he had never considered quitting.

What was it like working under President Donald J. Trump? We listen in on a candid conversation between Dr. Fauci and Donald G. McNeil Jr., the Times science and health reporter.

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• From denialism to death threats, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci described to Donald G. McNeil Jr. a fraught year as an adviser to President Donald J. Trump on the pandemic.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

The Russian activist Aleksei Navalny has spent years agitating against corruption, and against President Vladimir Putin. 

Last summer he was poisoned with a rare nerve agent linked to the Russian state. Last week, after recovering in Germany, he returned to Moscow. He was arrested at the airport, but he managed to put out a call for protest, which was answered in the streets of more than a hundred Russian cities.

Today, we look at the improbable story of Aleksei Navalny.

Guest: Anton Troianovski, who has been a Moscow correspondent for The New York Times since 2019. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Pro-Navalny protests moved across time zones and more than 3,000 people were arrested in at least 109 cities, signaling widespread fatigue with the corruption-plagued political order presided over by President Vladimir Putin.
• The protests presented the Russian government with its biggest wave of dissent in years.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

The cultural history of clouds seemed to be shaped by amateurs — the likes of Luke Howard and the Honorable Ralph Abercromby — each of whom projected the ethos of his particular era onto those billowing blank slates in the troposphere. Gavin Pretor-Pinney was our era’s.

On today’s Sunday Read, the story of the Cloud Appreciation Society and how Mr. Pretor-Pinney, backed by good will, challenged the cloud authorities.

This story was written by Jon Mooallem and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Within hours of assuming the presidency, President Biden signed a flurry of executive orders. He rejoined the Paris climate agreement, repealed the so-called Muslim travel ban and mandated the wearing of masks on federal property.

The actions had a theme: They either reversed former President Donald Trump’s actions or rebuked his general policy approach.

But governing by decree has a downside. We look at the potential positives of the orders and point out the pitfalls.

Guest: Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Mr. Biden’s actions on Day 1 included orders on immigration, criminal justice and the climate.
• Here are the president’s 17 executive orders and other directives in detail.
• The U.S. has some catching up to do on the Paris climate agreement. Here’s an explainer on the history of the accord.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Unity was the byword of President Biden’s Inaugural Address.

The speech was an attempt to turn the page. But can this be achieved without, as many in the Democratic coalition believe, a full reckoning with and accountability of how America got to this point of division?

Today, we explore the defining messages of the president’s inaugural address. 

Guests: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times; Emily Cochrane, a congressional reporter for The Times.  

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• President Biden spoke of a return to the ordinary discord of democracy, with a reminder that “politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path.” You can read the full annotated speech here.
• For many in an exhausted, divided nation, the inauguration was a sea change, not just a transition.
• At the made-for-TV swearing-in, rituals of normalcy ran into reminders that these are anything but normal times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States today. Among Democrats, there is a sense of joy and hope, but also of caution and concern.

We speak with a range of Mr. Biden’s supporters, including activists who had originally hoped for a more progressive ticket and longtime fans who embrace his moderation.

Guests:

• Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Urging unity, Mr. Biden has tried to focus on his policy plans. But many of those who elected him are still fixated on his predecessor.
• Mr. Biden’s long career in public office spanned eight presidents. Now, at 78, he will join their ranks.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Polling in the days since the storming of the Capitol paints a complex picture. While most Americans do not support the riot, a majority of Republicans do not believe that President Trump bears responsibility. And over 70 percent of them say they believe that there was widespread fraud in the election.

Before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, we called Trump supporters to hear their views about what happened at the Capitol and to gauge the level of dissatisfaction the new president will inherit.

Guest:

• Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• A Pennsylvania woman accused of taking Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the attack on the Capitol turned herself in to the police.
• Mr. Trump has prepared a wave of pardons for his final hours in office. Among those under consideration: the former New York Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and the rapper Lil Wayne.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Most Americans treat climate change seriously but not literally — they accept the science, worry about forecasts but tell themselves that someone else will get serious about fixing the problem very soon.

The Valve Turners, on the other hand, take climate change both very seriously and very literally.

In the fall of 2016, the group of five environmental activists — all in their 50s and 60s, most with children and one with grandchildren — closed off five cross-border crude oil pipelines, including the Keystone.

On today’s Sunday Read, who are the Valve Turners and what are their motivations?

This story was written by Michelle Nijhuis and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language. 

Three days after being sworn into Congress, Representative Peter Meijer, Republican of Michigan, was sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives as pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol.

After the siege, Mr. Meijer made his feelings clear: President Trump’s actions proved that he was “rankly unfit.” A week later, he became one of just a handful of Republicans to vote for impeachment.

We talk with Mr. Meijer about his decision, his party and his ambitions.

Guest: Representative Peter Meijer, a first-term Republican congressman from Michigan.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Meet the first-term Republican representatives who are emerging as some of their party’s sharpest critics.
• Many Republican leaders and strategists want to prepare the party for a post-Trump future. But the pro-Trump voter base has other ideas.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

“A clear and present danger.” Those were the words used by Nancy Pelosi to describe President Trump, and the main thrust of the Democrats’ arguments for impeachment on the House floor.

While most House Republicans lined up against the move, this impeachment, unlike the last, saw a handful vote in favor.

Today, we walk through the events of Wednesday, and the shifting arguments that led up to the history-making second impeachment.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• President Trump has become the first president to be impeached twice, after the House approved a single chargea single charge of inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol. He faces a Senate trial that could disqualify him from future office.
• Senator Mitch McConnell is said to have privately backed the impeachment of Mr. Trump.
• The second impeachment — in a Capitol ringed by troops — seemed like the almost inevitable culmination of four years that left the nation fractured, angry and losing its sense of self.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

After the attack on the Capitol, social media platforms sprang into action, deleting the accounts of agitators.

Without a central place to congregate, groups have splintered off into other, darker corners of the internet. That could complicate the efforts of law enforcement to track their plans.

We ask whether the crackdown on social media has reduced the risk of violence — or just made it harder to prevent.

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, a cybersecurity reporter for The New York Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• In the days since rioters stormed Capitol Hill, fringe groups like armed militias, QAnon conspiracy theorists and far-right supporters of President Trump have vowed to continue their fight in hundreds of conversations on a range of internet platforms.
• Amazon, Apple and Google have cut off Parler, all but killing the service just as many conservatives were seeking alternatives to Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

At the heart of the move to impeach President Trump is a relatively simple accusation: that he incited a violent insurrection against the government of the United States.

We look at the efforts to punish the president for the attack on the Capitol and explain what the impeachment process might look like.

Guest: Nicholas Fandos, a national reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would formally call on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to strip President Trump of power and move to impeach the president if Mr. Pence refused.
• Here’s a closer look at what the president said at a rally of his supporters, which is a focus of the impeachment case.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

As 2020 drew to a close, a concerning development in the pandemic came out of Britain — a new variant of the coronavirus had been discovered that is significantly more transmissible. It has since been discovered in a number of countries, including the United States.

The emergence of the new variant has added a new level of urgency to the rollout of vaccines in the U.S., a process that has been slow so far.

Today, an exploration of two key issues in the fight against the pandemic.

Guests: Carl Zimmer, a science writer and author of the “Matter” column for The New York Times; Abby Goodnough, a national health care correspondent for The Times. 

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading: 

• The new variant of the coronavirus, discovered in December, appears to be more contagious than, and genetically distinct from, more established variants. Here is what we know about it.
• The first case of the variant in the U.S. was found in Colorado in December. Pfizer has said that its vaccine works against the key mutation.
• The distribution of the vaccine in the U.S. is taking longer than expected — holiday staffing and saving doses for nursing homes are contributing to delays. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Without many predators or any prey, rhinos flourished for millions of years. Humans put an end to that, as we hunted them down and destroyed their habitat.

No rhino, however, is doing worse than the northern white. Just two, Najin and Fatu, both females, remain.

In his narrated story, Sam Anderson, a staff writer at The Times Magazine, visits the pair at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya, speaks to the men who devote their days to caring for them and explores what we will lose when Najin and Fatu die.

This story was written by Sam Anderson and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

The pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday made their plans in plain sight. They organized on social media platforms and spoke openly of their intentions to occupy the Capitol.

But leaders in Washington opted for a modest law enforcement presence. In the aftermath, those security preparations are attracting intense scrutiny.

Today, we explore how the events of Jan. 6 could have happened.

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, who covers cybersecurity for The New York Times; Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a homeland security correspondent for The Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Inside Trump supporters’ online echo chambers, the chaos of Jan. 6 could be seen coming.
• Failures by the police have spurred resignations and complaints of double standards.
• During the storming of the Capitol, social media sites were used by the mob to share information, including directions on which streets to take to avoid the police and which tools to bring to help pry open doors.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This episode contains strong language.

It was always going to be a tense day in Washington. In the baseless campaign to challenge Joe Biden’s victory, Wednesday had been framed by President Trump and his allies as the moment for a final stand.

But what unfolded was disturbing: A mob, urged on by the president, advanced on the Capitol building as Congress was certifying the election results and eventually breached its walls.

Today, the story of what happened from Times journalists who were inside the Capitol.

Guests: Nicholas Fandos, a national reporter for The New York Times; Jonathan Martin, a national political correspondent for The Times; and Emily Cochrane, a congressional reporter for The Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Journalists from The Times witnessed the violence and mayhem. Here’s how it unfolded.
• One of the most disturbing aspects of Wednesday’s events was that they could be seen coming. The president himself had all but circled the date.
• Here is an explanation of how the pro-Trump mob managed to storm the Capitol

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

The long fight for control of the U.S. Senate is drawing to a close in Georgia, and the Democrats appear set to win out — the Rev. Raphael Warnock is the projected winner of his race against Senator Kelly Loeffler, while Jon Ossoff is heavily favored to beat the other incumbent Republican, Senator David Perdue.

Today, we look at the results so far from these history-making Senate races and at what they mean for the future and fortunes of the two main parties.

Guest: Nate Cohn, a domestic correspondent for The Upshot at The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• A Baptist preacher born and raised in Georgia, Raphael Warnock has defeated Kelly Loeffler to become his state’s first Black senator, breaking a barrier with distinct meaning in American politics.
• A surge in turnout from Georgia’s Black voters has powered the fortunes of Mr. Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
• You can follow the results here.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Since the presidential election was called for Joe Biden, President Trump has relentlessly attacked the integrity of the count in Georgia. He has floated conspiracy theories to explain away his loss and attacked Republican officials.

Today, we speak to Republican activists and voters on the ground and consider to what extent, if at all, Mr. Trump’s rhetoric could discourage Republicans from voting in the runoff elections.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue have sought to motivate a conservative base that remains loyal to Mr. Trump while also luring back some of the defectors who helped deliver Georgia to a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992.
• Democrats may have claimed a bigger share of the early vote than they did in November’s vote, election data shows. Here’s what else we know about the voting in Georgia so far.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

A strong Black turnout will be integral to Democratic success in the U.S. Senate races in Georgia this week.

In the first of a two-part examination of election strategies in the Georgia runoffs, we sit down with Stacey Abrams, a Georgia Democrat who has become synonymous with the party’s attempts to win statewide, to talk about her efforts to mobilize Black voters.

And we join LaTosha Brown, a leader of Black Voters Matter, as she heads out to speak to voters.

Guest: Audra D.S. Burch, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Control of the Senate could hinge on Black voters in Georgia — and on an ambitious effort by the likes of Black Voters Matter to get them to the polls in the largest numbers ever for the runoff elections on Tuesday.
• Democrats are making their final push to rally supporters, targeting Black voters in regions far from Atlanta but equally important to Georgia’s emerging Democratic coalition.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

When Alaska was hit by a devastating earthquake in 1964, it was the voice of Genie Chance — a journalist, wife and mother — that held the state together in the aftermath.

In the episode, we heard about sociologists from Ohio State University’s Disaster Research Center rushing to Anchorage to study residents’ behavior.

Today, Jon Mooallem, who brought us Genie’s story in May, speaks to a sociologist from the University of Delaware to make sense of the current moment and how it compares with the fallout of the Great Alaska Earthquake.

Guest: Jon Mooallem, writer at large for The New York Times Magazine and author of “This Is Chance!,” a book about the aftermath of the earthquake.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background Reading:

• For our Opinion section, Jon Mooallem wrote about the lessons of the 1964 earthquake.
• Listen to Jon talk about his experience writing and researching for his book about the aftermath of the disaster on an episode of The Times’s Book Review podcast.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

Scott Watson — a Black police officer in his hometown, Flint, Mich. — has worked to become a pillar of the community. And he always believed his identity put him in a unique position to discharge his duties.

After watching the video of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May, his job became a source of self-consciousness instead of pride.

Today, we call up Scott once again and ask how he’s been doing and how things have been in his police department.

Guest: Scott Watson, a police officer in Flint, Mich.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Lynsea Garrison wrote about interviewing Scott in an edition of The Daily newsletter.
• Many Black and Hispanic officers in New York City have found themselves caught between competing loyalties in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes from this year and checking in on what has happened since the stories first ran.

In our society, the public part of mourning is ritualized by a coming together. What do we do now that the opportunity for collective mourning has been taken away?

Earlier this year, we heard the story of Wayne Irwin. A retired minister of the United Church of Canada who lost his wife, Flora May, during the coronavirus pandemic.

He never once considered delaying her memorial, opting to celebrate her life over the internet — a new ritual that, as it turned out, felt more authentic and real.

Today, we check back in with Wayne to find out how he’s been doing in the months since his wife’s passing.

Guest: Catherine Porter, Toronto bureau chief for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• The rituals of our lives have been transformed. An expert on gathering shares advice for birthdays and baby showers in our audio series “Together Apart.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

When Jack Nicas, a technology reporter for The Times, first moved to California five years ago, he set about finding a local bar of choice. Unpretentious, cheap and relaxed, the Hatch fit the bill.

Over six months during the coronavirus pandemic, he charted the fortunes of the bar and its staff members as the lockdown threatened to upend the success of the small business.

Today, Jack checks in with the bar’s owner — Louwenda Kachingwe, known to everyone as Pancho — to see what has happened since we last heard from him in the fall.

Guest: Jack Nicas, a technology reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Here’s the full article about the Oakland tavern and its staff members as they try to weather the fallout from the pandemic.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

The escapism of movies took on a new importance during pandemic isolation. Caity Weaver, the author of this week’s Sunday Read, says that to properly embrace this year’s cinematic achievements, the Academy Awards should not only hand out accolades to new releases, but also to the older films that sustained us through this period.

If they did, Caity argues, Cher would be on course to win a second Oscar for her performance as Loretta Castorini in 1987’s “Moonstruck” — a film that, under lockdown, was a salve to many.

On today’s episode, a conversation with Cher about the film’s production, cast and legacy.

This story was written by Caity Weaver and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

When New York City was the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S., Sheri Fink, a public health correspondent for The Times, was embedded at the Brooklyn Hospital Center.

In April, she brought us the story of a single day in its intensive care unit, where a majority of patients were sick with the virus.

Today, we check back in with one of the doctors we heard from on the episode, the unflappable Dr. Josh Rosenberg.

Guest: Sheri Fink, a correspondent covering public health for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• “Covid will not win” — here are some portraits and interviews with the staff members powering the Brooklyn Hospital Center.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

A few weeks ago, we put a callout on The Daily, asking people to send in their good news from a particularly bleak year.

The response was overwhelming. Audio messages poured into our inboxes from around the world, with multiple emails arriving every minute. There was a man who said that he had met Oprah and realized he was an alcoholic, a woman who shared that she had finally found time to finish a scarf after five years and another man who said he had finished his thesis on representations of horsemanship in American cinema. Eventually, we decided to construct the entire show out of these messages.

This episode is the result — a Daily holiday card of good news, from our team to you.

It is a very human thing, at the end of a year, to stop and take stock. Part of that involves acknowledging that some remarkable people who were here in 2020 will be not joining us in 2021.

Today, we take a moment to honor the lives of four of those people. And in marveling at the extraordinary and sometimes vividly ordinary facets of their time among us, we hold a mirror up to the complexities of our own lives.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

The radio host Delilah has been on the air for more than 40 years. She takes calls from listeners across the United States, as they open up about their heavy hearts, their hopes and the important people in their lives.

She tells callers that they’re loved, and then she plays them a song. “A love song needs a lyric that tells a story,” she says. “And touches your heart, either makes you laugh, or makes you cry or makes you swoon.”

On today’s episode, producers Andy Mills and Bianca Giaever do what millions before them have done: They call Delilah.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

“If death practices reveal a culture’s values,” writes Maggie Jones, the author of today’s Sunday Read, “we choose convenience, outsourcing, an aversion to knowing or seeing too much.”

Enter home-funeral guides, practitioners who believe families can benefit from tending to — and spending time with — the bodies of the deceased.

On today’s Sunday Read, listen to Ms. Jones’s story about the home-funeral movement and the changing nature of America’s funeral practices.

This story was written by Maggie Jones and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

For years there has been an evictions crisis in the United States. The pandemic has made it more acute.

On today’s episode, our conversations with a single mother of two from Georgia over several months during the pandemic. After she lost her job in March, the bottom fell out of her finances and eviction papers started coming. The federal safety net only stretched so far.

And we ask, with Congress seeking to pass another stimulus bill, what do the next few months hold for renters in the United States?

Guest: Matthew Desmond, a Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and contributing writer for The Times Magazine.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Emergency pandemic funding to help renters must be distributed by Dec. 30. But getting the money to those who need it is no small task.
• Residents of weekly rentals worry they will be kicked out if they can’t pay the rent. It’s unclear if the federal moratorium on evictions applies to them.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This episode contains strong language.

When the photo-sharing app Instagram started to grow in popularity in the 2010s, the chief executive of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, had two options: build something comparable or buy it out. He opted for the latter.

The subsequent $1 billion deal is central to a case being brought against Facebook by the federal government and 48 attorneys general. They want to see the social network broken up.

Will they succeed? On today’s episode, we look at one of the biggest cases to hit Silicon Valley in decades.

Guest: Mike Isaac, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Regulators have accused Facebook of buying up rising rivals to cement its dominance over social media.
• The cases against Facebook are far from a slam dunk — the standards of proof are formidable.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Undetected for months, sophisticated hackers working on behalf of a foreign government were able to breach computer networks across a number of U.S. government agencies. It’s believed to be the handiwork of Russian intelligence.

And this is far from the first time.

Today, why and how such hacks keep happening and the delicate calculation that dictates how and if America retaliates.

Guest: David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• In one of the most sophisticated and perhaps largest hacks in more than five years, email systems were breached at the Treasury and Commerce Departments. Other breaches are under investigation.
• The sophistication and scope of the attack has stunned experts. About 18,000 private and government users downloaded a Russian tainted software update — a Trojan horse of sorts — that gave its hackers a foothold into victims’ systems, according to SolarWinds, the company whose software was compromised.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

North Dakota and New Orleans have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus.

On today’s episode, we speak to health care workers in both places as they become some of the first to receive and administer the vaccine, and tap into the mood of hope and excitement tempered by a bleak fact: The battle against Covid-19 is not yet over.

Guest: Jack Healy, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Monday’s vaccinations, the first in a staggeringly complicated national campaign, were a moment infused with hope and pain for hundreds of America’s health care workers.
• Some of the very medical centers that have endured the worst of the coronavirus found the gloom that has long filled their corridors replaced by elation. The vaccine campaign, however, began on the same day that America surpassed 300,000 deaths from Covid-19.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

The Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Friday, clearing the way for millions of highly vulnerable people to begin receiving the vaccine within days.

The authorization is a historic turning point in a pandemic that has taken more than 290,000 lives in the United States. With the decision, the United States becomes the sixth country — in addition to Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico — to clear the vaccine. Today, we ask the science and health reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr. what might happen next.

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Pfizer has a deal with the U.S. government to supply 100 million doses of the vaccine by next March. Under that agreement, the shots will be free to the public.
• The vaccines are on their way, but experts still say a difficult winter of coronavirus infection and death lies ahead.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Amid the death and desperation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, two inmates, David Wisnia and Helen Spitzer, found love.

On today’s episode, the story of how they found each other — first within the camp and again, seven decades later.

This story was written by Keren Blankfeld and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

In three weeks, an election will take place that could be as important as the presidential vote in determining the course of the next four years.

The Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia will determine whether two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, keep their seats. If their Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, both win, Democrats would claim control of the Senate, giving President-Elect Joe Biden expanded power to realize his policy agenda.

Today, we offer a guide to the two Senate races in Georgia.

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• In the runoffs, Republicans are focusing attacks on the Rev. Raphael Warnock, portraying him as radical, a claim he has rejected.
• Some Atlanta suburbs that used to be “blood red” went blue in November. After helping deliver the presidency to Democrats, we examined whether they might give them the Senate, too.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

From the start of the pandemic, the Trump administration said it was committed to ordering and stockpiling enough potential vaccine doses to end the outbreak in the United States as quickly as possible.

But new reporting from The Times has revealed that Pfizer, the maker of the first vaccine to show effectiveness against the coronavirus, tried unsuccessfully to get the government to lock in 100 million extra doses.

Today, we investigate how the Trump administration missed that opportunity and what the repercussions might be.

Guest: Sharon LaFraniere, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• U.S. officials had the opportunity to secure enough doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to inoculate most of the country — at no upfront cost to the government. Instead, they turned down the offer.
• With a smaller-than-expected order from the United States, Pfizer turned to fulfilling orders from other countries, like Britain, which began vaccinating people this week.

In Britain, news that the country had become the first to start administering a fully tested coronavirus vaccine was met with hope, excitement — and some trepidation.

Amid the optimism that normal life might soon resume, there is also concern. Has the vaccine been developed too fast? Is it safe? On today’s episode, we examine how Britons feel about the prospect of receiving a shot and attend a vaccination clinic in Wales.

Guest: Megan Specia, a story editor based in London for the New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• For the first recipients of the vaccine, among them older Britons and hundreds of doctors and nurses who pulled the National Health Service through the pandemic, the shots offered a glimpse at a return to normalcy.
• Dr. Chris Hingston was one of the first health care workers in Britain to receive the vaccine. He was clearly aware that the simple act had a greater purpose: protecting not only himself, but hopefully his family, colleagues and patients from a potentially life-threatening virus.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Caitlin Dickerson, an immigration reporter for The Times, says there is one word that sums up the Trump administration’s approach to border crossing: deterrence. For nearly four years, the U.S. government has tried to discourage migrants, with reinforced walls, family separation policies and threats of deportation.

Those policies have led to the appearance of a makeshift asylum-seeker camp of frayed tents and filthy conditions within walking distance of the United States.

Today, we ask: What will the legacy of President Trump’s immigration policies be? And will anything change next year?

Guest: Caitlin Dickerson, an immigration reporter for The New York Times.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• This is what we saw inside the tent camp on the U.S.-Mexico border.
• The Trump administration’s immigration policies have not deterred pregnant women from trying to enter the United States. Here are some of their experiences.
• A federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program designed to shield young, undocumented immigrants from deportation.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

The state of the 2020 U.S. election is, still, not a settled matter in Georgia. For weeks, conservatives have been filing lawsuits in state and federal courts in an effort to decertify results that gave a victory to Joe Biden. On Twitter, President Trump has been making unsubstantiated claims that the state has been “scammed.”

With Georgia in political turmoil, threats of violence have been made against state election officials, who have been scrambling to recount votes by hand, and against their families.

Still, dozens of prominent national Republicans have stayed silent.

Last week, Gabriel Sterling, a little-known election official in Georgia, did something his party is refusing to do: condemn the president’s claims.

For today’s episode, we called him to ask why he decided to speak up.

Guest: Gabriel Sterling, a Republican official who is the voting system implementation manager in Georgia.

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here

Background reading:

• “Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed. And it’s not right,” Mr. Sterling said in a four-minute rebuke of the president last week.
• The last act of the Trump presidency has taken on the stormy elements of a drama more common to history or literature than a modern White House.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Foresters once regarded trees as solitary individuals: They competed for space and resources, but were otherwise indifferent to one another.

The work of the Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard upended that, finding that while there is indeed conflict in a forest, there is also negotiation, reciprocity and even selflessness.

Ms. Simard discovered that underground fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest.

On today’s Sunday Read, listen to an exploration of these links and the influential and contentious work of Ms. Simard.

This story was written by Ferris Jabr and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

The power to pardon criminals or commute their sentences is one of the most sacred and absolute a president has, and President Trump has already used it to rescue political allies and answer the pleas of celebrities.

With his term coming to an end, the president has discussed granting three of his children, his son-in-law and personal lawyer pre-emptive pardons — a rarity in American history.

We look ahead to a potential wave of pardons and commutations — and explore who could benefit.

Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here

Background reading:

• Speculation about pardon activity at the White House is churning furiously, underscoring how much the Trump administration has been dominated by investigations and criminal prosecutions of people in the president’s orbit.
• The president’s pardoning of Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser, signals the prospect of a wave of pardons and commutations in his final weeks in office.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

This episode contains descriptions of sexual assault.

When the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy this year, it created a final window for claims of sexual abuse against the organization’s leaders.

Within nine months, nearly 100,000 victims filed suits — that far eclipses the number of sexual-abuse allegations that the Roman Catholic Church faced in the early 2000s.

Today, we hear from one of the victims, Dave Henson, a 40-year-old naval officer who was sexually abused for five years by one of his scout troop’s leaders. Alcoholism and emotional trauma followed. Now, he has joined the ranks of thousands of people seeking redress.

Guest: Mike Baker, Seattle bureau chief for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here

Background reading:

• The bankruptcy proceedings allowed the Boy Scouts organization to keep operating while it grapples with questions about the future of the century-old movement.
• The deluge of sex-abuse claims documents a decades-long accumulation of assaults at the hands of scout leaders across the nation who had been trusted as role models.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

What kind of foreign policy is possible for the United States after four years of isolationism under President Trump?

Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state, has an interventionist streak, but some vestiges of Trump-era foreign policy will be hard to upend.

If confirmed, Mr. Blinken faces the challenge of making the case at home that taking a fuller role abroad is important, while persuading international allies that the United States can be counted on.

What course is he likely to steer through that narrow channel?

Guest: David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Mr. Blinken’s extensive foreign policy credentials are expected to help calm American diplomats and global leaders after four years of the Trump administration’s ricocheting strategies and nationalist swaggering.
• European allies of the United States have welcomed a president who doesn’t see them as rivals. But with the possibility of a Republican-controlled Senate, they are also wary.
• Mr. Biden wants to reactivate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the killing of the top nuclear scientist in the Middle Eastern nation, which Tehran has blamed on Israel, could complicate that aim.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Janet Yellen, who is poised to become secretary of the Treasury, will immediately have her work cut out for her. The U.S. economy is in a precarious state and Congress is consumed by partisan politics.

Ms. Yellen, however, is no stranger to crisis. She has already held the government’s other top economic jobs — including chairwoman of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, helping the country through the last major financial emergency.

Now, facing another steep challenge, we look at the measures she might take to get the economy humming again.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, who covers the Federal Reserve and the economy for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

• Ms. Yellen became an economist when few women entered the discipline. She is now set to become the first female Treasury secretary and one of the few people ever to have wielded economic power from the White House, the Federal Reserve and the president’s cabinet.
• While she may have excelled at some big jobs in the past, this role may be her hardest yet.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

For Americans, months of collective isolation and fear could soon be winding down. A coronavirus vaccine may be just weeks away.

According to Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to accelerate vaccine development, the first Americans could receive the vaccine in mid-December.

With the vaccine within reach, we turn to more logistical questions: Who will receive the shots first? Who will distribute them? And what could go wrong?

Guest: Katie Thomas, who covers the drug industry for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Promising clinical trials have buoyed hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight. But even if the vaccines are authorized, only a sliver of the American public will be able to get one by the end of the year.
• In mid-December, 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are expected to be shipped across the United States in an initial push.

On a day early this fall, Nikita Stewart, who covers social services for The New York Times, and the Daily producers Annie Brown and Stella Tan spent a day at Council of Peoples Organization, a food pantry in Brooklyn, speaking to its workers and clients.

As with many other pantries in the city, it has seen its demand rocket during the pandemic as many New Yorkers face food shortages. And with the year drawing to a close, many of New York City’s pantries — often run with private money — face a funding crisis.

Today, the story of one day in the operations of a New York food pantry.

Guest: Nikita Stewart, who covers social services for The New York Times; Annie Brown, a senior audio producer for The Times; and Stella Tan, an associate audio producer for The Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here are five key statistics that show how hunger is worsening in New York City.
• An estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers can’t afford food, and tens of thousands have shown up at the city’s food pantries since the pandemic began. But there is relief and hope when they are at home cooking.

Pressure and litigation appear to have been the pillars of President Trump’s response to his general election loss.

His team filed a litany of court cases in battleground states. In some, such as Georgia and Michigan, the president and his allies took an even more bullish approach, attempting to use their influence to bear down on election officials.

As preparations for the transfer of power finally get underway, we take a look at how the Trump campaign’s attempts to overturn the election played out.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer-at-large for The New York Times and The Times Magazine, walks us through the Trump campaign’s strategy in key states.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Trump administration’s authorization of the transition process is a strong sign that the president’s last-ditch bid to overturn the results of the election is coming to an end. But he has yet to concede the election.
• In a chaotic effort to overturn the election results, the president and his campaign lawyers have spent weeks claiming without convincing proof that rampant fraud corrupted vote tallies in many battleground states.
• These efforts heavily targeted cities with large Black populations.

This week New York City’s public schools will close their doors and students will once again undertake online instruction.

The shutdown was triggered when 3 percent of coronavirus tests in the city came back positive over seven days. There are questions, however, around this number being used as a trigger — some health officials maintain that schools are safe.

When is the right time for schools to reopen and what is the right threshold for closures? We explore what lessons New York City’s struggles hold for the rest of the nation.

Guest: Eliza Shapiro, who covers New York City education for The New York Times, walks us through the city’s decision to reopen schools and the difficult decision to shut them down.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• New York City’s public school system will close this week, moving to all-remote instruction and disrupting the education of roughly 300,000 children.
• As schools close again, frustrated and angry parents say the decision does not make the city safer.

For years, Wil S. Hylton had been drawn to his cousin’s strength and violence. He was pulled in by the archetype that he embodied and was envious of the power he seemed to command.

Wil describes his relative’s violence as “ambient” and “endemic,” but he was sure it wouldn’t turn on him. Until a few years ago, when his cousin tried to kill him.

“My attraction to my cousin and my detachment as a husband both reside in the pantheon of male tropes,” he wrote. “Masculinity is a religion. It’s a compendium of saints: the vaunted patriarch, the taciturn cowboy, the errant knight, the reluctant hero, the gentle giant and omniscient father.”

On today’s Sunday Read, Wil’s wide-ranging exploration of masculinity.

This story was written by Wil S. Hylton and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

When the pandemic struck, Patty Schachtner, in her capacity as both a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and chief medical officer for St. Croix County, tried to remain one step ahead. It was an approach criticized by many in her conservative community.

She was preparing for the worst-case scenario. And now it has arrived — cases and deaths are on the rise in Wisconsin.

We chart her journey through the months of the pandemic.

Guest: Julie Bosman, who covers the Midwest for The New York Times, spoke with Patty Schachtner over several months about how she was experiencing the pandemic.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The recent coronavirus outbreak in Wisconsin has escalated rapidly. Here is our case tracker for the state.
• As coronavirus cases rise across the United States, death rates have been rising far more slowly. But there are signs that this is shifting. Last week, Wisconsin was among a number of states that recorded more deaths in the previous seven days than in any other week of the pandemic.

There are several figures that tell the story of the American economy right now.

Some are surprisingly positive — the housing market is booming — while others paint a more dire picture.

Using seven key numbers, we look at the sectors that have been affected most profoundly and consider what the path to recovery might look like.

Guest: Ben Casselman, who covers economics and business for The New York Times, walks us through the pandemic’s impact.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here is Ben’s snapshot of the key data points for understanding the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
• The expiration of two critical programs at the end of this year could leave millions of Americans vulnerable and short-circuit the nation’s precarious recovery.

President Trump is pushing the military to accelerate the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, all but guaranteeing a major place for the Taliban in the country’s future.

As a child, Mujib Mashal lived through the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Now a senior correspondent there for The New York Times, he has for years reported on the extremist group and, more recently, has covered the progress of peace talks.

In this episode of “The Daily,” he shares memories of his childhood and tales from his reporting, and reflects on whether a peaceful resolution is possible.

Guest: Mujib Mashal, senior correspondent in Afghanistan for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• President Trump is expected to order the U.S. military to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia by the time he leaves office in January.
• The Taliban have outlasted a superpower through nearly 19 years of grinding war and now stand on the brink of realizing their most fervent desire: U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan. They have given up little of their extremist ideology to do it.
• Children of men who played key roles in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s are on both sides of the negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. They know all too well what is at stake.

As it became clear that Europe was heading into another deadly wave of the coronavirus, most of the continent returned to lockdown. European leaders pushed largely similar messages, asking citizens to take measures to protect one another again, and governments offered broad financial support.

Weeks later, the effort seems to be working and infection rates are slowing.

In several parts of the United States, it’s a different story. In the Midwest, which is experiencing an explosion of cases similar to that seen earlier in Europe, leaders have not yet managed to come up with a coherent approach to loosen the virus’s grip.

Is it too late for America to learn the lessons from Europe?

Guests: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, who covers the European Union for The New York Times, and Mitch Smith, a national correspondent for The Times based in the Midwest.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Much of Europe went back into lockdown late last month to try to stop the spread of the virus and ease the strain on hospitals.
• After weeks of warnings that cases were again on the rise, a third surge of coronavirus infection has firmly taken hold in the United States.
• As cases grow, the pandemic is becoming so widespread in the United States that every American will know someone who has been infected.

For four years, Democrats had been united behind the mission of defeating President Trump.

But after the election of Joe Biden, the party’s disappointing showing in congressional races — losing seats in the House and facing a struggle for even narrow control of the Senate — has exposed the rifts between progressives and moderates.

In interviews with The New York Times, House members on each side of that divide — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Representative Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania — shared their views about how the Democrats can win back support in local races.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In the wake of Joe Biden’s victory, the divides that have long simmered among Democrats are now beginning to burst into the open.
• In an interview with The New York Times, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismissed criticism from House moderates and said the next few weeks would set the tone for how the incoming administration would be received by liberal activists.
• Representative Conor Lamb told The Times that he expected the Biden team to govern as it had campaigned: with progressives at arm’s length.

For the folk duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, pandemic isolation brought about a creative boon. In a year that has been defined by uncertainty, they have returned to what they know: songs about the slow, challenging, beautiful heat of living.

This story was written by Hanif Abdurraqib and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Maggie Haberman on why the traditional transfer of power is not happening this year, and the implications of that delay.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Days after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declared the winner of the election, President Trump has still refused to concede.
• Advisers to the president say Mr. Trump is seeing how far he can push his case and ensure the continued support of his Republican base.
• A number of leading Republicans have rallied around the president, declining to challenge the false narrative that it was stolen from him. Instead, senators have tiptoed around the reality of Mr. Trump’s loss, and the lack of evidence to suggest widespread election fraud or improprieties that could reverse that result.

It’s a dark time in the struggle with the coronavirus, particularly in the United States, where infections and hospitalizations have surged.

But amid the gloom comes some light: A trial by the drug maker Pfizer has returned preliminary results suggesting that its vaccine is 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19.

With the virus raging, how strong is this new ray of hope?

Guest: Carl Zimmer, a science writer and author of the “Matter” column for The New York Times.

Background reading:

• Pfizer has announced positive early results from its coronavirus vaccine trial, cementing the lead in a frenzied global race that has unfolded at record-breaking speed.
• Meet the couple behind the German company, BioNTech, that partnered with Pfizer to develop the vaccine.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about this show and others at nytimes.com/thedailysurvey.

After the tumult of last week’s voting, one crucial question remains: Who will control the Senate?

The answer lies in Georgia, where two runoff elections in January will decide who has the advantage in the upper chamber.

With so much at stake, we look at how those races might shake out.

Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, congressional editor for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have leveled unfounded claims of foul play in Georgia’s elections, a signal that their campaigns will focus on turning out President Trump’s conservative base.
• What’s a runoff, and why are there two? Here’s an explainer on the Senate races in Georgia.

Nate Cohn, an expert on polling for The New York Times, knows that the predictions for the 2016 presidential election were bad.

But this year, he says, they were even worse.

So, what happened?

Nate talks us through a few of his theories and considers whether, after two flawed performances, polling should be ditched.

Guest: Nate Cohn, a domestic correspondent for The Upshot at The New York Times, speaks to us about the polls and breaks down the election results.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• As the results rolled in on Tuesday night, so did a strong sense of déjà vu. Pre-election polls, it appeared, had been misleading once again.
• Leading Republicans — including Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader — have backed President Trump’s refusal to concede.

This episode contains strong language.

The sound of victory was loud. It was banging pots, honking horns and popping corks as supporters of President-elect Joe Biden celebrated his win.

But loss, too, has a sound. In the days after the U.S. election result was announced, some of the 71 million-plus Americans who backed President Trump are grieving.

Can the country overcome its differences? In discussions with voters in areas both red and blue, we traced the fault lines of the country’s deep rifts.

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a Times national political reporter, spoke with voters in Mason County, Texas. Robert Jimison, Jessica Cheung and Andy Mills, producers of “The Daily,” and Alix Spiegel, an editor, also reported from across the country.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In his victory speech, President-elect Biden vowed to try to unite all Americans, despite ideological differences. But President Trump’s refusal to concede could undermine Mr. Biden’s perceived legitimacy in some corners of the country.
• In the aftermath of the election, a crucial question emerged for divided families and a divided nation: What happens now?

On the afternoon of Sept. 15, 1942, the U.S.S. Wasp, an aircraft carrier housing 71 planes, 2,247 sailors and a journalist, was hit by torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine, sending it more than two and a half miles to the bottom of the Pacific. It has remained there ever since.

Last year, a team on the Petrel — perhaps the most successful private vessel on Earth for finding deepwater wrecks — set out to find it.

In his narrated story, Ed Caesar, a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, joins the team aboard the Petrel and speaks to the family of Lt. Cmdr. John Joseph Shea, a heroic naval officer killed in the attack on the Wasp.

This story was written by Ed Caesar and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

After days of uncertainty, Joe Biden has been elected president, becoming the first candidate in more than a quarter of a century to beat an incumbent. His running mate, Kamala Harris, is the first woman and woman of color elected vice president.

Mr. Biden’s win is set to be contested — President Trump said in a statement that “the election is far from over.”

Today we host a roundtable of three Times political journalists who discuss the election results, Mr. Biden’s victory and Mr. Trump’s next move.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times; Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The Times; and Jim Rutenberg, a writer-at-large for The Times and The New York Times Magazine.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Mr. Biden achieved victory offering a message of healing and unity. He will return to Washington facing a daunting set of crises.
• He has spent his career devoted to institutions and relationships. Those are the tools he will rely on to govern a fractured nation.

When President Trump took to the podium in the White House briefing room Thursday evening to give a statement on the election count, he lied about the legality of the votes against him in key battleground states and called into question the integrity of poll workers, laying a conspiracy at the feet of Democrats.

Both the Republican establishment and the conservative news media have been split in their responses to his claims.

Inside the White House and the Trump campaign, there is shock at the direction the contest has taken — many in his camp believed that a win was certain.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In a stunning appearance in the White House, Mr. Trump lied about vote-counting, conjuring up a conspiracy of “legal” and “illegal” ballots being tabulated and claiming without evidence that states were trying to deny him re-election.

By the end of election night, the results in six key states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — were still to be called.

On Wednesday, as mail-in ballots were totaled up, Joe Biden gained ground, taking Michigan and Wisconsin and placing him within striking distance of the Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

The count is still in progress in many places. Mr. Biden is leading by a decent margin in Arizona and slightly in Nevada, while President Trump’s advantage in Georgia and Pennsylvania has been narrowing.

As the former vice president formed paths to victory, Mr. Trump continued to raise the specter of litigation and escalated his baseless attacks on the legitimacy of the vote.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent, speaks to us about the latest on an unfinished election.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Mr. Biden may be closing in on victory, but the “blue wave” that some hoped would sweep the Democrats to shore never materialized.
• We have live updates on the progress of the count, and you can follow the election results here.

The U.S. presidential election is a lot closer than the polls indicated. Millions of votes, many in key battleground states, are yet to be counted.

Florida — which went for President Trump — is the only bellwether to have confirmed its result. Other crucial states, including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, are yet to be called.

For the moment, it looks like both Mr. Trump and Joe Biden will need to break through in the Midwest and Pennsylvania to clinch victory.

The race to control the Senate is also tight, though the Republicans seem to be in a better position.

With the picture still foggy, Mr. Biden called for patience as the votes were counted, while Mr. Trump falsely claimed victory and threatened court action.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, speaks to us about where things stand with the election and the remaining paths to victory.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• You can follow the election results here.
• We also have live updates on the progress of the vote.

This episode contains strong language.

At the heart of one race for the Wisconsin State Assembly are some of the same political cracks splitting the U.S. as a whole. Some believe keeping businesses running is a priority during the coronavirus pandemic; others think keeping people safe and healthy should be given precedence.

What do the different approaches reveal about Wisconsin politics and about broader American divisions? Reid J. Epstein, a politics reporter for The New York Times, and Andy Mills and Luke Vander Ploeg, audio producers for The Times, went to the state to find out.

Guests: Reid J. Epstein, who covers campaigns and elections for The New York Times; Andy Mills, a senior audio producer for The Times; Luke Vander Ploeg, an audio producer for The Times.

Bonus Election Day special: The Daily is going LIVE today. Listen to Michael Barbaro and Carolyn Ryan, a deputy managing editor at The Times, as they call our correspondents for the latest on a history-making day.

Tune in from 4 - 8 p.m. Eastern, only on nytimes.com/thedaily and on The New York Times iPhone app. Click here for more information.

Background reading:

• Here’s Reid’s story about how the virus has divided the conservative town of Minocqua, Wis.
• President Trump and Joe Biden barnstormed through battleground states, concluding an extraordinary campaign conducted amid a health crisis and deep economic anxiety.

The Daily is going live today! Join us at 4 p.m. Eastern time for our first-ever Election Day broadcast. You can listen at nytimes.com/thedaily and on The New York Times iPhone app.

Michael Barbaro and Carolyn Ryan, a deputy managing editor at The Times, will call our correspondents for the latest on a history-making day. We’ll get live updates from key battleground states and break down the state of the race. We hope to see you soon.

There are many permutations of the U.S. presidential election — some messier than others.

Joe Biden’s lead in national polls suggests he has a number of paths to victory. If states like Florida or Georgia break for him early on, then the Trump campaign could be in for a long night.

The task for President Trump is to close those paths. If he can hold Florida and quickly add the likes of Arizona and North Carolina, then the signs could point to re-election.

And then there is a third scenario. If fast-counting states are too close to call immediately and battlegrounds in the Midwest take a long time to tally votes, then a long wait for a final result — and bitter, lengthy legal challenges — could be on the cards.

We speak to Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The Times, on the likely plotlines for election night.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, walks us through possible election night scenarios.

In addition to our regular show on Election Day, The Daily is going LIVE tomorrow afternoon. Spend your Election Day with Michael Barbaro and Carolyn Ryan, deputy managing editor at The Times, as they call our correspondents for the latest on a history-making day.

Tune in from 4 - 8 p.m. Eastern, only on nytimes.com/thedaily. Click here for more information.

Background reading:

• The Trump and Biden campaigns are intensifying their efforts in Pennsylvania — an increasingly critical state.
• How long will counting take? We asked officials about their election results processes and about what share of the vote they expect to be finished by Wednesday.
• Americans are pushing through challenges like the pandemic and long lines to cast their ballot. The United States is on course to surpass 150 million votes for the first time.

At 16, Reginald Dwayne Betts was sent to prison for nine years after pleading guilty to a carjacking, to having a gun, and to an attempted robbery.

“Because Senator Kamala Harris is a prosecutor and I am a felon, I have been following her political rise, with the same focus that my younger son tracks Steph Curry threes,” Mr. Betts said in an essay he wrote for The New York Times Magazine.

He had hoped that her presidential bid would be an opportunity for the country to grapple with the injustice of mass incarceration in a thoughtful way. Instead, he explained, the basic fact of her profession as a prosecutor was used by many as an indictment against her.

On today’s “Sunday Read,” listen to Mr. Betts’s exploration of his experiences with the criminal justice system, Kamala Harris and the conversations that America needs to have about mass incarceration.

This story was written and introduced by Reginald Dwayne Betts and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Florida’s seniors played an important role in President Trump’s victory there in 2016. Older voters, who are mostly conservative, make up around 25 percent of the swing state’s electorate and turn out in astonishing numbers.

They are also disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and polling suggests that Joe Biden is making inroads with Republican-leaning older voters.

In Florida’s conservative retirement communities, however, the decision to switch from Mr. Trump can have consequences and many stay quiet for fear of reprisals.

Some of these consequences are obvious: One resident who erected a sign in support of Mr. Biden woke up to “Trump” written in weedkiller on his lawn. Other effects are more personal, and more insidious.

Today, Annie Brown, a senior audio producer at The Times, speaks to some of Florida’s seniors about their voting intentions — including one, Dave Niederkorn, who has turned his back on Mr. Trump and almost lost a close friend in the process.

Guests: Annie Brown, a senior audio producer for The New York Times; and Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief of The Times, who covers Florida and Puerto Rico.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Older people are a crucial voting bloc in Florida. In a speech earlier this month, Joe Biden made his pitch to them.
• “If it’s here, it’s here” — how retirees in Florida’s Villages confronted the coronavirus in the summer.

This episode contains strong language.

With an election in which uncertainty may abound, concerns are swirling around the possibility of political violence. Experts and officials — including those charged with the security of polling stations and ballot counting facilities — have been taking extra precautions.

Americans across the political spectrum appear to be preparing themselves for this possibility, too: Eight of the 10 biggest weeks for gun sales since the late 1990s took place since March this year. Many of those sales were to people buying guns for the first time.

Today’s episode examines these anxieties from two perspectives.

Andy Mills, a senior audio producer for The New York Times, speaks to patrons of gun stores in Washington State about their motivations and sits down with a first-time gun owner who relays his anxiety, ignited by the unrest and protests in Seattle over the summer.

And Alix Spiegel, a senior audio editor for The Times, visits three women of color in North Carolina, one of whom says the scenes in Charlottesville, the killing of Black people at the hands of the police and the threat of white militias have encouraged her to shift her anti-gun stance.

Guests: Andy Mills, a senior audio producer for The New York Times; Alix Spiegel, a senior audio editor for The Times; and Reid J. Epstein, who covers campaigns and elections for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Gun buyers say they are motivated by a new sense of instability that is pushing them to purchase weapons for the first time, or if they already have them, to buy more.

Local news in America has long been widely trusted, and widely seen as objective. But as traditional local papers struggle, there have been attempts across the political spectrum to create more partisan outlets.

Few can have been as ambitious or widespread as the nationwide network of 1,300 websites and newspapers run by Brian Timpone, a television reporter turned internet entrepreneur.

He has said that he sees local news as a means of preserving American civil discourse. But a Times investigation has found that Republican operatives and public relations firms have been paying for articles in his outlets and intimately dictating the editorial direction of stories.Today, we speak to the Times journalists behind the investigation.

Guests: Davey Alba, a technology reporter for The New York Times covering online misinformation and its global harms; and Jack Nicas, who covers technology for The Times from San Francisco.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here’s the full investigation into a nationwide operation of 1,300 local sites that publishes coverage ordered up by Republican groups and corporate P.R. firms.

What does the specter of the 2000 election mean for the upcoming election? The race between George W. Bush and Al Gore that year turned on the result in Florida, where the vote was incredibly close and mired in balloting issues. After initially conceding, Mr. Gore, the Democratic nominee, contested the count.

What followed was a flurry of court cases, recounts, partisan fury and confusion. It would be months until — after a Supreme Court decision — Mr. Bush would become the 43rd president of the United States.

The confrontation held political lessons for both sides. Lessons that could be put to the test next week in an election likely to be shrouded in uncertainty: The pandemic, the volume of mail-in voters and questions around mail delivery could result in legal disputes.

Today, we take a look back at the contest between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer-at-large for The New York Times and The Times Magazine.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• A number of legal battles over voting rights are in the pipeline. Any ruling could resonate nationwide.
• Elections supervisors say they have learned the hard lessons of the 2000 presidential recount and other messes. But challenges are already apparent.

In America’s increasingly divided political landscape, it can be hard to imagine almost any voter switching sides. One demographic group has provided plenty of exceptions: white suburban women.

In the past four years, the group has turned away from the president in astonishing numbers. And many of them are organizing — Red, Wine and Blue is a group made up of suburban women from Ohio hoping to swing the election for Joe Biden. The organization draws on women who voted for the president and third parties in 2016, as well as existing Democratic voters.

In today’s episode, Lisa Lerer, who covers campaigns, elections and political power for The New York Times, speaks to white suburban women on the ground in Ohio and explores their shifting allegiances and values.

Guest: Lisa Lerer, a reporter for The New York Times covering campaigns, elections and political power.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The white suburban voters the president needs to carve a path to victory have turned away from him, often for deeply personal reasons.

During months of pandemic isolation, Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The New York Times, decided to grow a mustache.

The reviews were mixed and predictable. He heard it described as “porny” and “creepy,” as well as “rugged” and “extra gay.”

It was a comment on a group call, however, that gave him pause. Someone noted that his mustache made him look like a lawyer for the N.A.A.C.P.’s legal defense fund.

“It was said as a winking correction and an earnest clarification — Y’all, this is what it is,” Wesley said. “The call moved on, but I didn’t. That is what it is: one of the sweetest, truest things anybody had said about me in a long time.”

On today’s episode of The Sunday Read, Wesley Morris’s story about self-identity and the symbolic power of the mustache.

This story was written by Wesley Morris and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

At the start of Thursday night’s debate its moderator, Kristen Welker of NBC News, delivered a polite but firm instruction: The matchup should not be a repeat of the chaos of last month’s debate.

It was a calmer affair and, for the first few segments, a more structured and linear exchange of views.

President Trump, whose interruptions came to define the first debate, was more restrained, seemingly heeding advice that keeping to the rules of the debate would render his message more effective.

And while there were no breakthrough moments for Joseph R. Biden Jr., the former vice president managed to make more of a case for himself than he did last month, on issues such as the coronavirus and economic support for families and businesses in distress.

Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent, gives us a recap of the night’s events and explores what it means for an election that is just 11 days away.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• While the tenor of Thursday’s forum was more sedate, the conflict in matters of substance and vision could not have been more dramatic.
• Here are some highlights from last night’s debate.

The winner-take-all system used by the Electoral College in the United States appears nowhere in the Constitution. It awards all of a state’s electors to the candidate with the most votes, no matter how small the margin of victory. Critics say that means millions of votes are effectively ignored.

The fairness of the Electoral College was seriously questioned in the 1960s. Amid the civil rights push, changes to the system were framed as the last step of democratization. But a constitutional amendment to introduce a national popular vote for president was eventually killed by segregationist senators in 1970.

Desire for an overhaul dwindled until the elections of 2000 and 2016, when the system’s flaws again came to the fore. In both instances, the men who became president had lost the popular vote.

Jesse Wegman, a member of The Times’s editorial board, describes how the winner-take-all system came about and how the Electoral College could be modified.

Guest: Jesse Wegman, a member of The New York Times’s editorial board.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here’s a guide to how the Electoral College works.
• Watch Jesse’s explainer, from our Opinion section, on how President Trump could win the election — even if he loses.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have invested a significant amount of time and money trying to avoid the mistakes made during the 2016 election.

A test of those new policies came last week, when The New York Post published a story that contained supposedly incriminating documents and pictures taken from the laptop of Hunter Biden. The provenance and authenticity of that information is still in question, and Joe Biden’s campaign has rejected the assertions.

We speak to Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The Times, about how the episode reveals the tension between fighting misinformation and protecting free speech.

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here’s Kevin’s full report on the efforts by Twitter and Facebook to limit the spread of the Hunter Biden story.
• The New York Post published the piece despite doubts within the paper’s newsroom — some reporters withheld their bylines and questioned the credibility of the article.
• Joe Biden’s campaign has rejected the assertions made in the story.

In the struggle to control the U.S. Senate, one race in North Carolina — where the Republican incumbent, Thom Tillis, is trying to hold off his Democratic challenger, Cal Cunningham — could be crucial.

North Carolina is a classic purple state with a split political mind: progressive in some quarters, while firmly steeped in Southern conservative tradition in others.

Two bombshells have recently upended the race: Mr. Tillis fell ill with the coronavirus after attending an event for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination without a mask. And Mr. Cunningham’s image was sullied by the emergence of text messages showing that he had engaged in an extramarital affair.

Jonathan Martin, a national political correspondent for The Times, talks us through the race and examines the factors that could determine who prevails.

Guest: Jonathan Martin, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• North Carolina is a linchpin in the 2020 election — the presidency and the Senate could hinge on results in the state.
• Here’s how the critical senate race was engulfed in chaos in a single night.

This episode contains strong language.

In the last decade, elections have tightened in Arizona, a traditionally Republican stronghold, as Democrats gain ground.

According to polls, Joe Biden is leading in the state — partly because of white suburban women moving away from President Trump, but also because of efforts to activate the Latino vote.

Will that turn states like Arizona blue? And do enough Hispanic voters actually want Mr. Biden as president?

To gauge the atmosphere, Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The New York Times, spoke to Democratic activists and Trump supporters in Arizona.

Guests: Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Though a majority of Latino voters favors Democrats, Hispanic men are a small but enduring part of Trump’s base. Those supporters see him as forceful, unapologetic and a symbol of economic success.
• If Joe Biden wins Arizona, he would be only the second Democratic presidential candidate to have done so since 1952. But the state has been trending more friendly to the party for years.

Jim Dwyer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times, died earlier this month. He was 63.

Throughout his nearly 40-year career, Jim was drawn to stories about discrimination, wrongly convicted prisoners and society’s mistreated outcasts. From 2007, he wrote The Times’s “About New York” column — when asked whether he had the best job in journalism, he responded, “I believe I do.”

Dan Barry, a reporter for The Times who also wrote for the column, has called Jim a “newsman of consequence” and “a determined voice for the vulnerable.” Today, he reads two stories written by Jim, his friend and colleague.

These stories were written by Jim Dwyer and read by Dan Barry. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

In the second of a two-part examination of the presidential candidates’ policies, we turn to Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s agenda and how he plans to govern a nation wracked by a public health and economic crisis.

The themes of Mr. Biden’s Democratic primary campaign were broad as he eschewed the policy-intensive approach of opponents like Senator Elizabeth Warren. But the onset of the pandemic helped shape and crystallize his policy plans.

His approach stands in stark contrast to that of President Trump: Mr. Biden wants to actively mobilize federal resources in addressing the pandemic, an expansion to health care that he hopes will endure beyond the coronavirus.

Today, we speak to Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent, about Mr. Biden’s plans for dealing with the current crisis and beyond.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political reporter at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• We delve into the candidates’ backgrounds and present key questions about the campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
• With 18 days to go, here’s a guide to the 2020 election with the latest updates, polling news and information on how to vote.

In a two-part examination of the policies of the president and of the man seeking to replace him, Joe Biden, we first take a look at what Donald Trump said he would do four years ago — and what he’s actually accomplished.

On some of the big issues, Mr. Trump has been the president he told us he was going to be, keeping commitments on deregulation, taxes, military spending and the judiciary.

But other potent promises — such as replacing Obamacare, draining “the swamp” in Washington and forcing Mexico to pay for a border wall — have withered.

Today, we speak to Peter Baker, The Times’s chief White House correspondent, about Mr. Trump’s record. Tomorrow, we scrutinize Mr. Biden’s plans for the presidency.

Guest: Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• We delve into the background of the candidates and present key questions about the campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
• With 19 days to go, here’s a guide to the 2020 election with the latest updates, polling news and information on how to vote.

It was a 12-hour session. Twenty-two senators took turns questioning Judge Amy Coney Barrett on her record and beliefs.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, evoked personal experience of life before Roe v. Wade and asked Judge Barrett whether she would vote to overturn abortion rights.

On that question, Judge Barrett demurred — an approach she would take to other contentious issues, including whether she would recuse herself if a presidential election dispute came before the court.

With Judge Barrett’s confirmation all but certain, Democratic senators pressed her more with the election in mind than out of any hope of derailing her rise.

Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times, gives us a rundown of the second day of the hearings.

Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In declining to detail her legal views, Judge Barrett said she would not be “a pawn” of President Trump.
• With the hearing taking place closer to an election than any other Supreme Court confirmation — and with the Senate Republican majority at real risk — the proceeding was riddled with electoral politics.
• Judge Barrett’s testimony was a deft mix of expertise and evasion. She demonstrated easy familiarity with Supreme Court precedents but said almost nothing about whether they should stand.

In March, Congress pushed through a relief package that preserved the U.S. economy during the pandemic. It felt like government functioning at its best.

But now, that money is running out and bipartisanship has given way to an ideological stalemate.

While Republicans balk at plans for further significant government spending — even those coming from the White House — Democrats are holding out for more money and a broader package of measures.

The absence of a deal could have dire consequences. One economist estimates that without a stimulus package, there could be four million fewer jobs next year.

We talk to Jim Tankersley, who covers the economy for The Times, about what’s getting in the way of an agreement.

Guest: Jim Tankersley, who covers economic and tax policy for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• After posting on Twitter that he was ending talks, President Trump reversed course, raising the stimulus offer to $1.8 trillion. But his own party may reject that plan, handing Democrats fresh leverage.
• While Democrats hold out for more concessions, deep divisions among Senate Republicans stand in the way of any relief bill.

Most Americans say that abortion should be legal with some restrictions, but President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, signed a statement in a 2006 newspaper advertisement opposing “abortion on demand.” Her accession would bolster a conservative majority among the justices.

How did that happen? According to Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, abortion rights advocates have for too long taken Roe v. Wade for granted.

Ms. Hogue describes how Republican attacks on abortion were not countered forcefully enough. “I think most people in elected positions had been taught for a long time to sort of ‘check the box’ on being what we would call pro-choice and then move on,” she said.

Guest: Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The 2006 statement signed by Amy Coney Barrett appears to be the most direct evidence of her personal views, ones she has vowed to set aside on the bench.
• The issue of abortion contains political risks for both Democrats and Republicans, even as it energizes parts of their bases.

“We are conditioned to believe that art is safe,” Sam Anderson, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, explained in this week’s The Sunday Read. “Destruction happens in a number of ways, for any number of reasons, at any number of speeds — and it will happen, and no amount of reverence will stop it.”

Today, Sam explores his personal relationship with Michelangelo's David and the imperfections that could bring down the world’s most “perfect” statue.

This story was written by Sam Anderson and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

Over the summer, Dave Mitchko started a makeshift pro-Trump sign operation from his garage. By his estimate he has handed out around 26,000 signs, put together with the help of his family.

Mr. Mitchko might seem like the kind of voter Joseph R. Biden Jr. wants to peel away from the Republicans in November. He had always been a Democrat — he voted for Barack Obama twice — but opted for Donald Trump in 2016.

Today, we speak to voters and politicians on the ground in northeastern Pennsylvania, exploring the factors that swung former Democratic strongholds toward Mr. Trump and asking whether Mr. Biden can win them back.

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• After the turbulent first presidential debate, Mr. Biden embarked on an old-fashioned train tour to cities where the president won over working-class white voters four years ago.

During most campaigns, the job of the vice-presidential candidates focuses on boosting the person heading the ticket. Proving their suitability for the top job is secondary.

But this year is different. The president is 74 and spent much of the past week in the hospital, and his Democratic rival is 77. So it was vital for their running mates, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, to show in Wednesday night’s debate that they would be capable of stepping up if necessary.

We speak to Alexander Burns, a Times national political correspondent, about the candidates’ strategies and whether anything new emerged four weeks before the election.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The back-and-forth between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris was more civil than the unruly presidential event, but featured sharp exchanges over the coronavirus, China policy, job creation and health care.
• Here are six takeaways from the night.

The pandemic has killed more than one million people around the world, at least 210,000 in the United States alone. The illness has infiltrated the White House and infected the president.

Today, we offer an update on measures to fight the coronavirus and try to predict the outbreak’s course.

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Fearing a “twindemic” — the onset of both the flu and the coronavirus — health experts are pushing people to get influenza shots.
• Here’s how to identify the different symptoms of the flu and Covid-19.
• Donald tells us about his job trying to “cover the future.”

This episode contains strong language.

Jack Nicas, a technology reporter for The New York Times, moved to Oakland, Calif., five years ago. When he arrived, he set out to find a bar of choice. It quickly became the Hatch.

Unpretentious, cheap and relaxed, the Hatch was a successful small business until the coronavirus hit.

After the announcement in March that California would order bars and restaurants to shut down, Jack decided to follow the fortunes of the Hatch. Over six months, he charted the struggle to keep the tavern afloat and the hardship suffered by its staff.

“I can’t afford to be down in the dumps about it,” Louwenda Kachingwe, the Hatch’s owner, told Jack as he struggled to come up with ideas to keep the bar running during the shutdown. “I have to be proactive, because literally people are depending on it.”

Guest: Jack Nicas, a technology reporter for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here’s the full story of the Oakland tavern and its staff as they try to weather the fallout from the pandemic.

On Saturday morning, the doctors treating President Trump for the coronavirus held a news conference outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — a show of strength, aimed at reassuring the American public that he was in capable hands.

But instead of allaying concern, it raised questions, casting doubt on the timeline of the president’s illness and the seriousness of his condition.

We speak to Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker, White House correspondents for The Times, about the efforts to control the narrative, and pick through what is known about the president’s condition a month before the election.

Guest:Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker, White House correspondents for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The president made a surprise outing from the hospital in an effort to show his improvement, but the murky and shifting narrative of his illness was rewritten again with grim new details.
• Dr. Sean P. Conley, who acknowledged that he had misled the public about the president’s treatment, has lost credibility with some colleagues.
• We have a timeline of the president’s symptoms and treatment.

They came from Tel Aviv, Aleppo and a “small house by the river.” They were artists, whiskey drinkers and mbira players. They were also fathers, sisters and best friends.

Today, we hear people from around the world reflect on those they’ve lost.

For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

He assured the country the coronavirus would “disappear” soon. Then he tested positive. We explore how President Trump testing positive for the coronavirus could affect the last days of the 2020 race — and consider what might happen next.

Guests: Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, White House correspondents for The Times.

For more information about today's episode, visit: nytimes.com/thedaily.

This episode contains strong language.

During much of this election cycle, Julius Irving of Gainesville, Fla., spent his days trying to get former felons registered to vote.

He would tell them about Florida’s Amendment Four, a ballot initiative that extended the franchise to those who had, in the past, been convicted on felony charges — it added an estimated 1.5 million people to the electorate, the nation’s largest voting expansion in four decades.

On today’s episode, Nicholas Casey, a national politics reporter, spends time with Mr. Irving in Gainesville and explores the voting rights battle in Florida.

Guest: Nicholas Casey, a national politics reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Former prisoners can now go to the polls in Florida. But fines remain one obstacle. Believing anything will make a difference is another. That’s where Julius Irving comes in.

The pandemic will mean that many more Americans vote by mail this year.

All 50 states require people to register before they can cast a mail-in vote. But from there, the rules diverge wildly.

And a lot could still change. Our correspondent Luke Broadwater, a reporter in Washington, says there are more than 300 challenges to voting-related rules winding through courts across the country.

Americans should probably brace for a different kind of election night — it could be days or longer before the full picture of results emerges.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Republicans fear that President Trump’s messaging on voting by mail could depress turnout. But Democrats worry an overreliance on the mail could leave more of their votes uncounted.
• A New York Times Magazine investigation found that misleading and false claims about widespread voter fraud are part of a long disinformation effort — one that Mr. Trump has taken to new extremes.
• Here’s how to vote in your state.

This episode contains strong language.

Both presidential candidates had clear goals for their first debate on Tuesday.

For Joseph R. Biden Jr., the contest was an opportunity to consolidate his lead in polls before Election Day. President Trump’s task was, politically, a taller order — to change the course of a race that he seems to be losing. His tactics for doing that emerged quickly: interrupt and destabilize.

The result was a chaotic 90-minute back-and-forth, an often ugly melee in which the two major party nominees expressed levels of acrid contempt for each other.

We speak to our correspondent Alexander Burns about the mood and themes of the debate and whether any of it moved the dial for the election.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• With cross talk, lies and mockery, President Trump made little attempt to reassure swing voters about his leadership. Mr. Biden hit back: “This is so unpresidential.”
• In his second time moderating a presidential debate, Chris Wallace of Fox News struggled to rein in the president’s behavior.
• Here are six takeaways from the debate.

Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, investigative reporters for The Times, have pored over two decades and thousands of pages of documents on Donald J. Trump’s tax information, up to and including his time in the White House.

What they found was an existential threat to the image he has constructed about his wealth and lifestyle. The tax documents consistently appeared to call into question the business acumen he has cited in his presidential campaign and throughout his public life.

The records suggest that whenever Mr. Trump was closely involved in the creation and running of a business, it was more likely to fail. They show no payments of federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years that The Times examined, and reveal a decade-long audit by the Internal Revenue Service that questions the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund. They also point to a reckoning on the horizon: The president appears to be personally on the hook for loans totaling $421 million, most of which is coming due within four years.

We speak to Russ and Susanne about their findings and chart President Trump’s financial situation.

Guest: Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, investigative reporters for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Long-concealed records on Mr. Trump’s tax information reveal struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.
• Here are some of the key findings from the previously hidden tax information.
• While the president’s Republican allies have mostly remained silent on the situation, Democrats have pounced.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s pick to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court, is a product of the conservative legal movement of the 1980s. She clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, a giant of conservative jurisprudence, and his influence is evident throughout her judicial career.

Opponents of abortion, in particular, are hoping that her accession to the Supreme Court would be a crucial step forward for their movement.

Her nomination ceremony in the Rose Garden this weekend appeared unremarkable. But it took place just weeks from a presidential election and barely eight days after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Republicans have the votes in the Senate to confirm Judge Barrett and a timetable that suggests that they would be able to do so before Election Day. With her path seemingly clear, we reflect on Judge Barrett’s career and her judicial philosophy.

Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In choosing Judge Barrett, President Trump opted for the candidate most likely to thrill his conservative base and outrage his liberal opponents.
• Judge Barrett’s record suggests that she would push the Supreme Court to the right. Here’s a guide to her stance on abortion, health care, gun rights and the death penalty.

In August, Abrahm Lustgarten, who reports on climate, watched fires burn just 12 miles from his home in Marin County, Calif.

For two years, he had been studying the impact of the changing climate on global migration and recently turned some of his attention to the domestic situation.

Suddenly, with fires raging so close to home, he had to ask himself the question he had been asking other people: Was it time to move?

This week on The Sunday Read, Abrahm explores a nation on the cusp of transformation.

This story was written by Abrahm Lustgarten and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

In June, weeks after George Floyd was killed by the police, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council expressed support for dismantling the city’s police department.

The councilors’ pledges to “abolish,” “dismantle” and “end policing as we know it” changed the local and national conversation about the police.

President Trump has wielded this decision and law-and-order arguments in his campaigning — Midwestern states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota may be decisive in the general election.

He has claimed that Joseph R. Biden Jr. wants to defund the police — which he does not — and told voters that they would not be safe in “Biden’s America.”

On the ground in Minneapolis, Astead Herndon, a national politics reporter, speaks to activists, residents and local politicians about the complexities of trying to overhaul the city’s police.

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national politics reporter for The New York Times, speaks to Black Visions Collective co-director, Miski Noor; Jordan Area Community Council executive director, Cathy Spann; and Minneapolis City Council president, Lisa Bender.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Across America there have been calls from some activists and elected officials to defund, downsize or abolish police departments. What would efforts to defund or disband the police really mean?
• In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, some cities asked if the police are being asked to do jobs they were never intended to do. Budgets are being re-evaluated.

This episode contains strong language.

Breonna Taylor’s mother and her supporters had made their feelings clear: Nothing short of murder charges for all three officers involved in Ms. Taylor’s death would amount to justice.

On Wednesday, one of the officers was indicted on a charge of “wanton endangerment.” No charges were brought against the two officers whose bullets actually struck Ms. Taylor.

In response, protesters have again taken to the streets to demand justice for the 26-year-old who was killed in her apartment in March.

We speak to our correspondent Rukmini Callimachi, who is on the ground in Louisville, Ky., about the reaction to the grand jury’s decision.

Guest: Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• A former Louisville police detective has been charged with “reckless endangerment” for his role in the killing of Breonna Taylor. Protesters poured into the streets, and two officers were shot in Louisville after the announcement. The city’s police chief said that neither of the officers’ injuries were life-threatening.
• A Times investigation explores the events leading up to the shooting of Ms. Taylor and its consequences.

President Trump appears to be on course to give conservatives a sixth vote on the Supreme Court, after several Republican senators who were previously on the fence said they would support quickly installing a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In our interview today with Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, she says she senses a turning point. “No matter who you are, you feel the ground shaking underneath,” she said. “I’m feeling very optimistic for the mission that our organization launched 25 years ago.”

In pursuit of that mission, the Susan B. Anthony List struck a partnership with Mr. Trump during the 2016 election. The group supported his campaign and provided organizational backup in battleground states in exchange for commitments that he would work to end abortion rights.

Ms. Dannenfelser described the partnership as “prudential.”

“Religious people use that term quite a lot because it acknowledges a hierarchy of goods and evils involved in any decision,” she said. “and your job is to figure out where the highest good is found.”

Guest: Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The transformation of groups like the Susan B. Anthony List from opponents of Mr. Trump early in the 2016 campaign into proud and unwavering backers of his presidency illustrates how intertwined the conservative movement has become with the president — and how much they need each other to survive politically.
• For months, abortion has been relegated to a back burner in the presidential campaign. The death of Justice Ginsburg and the battle to replace her has put the issue firmly back on the agenda.

This episode contains strong language and descriptions of sexual violence.

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the ensuing battle to fill her seat is set to dominate American politics in the lead up to the election. A poll conducted for The New York Times before Justice Ginsburg’s death found voters in the battleground states of Arizona, Maine and North Carolina placed greater trust in Joseph R. Biden Jr. than in President Trump to fill the next Supreme Court vacancy.

Now that it’s longer a hypothetical scenario, what impact will the vacant seat have on the thinking of swing voters?

We take a look at the polling and ask undecided voters whether the death of Justice Ginsburg and the president’s decision to nominate another justice have affected their voting intention.

Guest: Nate Cohn, a domestic correspondent for The Upshot at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In surveys before Justice Ginsburg’s death, Joe Biden led by a slightly wider margin on choosing the next justice than he did over all against President Trump.

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg graduated from law school, she received no job offers from New York law firms, despite being an outstanding student. She spent two years clerking for a federal district judge, who agreed to hire her only after persuasion, and was rejected for a role working with Justice Felix Frankfurter because she was a woman.

With her career apparently stuttering in the male-dominated legal world, she returned to Columbia University to work on a law project that required her to spend time in Sweden. There, she encountered a more egalitarian society. She also came across a magazine article in which a Swedish feminist said that men and women had one main role: being people. That sentiment would become her organizing principle.

In the first of two episodes on the life of Justice Ginsburg, we chart her journey from her formative years to her late-life stardom on the Supreme Court.

Guest: Linda Greenhouse, who writes about the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her home in Washington on Friday. She was 87. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg’s pointed and powerful dissenting opinions made her a cultural icon.
• “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and landmark opinions moved us closer to a more perfect union,” former President Bill Clinton, who nominated her for the court, wrote on Twitter. Other tributes have poured in from leaders on all sides of the political spectrum.

In the second episode of a two-part special, we consider the ramifications of Justice Ginsburg’s death and the struggle over how, and when, to replace her on the bench.

The stakes are high: If President Trump is able to name another member of the Supreme Court, he would be the first president since Ronald Reagan to appoint three justices, tipping the institution in a much more conservative direction.

Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, a congressional editor for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• President Trump’s determination to confirm a replacement before the election set lawmakers in Congress on a collision course.

According to Ludmila Savchuk, a former employee, every day at the Internet Research Agency was essentially the same.

From an office complex in the Primorsky District of St. Petersburg, employees logged on to the internet via a proxy service and set about flooding Russia’s popular social networking sites with opinions handed to them by their bosses.

The shadowy organization, which according to one employee filled 40 rooms, industrialized the art of “trolling.”

On this week’s Sunday Read, Adrien Chen reports on trolling and the agency, and, eventually, becomes a victim of Russian misinformation himself.

This story was written by Adrian Chen and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

“Nothing comes easily out here,” Terry Tempest Williams, a Utah-based writer, said of the American West. Her family was once almost taken by fire, and as a child of the West, she grew up with it.

Our producer Bianca Giaever, who was working out of the West Coast when the wildfires started, woke up one day amid the smoke with the phrase “an obituary to the land” in her head. She called on Ms. Williams, a friend, to write one.

“I will never write your obituary,” her poem reads. “Because even as you burn, you throw down seeds that will sprout and flower.”

Guest: Bianca Giaever, a producer for The New York Times, speaks to the writer Terry Tempest Williams.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Iolani Grullon teaches dual-language kindergarten in Washington Heights in New York City, where she has worked for the last 15 years.

She, like many colleagues, is leery about a return to in-person instruction amid reports of positive coronavirus cases in other schools. “I go through waves of anxiety and to being hopeful that it works out to just being worried,” she told our editor Lisa Chow.

On top of mixed messaging from the city about the form teaching could take, her anxiety is compounded by a concern that she might bring the coronavirus home to her daughter, whose immune system is weaker as a result of an organ transplant.

Today, we look at how one teacher’s concerns in the lead up to the first day back illustrates issues around New York City’s reopening of public schools.

Guest: Lisa Chow, an audio editor for The New York Times, speaks to a kindergarten teacher in New York City.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• New York City was scheduled to reopen public schools on Monday. Mayor Bill de Blasio this week delayed the start of in-person instruction.
• Nearly 40 percent of parents have opted to have their children learn fully remotely through at least the first few months of the school year. That number reflects the deep divide among the city’s families about how to approach in-person learning.

Among the olive groves of Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos, a makeshift city of tents and containers housed thousands of asylum seekers who had fled conflict and hardship in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Already frustrated at the deplorable conditions, inhabitants’ anger was compounded by coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The situation reached a breaking point this month when fires were set, probably by a small group of irate asylum seekers, according to the authorities. The flames decimated the camp and stranded nearly 12,000 of its residents in the wild among tombstones in a nearby cemetery and on rural and coastal roads.

We chart the European refugee crisis and the events that led up to the blaze at Moria.

Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, who covers the European Union for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The fires at the Moria camp have intensified what was already a humanitarian disaster. Originally built to hold 3,000 newly arrived people, it held more than 20,000 refugees six months ago
• The camp’s inhabitants had for years resented the squalid conditions and the endless delays in resolving their fates. Those frustrations collided with the restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus, and the combination has proved explosive.

This episode contains strong language.

Infected with the coronavirus and separated from their peers in special dorms, some college students have taken to sharing their quarantine experiences on TikTok.

In some videos posted to the social media app, food is a source of discontent; one student filmed a disappointing breakfast — warm grape juice, an unripe orange, a “mystery” vegan muffin and an oat bar. Others broach more profound issues like missed deliveries of food and supplie.

It was within this TikTok community that Natasha Singer, our business technology reporter, found 19-year-old Zoie Terry, a sophomore at the University of Alabama, who was one of the first students to be sequestered at her college’s isolation facility.

Today, we speak to Ms. Terry about her experience and explore what it tells us about the reopening of colleges.

Guest: Natasha Singer, a technology reporter for The New York Times, spoke with Zoie Terry, a sophomore at the University of Alabama.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Across America, colleges that have reopened for in-person teaching are struggling to contain the spread of the coronavirus. To this end, the institutions are using one of the oldest infection control measures: quarantine.
• While universities in other states were closing their doors, the University of Alabama opened up to students, banking on its testing and technology program to prevent an outbreak.

“The entire state is burning.” That was the refrain Jack Healy, our national correspondent, kept hearing when he arrived in the fire zone in Oregon.

The scale of the wildfires is dizzying — millions of acres have burned, 30 different blazes are raging and thousands of people have been displaced.

Dry conditions, exacerbated by climate change and combined with a windstorm, created the deadly tinderbox.

The disaster has proved a fertile ground for misinformation: Widely discredited rumors spread on social media claiming that antifa activists were setting fires and looting.

Today, we hear from people living in the fire’s path who told Jack about the toll the flames had exacted.

Guest: Jack Healy, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• “The long-term recovery is going to last years,” an emergency management director said as the fires left a humanitarian disaster in their wake.
• The fearmongering and false rumors that accompanied a tumultuous summer of protests in Oregon have become a volatile complication in the disaster.

This episode contains strong language.

After Donald Trump was elected president, two filmmakers were granted rare access to the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since Mr. Trump had campaigned on a hard-line immigration agenda, the leaders of the usually secretive agency jumped at a chance to have their story told from the inside. Today, we speak to the filmmakers about what they saw during nearly three years at ICE and how the Trump administration reacted to a cut of the film.

Guests: Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz, the filmmakers behind the six-hour documentary series “Immigration Nation.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Trump administration has threatened the two filmmakers with legal action and fought to delay the release of “Immigration Nation” until after the election.

Prince is 9 years old, ebullient and bright; he has spent much of the pandemic navigating the Google Classroom app from his mother’s phone.

The uncertainty and isolation of the coronavirus lockdown is not new to him — he is one of New York City’s more than 100,000 homeless schoolchildren, the largest demographic within the homeless population.

Families like Prince’s are largely invisible.

Samantha M. Shapiro, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has spent the last two years speaking with over a dozen homeless families with children of school age. On this week’s The Sunday Read, she explores what their lives are like.

This story was written by Samantha M. Shapiro and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

When many in California talk about this year’s wildfires, they describe the color — the apocalyptic, ominous, red-orange glow in the sky.

The state’s current wildfires have seen two and a half million acres already burned.

Climate change has made conditions ripe for fires: Temperatures are higher and the landscape drier. But the destruction has also become more acute because of the number of homes that are built on the wildland-urban interface — where development meets wild vegetation.

The pressures of California’s population have meant that towns are encouraged to build in high-risk areas. And when a development is ravaged by a fire, it is often rebuilt, starting the cycle of destruction over again.

Today, we explore the practice of building houses in fire zones and the role insurance companies could play in disrupting this cycle.

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, who covers the impact of global warming on people, governments and industries for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• “People are always asking, ‘Is this the new normal?’” a climate scientist said. “I always say no. It’s going to get worse.” If climate change was an abstract notion a decade ago, today it is all too real for Californians.
• Research suggests that most Americans support restrictions on building homes in fire- or flood-prone areas.

This episode contains strong language.

“So there’s just shooting, like we’re both on the ground,” Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, said of the raid on her home. “I don’t know where these shots are coming from, and I’m scared.”

Much of what happened on the night the police killed Ms. Taylor is unclear.

As part of an investigation for The New York Times, our correspondent Rukmini Callimachi and the filmmaker Yoruba Richen spoke to neighbors and trawled through legal documents, police records and call logs to understand what happened that night and why.

In the second and final part of the series, Rukmini talks about her findings.

Guest: Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Run-ins with the law by Jamarcus Glover, Ms. Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, entangled her even as she tried to move on. An investigation involving interviews, documents and jailhouse recordings helps explain what happened the night she was killed and how she landed in the middle of a deadly drug raid.

At the beginning of 2020, Breonna Taylor posted on social media that it was going to be her year. She was planning a family with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker; she had a new job and a new car. She had also blocked Jamarcus Glover, a convicted drug dealer with whom she had been romantically involved on and off since 2016, from her phone.

But forces were already in motion. The Louisville Police Department was preparing raids on locations it had linked to Mr. Glover — and Ms. Taylor’s address was on the target list.

In the raid that ensued, Ms. Taylor was fatally shot. Her name has since become a rallying cry for protesters. Today, in the first of two parts, we explore Ms. Taylor’s life and how law enforcement ended up at her door.

Guests: Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The Times, and Yoruba Richen, a documentary filmmaker, talk to Ms. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer; her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker; and her cousin, Preonia Flakes.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The story of what happened the night Breonna Taylor was killed remains largely untold. A Times Investigation explores the path to the shooting and its consequences.

This episode contains strong language.

In March, Daniel Prude was exhibiting signs of a mental health crisis. His brother called an ambulance in the hopes that Mr. Prude would be hospitalized, but he was sent back home after three hours without a diagnosis.

Later, when Mr. Prude ran out of the house barely clothed into the Rochester night, his brother, Joe Prude, again called on the authorities for help, but this time it was to the police.

After a struggle with officers, Daniel Prude suffered cardiac distress. It would be days before Joe Prude was able to visit him in the hospital — permitted only so he could decide whether to take his brother off life support — and months before the family would find out what had happened when he was apprehended.

Today, we hear from Joe Prude about that night and examine the actions taken by the police during his brother’s arrest, including the official narrative that emerged after his death.

Guest: Sarah Maslin Nir, a reporter for The New York Times, who spoke to Daniel Prude’s brother, Joe Prude.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In the minutes after Mr. Prude’s heart briefly stopped during a struggle with officers, an unofficial police narrative took hold: He had suffered a drug overdose. But the release of body camera footage complicated that version of events.
• The Monroe County medical examiner ruled Mr. Prude’s death a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.” Seven Rochester police officers have now been suspended.

Three months into Broadway’s shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, Michael Paulson, a theater reporter for The New York Times, got a call from a theater in western Massachusetts — they planned to put on “Godspell,” a well-loved and much-performed musical from 1971, in the summer.

Today, we explore how, in the face of huge complications and potentially crushing risks, a regional production attempted to bring theater back to life.

Guest: Michael Paulson, a theater reporter for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Masks, partitions and a contactless crucifixion — the Berkshire Theater Group’s production of Godspell, labeled one of the “huggiest musicals ever created,” is also a kind of public health experiment.

This episode contains strong language.

Jimmy Lai was born in mainland China but made his fortune in Hong Kong, starting as a sweatshop worker and becoming a clothing tycoon. After the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, he turned his attention to the media, launching publications critical of China’s Communist Party.

“I believe in the media,” he told Austin Ramzy, a Hong Kong reporter for The New York Times. “By delivering information, you’re actually delivering freedom.”

In August, he was arrested under Hong Kong’s new Beijing-sponsored national security law.

Today, we talk to Mr. Lai about his life, his arrest and campaigning for democracy in the face of China’s growing power.

Guests: Austin Ramzy and Tiffany May, who cover Hong Kong for The Times, spoke with Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In August, Mr. Lai, his two sons and four executives from Apple Daily were arrested under the new national security law. The publication was a target and a test case for the government’s authority over the media.

Aleksandr Lukashenko came to office in Belarus in the 1990s on a nostalgic message, promising to undo moves toward a market economy and end the hardship the country had endured after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. As president, he acquired dictatorial powers, removing term limits, cracking down on opposition and stifling the press.

In recent years, however, economic stagnation has bred growing discontent. And when Mr. Lukashenko claimed an implausible landslide victory in a presidential election last month, he found himself facing mass protests that have only grown as he has attempted to crush them.

Today, we chart Mr. Lukashenko’s rise to power and examine his fight to hold on to it.

Guest: Ivan Nechepurenko, a reporter with the Moscow bureau of The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The protests in Belarus present the greatest challenge yet to Mr. Lukashenko’s hold on power. Formerly apolitical people have taken to the streets against him.
• Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition candidate who has galvanized the movement against Mr. Lukashenko, is a newcomer to politics who took up the role when more established figures were jailed or exiled.

Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s plan for winning the presidential election relies on putting together African-American voters of all ages, including younger Black people who are less enthusiastic about him, and white moderates who find President Trump unacceptable.

At last week’s Republican National Convention, the Trump campaign appeared to be sowing discord within that coalition. By framing the response to unrest in cities as binary — you are either for violence or for the police — Republicans seemed to be daring Mr. Biden to challenge young Black voters.

In a speech in Pittsburgh yesterday, Mr. Biden rejected that choice. Instead, he recognized the grievances of peaceful protesters, while denouncing “the senseless violence of looting and burning and destruction of property.”

Today, we examine whether the speech worked — and what it means for the rest of the election campaign.

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Over the weekend, protesters and Trump supporters clashed in Portland, resulting in the fatal shooting of a man affiliated with a right-wing group. The shooting immediately reverberated in a presidential campaign now entering its most intense period.
• In his speech in Pittsburg, Joe Biden deflected Republican criticism and attempted to refocus the spotlight on the president’s character and leadership in the midst of the pandemic.

This episode contains strong language.

As a police officer in his hometown of Flint, Mich., Scott Watson has worked to become a pillar of the community, believing his identity has placed him in a unique position to do his job. He has given out his cellphone number, driven students to prom and provided food and money to those who were hungry.

After watching the video of the killing of George Floyd, his identity as a Black police officer became a source of self-consciousness instead of pride.

Today, we speak to Mr. Watson about his career and the internal conflicts that have arisen from his role.

Guest: Scott Watson, a Black police officer in Flint, Mich.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Many Black and Hispanic officers in New York City have found themselves caught between competing loyalties in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Many American states use the labor of inmates to help fight its fires, but none so more than California. Using incarcerated firefighters saves the state’s taxpayers an estimated $100 million a year.

The women that choose to enter the firefighting camps are afforded better pay, by prison standards, and an improved quality of time served. However, the money they earn from putting their lives on the line is dwarfed by the salaries of the civilian firefighters they work alongside — one woman reports to earn $500 a year, compared with the $40,000 starting salary on the outside.

On today’s episode of The Sunday Read, Jaime Lowe explores California’s invisible line of defense against wildfires.

This story was written by Jaime Lowe and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

For much of his life, Donald Trump Jr. has been disregarded by his father. He played only a bit part in the 2016 campaign and when the team departed for Washington, he was left to oversee a largely unimportant part of the Trump Organization. But after The New York Times revealed that he had played an integral role in organizing the Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians promising information on Hillary Clinton, the younger Mr. Trump struck back hard at his father’s detractors and the media, finding a voice and an audience. Aggressive, politically incorrect and with an instinctual understanding of the president’s appeal, he has become a conservative darling and his father’s most sought-after surrogate. Today, we look at his rise to prominence. Guest: Jason Zengerle, a writer at large for The New York Times Magazine.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Read Jason Zengerle’s account of how Donald Trump Jr.’s became his father’s most valuable political weapon.

This episode contains strong language.

The shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black father from Kenosha, Wis., by a white police officer has reverberated through the city, fueling protests and unrest. There have been marches and demonstrations, as well as instances of destruction: businesses and property set alight, fireworks launched at the police.

On Tuesday night, a group of armed men, who claimed to be there to protect the community, arrived. Three protesters were shot, two of whom died. Kyle Rittenhouse, a white 17-year-old from Illinois, is suspected of being the gunman.

We speak with Julie Bosman, a national correspondent for The Times, about what is happening in her hometown.

Guest: Julie Bosman, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Kenosha has become the latest flash point in a season of unrest that began with the killing of George Floyd.
• Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, is facing a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. The Times’s visual investigation team tracked his movements on Tuesday night.
• The turmoil in Wisconsin has led some residents to feel that Democratic leaders are failing to keep control of the situation.

At the 1968 Republican National Convention, Richard Nixon made an appeal to voters in the suburbs concerned about racial unrest across the United States after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. They helped deliver him the presidency that year, cementing suburbanites’ role as an integral voting bloc.

The 2020 election is also taking place against a backdrop of mass protests and unrest over racial justice. And speaker after speaker at the Republican National Convention has used the themes and language of 1968 to play on the perceived fears of suburban voters — cities on fire, the need to restore law and order.

But a strategy that worked for Richard Nixon in 1968 might not be effective for Donald Trump in 2020.

Today, we speak to Emily Badger about the power of the suburban vote and explore whether Republican messaging on the Black Lives Matter protests and law and order will land.

Guest: Emily Badger, who covers cities and urban policy for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Republican National Convention has presented the president as a steady steward of the country’s promise — a message that seemed tailored to suburban voters.
• President Trump is attempting to win over suburban voters by playing to their perceived fears. But polls show they disapprove of the president’s job performance in general and his handling of race relations in particular.

In the U.S., emergency-use authorization has been granted for convalescent plasma, the efficacy of which is yet to be robustly tested. For some, this echoes the situation with hydroxychloroquine and the government’s subsequent U-turn on its rollout.

Meanwhile, America’s infection rate appears to be flattening out — but at tens of thousands of cases per day. This stands in stark contrast to China, where daily cases are under 40.

Overseas, a Hong Kong resident has been reinfected with the virus, the first recorded instance of a second bout. And Russia and China have begun distributing vaccines, sidestepping Phase 3 safety trials to the incredulity of immunologists and vaccine executives.

We check back in with Donald G. McNeil Jr. on the coronavirus and the impact of these developments.

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong was infected with the coronavirus for a second time. It is unclear how often people might become reinfected, and how soon after the first bout.
• Despite flattening, America’s infection rate remains one of the highest in the world.
• The F.D.A. has permitted the expansion of convalescent plasma treatment after pressure from President Trump.
• Russia has approved a coronavirus vaccine and is set to begin mass vaccinations in the fall. China has reportedly been giving experimental vaccines to high-risk groups since July.

Gun violence is on the rise in New York City. By the end of July, there had been more shootings in 2020 than in all of 2019. Shootings have risen in other metropolises, too, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Houston.

Several theories have been advanced about why. Experts on crime say the coronavirus outbreak has deepened the endemic problems that often underlie gun violence, including poverty, unemployment, housing instability and hunger.

Police leaders also cite budget cuts and a political climate that has made officers reluctant to carry out arrests because of what they see as unfair scrutiny of their conduct.

Today, we look at how the various diagnoses could influence activists’ calls for the police to be defunded.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• “Right now, communities are being held hostage by the cops and the robbers at the same time,” a City Council member from Queens said. The summertime surge in shootings is unlike anything New York has seen in two decades.
• The summer usually brings with it an increase in violent crime. Across the U.S., as many states emerge from lockdown, the increase has been steeper than usual.

Much of the fashion industry has buckled under the weight of the coronavirus — it appears to have sped up the inevitable.

This story was written by Irina Aleksander and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

When the coronavirus hit the United States, the N.B.A. was faced with a unique challenge. It seemed impossible to impose social distancing in basketball, an indoor sport with players almost constantly jostling one another for more than two hours. However, there was a big financial incentive to keep games going: ending the 2019 season early would have cost the league an estimated $1 billion in television revenue.

The solution? A sealed campus for players, staff and selected journalists at Disney World in Florida.

Marc Stein, who covers the N.B.A. for The New York Times, has been living out of a hotel room in the complex for the last 40 days. Today, we speak to him about what life is like inside the bubble.

Guest: Marc Stein, a sports reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Twenty-two of the league’s 30 teams are living in the Disney World complex. Life on the campus is both strange and mundane.
• The N.B.A. has sought to replicate the home-court edge through music, audio cues and graphics from the “home” teams’ arenas.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. first ran for president in 1988, when his campaign was cut short after he made a series of blunders. After six terms in the Senate, he tried again in 2008 but failed to gain any traction in a contest won by Barack Obama. In the current political landscape, however, his focus on personal integrity and experience, which were also centerpieces of his previous campaigns, has proved much more compelling. Today, we chart Mr. Biden’s political journey and explore the baggage he will carry into the November election. Guest: Matt Flegenheimer, a national politics reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Mr. Biden’s political career has been marked by personal loss. Eulogies he has delivered offer an insight into how he would lead a nation grappling with death and crisis.
• “I’ve done some dumb things. And I’ll do dumb things again.” The former vice president’s campaign for the 1988 Democratic nomination reveals the political flaws that continue to color his public life.

The installation of Louis DeJoy as postmaster general has caused alarm. Since taking up the role in June, he has enacted a number of cuts to the Postal Service: ending overtime for workers, limiting how many runs they can make in a day, reassigning more than 20 executives and, from the perspective of the unions, speeding up the removal of mail-sorting machines.

The actions of Mr. DeJoy, a Republican megadonor and Trump ally, have been interpreted by many Democrats as an attempt to sabotage the election in concert with President Trump, who has himself admitted to wanting to limit funding that could help mail-in voting.

Today, we explore to what extent Mr. Trump is using the post office, and the postmaster general, to influence the election.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Postmaster General DeJoy has ushered in measures that, three months out from an election that is expected to rely heavily on mail-in voting, have caused widespread delays.
• Amid warnings that changes to the agency may disenfranchise voters, Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the House from summer recess to vote on legislation blocking any further steps. Mr. DeJoy will testify before the Senate on Friday.
• In response to mounting criticism, the Postal Service has suspended operational changes until after the election. It is unclear whether changes already in place will be reversed.

In March 2018, Mark Landler — then a White House correspondent at The New York Times — attended a dinner party hosted by the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador, Yousef al-Otaiba, at a Washington restaurant. There he witnessed a chance encounter between the ambassador and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — one the ambassador asked to keep private. Two years after that delicate conversation, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalize diplomatic and trade relations. Today, we speak to Mr. Landler about the Trump administration’s role in the agreement, what normalization means for Palestinians and what it says about the Middle East’s political climate. Guest: Mark Landler, London bureau chief at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Arab Spring, growing power of Iranian proxies and demographic changes — how changing dynamics in the Middle East set the stage for the deal.
• The U.A.E. has agreed to normalization in exchange for Israel’s suspending annexation of areas in the occupied West Bank. Many Palestinians see the deal as less of a balm and more of a stab in the back.

Operation Warp Speed has in some ways lived up to its name: The U.S. government has awarded almost $11 billion to seven different companies to develop vaccines, three of which — Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer — are in late-stage trials.

Things are going according to the most aggressive schedule.

However, accelerating the development process has increased the likelihood of cronyism and undue political influence.

Today, we ask whether the White House’s defiance of the timelines that have long governed the development of vaccines is working.

Guest: Katie Thomas, a reporter at The New York Times who covers the health care sector, with a focus on the drug industry.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• There is a lot of optimism surrounding the coronavirus vaccine and its potential to usher in a return to normality in the near future — but doctors warn that those expectations ought to be tempered.
• With thousands dying, economic tumult and a looming election, the U.S. government is eager to start vaccinating as soon as possible. Experts worry that the Trump administration will push the Food and Drug Administration to overlook insufficient data.
• The vaccine effort has spelled big profits for corporate insiders.

What is the extent of Russia’s interest in the 2020 U.S. election? Last year, a classified report written by intelligence officials tried to answer this question.

In this episode, Robert Draper, a writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine, explores what happened after the report — which stated that President Trump was Russia’s favored candidate in the upcoming election — was drafted.

This story was written by Robert Draper and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

“As a Black woman who works at Adidas my experiences have never been business as usual.”

Julia Bond, an assistant apparel designer at the sportswear giant, says she had resigned herself to experiencing and witnessing racism at work — until she saw the George Floyd video.

Today, we speak to Ms. Bond, an assistant apparel designer at Adidas, who has brought the global racial reckoning to the company’s front door.

Wanting more than just schemes and targets, she has been protesting in front of the company’s Portland headquarters every day since June, awaiting an apology from leadership and an admission that they have enabled racism and discrimination. Guest: Julia Bond, assistant apparel designer at Adidas, who has been protesting outside the company’s Portland headquarters for the last three months. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Adidas has made a number of pledges to diversify its work force. However, Black employees want more: an admission that the company’s leadership has enabled racism and an apology.
• From Facebook’s pledge to double the number of Black and Latinx by 2023 to YouTube creating a $100 million fund for Black creators, organizations across the U.S. have committed to redressing racial imbalance.

With the possibility that millions or tens of millions of American children will not enter a classroom for an entire year, school districts face an agonizing choice: Do the benefits of in-person learning outweigh the risks it poses to public health in a pandemic? Today, we explore how teachers and their unions are responding to demands from some parents, and the president, to reopen their schools this fall. Guest: Dana Goldstein, a national correspondent for The New York Times, who covers the impact of education policies on families, students and teachers. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• With almost 1,200 staff and students now quarantined, the reopening of Atlanta’s Cherokee County School District could presage a difficult back-to-school season.
• Many teachers are anxious and angry: They say crucial questions about how schools will stay clean, keep students physically distanced and prevent further spread of the virus have not been answered.
• Our illustrator imagined what going back to school might look like this fall.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. picked Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate, making her the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket. Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, shares his thoughts on the decision. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate on Tuesday. She will be the first is the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for the office by a major party.
• The selection of Ms. Harris was conventional by some political standards, and groundbreaking in others. Democrats hope that having her on the ticket will attract moderates and Black voters in swing states.
• Here’s what you should know about the California senator and her stances on key policy issues.

Yesterday on “The Daily,” the New York Times reporter Jonah Bromwich explained how the idea of cancel culture has emerged as a political and cultural force in 2020. In the second of two parts, he returns with a case study.

Guest: Jonah Engel Bromwich, who writes for the Styles section of The New York Times, spoke with Zeeshan Aleem about his experience of cancel culture.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Here’s the first episode in this two-part series exploring cancel culture’s origins and political power.
• There’s an emerging class of people canceled for bad, conservative or offensive opinions. Cancellation is bringing many of them together.
• For teenagers, cancellation on social media is not a new phenomenon. Here are some of their own experiences with being canceled.

In the first of two parts, the New York Times reporter Jonah Bromwich explains the origins of cancel culture and why it’s a 2020 election story worth paying attention to.

Guest: Jonah Engel Bromwich, who writes for the Styles section of The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• What does it mean to be canceled? It can take only one thing — and sometimes, nothing — for fans to dump a celebrity.
• Many figures in the public eye — including Kanye West and J.K. Rowling — have fretted about being, or claimed to have been, canceled. When an open letter published by Harper’s and signed by 153 prominent artists warned against an “intolerant climate” engulfing the culture, the reaction was swift.
• The prevalence of “call-out culture” is something former President Barack Obama has challenged.

John Aldridge fell overboard in the middle of the night, 40 miles from shore, and the Coast Guard was looking in the wrong place. This is a story about isolation — and our struggle to close the space between us.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This is the article read in this episode, written by Paul Tough.

It’s been four years since the 2016 election laid bare the powerful role that social media companies have come to play in shaping political discourse and beliefs in America.

Since then, there have been growing calls to address the spread of polarization and misinformation promoted on such platforms.

While Facebook has been slower to acknowledge a need for change, Twitter has embraced the challenge, acknowledging that the company made mistakes in the past. But with three months to go until the 2020 election, these changes have been incremental, and Twitter itself is more popular than ever.

Today, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s C.E.O., discusses the platform’s flaws, its polarizing potential — and his vision for the future.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• A 17-year-old in Florida was recently responsible for one of the worst hacking attacks in Twitter’s history — successfully breaching the accounts of some of the world’s most famous people, including Barack Obama, Kanye West and Elon Musk. But did the teenager do the country a favor?
• Twitter is in hot water with the government for sharing with advertisers phone numbers given to the company for personal security purposes

A mangled yellow door. Shattered glass. Blood.

A devastating explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at the port in Beirut killed at least 135 people and razed entire neighborhoods on Tuesday. This is what our correspondent in the Lebanese capital saw when the blast turned her apartment “into a demolition site” — and what happened in the hours after.

Guest: Vivian Yee, our correspondent based in Beirut. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• As the shock of the blast turns to anger in Lebanon, this is what we know so far about the explosion.
• In a land conditioned by calamity, Vivian wrote about what it felt like to emerge from the debris into the kindness of strangers and friends.

Demonstrations against police brutality are entering their third month, but meaningful policy action has not happened. We speak with one demonstrator about her journey to the front lines of recent protests — and the lessons she’s learned about the pace of change.

Caitlin Dickerson, an immigration reporter at The New York Times, spoke with Sharhonda Bossier, deputy director at Education Leaders of Color, an advocacy group.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• While protests in most American cities have tapered off, the confrontation between protesters and federal agents in downtown Portland, Ore., continues.
• Here is our latest reporting on the protests against racism and police violence that spread around the world after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

The United States is preparing to hold its first ever socially distant presidential election. But will it actually work?

Guest: Reid J. Epstein, who covers campaigns and elections for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• President Trump’s suggestion that the Nov. 3 vote could be delayed — something he cannot do on his own — drew unusually firm Republican resistance and signaled worry about his re-election bid.
• Georgia’s troubled primary elections in June may be a preview of graver battles coming in the general election.

Facial recognition is becoming an increasingly central component of police departments’ efforts to solve crimes. But can algorithms harbor racial bias?

Guest: Annie Brown, a producer for The New York Times, speaks with Kashmir Hill, a technology reporter, about her interview with Robert Julian-Borchak Williams, who was arrested after being misidentified as a criminal by an algorithm. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In response to Mr. Williams’s story being published by The New York Times, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said that he could have the case and his fingerprint data expunged.

In this episode, Leslie Jamison, a writer and teacher, explores the potentially constructive force of female anger — and the shame that can get attached to it.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

The remains of Vanessa Guillen, an Army specialist, were discovered last month about 25 miles from Fort Hood in central Texas. She was the victim, officials said, of a fellow soldier. Now her death has attracted the attention of the nation — veterans, active-duty service members and civilians.

Today, we examine what some claim to be a pervasive culture of sexual harassment inside the U.S. military. Guest: Jennifer Steinhauer, a Washington reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Women from the military say the response to Specialist Guillen’s killing is their #MeToo moment and a prompt to examine racial inequities in the service.

The C.E.O.s of America’s most influential technology companies — Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook — were brought before Congress to answer a question: Are they too powerful?

Today, we talk to our colleague who was in the room about what happened. Guest: Cecilia Kang, a technology and regulatory policy reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In the hearing, the chiefs of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook faced withering questions from Democrats about anti-competitive practices and from Republicans about anti-conservative bias.

A cooperative relationship with China has been a pillar of U.S. foreign policy for more than half a century. So why does the Trump administration think it’s time for a change? Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Why top aides to President Trump want to leave a lasting legacy of ruptured diplomatic ties between China and the United States.

A fight has erupted among congressional Republicans over how long and how generously the government should help those unemployed during the pandemic. But what is that battle really about? Guest: Nicholas Fandos, who covers Congress for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Supplemental checks for laid-off workers are set to stop at the end of July. Republicans and Democrats disagree on what to do next.
• Why the two parties are unlikely to reach a deal before the end of the month.

A New York Times investigation found that surviving the coronavirus in New York had a lot to do with which hospital a person went to. Our investigative reporter Brian M. Rosenthal pulls back the curtain on inequality and the pandemic in the city.

Guest: Brian M. Rosenthal, an investigative reporter on the Metro Desk of The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• At the peak of New York’s pandemic, patients at some community hospitals were three times more likely to die than were patients at medical centers in the wealthiest parts of the city.
• The story of a $52 million temporary care facility in New York illustrates the missteps made at every level of government in the race to create more hospital capacity.

When the university told one woman about the sexual-harassment complaints against her wife, they knew they weren’t true. But they had no idea how strange the truth really was.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

Today, we go inside the fraught weeks that led up to the opening game of the 2020 professional baseball season — from the perspective of the commissioner of Major League Baseball. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, who covers national security for The New York Times, spoke with Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The schedule is short. The stadiums will be empty. This is what our baseball writer thinks the season might look like this year.

This episode contains strong language.

Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear have taken to the streets of Portland, Ore., unleashing tear gas, bloodying protesters and pulling some people into unmarked vans. Today, we go behind protest lines to ask why militarized federal authorities are being deployed to an American city. Guests: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, The New York Times’s homeland security correspondent, and Mike Baker, a Pacific Northwest correspondent for The Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The federal authorities said they would bring order to Portland, after weeks of protests. But local leaders believe the federal presence is making things worse, and a backlash has grown since the deployment began.
• Protesters have used everyday home items, including pool noodles, to try to fight the militarized force. This is what our reporter saw on the streets of Portland.

Around the world, safely reopening schools remains one of the most daunting challenges to restarting national economies. While approaches have been different, no country has tried to reopen schools with coronavirus infection rates at the level of the United States. Today, we explore the risks and rewards of the plan to reopen American schools this fall. Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science writer at The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The pressure to bring American students back to classrooms is intense, but the calculus is tricky with infections out of control in many communities.
• Local economies might not fully recover until working parents can send children to school. Here’s why the plan to reopen New York City schools is so important.

Public health officials and private researchers have vowed to develop a coronavirus vaccine in record time. But could that rush backfire? Guest: Jan Hoffman, a health reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Billions of dollars are being poured into developing a coronavirus vaccine, but the rapid timetable may be creating even more vaccine-hesitant patients.
• Three vaccine developers report that early trials showed promising results with minimal side effects, but one researcher cautioned, “There is still a long way to go.”

This episode includes disturbing language including racial slurs.

Representative John Lewis, a stalwart of the civil rights era, died on Friday. We take a look at his life, lessons and legacy.

Guest: Brent Staples, a member of the Times editorial board.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Mr. Lewis, a son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence who was bloodied at Selma, Ala., and across the Jim Crow South in the historic struggle for racial equality, and who then carried a mantle of moral authority into Congress, died on Friday. He was 80.
• Bipartisan praise poured in for the civil rights leader, as friends, colleagues and admirers reached for the appropriate superlatives to sum up an extraordinary life.
• Mr. Lewis risked his life for justice, The Times’s editorial board wrote.

When the Iowa Attorney General's office began investigating an unclaimed lottery ticket worth millions, an incredible string of unlikely winners came to light, and a trail that pointed to an inside job. Today, listen to a story about mortality — about our greed, hubris and, ultimately, humility.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

For the remainder of this week, “The Daily” is revisiting episodes with people we met in the early weeks of the pandemic to hear what’s happened to them since our original conversations were first aired.

Climbing on the roof to look at stars in the middle of summer. Making French toast and popcorn. Kind eyes. These are some of the memories Tilly Breimhorst has of her grandfather, Craig. We spoke with Tilly in May about losing her grandfather to coronavirus. Today, we check back in with her.

Guest: Matilda Breimhorst, a 12-year-old who recently lost her grandfather to the coronavirus. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In personal and profound ways, the coronavirus crisis has created a sense of collective loss. Here are some ways to grieve.

For the remainder of this week, “The Daily” is revisiting episodes with people we met in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic to hear what has happened to them since our original conversations were first aired.

As state stay-at-home orders expired, small business owners faced a daunting question: Should they risk the survival of their company, or their health? Today, we speak again with one restaurant owner about the decision she made.

Guest: Jasmine Lombrage, a restaurant owner in Baton Rouge, La. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In personal and profound ways, the coronavirus crisis has created a sense of collective loss. Here are some ways to grieve.

For the remainder of this week, “The Daily” is revisiting episodes with people we met in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic to hear what has happened to them since our original conversations were aired.

One of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the United States was inside the Smithfield pork factory in Sioux Falls, S.D. Today, we revisit our conversation with a worker at the plant, a refugee who survived civil war and malaria only to find her life and livelihood threatened anew — and ask her how she has been doing since. Guests: Caitlin Dickerson, who covers immigration for The New York Times, and Achut Deng, a Sudanese refugee who works for Smithfield. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Refugees from around the world worked at the Smithfield pork factory. Then they faced mounting illness and the sudden loss of their jobs.

For the remainder of this week, “The Daily” is revisiting episodes with people we met in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic to hear what has happened to them since our original conversations were first aired.

Italy was an early epicenter of the pandemic in Europe. In March, we spoke to a doctor who was triaging patients north of Milan about the road that might lie ahead for the United States. Today, we call him again to hear what it was like to discharge his last coronavirus patient while the American caseload soars. Guest: Dr. Fabiano Di Marco, a professor at the University of Milan and the head of the respiratory unit of the Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Italy was one of the first countries in Europe to institute a nationwide lockdown and, later, to choose a cautious approach to reopening public spaces. Here is a comparison of how successful other countries have been in their subsequent responses to the pandemic.

After protests convulsed Hong Kong for much of the last year, the city’s pro-democracy movement has been chilled by a new law that some say may change the semiautomonous territory forever. Today, we examine why China chose this moment to assert control, and what the new law means for the city’s future. Guest: Austin Ramzy, a reporter in Hong Kong for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The new legislation grants Beijing broad powers to crack down on a variety of political crimes in Hong Kong and schools are being overhauled to teach loyalty to China.
• Here’s how the city’s residents are navigating its new reality.

As the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, The New York Times Magazine asked 29 authors to write new short stories inspired by the moment — and by Giovanni Boccaccio’s “The Decameron,” which was written as a plague ravaged Florence in the 14th century. We’ve selected two for you to hear today.

These stories were written by Tommy Orange and Edwidge Danticat. They were recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that President Trump cannot block the release of his financial records. Today, we hear the story behind the cases the justices heard — and the meaning of their decisions.

Guests: David Enrich, the business investigations editor for The New York Times and Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Court cleared the way for prosecutors in New York to seek President Trump’s financial records — but stopped Congress from accessing the records by subpoena for now.
• Our chief White House correspondent writes that the Supreme Court affirmed the power of judicial independence by dismissing President Trump’s claims of immunity.

At the end of January, long before the world understood that seemingly healthy people could spread the coronavirus, a doctor in Germany tried to sound the alarm. Today, we look at why that warning was unwelcome.

Guests: Matt Apuzzo, an investigative reporter for The New York Times based in Brussels.

Dr. Camilla Rothe, an infectious disease specialist at Munich University Hospital.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• At the end of March, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that as many as 25 percent of those infected by the coronavirus may not show symptoms.
• Some scientists have criticized the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying its statements and advice sometimes lag behind research.

For months, the U.S. government has been quietly collecting information on hundreds of thousands of coronavirus cases across the country. Today, we tell the story of how The Times got hold of that data, and what it says about the nation’s outbreak.

Plus: a conversation with three U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Guests: Robert Gebeloff, a reporter for The New York Times specializing in data analysis.

Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley and Chris Cassidy, NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The C.D.C. figures provide the fullest and most extensive look yet at the racial inequity of the coronavirus.
• A Times analysis published in late May found that Democrats were far more likely to live in counties that had been ravaged by the virus, while Republicans were more likely to live in counties that had been relatively unscathed.
• A team of New York Times journalists is also working to track every coronavirus case in the United States, and The Times has made its data open to the public.

What President Trump’s divisive speech at Mount Rushmore reveals about his re-election campaign.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, who covers the White House for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Missteps by a fractured campaign and a series of self-inflicted wounds added up to a very bad June for President Trump.
• In speeches at the White House and Mount Rushmore last weekend, the president promoted a version of the “American carnage” vision from his inaugural address.