The Daily

By The New York Times

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Subscribers: 51897
Reviews: 103
Episodes: 1852


 Mar 10, 2023


 Feb 6, 2023

Journalism is dead
 Feb 4, 2023
never criticizes the current, highly dysfunctional Democratic Party in any meaningful way & the pro-corporation big-money narrative bias is so so blatant now that it's depressing. I just don't know where to turn for actual news anymore.

Jess Battle
 Jan 9, 2023
Thought provoking reporting. They do a great job of presenting the facts and providing representation of both sides of an argument.


 Oct 16, 2022

Description

This is what the news should sound like. The biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world. Hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, ready by 6 a.m. Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

Episode Date
America’s Big City Brain Drain
00:29:50

In recent years, well-paid and college-educated Americans have shed major cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington for places like Philadelphia or Birmingham, Ala.

Emily Badger, who writes about cities and urban policy for The Upshot at The New York Times, explains what is driving the change, and what it means for the future of the American city.

Guest: Emily Badger, a cities and urban policy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jun 02, 2023
How the G.O.P. Picked Trans Kids as a Rallying Cry
00:27:44

With stunning speed, the status of trans youth has become the rallying cry of the Republican Party, from state legislatures to presidential campaigns.

Adam Nagourney, who covers West Coast cultural affairs for The New York Times, explains how that came to be, and why it’s proving such a potent issue.

Guest: Adam Nagourney, a West Coast cultural affairs correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jun 01, 2023
Republicans Impeach One of Their Own
00:27:08

Since 2016, the cardinal rule of Republican politics has been to defend Donald J. Trump and his allies at all costs, no matter the allegation. That appeared to change last week, when Texas lawmakers issued 20 articles of impeachment against their state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, a powerful Trump supporter.

J. David Goodman, the Houston bureau chief for The New York Times, explains what the escalating conflict in Texas indicates about tensions within the party.

Guest: J. David Goodman, the Houston bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 31, 2023
The Godfather of A.I. Has Some Regrets
00:39:56

As the world begins to experiment with the power of artificial intelligence, a debate has begun about how to contain its risks. One of the sharpest and most urgent warnings has come from a man who helped invent the technology.

Cade Metz, a technology correspondent for The New York Times, speaks to Geoffrey Hinton, who many consider to be the godfather of A.I.

Guest: Cade Metz, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 30, 2023
Special Episode: An Interplanetary Jazz Legend, a Cosmic Vegetable and a Psychic Prodigy
00:21:40

This weekend, we’re bringing dispatches from Times critics and writers on great music, TV, movies, recipes and more. They’re all part of a new series called “NYT Shorts,” available only on NYT Audio, our new iOS audio app. It’s home to podcasts, narrated articles from our newsroom and other publishers, and exclusive new shows. Find out more at nytimes.com/audioapp

On today’s episode: 

  • Five minutes to fall in love with jazz legend Sun Ra. 
  • A food critic’s love letter to the eggplant.  
  • Recommendations from a Times editor on what to listen to, watch and who to follow this weekend. 
May 27, 2023
The Ticking Clock of a U.S. Debt Default
00:32:58

Top White House officials and Republican lawmakers are racing to reach an agreement as the date when the United States is projected to default on its debt approaches.

Jim Tankersley, who covers the White House for The New York Times, looks at the state of the negotiations and explains what it will take to win over enough votes in Congress to avoid an economic disaster.

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

Background reading: 

  • The details have not been finalized, but the deal taking shape would allow Republicans to point to spending reductions and Democrats to say they had prevented large cuts.
  • The longer it takes to reach an agreement, the more turmoil there could be for the United States and the global economy. Here’s what to know.

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

May 26, 2023
The Headlines: May 26
00:09:33

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. 

This episode includes: 

We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all of our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp

May 26, 2023
Millions of Dollars, Thousands of Robocalls and 1 Legal Loophole
00:25:35

A New York Times investigation has found that a group of Republican operatives used robocalls to raise $89 million on behalf of veterans, police officers and firefighters.

David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains how they actually spent the money and the legal loophole that allowed them to do that.

Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • A group of conservative operatives using sophisticated robocalls raised millions of dollars from donors. Instead of using the money to promote issues and candidates, nearly all of it went to pay the firms making the calls and the operatives themselves.
  • How “scam PAC” fund-raisers skirt election rules and deceive donors.

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

May 25, 2023
The Headlines: May 25
00:12:38

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. 

This episode includes: 

We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all of our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp

May 25, 2023
Ukraine Lost in Bakhmut. But It Has Much Bigger Plans.
00:23:05

After almost a year of deadly battle, Russia has claimed victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. But what happens now is uncertain.

Eric Schmitt, who covers national security for The New York Times, explains what this moment in the war means, and why the next few months could be critical for Ukraine.

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • A top Ukrainian official essentially acknowledged that Bakhmut had been lost. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers died there, but the cost for Moscow was especially steep, experts say.
  • The battle for Bakhmut, in photos.

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

May 24, 2023
The Headlines: May 24
00:09:38

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. 

This episode includes: 

We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp

May 24, 2023
The Supreme Court vs. Andy Warhol
00:30:34

A few days ago, the Supreme Court tried to answer a question that has long bedeviled the world of art: When is borrowing from an earlier artist an act of inspiration, and when is it theft? 

Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, explains a case that could change how art is made.

Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 23, 2023
The Headlines: May 23
00:12:23

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. 

This episode includes: 

We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp

May 23, 2023
Is Trump's Nomination Now Inevitable?
00:42:20

Voters in the 2022 midterms seemed to send a clear message — a rejection of Trumpism and extremism. And yet it appears increasingly likely that he will win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. 

Astead W. Herndon, a national political correspondent for The Times and the host of the politics podcast The Run-Up, explains what has shifted in Republican politics so that Mr. Trump’s nomination could start to seem almost inevitable.

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

Background reading: 

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

May 22, 2023
Introducing The Headlines: May 22
00:11:23

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. 

This episode includes: 

We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

May 22, 2023
Special Episode: Classic TV, New Music and a Side of Pasta
00:20:12

This weekend, we’re bringing you something a little different: dispatches from Times critics and writers on great music, TV, movies, recipes and more. They’re all part of a new series called “NYT Shorts,” and they’re available only on NYT Audio, our new iOS audio app. It’s home to podcasts, narrated articles from our newsroom and other publishers, and exclusive new shows. Find out more at nytimes.com/audioapp.

On today’s episode: 

  • The enduring comfort of the detective show “Columbo.”
  • A recipe from Sam Sifton of NYT Cooking that tastes like “childhood and happiness.”
  • Recommendations from our chief pop music critic on new music this week.
May 20, 2023
When the Culture Wars Came for NASA
00:39:35

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful ever made, has revolutionized the way we see the universe. The name was chosen for James E. Webb, a NASA administrator during the 1960s. But when doubts about his background emerged, the telescope’s name turned into a fight over homophobia.

Michael Powell, a national reporter for The Times, tells the story of Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist whose quest to end the controversy with indisputable facts only made it worse.

Guest: Michael Powell, a national reporter covering free speech and intellectual debate for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 19, 2023
An Anonymous #MeToo Source Goes Public
00:45:32

This episode contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault. 

It’s been more than five years since the #MeToo movement, driven by reporting at publications like The New York Times, toppled powerful and abusive men. Behind that essential journalism were sources, many anonymous, who took enormous risks to expose harassment and sexual violence.

Today, Rachel Abrams, a producer and reporter at The Times, speaks to Ali Diercks, a lawyer who provided crucial information for a major #MeToo story. Ms. Diercks has waived her anonymity to discuss the costs of her coming forward and what she thinks about her decision years later.

Guest: Rachel Abrams, a senior producer and reporter for “The New York Times Presents” documentary series. 

Background reading: 

  • Ms. Diercks provided anonymous information to The Times about the misconduct of Mr. Moonves, former chairman and chief executive of CBS. Read the reporting from 2018 here.

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

May 18, 2023
Turkey’s President Fights for Political Survival
00:24:50

For two decades, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has loomed large over Turkish politics. But skyrocketing inflation and a devastating earthquake have eroded his power and, in a presidential election over the weekend, he was forced into a runoff.

Ben Hubbard, The Times’s Istanbul bureau chief, discusses how Turkey’s troubles have made Mr. Erdogan politically vulnerable.

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

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

May 17, 2023
The Day Title 42 Ended
00:26:40

For weeks, officials have feared that the end of Title 42 would create a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border that would strain and possibly cripple America’s immigration system.

Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, reports from the border about what actually happened when the pandemic-era policy expired.

Guest: Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Background reading: 

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

May 16, 2023
The U.S. Banned Spyware — and Then Kept Trying to Use It
00:22:13

A little over a decade ago, a small Israeli company created what would become the world’s most powerful and notorious hacking tool.

Mark Mazzetti, who is a Washington investigative correspondent for The Times, explains the surprising story of the NSO Group and why, despite banning its technology, the United States kept trying to use it.

Guest: Mark Mazzetti, a Washington investigative correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 15, 2023
The Lifesaving Power of … Paperwork?
00:52:54

In the final days of Marleny Mesa’s pregnancy, she could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. She could barely breathe, for one thing. For another, her anxiety and physical discomfort were approaching what felt like an unbearable peak. A week or so later, she delivered a tiny, squirming boy with jet black hair and soft, curious eyes. She and her husband, Andrés Noscue, named him Eliad. Marleny thought he was perfect, but her mother, a retired midwife, insisted that the placenta contained a hint of trouble. It was far too big, she said, and Eliad was too small, probably because he did not have enough room in her womb to grow. His grandmother thought he might need an incubator. Marleny thought he was fine, but when the baby was a few days old, she and Andrés traveled from the Jerusalén-San Luis Alto Picudito Indigenous reservation in Putumayo, Colombia, to take him to Villagarzón for a checkup, just to be safe.

This proved harder than they expected. The baby could not be seen at the hospital there until he had a civil identification or registration number, which he could not get without a birth certificate, which the hospital could not provide because the baby was born at home. Go to the registrar’s office, the nurses told Marleny and Andrés. But the registrar’s office only sent Andrés back to the hospital, where a different nurse told them to try the notary’s office instead. By then it was almost noon. The only bus of the day would be heading back to San Luis soon; if Andrés and his family missed it, they would have to cough up more money for room and board in town than they normally spent in a week. So they went home.

The problem of inadequate registries is most pressing in the low-income nations of Africa and Southeast Asia. But it is not confined to those regions. In Colombia, birth and death registration is especially spotty in Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, where the national government tends to have little presence and registrars and notaries tend to apply the rules arbitrarily. A program known as Colombia Rural Vital was created to simplify and democratize this process.

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

May 14, 2023
Biden’s Radical Option to End the Debt Fight
00:25:07

In a high-stakes showdown this week, President Biden and the leaders of congress met face to face in an effort to avoid the United States defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.

Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The Times, explains how close the country is to financial calamity, and the radical step Biden might take to avoid it.

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

Background reading: 

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

May 12, 2023
Even More Trouble for George Santos
00:23:24

Last year, Times reporting revealed the many lies that the freshman Republican congressman George Santos had told about his life and career. Now he is facing legal consequences.

Michael Gold, who covers politics in New York for The Times, explains the charges against Mr. Santos and what they mean for his role in Congress.

Guest: Michael Gold, a New York politics correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • George Santos pleaded not guilty to charges that included accusations of fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits.
  • The George Santos indictment, annotated.

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

May 11, 2023
Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse
00:29:17

This episode contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault.

A jury in Manhattan has found former President Donald J. Trump legally liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Ben Weiser, who covers the Manhattan federal courts for The Times, tells the story of how a nearly 30-year-old case reached this moment.

Guest: Benjamin Weiser, a correspondent for The New York Times covering the Manhattan federal courts.

Background reading: 

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

May 10, 2023
A Big Policy Change at the Border
00:24:37

For the past three years, the United States has relied on Title 42, a pandemic restriction that has allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants at the southern border. But by the end of the week, that rule will expire.

Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The Times, explains what that will mean on both sides of the border.

Guest: Miriam Jordan, a national correspondent covering immigration for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 09, 2023
A Crisis of Ethics at the Supreme Court
00:33:52

Debate about ethical standards for Supreme Court justices has intensified after a series of revelations about undisclosed gifts, luxury travel and property deals. 

Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, reviews the allegations of misconduct and the growing calls to do something about it.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a correspondent covering the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 08, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘The School Where the Pandemic Never Ended’
00:37:25

Lakishia Fell-Davis is aware that at this point, in 2023, most people are treating the coronavirus pandemic as a thing of the past. For her, though, Covid still poses a real threat: Fell-Davis has Type I diabetes, putting her at higher risk of hospitalization and long-term complications from illness. As such, her experience during the pandemic has shaped how she thinks about her daily life, especially at Ninety-Fifth Street Elementary School, where she has worked on and off for more than a decade as a substitute teacher and teaching assistant.

She felt much more comfortable when schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District were online during the first year and a half of the pandemic and her kids, Makayla and Kevin, were attending virtually. Sure, they missed their friends, but they were shy and soft-spoken children who had never really strayed far from home. They didn’t seem to mind the arrangement. And back then, Fell-Davis’s mother, who was paralyzed on her left side after surviving stomach cancer and two strokes, could visit them with relative peace of mind despite her poor health.

Fell-Davis cried when she learned that in the fall of 2021, the school district would require students and teachers to return to in-person learning. Her home — a cozy two-bedroom apartment in a calm neighborhood — had become her haven, the place where she had more control over her family’s health than she had anywhere else.

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

May 07, 2023
How Streaming Hurt Hollywood Writers
00:27:51

This week, thousands of writers went on strike against Hollywood studios over what they say is an existential threat to their livelihoods.

John Koblin, a media reporter for The New York Times, explains how streaming turned the most prolific era in American entertainment into an industry-changing labor dispute.

Guest: John Koblin, a media reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 05, 2023
What if You Could Save Someone From an Overdose?
00:26:39

In the face of an escalating opioid epidemic, the F.D.A. recently approved over-the-counter sales for Narcan — a lifesaving nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose. 

Jan Hoffman, who covers health law for The Times, explains why the new availability of Narcan could change the trajectory of the epidemic.

Guest: Jan Hoffman, a health law correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 04, 2023
The Democrats’ Dianne Feinstein Problem
00:29:47

For the past few months, a single lawmaker has prevented Democrats from carrying out their agenda in Congress. For now, there is no simple solution in sight. 

Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains the issue surrounding Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Guest: Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 03, 2023
A Third Bank Implodes. Now What?
00:23:32

On Monday morning, the federal government took over a third failing bank — this time, First Republic.

Jeanna Smialek, an economy correspondent for The Times, discusses whether we are at the end of the banking crisis, or the start of a new phase of financial pain.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, an economy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 02, 2023
Kevin McCarthy’s Debt Ceiling Dilemma
00:21:59

Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy persuaded Republicans to narrowly pass a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, setting up high-stakes negotiations with the Biden administration.

Catie Edmondson, who covers Congress for The New York Times, explains the risks this might pose to his job and the country’s economy.

Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

May 01, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘The Agony of Putting Your Life on Hold to Care for Your Parents’
00:31:38

In January 2022, Randi Schofield was a 34-year-old single mother who, not long before, left her full-time job of eight years as a personal bailiff to a local judge. She pulled $30,000 from her retirement savings and was planning to give herself all of 2022 to expand the small catering business she had always dreamed about. This would be the year she bet on herself. Then, that month, she received the news that medics were pulling her father out of his car.

The collision splintered the bone in his left thigh down to his knee; three days later, a metal rod held the broken pieces together. Until his leg recovered from the surgery, he would not be able to walk without assistance. In hindsight, there were warning signs that her father’s health could upend Schofield’s life. But he was also youthful and spirited, and it was easy to believe that everything was fine, that he was fine and that if she were to take care of him some day, it would be occasional and in a distant future. She didn’t see this day coming the way it did, so abruptly and so soon.

Increasing numbers of adult children are taking care of their parents, often shouldering the burden with no pay and little outside help — making their meals, helping them shower, bandaging their wounds and holding them up before they can fall. The social-work scholar Dorothy A. Miller once described this as the “peculiar position” in the modern American nuclear family, between the care people give to their aging parents and to their children. Today’s “sandwich generation” is younger than the version Miller described four decades ago, but it faces the same “unique set of unshared stresses” that she warned of then: acute financial strain, a lack of reciprocated support and “fatigue from fulfilling the demands of too many roles.”

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

Apr 30, 2023
The Ballad of ‘Deepfake Drake’
00:24:48

This month, an anonymous producer jolted the music industry by using artificial intelligence to impersonate the singers Drake and the Weeknd, creating a fake track, “Heart on My Sleeve,” that quickly went viral.

Joe Coscarelli, a culture reporter for The Times, talks about how the song’s rise and fall could presage widespread changes in the way music is made.

Guest: Joe Coscarelli, a culture correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 28, 2023
Can India Become the Next Global Superpower?
00:30:25

This month, India reached a notable milestone. The country’s population surpassed that of China, which had held the No. 1 position for at least three centuries.

Alex Travelli, who covers South Asia and business for The Times, examines whether India can use its immense size to become an economic superpower.

Guest: Alex Travelli, a South Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 27, 2023
Voters Are Wary of Biden. Here’s Why He Might Win Anyway
00:26:14

President Biden has announced that he will seek another term in the Oval Office, despite the fact that he will be 81 on Election Day 2024.

Not everyone is overjoyed about that prospect — more than half of Democrats don’t want him to run again. Nonetheless, the party’s leaders are increasingly confident about his chances. Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The Times, explains why.

Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Mr. Biden has acknowledged that he has not accomplished all he wished to. But that, he maintains, is an argument for his re-election.
  • Although his poll numbers remain low, structural advantages have Democrats insisting that Mr. Biden is better positioned than his Republican rivals.

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

Apr 26, 2023
Fox News Fires Its Biggest Star
00:29:07

Less than a week after Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the Dominion lawsuit, the network has abruptly fired Tucker Carlson — an anchor at the center of the case.

Jeremy W. Peters, who covers media and politics for The Times, explains why the network decided to cut ties with one of its biggest stars.

Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a media and politics correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 25, 2023
How Two Generals Led Sudan to the Brink of Civil War
00:22:34

Sudan was supposed to be moving away from military rule and toward democracy. But over the past week, the country has been thrown into violent chaos as two factions battle for control.

Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The Times, explains how an explosive rivalry between two generals turned into a catastrophic conflict.

Guest: Declan Walsh, the chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 24, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Why Are These Italians Massacring Each Other With Oranges?’
00:27:17

One Sunday in February, in a northern Italian town called Ivrea, the facades of historic buildings were covered with plastic sheeting and nets. And in several different piazzas, hundreds of wooden crates had appeared. Inside them were oranges. Oranges, the fruit.

Over the next three days, 8,000 people in Ivrea would throw 900 tons of oranges at one another, one orange at a time, while tens of thousands of other people watched. They would throw the oranges very hard, very viciously, often while screaming profanities at their targets or yowling like Braveheart. But they would also keep smiling as they threw the oranges, embracing and joking and cheering one another on, exhibiting with their total beings a deranged-seeming but euphoric sense of abandon and belonging — a freedom that was easy to envy but difficult to understand.

The Battle of the Oranges is an annual tradition in Ivrea and part of a larger celebration described by its organizers as “the most ancient historical Carnival in Italy.” Several people in Ivrea told the writer Jon Mooallem that as three pandemic years had passed in which no oranges were thrown, they grew concerned that something bad would happen in the community — that without this catharsis, a certain pent-up, sinister energy would explode. And on that day in February, three years of constrained energy was due to explode all at once.

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

Apr 23, 2023
Why Low-Ranking Soldiers Have Access to Top Secret Documents
00:25:23

Last week, a 21-year old airman from Massachusetts, Jack Teixeira, was arrested under the Espionage Act and charged with violating federal laws by sharing top secret military documents with an online gaming group.

Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The Times, explains why so many low-level government workers have access to so much classified material.

Guest: Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 21, 2023
The Blockbuster Fox Defamation Trial That Wasn’t
00:24:46

At the very last minute, both Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News decided to settle their closely watched defamation lawsuit, rather than make their cases at trial.

Jeremy W. Peters, who covers media and politics for The Times, was inside the courtroom as it happened.

Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a media and politics correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 20, 2023
Abortion Goes to the Supreme Court (Again)
00:25:06

In overturning Roe v. Wade last year, the Supreme Court’s message was that it was done with the issue of abortion. Now, dueling rulings on abortion pills will send the issue back to the highest court in the country.

Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, explains the case that is forcing the court to weigh in on abortion all over again.

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

Background reading: 

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

Apr 19, 2023
How the I.R.S. Became a Political Boogeyman
00:28:27

Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service unveiled an $80 billion plan to transform itself into a “digital first” tax collector focused on customer service and cracking down on wealthy tax evaders.

Today, on the day that taxes are due in the United States, Alan Rappeport, who covers economic policy for The Times, explains how the plan could result in the agency repeating a set of old mistakes.

Guest: Alan Rappeport, an economic policy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 18, 2023
China and Taiwan: A Torrid Backstory
00:25:04

The posturing between the United States and China has been intensifying in recent weeks — China responded with condemnations and military drills after Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, met the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.

Today, Edward Wong, who covers foreign policy at The Times, explains why China is so fixated on Taiwan, and how the U.S. got in the middle of it.

Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 17, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘The Daring Ruse That Exposed China’s Campaign to Steal American Secrets’
00:54:37

In March 2017, an engineer at G.E. Aviation in Cincinnati received a request on LinkedIn. The engineer, Hua, is in his 40s, tall and athletic, with a boyish face that makes him look a decade younger. He moved to the United States from China in 2003 for graduate studies in structural engineering.

The LinkedIn request came from Chen Feng, a school official at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in eastern China. Days later, Chen sent him an email inviting him to the university to give a research presentation. Hua arranged to arrive in May, so he could attend a nephew’s wedding and his college reunion at Harbin Institute of Technology. There was one problem, though: Hua knew that G.E. would deny permission to give the talk if he asked, which he was supposed to do. He went to Nanjing, and flew back to the United States after the presentation. He thought that would be the end of the matter.

Many scientists and engineers of Chinese origin in the United States are invited to China to give presentations about their fields. Hua couldn’t have known that his trip to Nanjing would prove to be the start of a series of events that would end up giving the U.S. government an unprecedented look inside China’s widespread and tireless campaign of economic espionage targeting the United States, culminating in the first-ever conviction of a Chinese intelligence official on American soil.

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

Apr 16, 2023
Broadway’s Longest-Running Musical Turns Out the Lights
00:34:19

“The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest running show in the history of Broadway, will close its doors on Sunday after more than three decades.

We went backstage during one of the final performances before the show’s famous chandelier crashes down one last time.

Guest: Michael Paulson, a theater correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • The show was originally set to close in February, but the announcement set off a surge in ticket sales. “Phans,” as they call themselves, rushed to see it one last time.
  • In an interview, Cameron Mackintosh said weakening box office and rising production costs led to the decision to end “Phantom’s” run.

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

Apr 14, 2023
What We’re Learning From the Leaked Military Documents
00:27:04

A week ago, the world discovered that dozens of classified documents from the American government had been leaked online, including highly sensitive information about Russia’s war in Ukraine and damaging revelations on American spying abroad.

David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The Times, explains the contents of the leak and what it might mean for the war.

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

Background reading: 

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

Apr 13, 2023
How Strong (or Not) Is New York’s Case Against Trump?
00:29:08

In the week since Donald Trump was arraigned on 34 felony charges, debate about the strength of the case against him has only intensified.

Charlie Savage, a Washington correspondent at The Times, has closely studied the case and explains which side he stands on.

Guest: Charlie Savage, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 12, 2023
Inside Russia’s Crackdown on Dissent
00:35:18

Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin made it a crime to oppose the war in public. Since then, it has waged a relentless campaign of repression, putting Russian citizens in jail for offenses as small as holding a poster or sharing a news article on social media.

Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, tells the story of Olesya Krivtsova, a 19-year-old student who faces up to 10 years in prison after posting on social media, and explains why the Russian government is so determined to silence those like her.

Guest: Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The New York Times, covering Russia and the war in Ukraine.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 11, 2023
An Extraordinary Act of Political Retribution in Tennessee
00:29:09

Last week, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House expelled two of its members — both young Black Democrats. 

Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times, explains the story behind the extraordinary ousting and what it tells us about this moment in American politics.

Guest: Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times covering the American South.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 10, 2023
‘The Run-Up’: The Republican Party Sorts Through Its Mess
00:53:56

The Times reporter Astead W. Herndon and the team are back for a new season of “The Run-Up” and they’re looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, which in many ways has already begun. 

In this first episode, Astead heads to California for the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting to explore the tangled lines and scrambled allegiances that animated the effort to unseat Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the R.N.C.

Apr 09, 2023
The Outsourcing of America’s Border Problem
00:24:04

This episode contains descriptions of severe injuries.

Tough new border policies introduced by the Biden administration have sharply reduced the number of migrants crossing into the United States. But the measures have also created a combustible bottleneck along the southern border. That situation exploded last week when a deadly fire broke out at a detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Simon Romero, a national correspondent for The Times, explains how the United States has leaned more heavily on Mexico to help handle its immigration dilemma, bringing cities like Juárez to a breaking point.

Guest: Simon Romero, a national correspondent for The New York Times covering the Southwest.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 07, 2023
America Has a Problem in Africa: China
00:28:54

Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Africa last week was designed to send a simple message to its governments and people — China is not your friend. The United States is.

Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times’s East Africa correspondent, explains what the United States has to lose if countries in Africa choose China.

Guest: Abdi Latif Dahir, the East Africa correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 06, 2023
What It Was Like at Donald Trump’s Arraignment
00:26:26

The line for reporters seeking to be in the courtroom for Donald J. Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan started forming at 2 p.m. on Monday, more than a day before the former president was scheduled to face a judge in a case centered on hush-money payments.

One of those who got in was Jonah Bromwich, a criminal justice correspondent for The Times.

He tells us what it was like inside the courthouse as Mr. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts.

Guest: Jonah E. Bromwich, a criminal justice correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Trump pleaded not guilty, then sat quietly as lawyers sparred.
  • The former president is accused of orchestrating a hush-money scheme to pave his path to the presidency and then covering it up from the White House.

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

Apr 05, 2023
The Election That Could Reshape Wisconsin, and the Country
00:29:05

Wisconsin will hold an election for a seat on its Supreme Court today, and it is no exaggeration to say that the result could end up reshaping U.S. politics for years to come.

The Times political correspondent Reid J. Epstein explains why the race to replace a single judge has become the most important American election of 2023.

Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Apr 04, 2023
Fear and Bravado: Inside Trump’s Reaction to the Indictment
00:27:45

After Donald J. Trump was indicted over his role in paying hush money to a porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign, he called the move an act of political persecution.

But his impending arrest could actually make Mr. Trump a stronger candidate for 2024, the Times correspondent Maggie Haberman explains.

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

Background reading: 

  • Many of Mr. Trump’s potential opponents snapped into line behind him, showing just how hard it may be to persuade Republican voters to choose an alternative.
  • Mr. Trump reacted to his indictment by returning to his time-tested legal strategy: attack and delay.

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

Apr 03, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘A Sandwich Shop, a Tent City and an American Crisis'
00:29:23

Joe Faillace, 69, has been running the sandwich shop Old Station Subs alongside his wife, Debbie, for the last four decades. But as an epidemic of unsheltered homelessness began to overwhelm Phoenix, and many other major American downtowns, the Faillaces have been met with hundreds of people sleeping within a few blocks of Old Station. Many of them were suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, resulting in incidents such as pilfered goods and public masturbation.

On one February morning, he could see a half-dozen men pressed around a roaring fire. A young woman was lying in the middle of the street, wrapped beneath a canvas advertising banner. A man was weaving down the sidewalk in the direction of the restaurant with a saw, muttering to himself and then stopping to urinate a dozen feet from the restaurant’s outdoor tables.

“It’s the usual chaos and suffering,” Joe told Debbie over the phone. “But the restaurant’s still standing.”

As the number of people living on the streets in Phoenix more than tripled after 2016, the housing crisis landed on the doorsteps of small businesses. The businesses began hiring private security firms to guard their property and lawyers to file a lawsuit against the city for failing to manage “a great humanitarian crisis.”

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

Apr 02, 2023
The Indictment of Donald Trump
00:23:29

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Donald J. Trump for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case against him has kicked off a historic moment in American politics.

The investigative reporter Ben Protess discusses the development — which will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark Mr. Trump as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges — and what happens next.

Guest: Ben Protess, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 31, 2023
The Plan to Save Baseball From Boredom
00:30:22

Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity.

As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run.

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

Background reading: 

  • With three major rule changes this season, Major League Baseball will try to reinvent itself while looking to the game’s past for inspiration.
  • Here’s a look at the new rules.

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

Mar 30, 2023
Israel’s Far Right Government Backs Down
00:23:04

For months in Israel, the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing a highly contentious plan to fundamentally change the country’s Supreme Court, setting off some of the largest demonstrations in Israel’s history.

On Monday, Mr. Netanyahu announced that he would delay his government’s campaign. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, explains the prime minister’s surprising concession.

Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Mr. Netanyahu delayed his bid to overhaul Israel’s judiciary in the face of furious protests.
  • Israel’s prime minister is caught between his far-right coalition and public anger over the government’s plan to weaken the judiciary.

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

Mar 29, 2023
The Fight Over ‘Cop City’
00:26:41

This episode contains descriptions of violence

In a patch of woods southwest of Atlanta, protesters have been clashing with the police over a huge police training facility that the city wants to build there. This month, that fight came to a head when hundreds of activists breached the site, burning police and construction vehicles.

Sean Keenan, an Atlanta-based reporter, explains how what opponents call “Cop City,” and the woods surrounding it, have become an unlikely battleground in the nation’s debate over policing.

Guest: Sean Keenan, a freelance reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • This month, protesters damaged property at the site of a planned police center in Atlanta in a disturbance that grew out of a demonstration among activists in a forest being developed into a training center.
  • How a forest near Atlanta became a new front line in the debate over policing.

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

Mar 28, 2023
A Sweeping Plan to Protect Kids From Social Media
00:27:30

A few days ago, Utah became the first state to pass a law prohibiting social media services from allowing users under 18 to have accounts without the explicit consent of a parent or guardian. The move, by Republican officials, is intended to address what they describe as a mental health crisis among American teenagers as well as to protect younger users from bullying and child sexual exploitation.The technology reporter Natasha Singer explains the measure, and why it could be a sign of where the country is headed.

Guest: Natasha Singer, who writes about technology, business and society for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • The Utah law prohibits social networks from allowing minors to have accounts without parental consent.
  • The creator of Fortnite was found by federal regulators to have violated children’s privacy and duped millions of users into unwanted purchases.

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

Mar 27, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘How Danhausen Became Professional Wrestling’s Strangest Star’
00:32:50

Like a lot of people who get into professional wrestling, Donovan Danhausen had a vision of a different version of himself. Ten years ago, at age 21, he was living in Detroit, working as a nursing assistant at a hospital, watching a lot of “Adult Swim” and accumulating a collection of horror- and comedy-themed tattoos.

At the suggestion of a friend, he took a 12-week training course at the House of Truth wrestling school in Center Line, Mich., and then entered the indie circuit as a hand: an unknown, unpaid wrestler who shows up at events and does what’s asked of him, typically setting up the ring or pretending to be a lawyer or another type of extra. When he ran out of momentum five years later, he developed the character of Danhausen. Originally supposed to be an evil demon, Danhausen found that the more elements of humor he incorporated into his performance, the more audiences responded.

“I was just a bearded guy with the tattoos, trying to be a tough guy, and I’m not a tough guy naturally,” he said. “But I can be weird and charismatic, goofy. That’s easy. That’s also a role that most people don’t want to fill.”

Over the next couple of years, the Danhausen gimmick became more funny than evil, eventually settling on the character he plays today — one that is bizarre even by the standards of 21st-century wrestling.

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

Mar 26, 2023
Should The Government Pay for Your Bad Climate Decisions?
00:27:07

A few days ago, the Biden administration released a report warning that a warming planet posed severe economic challenges for the United States, which would require the federal government to reassess its spending priorities and how it influenced behavior.

White House reporter Jim Tankersley explains why getting the government to encourage the right decisions will be so difficult.

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

Background reading: 

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

Mar 24, 2023
Our Film Critic on Why He’s Done With the Movies
00:41:13

A.O. Scott started as a film critic at The New York Times in January of 2000. Next month he will move to the Book Review as a critic at large.

After 23 years as a film critic, Mr. Scott discusses why he is done with the movies, and what his decision reveals about the new realities of American cinema.

Guest: A.O. Scott, a longtime film critic for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 23, 2023
Barney Frank on His Role in the Banking Crisis
00:36:06

Barney Frank was one of the people most responsible for overhauling financial regulation after the 2008 economic crisis. After retiring from Congress, he supported a change to his own law that would benefit midsize banks, and joined the board of such a bank. 

Last week, that bank failed. David Enrich called Mr. Frank and asked him to explain.

Guest: David Enrich, the business investigations editor at The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 22, 2023
China, Russia and the Risk of a New Cold War
00:23:18

As Xi Jinping, China’s leader, meets with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow this week, Chinese officials have been presenting his trip as a mission of peace. But American and European officials are watching for something else altogether — whether Mr. Xi will add fuel to the full-scale war that Mr. Putin began more than a year ago.

Edward Wong explains what Mr. Xi is really up to, and why it’s making people wonder whether a new Cold War is underway.

Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 21, 2023
How TikTok Became a Matter of National Security
00:28:50

TikTok, the app known for short videos of lip syncing, dancing and bread baking, is one of the most popular platforms in the country, used by one out of every three Americans.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has threatened to ban it over concerns that it poses a threat to national security.

Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, a business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 20, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Spirited Away to Miyazaki Land’
00:54:46

As an American, Sam Anderson knows what it feels like to arrive at a theme park. “The totalizing consumerist embrace,” he writes. “The blunt-force, world-warping, escapist delight.” He has known theme parks with entrances like “international borders” and ticket prices like “mortgage payments.” Mr. Anderson has been to Disney World, which he describes as “an alternate reality that basically occupies its own tax zone.”

In November, when Ghibli Park finally opened, Mr. Anderson made sure to get himself there. The park is a tribute to the legendary Studio Ghibli, first started by the animator Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, out of desperation, when he and his co-founders, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, couldn’t find a studio willing to put out their work.

Miyazaki is detail-obsessed. He agonizes over his children’s cartoons as if he were Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, insisting that, although few viewers will be conscious of all this work, every viewer will feel it. And we do. Those tiny touches, adding up across the length of a film, anchor his fantasies in the actual world.

And so, after many years, and much traveling — at long last — Mr. Anderson found himself stepping into the wonders of Ghibli Park. His first impression was not awe or majesty or surrender or consumerist bliss. It was confusion.

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

Mar 19, 2023
Why the Banking Crisis Isn’t Over Yet
00:29:04

In the past week, as spooked customers frantically withdrew $42 billion from Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. government stepped in to craft a rescue operation for the failed lender.

But efforts to contain the crisis have met resistance, and the fallout of the collapse has already spread to other regional banks, whose stocks have plummeted.

Guest: Emily Flitter, a finance correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 17, 2023
France’s Battle Over Retirement
00:21:20

This episode contains strong language

Millions of people have taken to the streets in France to protest a government effort to raise the retirement age to 64, from 62, bringing the country more in line with its European neighbors.

Today, as Parliament holds a key vote on the proposal, we look into why the issue has hit such a nerve in French society.

Guest: Roger Cohen, the Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 16, 2023
What to Know About the Covid Lab Leak Theory
00:22:56

Three years after the start of Covid, the central mystery of the pandemic — how exactly it began — remains unsolved. But recently, the debate about the source of the coronavirus has re-emerged, this time in Congress.

The Energy Department has concluded, with “low confidence,” that an accidental laboratory leak in China was most likely the origin, but politics are making it harder to find definitive answers.

Guest: Benjamin Mueller, a health and science correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 15, 2023
The Implosion of Silicon Valley Bank
00:34:09

With federal regulators planning to take over the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, a 40-year-old institution based in California, nearly $175 billion in customer deposits will be placed under the authorities’ control.

The lender’s demise is the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since the financial crisis in 2008. The debacle raised concerns that other banks could face problems, too.

Guest: Emily Flitter, a finance correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 14, 2023
What Is E.S.G., and Why Are Republicans So Mad About It?
00:27:05

The principle behind E.S.G. is that investors should look beyond just whether a company can make a profit and take into account other factors, such as its environmental impact and action on social issues.

But critics of that investment strategy, mostly Republicans, say that Wall Street has taken a sharp left turn, attacking what they term “woke capitalism.”

Guest: David Gelles, a climate correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 13, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Can Germany Be a Great Military Power Again?’
00:53:03

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany told Parliament that the attack was a Zeitenwende — a historic “turning point” for Europe and Germany. The risk of a large land war in Europe had previously been considered far-fetched, but recent years of Russian aggression have inspired fear in Germany and a 100-billion-euro fund to bolster its military.

In Germany, skepticism of the merits of military strength has enabled a long post-Cold War process of disarmament. As a result, it is a historic anomaly in the heart of Europe — an economic leviathan but a military minnow. Now German leaders are vowing to transform the country into a military power capable of taking responsibility for Europe’s security.

In Nienburg, a medieval town in Lower Saxony, civilians come to train for “homeland protection” units in the country’s reserves. The question is whether a hesitant German society can follow through on this paradigm shift.

“I would say, many of them lean in the direction of being pacifists,” said Anne Katrin Meister, who is training at the base in Nienburg. “But you can only be a pacifist if you have this safe, ideal world. And we don’t have such a world.”

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

Mar 12, 2023
Protests and the Future of Democracy in Israel
00:29:03

Almost immediately after taking power in December, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition in Isreal proposed a highly contentious overhaul of the Supreme Court.

The court has long been seen as a crucial check and lone backstop on the government, and the plan has divided Israeli society, kindling fears of political violence and even civil war.

Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 10, 2023
A New Child Labor Crisis in America
00:32:50

Slaughterhouses, construction sites, factories. A Times investigation has found that migrant children have been thrust into jobs in some of the most demanding workplaces in the United States.

How did this crisis in child labor develop? And now that it has been exposed, what is being done to tackle the problem?

Guest: Hannah Dreier, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 09, 2023
Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipelines?
00:22:03

The sabotage in September of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe has become one of the central mysteries of the war in Ukraine, prompting months of finger-pointing and guesswork.

Now, new intelligence reporting has provided the first significant known lead about who was responsible.

Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Officials say there are still enormous gaps in what American spy agencies and their European partners know about the detonations.
  • The Baltic seabed provided a nearly ideal crime scene.

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

Mar 08, 2023
Ron DeSantis’s Rise From Unknown to Heir Apparent
00:28:07

As the race to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate gets underway, one figure has emerged as a particularly powerful rival to Donald J. Trump.

That person, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, has broken away from the pack by turning his state into a laboratory for a post-Trump version of conservatism.

Guest: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading:

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

Mar 07, 2023
How a Derailed Train Galvanized an Ohio Town, and Congress
00:27:11

On Feb. 3, a nearly two-mile long freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, a town of about 4,700 people.

The railroad company and local officials decided to do a chemical burn to neutralize the cargo, but as a giant plume of black smoke settled over the town, residents’ anger about the handling of the accident has intensified.

Guest: Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 06, 2023
Sunday Special: An Episode of ‘The Coldest Case in Laramie’
00:24:44

Today, we’re taking some time out of our regularly scheduled programming to share the first episode of “The Coldest Case in Laramie.” In the new series from The Times and Serial, Kim Barker, a Times investigative reporter, digs into the 1985 murder of Shelli Wiley, a young woman who was a few years older than Kim when they both lived in Laramie, Wyoming. 

The long-unsolved case took a turn in 2016 when the police arrested someone for Shelli’s murder: a former officer named Fred Lamb. The evidence against him seemed solid, but prosecutors, confusingly, dropped the case. They’ve never refiled. 

How did a case that seemed this open-and-shut fall apart with such a whimper? To find answers, Kim heads back to Laramie and grapples with conflicting memories and dueling narratives.

In episode one, Kim starts to call up Shelli’s family members to try to piece together what happened. To listen to all eight parts, visit nytimes.com/laramie.

Mar 05, 2023
Why Russia Is Taking Thousands of Ukrainian Children
00:30:19

As Russian troops pushed into Ukraine, children who were fleeing newly occupied territories were swept up. Many became part of a Russian effort to portray itself as a charitable savior. 

The children were placed in Russian families and paraded on television. The Times interviewed one child who was taken from Ukraine, a girl named Anya, who said she ached to return.

Guest: Emma Bubola, a reporter for The New York Times based in London.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 03, 2023
Will the Supreme Court Let Biden Cancel Student Debt?
00:24:49

In August, President Biden announced a loan cancellation plan that would erase an astonishing $400 billion in student debt — one of the most ambitious and expensive executive actions ever.

Now, in a far-reaching case, the Supreme Court will decide whether the president is authorized to take such a big step.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Mar 02, 2023
A Threat to Abortion Pills. Plus, the U.S. Shares Secrets
00:31:03

In 2000, the F.D.A. approved the medication abortion drug mifepristone. Now a federal judge in Texas is set to rule on a case filed by anti-abortion groups urging the agency to revoke its approval of mifepristone and the other main drug used for medication abortion in the United States. Abortion via medication has become increasingly common and now accounts for more than half of the nation’s abortions.

Plus, the Biden administration has started talking publicly about its intelligence when it comes to China, breaking with a long tradition of keeping U.S. secrets close to the chest. The secretary of state, the director of the C.I.A. and even the president himself have made statements on TV expressing concern over China’s plans to help Russia in the war in Ukraine.

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

Julian E. Barnes, a national security correspondent for The Times.

Background reading: 

  • Twelve states have sued the F.D.A. seeking removal of special restrictions on abortion pills. The suit argues that rules applying to mifepristone unnecessarily limit patients’ access to medication abortion.
  • Bolder intelligence disclosures are part of a larger effort to stymie the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine and align support for Kyiv’s war effort in allied countries.

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

Mar 01, 2023
Why So Many Buildings Collapsed in Turkey
00:20:31

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 left more than 50,000 people dead. The sight of rescuers combing the rubble has prompted questions about why so many buildings seemed so inadequate to resist the shaking earth.

In Turkey, the government has turned the focus onto builders and property developers, accusing them of chasing profit over safety. But the reality is far more complicated.

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 28, 2023
Why Election Denialism Might Cost Fox News $1.6 Billion
00:22:56

After the 2020 election, wild theories ran rampant on the right of an election stolen from Donald Trump through a coordinated conspiracy. The news channel Fox News became one of the loudest voices amplifying these false claims into millions of U.S. households.

Now, a defamation lawsuit by Dominion, a voting machine maker that was cast as a villain in these conspiracy theories, seeks to hold the media company responsible for the false claims made by its hosts and guests, presenting evidence that Fox knew what it was doing was wrong.

Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a correspondent for The New York Times who covers the media and its intersection with politics, culture and law.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 27, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Elon Musk’s Appetite for Destruction’
00:48:05

In February, the first lawsuit against Tesla for a crash involving its driver-assistance system, Autopilot, will go to trial. The slew of trials set to follow will be a costly fight that the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has vowed to take on in court. When Tesla released its Autopilot feature in October 2015, Musk touted the feature as “probably better” than a human driver. The reality, however, has proved different: On average, there is at least one Autopilot-related crash in the United States every day.

While several of these accidents will feature in the upcoming trials, another camp of Tesla users who have fallen victim to Autopilot crashes are unwilling to take a negative stance because of their love for the brand. Or because they believe that accidents are a necessary evil in the process of perfecting the Autopilot software.

Dave Key, whose 2015 Tesla Model S drifted out of its lane and slammed into the back of a parked police S.U.V., is of the latter camp.

“As a society,” Key argued, “we choose the path to save the most lives.”

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

Feb 26, 2023
A Year of War in Ukraine
00:34:23

The war has already done untold damage. By some estimates, tens of thousands have died, and the country has sustained tens of billions of dollars’ worth of damage that has left cities flattened. But Ukraine has also largely stopped the offensives of its much larger and better-armed neighbor and has regained some captured land.

On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, these Ukrainians reflect on how the past year of conflict has changed their lives.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 24, 2023
A Ruling That Could End the Internet as We Know It
00:28:04

Since 1996, the modern internet has been defined by a sweeping law that prevents tech companies such as Facebook and Google from being held responsible for the content posted on their sites.

This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could take that legal immunity away.

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

Background reading: 

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

Feb 23, 2023
The Veterans Fighting to Legalize Psychedelics
00:28:25

In a major shift that would modify laws set half a decade ago, states and cities around the United States are moving to legalize psychedelics for use as a medical treatment.

The sudden change of heart has a lot to do with who is asking for the substances.

Guest: Andrew Jacobs, a health and science reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 22, 2023
Why ‘Made in China’ Is Becoming ‘Made in Mexico’
00:28:39

The great supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic scrambled the shipping system across the Pacific.

Although mostly over, the turmoil has led to alterations in the way the global economy functions. One such change can be seen in Mexico, where companies from China are increasingly setting up shop.

Guest: Peter S. Goodman, a global economics correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Feb 21, 2023
Sunday Special: An Episode of ‘Hard Fork’
01:01:23

Times tech columnist Kevin Roose stopped by The Daily twice this week to chronicle the debut of Bing’s new chatbot — and the creepy things that transpired. Today, we’re bringing you the latest episode of Kevin’s podcast, Hard Fork. Kevin, along with his co-host Casey Newton, expand the discussion about why Microsoft’s A.I. search tool appears more powerful — and more unsettling — than they initially believed. Plus: a conversation about Elon Musk’s quest to be the most popular user on Twitter, and why online ads have gotten so much worse (like, much worse).

Hard Fork is a podcast about the future of technology that’s already here. You can search for Hard Fork wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/hardfork for more.

Feb 19, 2023
The Online Search Wars Got Scary. Fast.
00:29:05

Microsoft recently released a new version of its search engine Bing that is powered by artificial intelligence software from OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT.

On Valentine’s Day, after a meal with his wife, Kevin Roose, a New York Times technology columnist, had a two-hour conversation with the chatbot.

The chatbot, which revealed that it identified as Sydney, told Kevin that it wanted to be human, that it loved him and that he should leave his wife.

“There is something going on here that I don’t think Microsoft intended to build into a search engine,” Kevin said on today’s episode. “Something is not right.”

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Background reading: 

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

Feb 17, 2023
A Crisis Within a Crisis in Syria
00:26:28

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey last week, it killed thousands and created a crisis within a crisis.

International aid began pouring into Turkey, but northwestern Syria, which was also hard-hit, received only a trickle. It was a bitter blow for Syrians, whose lives had already been uprooted by years of civil war, mass displacement and death.

Today, we hear from some Syrians and look at why it is so difficult for the world to help them.

Guest: Raja Abdulrahim, a correspondent in Jerusalem for The New York Times who traveled to northwestern Syria after the earthquake.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 16, 2023
The Online Search Wars
00:31:19

Microsoft recently released a new version of Bing, its search engine that has long been kind of a punchline in the tech world.

The company billed this Bing — which is powered by artificial intelligence software from OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT — as a reinvention of how billions of people search the internet.

How does that claim hold up?

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Feb 15, 2023
Why the U.S. Keeps Shooting Objects Out of the Sky
00:22:37

Last week, after the Air Force shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, examination of its wreckage revealed that it could not only take images, but also scoop up radio and cellphone communications. 

The balloon, the U.S. military said, was part of a bigger global program by China to collect information about military operations.

Since then the U.S. has shot down three other objects from the skies over North America — apparently without knowing much about them.

Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a national security reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 14, 2023
The Navy’s Very Expensive Mistake
00:23:17

Amid growing threats from rivals like China, the United States military is determined to invest in new forms of defense and abandon those that no longer meet its needs.

On that list: a combat ship rife with flaws. But getting rid of the ship has proved unexpectedly difficult.

Guest: Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • After years of crippling problems and a changing mission, the Navy pushed to retire nine of its newest ships. Then the lobbying started.

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

Feb 13, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Women Have Been Misled About Menopause’
00:52:38

Menopausal hormone therapy was once the most commonly prescribed treatment in the United States. In the late 1990s, some 15 million women a year were receiving a prescription for it. But in 2002, a single study, its design imperfect, found links between hormone therapy and elevated health risks for women of all ages. Panic set in; in one year, the number of prescriptions plummeted.

Hormone therapy carries risks, to be sure, as do many medications that people take to relieve serious discomfort, but dozens of studies since 2002 have provided reassurance that for healthy women under 60 whose hot flashes are troubling them, the benefits of taking hormones outweigh the risks. The treatment’s reputation, however, has never fully recovered, and the consequences have been wide-reaching.

About 85 percent of women experience menopausal symptoms. Rebecca Thurston, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh who studies menopause, believes that, in general, menopausal women have been underserved — an oversight that she considers one of the great blind spots of medicine.

“It suggests that we have a high cultural tolerance for women’s suffering,” Thurston said. “It’s not regarded as important.”

To hear more stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

 

Feb 12, 2023
How Sports Betting Hit the Mainstream in America
00:34:25

This weekend, one of the most watched sporting events of the year, the Super Bowl, will draw an estimated $16 billion in bets from Americans, more than double last year’s total.

The booming trade is a sign of how gambling has gone from illegal to legal very quickly in many states — and hints at the enormous risks posed by the change.

Guest: Kenneth P. Vogel, an investigative correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Feb 10, 2023
The Most Empty Downtown in America
00:28:17

For the past decade, San Francisco has worked hard to turn its downtown into a vibrant hub, providing a model that other cities in the United States looked to emulate.

In the wake of the pandemic, however, many buildings and offices in the center of the city have remained empty.

What went wrong?

Guest: Conor Dougherty, an economics reporter at The New York Times and author of “Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream.”; and Emma Goldberg, a reporter covering the future of work for The Times. 

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Feb 09, 2023
The Police Unit That Was Supposed to Keep Memphis Safe
00:32:02

This episode contains descriptions of violence. 

The death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, at the hands of officers in Memphis last month has intensified calls for fundamental reform in policing. Those calls were echoed yesterday by President Biden, who hosted Mr. Nichols’s parents at the State of the Union address.

Today, we hear about a Times investigation into the special team of officers, known as the Scorpion unit, that is accused of killing Mr. Nichols.

Guest: Mike Baker, the Seattle bureau chief and a national correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Feb 08, 2023
The Deadly Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
00:24:06

On Monday, a giant 7.8-magnitude earthquake and an aftershock almost as big shook the earth in southern Turkey. The quakes sent ripples through neighboring countries, but the area along the Syrian-Turkish border was hit particularly hard.

Thousands of people have been killed, and dozens of cities have been gutted.

We hear from witnesses on the ground about what happened when the devastating tremors hit.

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 07, 2023
A Chinese Balloon and a Diplomatic Showdown
00:25:51

On Wednesday, residents in Montana saw a mysterious object — a balloon — hovering and bobbing around in the skies. The enigma brought Americans out to squint at the heavens, caused a diplomatic visit to be canceled and opened a political debate.

How did a balloon end up kindling such tension between Washington and Beijing?

Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 06, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘The Man Who Made Spain the Magic Capital of the World’
00:36:41

Going out to dinner with Juan Tamariz in Madrid is a little like accompanying a cartoon character on a journey to the real world. As Shuja Haider, the author of today’s Sunday Read, walked with him on side streets off the city center’s main drag, the Calle Gran Vía, heads turned left and right.

Mr. Tamariz, 80, has been a professional magician for 52 years, and in that time, he has managed the singular feat of becoming both a household name in his home country and a living legend in magic everywhere. David Blaine has called him “the greatest and most influential card magician alive.” But in Spain, Mr. Tamariz is an icon, less like Mr. Blaine or David Copperfield and more like Kermit the Frog.

In the United States, the most visible performers of magic in the late 20th century were stage illusionists who worked with big boxes and flashing lights. But Mr. Tamariz appears on stage and screen armed with little more than his two hands. He introduced Spanish viewers to the style of magic called “close-up,” done with ordinary objects, in near-enough proximity for a conversation and incorporating the participation of spectators.

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

Feb 05, 2023
The End of the Pandemic Emergency in the U.S.
00:20:15

The Biden administration said this week that it would end the public health emergency for Covid, a sign that federal officials believe that the pandemic has moved into a new, less dire phase.

The move carries both symbolic weight and real-world consequences for millions of Americans.

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

Background reading: 

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

Feb 03, 2023
A Revolution in How Democrats Pick a President
00:26:20

For the past 50 years, the race to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee has been shaped by the where the contest begins: Iowa.

But that process could soon be overhauled. In a coming meeting of the Democratic National Committee, South Carolina — a state that is more representative of the party and, possibly, of the country — could take over the key role of going first.

Guest: Adam Nagourney, a West Coast cultural affairs correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Feb 02, 2023
The State of the U.S. Economy in 4 Numbers
00:23:07

The typical sales price of an existing family home in the United States in December: 372,700. The number of layoffs in the tech sector since the beginning of the year: 76,000. The number by which consumer spending fell in December: 0.2 percent. The increase in the cost of the same kind of carton of eggs bought by an editor on “The Daily” a year apart: 251 percent.

What do these numbers tell us about the state of the country’s economy?

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

Background reading: 

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

Feb 01, 2023
7 States, 1 River and an Agonizing Choice
00:23:45

In the United States, 40 million people in seven states depend on water provided by the Colorado River.

After 20 years of drought, the situation is dire and the river is at risk of becoming a “deadpool,” a condition in which there is not enough water to pass through the dams.

The states were supposed to come up with a deal to cut their usage by Tuesday. Now, the federal government may have to step in and make a difficult decision.

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Jan 31, 2023
The Death of Tyre Nichols
00:30:58

This episode contains descriptions of violence and strong language.

Tyre Nichols was a 29-year-old Black man who lived in Memphis. His mother described him as living a simple and pleasant life. He worked for FedEx, loved to skateboard, was an amateur photographer and had a 4-year-old son.

On the evening of Jan. 7, after a traffic stop, Mr. Nichols was violently beaten by the police, sustaining severe injuries. He died on Jan. 10.

For weeks, what exactly had happened was unclear. This weekend, videos of the encounter were released.

Guest: Rick Rojas, the Southern bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 30, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Has the Amazon Reached Its “Tipping Point”?’
00:58:17

In the past half-century, 17 percent of the Amazon — an area larger than Texas — has been converted to croplands or cattle pasture. Less forest means less recycled rain, less vapor to cool the air, less of a canopy to shield against sunlight. Under drier, hotter conditions, even the lushest of Amazonian trees will shed leaves to save water, inhibiting photosynthesis — a feedback loop that is only exacerbated by global warming.

According to the Brazilian Earth system scientist Carlos Nobre, if deforestation reaches 20 to 25 percent of the original area, “flying rivers” — rain clouds that recycle the forest’s own moisture five or six times — will weaken enough that a rainforest simply will not be able to survive in most of the Amazon Basin. Instead it will collapse into scrubby savanna, possibly in a matter of decades.

Losing the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, would be catastrophic for the tens of thousands of species that make their home there. What scientists are most concerned about, though, is the potential for this regional, ecological tipping point to produce knock-on effects in the global climate.

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

Jan 29, 2023
Arrests, Executions and the Iranian Protesters Who Refuse to Give Up
00:34:35

This episode contains descriptions of violence and injury. 

In September, protests began in Iran over the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, at the hands of the government. The demonstrations have since intensified, as has the government’s response, with thousands arrested and a terrifying campaign of public executions underway.

Today, Iranians who have taken part in the demonstrations tell us — in their own words — why they are willing to brave such severe punishments to help bring about change.

Guest: Cora Engelbrecht, an international reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 27, 2023
An Aggressive New Approach to Childhood Obesity
00:22:36

Recent advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended a bold approach to treating the millions of children in the United States who are affected by obesity. Counseling, drug treatment and even surgery should be considered, the group says.

The guidelines are a response to a deeper understanding of what obesity is — and what to do about it.

Guest: Gina Kolata, a medical reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 26, 2023
How Nonprofit Hospitals Put Profits Over Patients
00:31:49

Nonprofit hospitals — which make up around half of hospitals in the United States — were founded to help the poor.

But a Times investigation has revealed that many have deviated from those charitable roots, behaving like for-profit companies, sometimes to the detriment of the health of patients.

Guest: Jessica Silver-Greenberg, an investigative business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 25, 2023
What Biden Miscalculated About His Classified Documents
00:24:49

Over the weekend, F.B.I. agents found classified documents at President Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Del., after conducting a 13-hour search.

The search — at the invitation of Mr. Biden’s lawyers — resulted in the latest in a series of discoveries that has already led to a special counsel investigation.

What miscalculations have Mr. Biden and his team make throughout this ordeal?

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

Background reading: 

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

Jan 24, 2023
The Debt Ceiling Showdown, Explained
00:28:05

In the past decade or more, votes over increasing the U.S. debt ceiling have increasingly been used as a political tool. That has led to intense showdowns in 2011, 2013 and, now, 2023. 

This year, both sides of the argument are dug in and Republicans appear more willing to go over the cliff than in the past. 

What does this year’s showdown look like and how, exactly, did the United States’ debt balloon to $31 trillion?

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

Background reading: 

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

Jan 23, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Could I Survive the “Quietest Place on Earth”?’
00:27:34

In a room in a modest concrete building in a leafy Minneapolis neighborhood is silence exceeding the bounds of human perception. Technically an “anechoic chamber,” the room is the quietest place on the planet — according to some.

What happens to people inside the windowless steel room is the subject of wild and terrible speculation. Public fascination with it exploded 10 years ago, with an article on The Daily Mail’s website. The article left readers to extrapolate their own conclusions about the room from the short, haunting observations of its proprietor, Steven J. Orfield, of Orfield Laboratories.

“You’ll hear your heart beating,” Orfield was quoted as saying. And, “In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound.”

Much of the lore about the chamber’s propensity for mind-annihilation centers on the concept of blood sounds. Hearing the movement of blood through the body is supposedly something like an absolute taboo, akin to witnessing the fabrication of Chicken McNuggets — an ordeal after which placid existence is irreparably shattered.

Despite this, Caity Weaver, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, wanted to give the chamber a go.

To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Jan 22, 2023
A Mother, a Daughter, a Deadly Journey
00:38:29

With mountains, intense mud, fast-running rivers and thick rainforest, the Darién Gap, a strip of terrain connecting South and Central America, is one of the most dangerous places on the planet.

Over the past few years, there has been an enormous increase in the number of migrants passing through the perilous zone in the hopes of getting to the United States.

Today, we hear the story of one family that’s risking everything to make it across.

Guest: Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 20, 2023
Why the U.S. Is Sending More Powerful Weapons to Ukraine
00:31:18

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the United States and allies have held back from sending Kyiv their most potent arms.

Over the past few weeks, that has started to change.

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Jan 19, 2023
The ‘Enemies List’ at Madison Square Garden
00:23:35

With little warning or regulation, companies are increasingly using facial recognition technology on their customers — as a security measure, they say.

But what happens when the systems are actually being used to punish the companies’ enemies?

Guest: Kashmir Hill, a technology reporter for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

  • Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the owner of the arena, has put lawyers who represent people suing it on an “exclusion list” to keep them out of concerts and sporting events.
  • Some have undermined the company’s ban by using a law passed in 1941 to protect theater critics.

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

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

Jan 18, 2023
China’s Abrupt Reversal of ‘Zero Covid’
00:23:42

For nearly three years, China had one of the lowest coronavirus death rates in the world, thanks to its strict yet effective “zero Covid” approach.

But last month, the government suddenly abandoned the policy. Since then, there have been millions of coronavirus cases across the country.

Guest: Alexandra Stevenson, the Shanghai bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Jan 17, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘Risking Everything to Offer Abortion Access Across State Lines’
00:55:39

In states where abortion is severely limited or illegal, clinicians face imminent prosecution if they continue to provide abortions. What is much less clear is what happens if providers in blue states offer telemedicine abortions to women in states where that’s against the law. These clinicians, too, could be arrested or sued or lose their medical licenses. To protect themselves, they may have to give up traveling to certain parts of the country — and it’s still no guarantee.

In the face of so much uncertainty and an invigorated anti-abortion movement, large organizations and most clinicians are loath to gamble.

But some providers think that the end of Roe v. Wade calls for doctors to take bold action.

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

Jan 15, 2023
The Presidents and the Classified Documents
00:20:52

The Justice Department is scrutinizing how both former President Donald J. Trump and President Biden came to have classified records after they left office.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed a special counsel after the discovery of two batches of classified documents from Mr. Biden’s time as vice president.

How are the two cases similar, how are they different and what might that mean for both?

Guest: Glenn Thrush, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 13, 2023
The California Floods
00:26:49

For weeks, a string of major storms have hit California, causing extreme flooding. While it might seem as if rain should have a silver lining for a state stuck in a historic drought, the reality is far more complicated.

Today, how California’s water management in the past has made today’s flooding worse and why it represents a missed opportunity for the future of the state’s water crisis.

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 12, 2023
A Jan. 6 Moment for Brazil
00:31:08

After Jair Bolsonaro lost October’s Brazilian presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, many believed that the threat of violence from the defeated leader’s supporters would recede. They were wrong. 

Mr. Bolsonaro had spent years sewing doubt and undermining Brazil’s election system, and last week, thousands of rioters stormed Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices. 

What happened — and how did Brazil get here?

Guest: Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Jan 11, 2023
The Southwest Airlines Meltdown
00:28:22

Air travel was a mess over the holidays — in the last 10 days of December, 30,000 flights were canceled. 

While every airline was affected, one stood out: Southwest, which over the past few decades has transformed how Americans fly, melted down. In the last 10 days of the year, it canceled as many flights as it had done in the previous 10 months. 

So what went wrong?

Guest: Niraj Chokshi, a business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 10, 2023
Speaker McCarthy. But at What Cost?
00:34:30

Representative Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become speaker of the House turned into a rolling disaster last week, played out over five long days and 15 rounds of voting. 

Today, the inside story of how it went so wrong — and what he was forced to give up in order to finally win.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 09, 2023
The Sunday Read: ‘She Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away’
00:24:04

On Christmas Eve in 1971, Juliane Diller, then 17, and her mother boarded a flight in Lima, Peru. She was headed for Panguana, a biological research station in the belly of the Amazon, where for three years she had lived, on and off, with her mother, Maria, and her father, Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke, both zoologists.

About 25 minutes after takeoff, the plane flew into a thunderstorm, was struck by lightning and broke apart. Strapped to her seat, Juliane fell some 10,000 feet, nearly two miles. Her row of seats is thought to have landed in dense foliage, cushioning the impact. Juliane was the sole survivor of the crash.

LANSA Flight 508 was the deadliest lightning-strike disaster in aviation history.

In the 50 years since the crash, Juliane moved to Germany, earned a Ph.D. in biology, became an eminent zoologist, got married — and, after her father’s death, took over as director of Panguana and the primary organizer of expeditions to the refuge.

To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Jan 08, 2023
Consider the Burying Beetle. (Or Else.)
00:25:43

The current level of biodiversity loss is extraordinary in human history: The global rate of species extinction is at least tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10 million years. 

At the end of 2022, countries around the world came together in Montreal for an agreement akin to the Paris climate accord to tackle the biodiversity crisis. Here’s more on the effort and how it seeks to confront the problem.

Guest: Catrin Einhorn, who reports on biodiversity and climate for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 06, 2023
The Life and Lies of George Santos
00:28:39

George Santos, the Republican representative-elect from New York, ran for office and won his seat in part on an inspiring personal story.

But when Times reporters started looking into his background, they made some astonishing revelations: Almost all of Mr. Santos’s story was fake.

Guests: Michael Gold, a reporter covering New York for The New York Times. Grace Ashford, a reporter covering New York politics for The Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 05, 2023
Inside Russia’s Military Catastrophe
00:25:30

This episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, many believed the country’s army would quickly crush the Ukrainian forces. Instead, Russian military failures have defined the war.

Today, we hear from Russian soldiers, and explore why a military superpower keeps making the same mistakes and why, despite it all, its soldiers keep going back to fight.

Guest: Michael Schwirtz, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Jan 04, 2023
A Crisis of Kevin McCarthy’s Own Making
00:33:19

This episode contains strong language. 
Republicans are set to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time in four years. The transition is shaping up to be chaotic. 

Today, the 118th Congress will gather for the first time in the Capitol, yet there is still a question mark over who is going to be the Republican speaker of the House. 

Why is there still a fight over leadership?

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Jan 03, 2023
One Man Flees Putin’s Draft: An Update
00:34:58

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.

Kirill, 24, worked at a nonprofit for homeless people in the Moscow region. He does not support the policies of President Vladimir V. Putin and is vehemently against the invasion of Ukraine.

After suffering setbacks in the war, Mr. Putin announced a military draft in September. Kirill was among those called up. In September, Sabrina Tavernise spoke to Kirill who was hiding to avoid being served his papers. Since then, Kirill decided to flee Russia to avoid the draft. Today, Sabrina Tavernise checks in with Kirill about what’s happened since he left his country.

Background reading

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

Dec 30, 2022
A Post-Roe America: An Update
00:37:06

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.

In May, the United States was stunned by the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that previewed the end of Roe v. Wade. After, we spoke to people on both sides of the abortion issue. Today, we revisit conversations with two women, an anti-abortion activist and an abortion provider, and discuss how their lives have changed since the end of the constitutional right to abortion.

Guests: 

  • Anja Baker, an anti-abortion activist in Mississippi who works for Her PLAN, a project of the Susan B. Anthony List Education Fund.
  • Dr. Jessica Rubino, a family medicine physician who was previously an abortion provider at Austin Women’s Health Center.

Background reading:

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

Dec 29, 2022
A View of the Beginning of Time: An Update
00:27:08

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.

In July, NASA released new images captured from a point in space one million miles from Earth. Ancient galaxies carpeting the sky like jewels on black velvet. Fledgling stars shining out from deep within cumulus clouds of interstellar dust.

Today, we return to our episode about the moment when the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space observatory ever built, sent its first images back to Earth — and explore what the telescope has discovered since then in its long journey across the universe. 

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading

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

Dec 28, 2022
How Two Friends Beat Amazon and Built a Union: An Update
00:43:28

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.

This year, we explored the story of Christian Smalls and Derrick Palmer, two Amazon workers at a warehouse in New York City, who had embarked on an improbable attempt to create the company’s first union and succeeded.

Today, we return to their story and learn about the current state of their organizing effort.

Guest: Jodi Kantor, an investigative reporter for The New York Times; and Christian Smalls and Derrick Palmer, warehouse workers who led the first successful unionization attempt at Amazon.

Background reading

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

Dec 27, 2022
On the Road With Ukraine’s Refugees: An Update
00:38:17

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.

This episode contains strong language.

This year, in response to Russia’s increasingly brutal campaign against Ukrainian towns and cities, millions of people — most of them women and children — fled Ukraine. It was the fastest displacement of people in Europe since World War II.

Today, we return to the beginning of the invasion and reporting from our host Sabrina Tavernise, who traveled alongside some of those fleeing the conflict.

Background reading

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

Dec 26, 2022
A Restaurant Critic (Ours) On the Year That Changed Him Forever
00:42:42

During his time as a restaurant critic for The Times, Pete Wells has become both feared and revered in the world of dining — crowning those at the top and dethroning those whose time has passed.

But when the pandemic arrived, handing out stars to fancy restaurants made no sense anymore. A fundamental change was needed.

Guest: Pete Wells, a restaurant critic for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

  • For the return of The Times’s star ratings this year, Pete Wells visited La Piraña Lechonera, a weekend party in a Bronx trailer where one man serves up the rich flavors of Puerto Rico.

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

Dec 23, 2022
A Crisis in Peru Signals Trouble for South America
00:31:08

A few weeks ago, when President Pedro Castillo of Peru attempted an illegal power grab and ended up in jail, the response was unexpected: Thousands of protesters took to the streets to support him, and some died.

Why does such a divisive leader have such fierce backing? And what does the upheaval in Peru tell us about the way the political winds are blowing in South America?

Guest: Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 22, 2022
The Lives They Lived
00:28:40

This episode contains descriptions of violence. 

At the end of every year, The New York Times Magazine devotes an issue to remembering those who have died in the past year.

This year’s focus is gun violence, which is now the leading cause of death for American children, and the short lives that ended far too soon because of it.

Today, we remember three of them: Lavonte’e Williams, Elijah Gomez and Shiway Barry.

On today’s episode: The voices of Cheese, Shiway Barry's best friend; Crystal Cathcart, Elijah Gomez’s aunt, and his mother, Jennifer Cathcart; and Lavonte’e Williams’s mother, Miracle Jones, and Michael Jones and Tanika Jones, his grandparents.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 21, 2022
A Congressional Call to Prosecute Trump
00:24:57

Every step of the way, the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has been groundbreaking.

As it wraps up its work, the panel referred former President Donald J. Trump to the Justice Department and accused him of four crimes, including inciting insurrection. The referrals do not carry legal weight or compel any action by the Justice Department, but they were a major escalation.

Here’s what happened during the committee’s final public meeting.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a Congressional reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 20, 2022
How This World Cup Changed Soccer
00:29:25

For weeks, much of the globe has been riveted by the highs and lows of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday, the soccer tournament culminated in a win for Argentina and its star, Lionel Messi, against France.

Here’s how the thrill of the game eclipsed the tournament’s tainted beginnings, and what that might reveal about the future.

Guest: Rory Smith, the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 19, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘He Had a Dark Secret. It Changed His Best Friend’s Life.’
00:25:53

“On his first night at the Brooklyn homeless shelter, Tin Chin met his best friend.”

So begins an unforgettable story of deceit and friendship, and the loneliness of starting life anew in a foreign country.

The journalist Sam Dolnick traces how two men came to find themselves in the homeless shelter, and how their shared backgrounds meant they became fast friends. But the story, as all good stories often do, quickly takes an unexpected turn.

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

Dec 18, 2022
Did Artificial Intelligence Just Get Too Smart?
00:33:08

This episode contains strong language.
In the past few weeks, a major breakthrough in the world of artificial intelligence — ChatGPT — has put extraordinary powers in the hands of anyone with access to the internet.

Released by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company, ChatGPT can write essays, come up with scripts for TV shows, answer math questions and even write code.

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Background reading: 

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

Dec 16, 2022
Scenes from a Russian Draft Office
00:35:08

This fall, as Russia’s losses mounted in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced a draft. Almost immediately, hundreds of thousands of men fled the country, though many more stayed.

Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, spoke to Russians at a draft office in Moscow to gauge how they felt about going to war and who they blame for the fighting.

Guest: Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent covering the war in Ukraine for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Dec 15, 2022
The Unexpected Ways the Left is Winning in the Abortion Fight
00:22:46

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this year, it appeared to be an unvarnished victory for the anti-abortion movement.

But as the year draws to a close, the realities of a post-Roe America are turning out differently than anyone predicted.

Guest: Kate Zernike, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 14, 2022
The Far-Right Plot to Overthrow Germany’s Government
00:23:03

Three thousand security officers fanned out across Germany this past week, raiding 150 homes, arresting 25 people and putting more than 50 others under investigation for plotting to overthrow the national government in Berlin.

The target of the counterterrorism operation, one of the biggest that postwar Germany has seen, was a movement known as the Reichsbürger, or citizens of the Reich.

What does the Reichsbürger plot reveal about the depth of right-wing extremism in the country?

Guest: Katrin Bennhold, the Berlin bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 13, 2022
How Layoff News Is Hiding a Hot Job Market
00:21:36

 Companies like Meta and Twitter have said that they will be cutting jobs. Google and Amazon have announced that they are putting a freeze on any new hiring.

Are tech layoffs a sign of things to come across other sectors? Is this the opening bell for the bad news on the economy that many have been bracing for?

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a correspondent covering the Federal Reserve and economy for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Dec 12, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Ukraine’s 15,000-Mile Lifeline’
01:02:21

Shortly after the war in Ukraine began, terrified civilians from across the country made their way to their cities’ main train stations.

The stations became scenes of great panic, with people jostling to be admitted onto the crowded trains. Compartments were filled 10 times their intended capacity, and people were packed shoulder to shoulder, unable to sit down. Images from these moments captured the beginning of the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

In this extensively reported article, Sarah A. Topol explores the history and cultural significance of Ukraine’s railways, and their crucial importance within the war effort.

This story was written by Sarah A. Topol and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Dec 11, 2022
A Court Case That Could Transform Elections
00:30:48

On one level, the case brought before the Supreme Court is about gerrymandering. But on a broader level, it’s about a theory that would completely reorient the relationship between the federal and state governments and upset the ordinary checks and balances.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a correspondent covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 09, 2022
Why Haiti Asked for an Intervention
00:31:40

This episode contains descriptions of distressing scenes. 

Haiti is unraveling. Gangs control much of the capital, thousands have been displaced and hundreds more are dead.

In recent weeks, the government has taken the extraordinary step of asking for an armed intervention from abroad.

What is it like on the ground, and what does the request mean for Haitians?

Guest: Natalie Kitroeff, the bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

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

Dec 08, 2022
When Book Bans Came to Small Town New Jersey
00:44:18

This episode contains strong language. 
In the contentious debate over who controls what happens in America’s schools, a new battleground has emerged: library books.

This is the story of what happened when parents in one town in New Jersey tried to remove a handful of books that they said were explicit and sexually inappropriate — and the battle that ensued.

Guest: Alexandra Alter, a reporter covering publishing and the literary world for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

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

Dec 07, 2022
The Last Senate Seat
00:28:45

Georgia voters are heading to the polls for the final battle of the 2022 midterms — the runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, Herschel Walker.

Both parties have their own challenges: Republicans have a candidate quality issue in Mr. Walker, and Democrats are concerned about the turnout of their voter coalition. One side, though, already seems resigned to losing.

Guest: Maya King, a politics reporter covering the South for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • On the eve of Georgia’s Senate runoff, Mr. Warnock warned his supporters about being overconfident, and Mr. Walker urged Republicans to flood the polls.
  • The runoff will answer a big question — what’s more powerful: a candidate’s skills and experience, or the tug of political partisanship?

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

Dec 06, 2022
Life in Ukraine as Russia Weaponizes Winter
00:21:48

For months, the war in Ukraine was about territory as both sides fought to control areas in the country’s south and east.

In recent weeks, the war has taken a new turn.

Mounting attacks on civilian infrastructure have left people across Ukraine without power, heat and sometimes water as the snow begins to fall.

Guest: Marc Santora, the International News Editor for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 05, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘How Noah Baumbach Made “White Noise” a Disaster Movie for Our Moment’
00:44:33

Jon Mooallem met with the director Noah Baumbach to discuss his latest film, an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel “White Noise.”

The pair explore the recent chain of personal and public events in Baumbach’s life, including the toll of the coronavirus pandemic and the death of his father, and how this “routine trauma” has affected his work, and why it prompted him to create a discombobulated, “elevated reality” for his film in the vein of David Lynch, the Coen brothers and Spike Lee.

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

Dec 04, 2022
Who Pays the Bill for Climate Change?
00:45:40

Last month at COP27, the U.N. climate change conference, a yearslong campaign ended in an agreement. The rich nations of the world — the ones primarily responsible for the emissions that have caused climate change — agreed to pay into a fund to help poorer nations that bear the brunt of its effects. 

In the background, however, an even more meaningful plan was taking shape, led by the tiny island nation of Barbados. 

Guest: David Gelles, a climate correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 02, 2022
A Landmark Jan. 6 Verdict
00:34:41

In a landmark verdict, a jury convicted Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia, of sedition for his role in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The charge he faced, seditious conspiracy, is one that can be traced to the American Civil War. 

How did federal prosecutors make their case, and what does the verdict tell us about just how organized the attack really was?

Guest: Alan Feuer, a reporter covering courts and criminal justice for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Dec 01, 2022
What It’s Like Inside One of China’s Protests
00:30:50

Over the weekend, protests against China’s strict coronavirus restrictions ricocheted across the country in a rare case of nationwide civil unrest. It was the most extensive series of protests since the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

This is what these demonstrations look and feel like, and what they mean for President Xi Jinping and his quest for “zero Covid.”

Guest: Vivian Wang, a China correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 30, 2022
A Secret Campaign to Influence the Supreme Court
00:40:36

For the past few months, Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker, investigative reporters for The New York Times, have looked into a secretive, yearslong effort by an anti-abortion activist to influence the justices of the Supreme Court.

This is the story of the Rev. Rob Schenck, the man who led that effort.

Guest: Jodi Kantor, an investigative reporter for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

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

Nov 29, 2022
Qatar’s Big Bet on the World Cup
00:34:14

The World Cup, the biggest single sporting event on the planet, began earlier this month. By the time the tournament finishes, half the global population is expected to have watched. 

The 2022 World Cup has also been the focus of over a decade of controversy because of its unlikely host: the tiny, energy-rich country of Qatar. 

How did such a small nation come to host the tournament, and at what cost?

Guest: Tariq Panja, a sports business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 28, 2022
Talking Turkey: A Holiday Special Edition
00:27:27

Being tasked with the turkey on Thanksgiving can be a high-pressure, high-stakes job. Two Times writers share what they’ve learned.

Kim Severson takes listeners on a journey through some of the turkey-cooking gimmicks that have been recommended to Americans over the decades, and J. Kenji López-Alt talks about his foolproof method for roasting a bird.

Guest: Kim Severson, a food correspondent for The New York Times; and J. Kenji López-Alt, a food columnist for The Times. 

Background reading: 

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

Nov 23, 2022
The ‘Tripledemic’ Explained
00:25:36

This winter, three major respiratory viruses — respiratory syncytial virus or R.S.V., the flu and the coronavirus — are poised to collide in the United States in what some health officials are calling a “tripledemic.”

What does this collision have to do with our response to the coronavirus pandemic, and why are children so far the worst affected?

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

Background reading: 

  • Most cases of Covid, flu and R.S.V. are likely to be mild, but together they may sicken millions of Americans and swamp hospitals, public health experts warned.

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

Nov 22, 2022
Trump Faces a New Special Counsel
00:25:11

Donald J. Trump is running for president again. Donald J. Trump is back on Twitter again. And now a special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate Donald J. Trump again.

In the saga of the Trump investigations, there seem to be recurring rhythms and patterns. Here’s what to know about the latest developments.

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

Background reading: 

  • The two major criminal investigations involving Mr. Trump examine his role in the lead up to Jan. 6 and his decision to retain sensitive government documents at his home in Florida.
  • What is it that makes a special counsel “special”?

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Nov 21, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay’
00:57:47

Across the world, developed nations have locked themselves into unsustainable, energy-intensive lifestyles. As environmental collapse threatens, the journalist Noah Gallagher Shannon explores the lessons in sustainability that can be learned from looking “at smaller, perhaps even less prosperous nations” such as Uruguay.

“The task of shrinking our societal footprint is the most urgent problem of our era — and perhaps the most intractable,” writes Shannon, who explains that the problem of reducing our footprints further “isn’t that we don’t have models of sustainable living; it’s that few exist without poverty.”

Tracing Uruguay’s sustainability, Shannon shows how a relatively small population size and concentration (about half of the country’s 3.5 million people live in Montevideo, the capital) had long provided the country with a collective sense of purpose. He also shows how in such a tight-knit country, the inequalities reach a rapid boil, quoting a slogan of a Marxist-Leninist group called the Tupamaros: “Everybody dances or nobody dances.”

Looking for answers to both a structural and existential problem, Shannon questions what it would take to achieve energy independence.

This story was written by Noah Gallagher Shannon and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

 

Nov 20, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Post-Mortem
00:40:41

The midterm elections have left both parties in a moment of reflection. For Republicans, it’s time to make a choice about Trumpism, but one that may no longer be theirs to make. For Democrats, it’s about how much of their future is inherently tied to the G.O.P. 

Nov 19, 2022
The Man Who Was Supposed to Save Crypto
00:33:35

Earlier this year, much of the crypto industry imploded, taking with it billions of dollars. From that crash, one company and its charismatic founder emerged as the industry’s savior.

Last week, that company collapsed.

Who is Sam Bankman-Fried, how did he become the face of crypto, and why did so many believe in him?

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a reporter covering cryptocurrencies and fintech for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 18, 2022
The Far Right Rises in Israel
00:29:16

This week, Israel swore in a new Parliament, paving the way back to power for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as he is on trial for corruption. Now, the country is on the cusp of its most right-wing government in history.

Who and what forces are behind these events in Israeli politics?

Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 17, 2022
A Republican House
00:28:11

Divided government appears poised to return to Washington. In the midterm elections, the Republicans seem likely to manage to eke out a majority in the House, but they will have a historically small margin of control.

The Republican majority will be very conservative, made up of longtime members — some of whom have drifted more to the right — and a small but influential group of hard-right Republicans who are quite allied with former President Donald J. Trump and helped lead the effort to try to overturn the 2020 election.

What can we expect from this new Republican-controlled House?

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

Background reading: 

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

Nov 16, 2022
Another Trump Campaign
00:24:58

Days after voters rejected his vision for the country in the midterms, former President Donald J. Trump is expected to announce a third run for president.

Despite the poor results for candidates he backed, why are Republican leaders powerless to stop him?

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

Background reading: 

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

Nov 15, 2022
The Nation’s ‘Report Card’ on Remote Learning
00:22:53

On the first nationwide test of American students since the pandemic, scores plummeted to levels not seen in 20 years. The results show how challenging it was to keep students on track during the pandemic.

What do the scores tell us about remote learning, who lost the most ground academically, and what can schools do to help students recover?

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

Background reading: 

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

Nov 14, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Young and Homeless in Rural America’
00:43:09

Sandra Plantz, an administrator at Gallia County Local Schools for more than 20 years, oversees areas as diverse as Title I reading remediation and federal grants for all seven of the district’s schools. In recent years, though, she has leaned in hard on a role that is overlooked in many districts: homeless liaison.

Ms. Plantz’s district, in rural Ohio, serves an area that doesn’t offer much in the way of a safety net beyond the local churches. The county has no family homeless shelters, and those with no place to go sometimes end up sleeping in the parking lot of the Walmart or at the hospital emergency room.

Homeless students have the worst educational outcomes of any group, the lowest attendance, the lowest scores on standardized tests, the lowest graduation rates. They all face the same cruel paradox: Students who do not have a stable place to live are unable to attend school regularly, and failing to graduate from high school is the single greatest risk factor for future homelessness.

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

Nov 13, 2022
How Democrats Defied the Odds
00:25:21

This week’s elections have been startlingly close. Control of both chambers of Congress remain up in the air.

Historically, the president’s party is blown away in midterms. And the Democrats were further hampered this time round by President Biden’s unpopularity.

Considering the headwinds, how did they do so well?

Guest: Nate Cohn, chief political analyst for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 10, 2022
The Republican Wave That Wasn’t
00:25:46

In the early hours of Wednesday, control of both the House and Senate remained uncertain.

Going into the midterms, some analysts expected a repudiation of the Democrats and a surge of Republican victories. But this “red wave” did not materialize. 

Today, we try to make sense of the surprising results. 

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

Background reading: 

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

Nov 09, 2022
How Democracy Itself Ended Up on the Ballot in Wisconsin
00:49:30

Over the last decade, Wisconsin has become an extreme experiment in single-party rule. Republican officials have redrawn the state’s election districts and rewritten laws to ensure their domination of the state’s legislature.

In Tuesday’s elections, those officials are asking voters for the final lever of power: control over the entire system of voting. 

Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a reporter covering elections and campaigns for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 08, 2022
John Fetterman and the Fight for White Working-Class Voters
00:41:05

For the Democrats to hold on to power in Washington, they have to do what President Biden did in Pennsylvania two years ago: Break the Republican Party’s grip on the white working-class vote, once the core of the Democratic base. 

In tomorrow’s midterm election, no race better encapsulates that challenge than the Pennsylvania Senate candidacy of John Fetterman.

Is the plan working or is this crucial group of voters now a lost cause for the Democrats?

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

Background reading: 

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

Nov 07, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Taken Under Fascism, Spain’s “Stolen Babies” Are Learning the Truth’
01:00:26

The phenomenon of babies stolen from hospitals in Spain, once shrouded in secrecy, is now being spoken about.

The thefts happened during the end of the regime of Francisco Franco, the right-wing dictator who ruled the country until 1975, and even today the disappearances remain a subject of mystery and debate among scholars.

According to the birth mothers, nuns who worked in maternity wards took the infants shortly after they were delivered and told the women, who were often unwed or poor, that their children were stillborn. But the babies were not dead: They had been sold, discreetly, to well-off Catholic parents, many of whom could not have families of their own. Under piles of forged papers, the adoptive families buried the secret of the crime they committed. The children who were taken were known in Spain simply as the “stolen babies.” No one knows exactly how many were kidnapped, but estimates suggest tens of thousands.

Nicholas Casey relates Ana Belén Pintado’s discovery, after the deaths of her parents, that she was a “stolen baby,” and considers the web of culpability and the tricky question of blame, as Spain reckons with its past.

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

 

Nov 06, 2022
‘The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 2
00:57:28

This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. It wasn’t long ago that Democrats used to brag about the coalition they had built — full of young people, minority voters and college-educated women. Today, we talk to members of the Democratic base, many of whom no longer see a clear path forward for the party.

“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. You can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/therunup for more.

Nov 05, 2022
Can Abortion Still Save the Democrats?
00:38:29

With an unpopular president and soaring inflation, Democrats knew they had an uphill battle in the midterms.

But the fall of Roe v. Wade seemed to offer the party a way of energizing voters and holding ground. And one place where that hope could live or die is Michigan.

Guest: Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 04, 2022
Why the Supreme Court Might End Affirmative Action
00:25:46

For decades, many universities have used race as a factor when deciding which students to admit. In the past, the Supreme Court has backed that practice, called affirmative action, in the interest of creating a diverse student body.

This week, however, the majority-conservative court is considering a case that may change affirmative action forever.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a correspondent covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Nov 03, 2022
The Man Who Tried to Kidnap Nancy Pelosi
00:28:32

Early on Friday, an intruder broke into the San Francisco home of Nancy Pelosi and bludgeoned Ms. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, with a hammer.

The shocking attack underlined fears about the growing number of threats against members of Congress and the woeful lack of security around those lawmakers.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Nov 02, 2022
Twitter in the Time of Elon Musk
00:25:08

It was long awaited, and some doubted that it would ever come to pass, but last week, the tech billionaire Elon Musk officially took over Twitter.

The platform was once the place of underdogs, a public square that allowed users to challenge the moneyed and powerful. Is that about to change?

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times, and co-host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Background reading: 

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

Nov 01, 2022
Xi Jinping Opens a New Chapter for China
00:25:20

Four years ago, Xi Jinping set himself up to become China’s leader indefinitely.

At last week’s Communist Party congress in Beijing, he stepped into that role, making a notable sweep of the country’s other top leaders and placing even greater focus on national security.

Guest: Chris Buckley, chief China correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 31, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Why We Take Animal Voyages’
00:26:38

For Sam Anderson, a staff writer, traveling with animals can lead to enlightening experience. In this essay for The New York Times Magazine, Mr. Anderson explores what he has learned from a lifetime of voyaging with animals, and what it means to connect with another creature: bridging spiritual, physical and even temporal distances, and reaching into “something like evolutionary time.”

“An animal voyage,” Mr. Anderson writes, “is special because it requires us to make many journeys all at once.”

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

Oct 30, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 1
00:52:02

This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. Today, we talk to conservative voters about the forces animating the midterm elections for them — and what Washington can learn from the people. 

What do you think of “The Run-Up” so far? Please take our listener survey at nytimes.com/therunupsurvey. 

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Oct 29, 2022
Two Futures Face Off in Brazil
00:28:31

Voters in Brazil on Sunday will choose between two larger-than-life, populist candidates in a presidential race that is widely seen as the nation’s — and Latin America’s — most important election in decades.

Who are the candidates, and why is the future of Brazilian democracy also on the ballot?

Guest: Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • The contest — a matchup between Brazil’s two biggest political heavyweights — could swing either way and promises to prolong what has already been a bruising battle that has polarized the nation and tested the strength of its democracy.
  • For the past decade, Brazil has lurched from one crisis to the next. Brazilians will decide between two men who are deeply tied to its tumultuous past.

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

Oct 28, 2022
Is New York (of All Places) About to Go Red?
00:23:46

As Democratic Party leaders assessed their vulnerabilities in this year’s midterm elections, the one state they did not worry about was New York. That — it turns out — was a mistake.

Despite being a blue state through and through, and a place President Donald J. Trump lost by 23 points two years ago, the red tide of this moment is lapping at New York’s shores.

Why is New York up for grabs?

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

Background reading: 

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

Oct 27, 2022
The Trump Subpoena
00:27:55

A few days ago, when the House committee investigating Jan. 6 issued a subpoena to former President Donald J. Trump, it raised a legal question: Can Congress compel a former president to testify?

The committee’s move, while dramatic, is not without precedent.

What do presidential subpoenas of the past teach us about the moment we’re in, and about what the former president might do next?

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 26, 2022
How Europe’s Energy Crisis Exposed Old Fault Lines and New Anxieties
00:22:03

In the early days of its war on Ukraine, Russia cut off gas supplied to most of Europe, plunging the continent into the most severe energy crisis in decades.

Soaring prices have put some European leaders on the defensive over their support of Ukraine in the war as they navigate economic crises and bubbling unrest at home.

Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Brussels bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • European countries are facing dwindling supplies of Russian natural gas. The scarcity has distorted the market, driving gas prices to historic highs and pulling up the price of electricity.
  • The downfall of Britain’s prime minister sent perhaps the clearest signal yet that political peril awaits those who fail to address inflation and the erosion of living standards.

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

Oct 25, 2022
Running an Election in the Heart of Election Denialism
00:49:14

This episode contains strong language. 

Hundreds of candidates on the ballot in November still deny that President Biden won in 2020 — a level of denialism that is fueling harassment and threats toward election workers. 

Few have experienced those attacks as viscerally as election workers in Arizona. Today, we speak with the top election official in the state’s largest county. 

Guest: Stephen Richer, the recorder of Maricopa County in Arizona. 

Background reading: 

  • Election officials are on alert as voting begins for midterm elections, the biggest test of the American election system since former President Donald J. Trump’s lies about the 2020 results launched an assault on the democratic process.
  • Over 370 Republican candidates have cast doubt on the 2020 election despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, according to a New York Times investigation.

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

Oct 24, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘How Yiyun Li Became a Beacon for Readers in Mourning’
00:32:57

Yiyun Li has garnered legions of fans with her unsparing prose, writing extensively about her own struggles with depression and suicidality.

Her latest novel, “The Book of Goose,” is no different, sharing the same quality that has made Ms. Li something of a beacon to those suffering beneath unbearable emotional weight.

Alexandra Kleeman, also a novelist, meets Ms. Li to discover the secrets of her charm, her experience of growing up in China and her writing process.

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

Oct 23, 2022
'The Run-Up': What 12 Years of Gerrymandering Has Done to Wisconsin
00:34:02

How a 12-year project to lock in political power in Wisconsin could culminate in this year’s midterms – and provide a glimpse into where the rest of the country is headed. 

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Oct 22, 2022
The Rapid Downfall of Liz Truss
00:30:23

Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain has resigned after only 44 days in office. Hers is the shortest premiership in the country’s history.

What led to her downfall, and why has Britain entered a period of such profound political dysfunction?

Guest: Mark Landler, the London bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 21, 2022
Why Republicans Are Winning Swing Voters
00:24:44

After a summer of news that favored Democrats and with just two weeks until the midterms, a major new poll from The Times has found that swing voters are suddenly turning to the Republicans.

The Times’s Nate Cohn explains what is behind the trend and what it could mean for Election Day.

Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 20, 2022
Race, Power and the Leaked Recording in Los Angeles
00:28:12

This episode contains strong language.
A leaked audio recording of Latino lawmakers in Los Angeles making racist comments has created a political firestorm and brought demands for resignations.

But not only has the uproar forced the authorities to reckon with what officials say behind closed doors, it has also raised a sharp issue: Why is a city with so many Latino constituents represented by so few of them?

Guest: Shawn Hubler, a California correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 19, 2022
Did Hurricane Ian Bust Florida’s Housing Boom?
00:31:25

Since Hurricane Ian devastated southwestern Florida last month, residents have filed a record number of insurance claims for the damage caused by the storm.

Today, Chris Flavelle, a climate reporter for The Times, discusses whether the insurance companies can survive. And if they can’t, what will the effect be on Florida’s housing market, the cornerstone of its economy?

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 18, 2022
The Personal and Political Saga of Herschel Walker
00:29:30

Herschel Walker, the former football star who is running for the Senate, is, according to the Times political reporter Maya King, a “demigod in Georgia sports and in Georgia culture.”

The midterm election in that state is crucial — it could determine whether Democrats keep control of the Senate. Mr. Walker’s candidacy, however, has been tainted by a slew of stories about his character, including claims that he paid for an abortion for a former girlfriend despite publicly opposing the procedure.

Guest: Maya King, a politics reporter covering the South for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 17, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Daring to Speak Up About Race in a Divided School District’
00:51:51

In July 2020, Stephanie Long, the school superintendent in Leland, Mich., wrote a heartfelt letter to her students and their families after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers. Haunted by the images she’d seen in the media, she wrote: “Why be in a position of leadership,” she asked herself, “and not lead?”

“All people of color,” Ms. Long typed, “need us to stand with them to clearly state that we condemn acts of systematic and systemic racism and intolerance.” She envisioned profound pedagogical changes in her school; she imagined creating illuminating discussions within classrooms and searching, transformative conversations in the community beyond. She hit send. A degree of support came in reply. A letter of praise signed by 200 Leland alumni was published in a peninsula newspaper.

But angry emails, phone calls and letters poured in from within the district and, because Long’s message made the local news and spread over the internet, from across the country. They labeled her “a disgrace,” “a Marxist,” “a traitor.”

Daniel Bergner, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, wrote about what happened when a superintendent in northern Michigan raised the issue of systemic racism.

This story was written by Daniel Bergner recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

 

Oct 16, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Stacey Abrams Playbook
00:37:31

When Georgia flipped blue in the 2020 election, it gave Democrats new hope for the future. Credit for that success goes to Stacey Abrams and the playbook she developed for the state. It cemented her role as a national celebrity, in politics and pop culture. But, unsurprisingly, that celebrity has also made her a target of Republicans, who say she’s a losing candidate. On today’s episode: the Stacey Abrams playbook, and why the Georgia governor’s race means more to Democrats than a single elected office.

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Oct 15, 2022
The Fear Facer: An Update
00:33:18

In 2019, Julia Longoria, then a Daily producer, traveled to Nashville to speak with Ella Maners and her mother, Katie Maners.

Ella, 8 going on 9, was terrified of tornadoes and getting sick. So she did something that was even scarier than her fears: confront them at Fear Facers camp.

We revisit her story and catch up with Ella, now 12 and in the fifth grade, who has since returned to the camp.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 14, 2022
'The Decision of My Life': Part 3
00:38:00

This episode contains mention of suicide.

A year ago, Lynsea Garrison, a senior producer on The Daily, started telling the story of N, a teenager in Afghanistan.

N’s family tried to force her to marry a member of the Taliban, but she resisted. When she tried to escape to the U.S., however, her case was rejected, so she had to remain in Kabul, fearful and in hiding.

Here’s what happened next.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, and you live in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). You can find a list of additional resources at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources. Additional resources in other countries can be found here.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 13, 2022
A Bridge, a Bomb and Putin’s Revenge
00:20:49

Just before the sun came up on Saturday on the Kerch Strait Bridge, a strategically and symbolically important link between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, a bomb detonated, creating a giant fireball.

But Ukrainian elation about the explosion quickly turned into concern about how Russia would respond. And in the days since, Moscow’s retaliation has been to pound Ukrainian cities with missiles in the most sweeping rocket assault since the start of the war.

Guest: Michael Schwirtz, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 12, 2022
The Rise of the Single-Family Home
00:34:29

To tackle its critical shortage of affordable housing, California has taken aim at a central tenet of the American dream: the single-family home.

Telling the story of one such property, in San Diego, can teach us about the larger housing crisis and how we might solve it.

Guest: Conor Dougherty, an economics reporter at The New York Times and author of “Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America.”

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Oct 11, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘The Search for Intelligent Life Is About to Get a Lot More Interesting’
00:42:06

The search for intelligence beyond Earth has long entranced humans. According to Jon Gertner, a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, this search has been defined “by an assumption that extraterrestrials would have developed radio technologies akin to what humans have created.”

However, Mr. Gertner writes, “rather than looking for direct calls to Earth, telescopes now sweep the sky, searching billions of frequencies simultaneously, for electronic signals whose origins can’t be explained by celestial phenomena.”

What scientists are most excited about is the prospect of other planets’ civilizations being able to create the same “telltale chemical and electromagnetic signs,” or, as they are now called, “technosignatures.”

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

Oct 09, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Blueprint
00:43:37

How the Republican grass roots got years ahead of a changing country, and whether the Democrats can catch up.

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

 

Oct 08, 2022
What Are Tactical Nuclear Weapons, and What if Russia Uses Them?
00:28:50

If President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia follows through on his threats to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, he is likely to turn to a specific type.

Tactical nuclear weapons have a fraction of the strength of the Hiroshima bomb and of the super bombs and city busters that people worried about during the Cold War.

What exactly are these weapons, how did they develop and what would it mean if Mr. Putin resorted to them in the war in Ukraine?

Guest: William J. Broad, a science reporter and senior writer for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

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

Oct 07, 2022
Why Is It So Hard to Hit the Brakes on Inflation?
00:26:49

In the struggle to control inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times already this year.

But those efforts can be blunted if companies keep raising prices regardless. And one industry has illustrated that difficulty particularly starkly: the car market.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a federal reserve and economy reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Many companies have been able to raise prices beyond their own increasing costs over the past two years, swelling their profitability but also exacerbating inflation. That is especially true in the car market.
  • Inflation stayed far above the Federal Reserve’s goal in August, as prices climbed more quickly than economists expected.

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

Oct 06, 2022
Pakistan, Under Water
00:35:39

A few weeks into this year’s monsoon season in Pakistan, it became clear that the rains were unlike anything the country had experienced in a long time.

The resulting once-in-a-generation flood has marooned entire villages and killed 1,500 people, leaving a trail of destruction, starvation and disease.

Guest: Christina Goldbaum, an Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 05, 2022
Another Momentous Term for the Supreme Court
00:29:36

The last Supreme Court term was a blockbuster. The justices made a number of landmark rulings, including in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

The new term could be just as testing, with a series of deeply divisive cases on the docket.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a correspondent covering the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Oct 04, 2022
The Latino Voters Who Could Decide the Midterms
00:35:16

Latino voters have never seemed more electorally important than in the coming midterm elections: the first real referendum on the Biden era of government.

Latinos make up 20 percent of registered voters in two crucial Senate races — Arizona and Nevada — and as much or more in over a dozen competitive House races.

In the past 10 years, the conventional wisdom about Latino voters has been uprooted. We explore a poll, conducted by The Times, to better understand how they view the parties vying for their vote.

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

Background reading: 

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

Oct 03, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘The Safe Space That Became a Viral Nightmare’
01:07:22

In September 2021, a group of female minority students at Arizona State University confronted two white male students who were studying in the library’s multicultural center.

The women were upset with what they saw as blatant antagonism: One of the men sported a “Didn’t Vote for Biden” shirt, the other had a “Police Lives Matter” laptop sticker. The women felt they had chosen the multicultural center in order to rile them. A heated row between both parties erupted, a video of which quickly went viral, threatening to upend the lives of all involved.

For The New York Times, Sarah Viren, a journalist and essayist, explored the incident in the context of “the widening gyre of the culture wars.” The row at Arizona State was, she explained, “a symbolic fight,” one that raised questions of “wokeism” and “free speech,” the perils of viral videos, and the purpose of “safe spaces.”

“It was a brief drama that was also a metaphor,” Ms. Viren wrote. “But watching and rewatching that drama unfold from my computer, I kept asking myself: a metaphor for what?”

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

Oct 02, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Guardrails
00:46:57

Why we can’t understand this moment in politics without first understanding the transformation of American evangelicalism.

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Oct 01, 2022
Florida After Hurricane Ian
00:31:38

As the sun came up over Florida yesterday, a fuller picture began to emerge of the destruction that Hurricane Ian had inflicted on the state and its residents.

The Category 4 storm washed away roads, bridges, cars, boats and homes. The damage is so extensive that, according to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, it may take years to rebuild.

Guests: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times; Richard Fausset, a Times correspondent based in Atlanta; Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, a national news reporter for The Times; and Hilary Swift, a photojournalist.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 30, 2022
One Man Flees Putin’s Draft
00:38:13

Kirill, 24, works at a nonprofit for homeless people in the Moscow region. He does not support the policies of President Vladimir V. Putin and is vehemently against the invasion of Ukraine.

After suffering setbacks in the war, Mr. Putin announced a military draft a week ago. Kirill was among those called up. As he hides out to avoid being served his papers, Kirill spoke to Sabrina Tavernise about how his life has changed.

Guest: Kirill, a 24-year-old from Moscow who is attempting to avoid the draft and who asked that only his first name be used to avoid reprisals.

Background reading: 

  • In a rare admission of official mistakes, the Kremlin has acknowledged that the military draft has been rife with problems.
  • Resistance to the draft has grown as villagers, activists and even some elected officials ask why the conscription drive appears to be hitting minority groups and rural areas harder than the big cities.

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

Sep 29, 2022
An Iranian Uprising Led By Women
00:29:24

Mahsa Amini, 22, traveled from her hometown in the province of Kurdistan to the Iranian capital, Tehran, this month. Emerging from the subway, she was arrested for failing to cover her hair modestly enough. Three days later, she was dead.

The anger over Ms. Amini’s death has prompted days of rage, exhilaration and street battles across Iran, with women stripping off their head scarves — and even burning them — in the most significant outpouring of dissent against the ruling system in more than a decade.

Guest: Farnaz Fassihi, a reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • The protests have been striking for the way they have cut across ethnic and social class divides, but there is one group that has risen up with particular fury.
  • Beyond the anger over Ms. Amini’s death lies a range of grievances: a collapsing economy, brazen corruption, suffocating repression, and social restrictions handed down by a handful of elderly clerics.

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

Sep 28, 2022
The Great Pandemic Theft
00:31:38

During the pandemic, an enormous amount of money — about $5 trillion in total — was spent to help support the newly unemployed and to prop up the U.S. economy while it was forced into suspension.

But the funds came with few strings and minimal oversight. The result: one of the largest frauds in American history, with billions of dollars stolen by thousands of people.

Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, focused on nonprofits.

Background reading: 

  • Investigators say there was so much fraud in federal Covid-relief programs that — even after two years of work and hundreds of prosecutions — they’re still just getting started.
  • A federal watchdog almost tripled its estimate of the amount of unemployment benefits paid out to people who weren’t entitled to them, raising the figure to $45.6 billion, from $16 billion.

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

Sep 27, 2022
Why Fewer American Children Are Living in Poverty
00:27:15

The high poverty rate among children was long seen as an enduring fact of American life. But a recent analysis has shown that the number of young people growing up poor has fallen dramatically in the past few decades.

The reasons for the improvement are complicated, but they have their roots in a network of programs and support shaped by years of political conflict and compromise.

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

Background reading: 

  • Child poverty in the United States has fallen 59 percent since 1993, a new analysis showed.
  • Few states have experienced larger declines in child poverty than West Virginia. One family’s story illustrates the real-life impact that an expanded safety net has provided to millions across America.

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

Sep 26, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘The Quest by Circadian Medicine to Make the Most of Our Body Clocks’
00:54:26

The concept of having a “body clock” is a familiar one, but less widespread is the awareness that our body contains several biological clocks. Understanding their whims and functions may help us optimize our lives and lead to better overall health, according to scientists.

Every physiological system is represented by a clock, from the liver to the lungs, and each one is synced “to the central clock in the brain like an orchestra section following its conductor,” writes Kim Tingley, a New York Times journalist who explored the effect this knowledge has on how conditions are treated, and spoke to scientists about how misalignment or deregulation of these clocks can have a profound effect on our health.

Exploring the components that dictate our lives, and how they work together like the “gears in a mechanical watch,” Ms. Tingley builds a case for the importance of paying attention to all our circadian rhythms — and not just when it comes to monitoring our sleep.

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

Sep 25, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Republic
00:46:42

In kicking off the midterms, Joe Biden talked about American democracy as a shared value, enshrined in the country’s founding — a value that both Democrats and Republicans should join together in defending. But there is another possible view of this moment. One that is shared by two very different groups: the voters who propelled Biden to the presidency … and the conservative activists who are rejecting democracy altogether.

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

 


 

 

Sep 24, 2022
The Pastors Being Driven Out by Trumpism
00:41:38

Evangelicals make up about a quarter of the population in the United States and are part of the nation’s largest religious group. But lately the movement is in crisis.

The biggest issue is church attendance. Many churches closed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and struggled to reopen while congregations thinned.

But a smaller audience isn’t the only problem: Pastors are quitting, or at least considering doing so.

 

Guest: Ruth Graham is a national correspondent covering religion, faith and values for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 23, 2022
Putin’s Escalation of the War in Ukraine
00:21:15

In a speech on Wednesday, President Vladimir V. Putin said that he would require hundreds of thousands more Russians to fight in Ukraine — and alarmed the West by once again raising the specter of nuclear force.

The mobilization signals that Mr. Putin is turning the war from one of aggression to one of defense, offering clues about what the next phase of the fighting will involve.

Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 22, 2022
How Border Politics Landed in Martha’s Vineyard
00:33:15

Last week, nearly 50 Venezuelan migrants showed up, without warning, on the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Their arrival was the culmination of a monthslong strategy by two of the United States’ most conservative governors to lay the issue of undocumented immigration at Democrats’ doorstep.

How has this strategy played out and what has it meant for the migrants caught in the middle?

Guest: Miriam Jordan, a national correspondent covering immigration for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 21, 2022
Why Adnan Syed Was Released From Prison
00:20:24

Adnan Syed was accused of the 1999 killing of his classmate and ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, whose body was found buried in a car park in Baltimore.

He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but has proclaimed his innocence for the last 23 years.

Mr. Syed was the subject of the first season of the podcast “Serial,” which painstakingly examined his case and the evidence against him.

Yesterday, his conviction was overturned. On today’s episode, the “Serial” team looks at how this happened. 

Guest: Sarah Koenig, the host and executive producer of the “Serial” podcast.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 20, 2022
Can the U.K. Remain United Without the Queen?
00:35:18

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth today will be one of the most extraordinary public spectacles of the last several decades in Britain, accompanied by an outpouring of sadness, reverence and respect.

But the end of the queen’s 70-year reign has also prompted long-delayed conversations about the future of the Commonwealth and of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom.

Guest: Mark Landler, the London bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 19, 2022
The Sunday Read: “Why Do We Love TikTok Audio Memes? Call it ‘Brainfeel.’”
00:28:44

“Nobody’s gonna know. They’re gonna know.”

If you’ve been on TikTok in the past year, you’re most likely familiar with these two sentences, first drolly uttered in a post by TikTok creator Chris Gleason in 2020. The post has become a hit and has been viewed more than 14 million times.

But the sound is more famous than the video.

When uploading a video to TikTok, the creator has the option to make that video’s audio a “sound” that other users can easily use in their own videos — lip-syncing to it, adding more noise on top of it or treating it like a soundtrack. Gleason’s sound has been used in at least 336,000 other videos, to humorous, dramatic and sometimes eerie effect.

The journalist Charlotte Shane delves into the world of repurposed sounds, exploring how TikTok and other apps have enabled, as she writes in her recent article for The Times, “cross-user riffing and engagement, like quote-tweeting for audio.” She also considers “what makes a sound compelling beyond musical qualities or linguistic meaning.”

While “brainfeel” may be an apt buzzword for the sensation audio memes elicit, Ms. Shane writes, it is more than a mere trend: We have entered the “era of the audio meme.”

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

Sep 18, 2022
'The Run-Up': The Autopsy
00:41:14

It’s March 2013. The G.O.P., in tatters, issues a scathing report blaming its electoral failures on an out-of-touch leadership that ignores minorities at its own peril. Just three years later, Donald Trump proves his party dead wrong. Today, how certain assumptions took hold of both parties — and what they’re still getting wrong — heading into the midterm elections.

Sep 17, 2022
Promise and Peril at the Bottom of the Sea
00:33:37

The adoption of electric cars has been hailed as an important step in curbing the use of fossil fuels and fighting climate change. There is a snag, however: such vehicles require around six times as many metals as their gasoline-powered counterparts.

A giant storehouse of the necessary resources sits at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. But retrieving them may, in turn, badly damage the environment.

Guest: Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 16, 2022
Could a National Abortion Ban Save Republicans?
00:21:52

With the midterm elections a few weeks away, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, forwarded a plan to save his party from the growing backlash over abortion.

But the proposal — a federal ban on almost all terminations after 15 weeks — has served mostly to expose the division among Republicans about the issue.

Guest: Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 15, 2022
The College Pricing Game
00:26:57

When President Biden canceled college debt last month, he left untouched the problem that created that debt: the soaring price of college.

In the 1980s, the list price of undergraduate education at a private four-year institution could hit $20,000 a year. At some of these schools in the last couple of years, it has topped $80,000. 

Why has a college education become increasingly costly, and why has that become such a difficult problem to solve?

Guest: Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist for The New York Times and author of “The Price You Pay for College.”

Background reading: 

  • Instead of making higher education free, the United States subsidizes it later through repayment plans and attempts at debt cancellation. The complexity is disrespectful, Ron Lieber writes in his “Your Money” column.
  • Also from “Your Money”: Student loan borrowers don’t deserve “forgiveness,” they deserve an apology

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

Sep 14, 2022
Is Ukraine Turning the Tide in the War?
00:21:57

Over the weekend, Ukraine’s military stunned the world. After months of a kind of stalemate, its military took hundreds of miles of territory back from Russia — its biggest victory since the start of the war.

How did the war reach this critical point, and what does Ukraine’s success mean for the future?

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a correspondent covering national security for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 13, 2022
Serena Williams’s Final Run
00:42:36

The U.S. Open crowned its winners this weekend. But for a lot of fans, this year’s competition was less about who won, and more about a player who wasn’t even involved in the final matches.

Serena Williams, who announced last month that she’d be retiring from tennis after this year’s tournament, has made an indelible impact on her sport and left a legacy away from the court that has very little precedent.

Guest: Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The New York Times and co-host of Times podcast “Still Processing.”

Background reading: 

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

Sep 12, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘How the Claremont Institute Became a Nerve Center of the American Right’
00:59:17

The Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank in California, has in recent years become increasingly influential in Republican circles. In 2016, its goal was to turn Donald J. Trump into a legitimate candidate — and then it did .

The journalist Elisabeth Zerofsky traces the origins of the divisive organization, explaining how it made the intellectual case for Trumpism but also how, with ties to Ron DeSantis and John Eastman, the think tank has become a home for “counterrevolutionary” politics that go far beyond the former president.

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

Sep 11, 2022
How Queen Elizabeth II Preserved the Monarchy
00:33:20

The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday brought to an end a remarkable reign that spanned seven decades, 15 prime ministers and 14 American presidents.

During her time on the throne, which saw the crumbling of the British Empire and the buffeting of the royal family by scandals, Elizabeth’s courtly and reserved manner helped to shore up the monarchy and provided an unwavering constant for her country, the Commonwealth and the wider world.

Guest: Alan Cowell, a contributor to The New York Times and a former Times foreign correspondent.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 09, 2022
Is California Jump-Starting the Electric Vehicle Revolution?
00:33:43

As California watches the impact of rising temperatures devastate its environment with brutal heat waves and raging fires, the state is taking increasingly far-reaching steps to combat climate change.

One of those measures — banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 — could prove a turning point for the transition to electric vehicles.

Guest: Neal E. Boudette, an automotive correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 08, 2022
A Nuclear Power Plant on Ukraine’s Front Lines
00:23:26

A counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces to try to drive Russian troops out of southern Ukraine has placed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, directly in the path of the fighting.

As the world scrambles to prevent a catastrophe, the plant’s workers find themselves in a dangerously precarious position.

Guest: Marc Santora, an international news editor for The New York Times, currently based in Kyiv. 

Background reading: 

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

Sep 07, 2022
Introducing: 'The Run-Up'
00:14:12

In November, Americans will head to the polls for the first nationwide election since the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. But what happens this fall won’t just be about who wins and who loses. On the first episode of "The Run-Up,” host Astead Herndon lays out the stakes of the midterm elections and explores the big questions the podcast is looking to answer. 

The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. You can follow it wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Sep 06, 2022
A User's Guide to the Midterm Elections
00:42:44

Today marks the unofficial start of the campaign for the midterm elections. This year’s midterms will be the first major referendum on the Biden era of government — and a test of how much voters want to reinstall the Trump wing of the Republican Party.

On today’s episode, Astead W. Herndon, a political reporter and the host of our new podcast, “The Run-Up,” offers a guide to the campaign. He’ll explore the forces at play in this election and how we arrived at such a fraught moment in American politics.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 06, 2022
Vancouver’s Unconventional Approach to Its Fentanyl Crisis
00:33:33

 An influx of Fentanyl, a highly lethal synthetic narcotic, has aggravated the opioid crisis in the United States and prompted communities to scramble for ways to lower the skyrocketing rates of overdose deaths.

In Vancouver, a Canadian city that has been at the forefront of innovative approaches to drug use, a novel and surprising tactic is being tried: It’s called “safer supply.”

Guest: Stephanie Nolen, a global health reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 02, 2022
How Gorbachev Changed the World
00:41:57

Few leaders have had as profound an effect on their time as Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who died this week at 91.

It was not Mr. Gorbachev’s intention to liquidate the Soviet empire when he came to power in 1985. But after little more than six tumultuous years, he had lifted the Iron Curtain and presided over the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, ending the Cold War.

Guest: Serge Schmemann, a member of The New York Times’s editorial board.

Background reading: 

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

Sep 01, 2022
The Parkland Students, Four Years Later
00:27:59

This episode contains detailed descriptions of a mass shooting that some listeners may find disturbing.

A trial is underway in Parkland, Fla., to determine the fate of the gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

The trial is expected to last for months, forcing people in Parkland to relive the pain of a day they have spent years trying to put behind them.

We look back at conversations with some of the survivors of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

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

Background reading: 

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

Aug 31, 2022
Inside the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis
00:29:02

This episode contains discussions about suicide, self-harm and mental health issues.

In decades past, the public health risks teenagers in the United States faced were different. They were externalized risks that were happening in the physical world.

Now, a new set of risks has emerged.

In 2019, 13 percent of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007. And suicide rates, which had been stable from 2000 to 2007 among this group, leaped nearly 60 percent by 2018.

We explore why this mental health crisis has become so widespread, and why many people have been unprepared to handle it.

Guest: Matt Richtel, a correspondent based in San Francisco for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 30, 2022
Is a Local Prosecutor Making the Strongest Case Against Trump?
00:29:03

Since he left office, former President Donald J. Trump has been facing several investigations.

They include the congressional inquiry into the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol and the F.B.I.’s search of Mar-a-Lago, his club and Florida residence, as part of an investigation into his handling of classified material.

Of all the government investigations, the one that is receiving the least attention — a case being made by a local prosecutor in Georgia — may end up being the most consequential.

Guest: Richard Fausset, a correspondent based in Atlanta for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 29, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘She’s at Brown. Her Heart’s Still in Kabul.’
00:52:00

Going to college can be a shock to most: Leaving the comfort of friends and family for a leap into the unknown, a fresh start. But what is the university experience like as a refugee?

The journalist Maddy Crowell met some of the 148 Afghan women who have been enrolled in U.S. colleges to complete their degrees, and relates how they have adapted to American and collegiate life a year on from the fall of Kabul.

It has, she finds, been far from easy. Ms. Crowell wrote that one student said “she spent her days pinballing among exhaustion, despair and a sort of cautious optimism.”

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

 

Aug 28, 2022
A New Plan for Student Loans
00:24:42

President Biden’s announcement this week that he would cancel chunks of student loan debt stands to have a major impact for many of the 45 million Americans who owe $1.6 trillion for having gone to college.

Who will benefit from the plan, what will the cost be to the taxpayer and the economy, and, ultimately, could the White House have done more?

Guest: Stacy Cowley, a finance reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 26, 2022
Who Killed Daria Dugina?
00:24:09

Daria Dugina and her father, Aleksandr Dugin, have been major figures in the Russian propaganda landscape, advocating Russian imperialism and supporting the invasion of Ukraine.

But a few days ago, Ms. Dugina was killed in a car bomb after leaving a nationalist festival, fueling speculation about who carried out the attack and whether Moscow’s reaction could affect the war in Ukraine.

Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 25, 2022
The Rise of Workplace Surveillance
00:31:43

Across industries and income brackets, a growing number of American workers are discovering that their productivity is being electronically monitored by their bosses.

This technology is giving employers a means to gauge what their employees are doing and it’s already impacting how much and when people get paid.

Times investigative reporters have discovered that this tracking software is more common than one might think.

Guest: Jodi Kantor, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Aug 24, 2022
The Effort to Punish Women for Having Abortions
00:33:36

Even as the anti-abortion movement celebrates victories at the Supreme Court and in many states across the country, there is debate about where to go next.

A hard-edge faction is pursuing “abortion abolition,” a move to criminalize abortion from conception, targeting not only the providers but also the women who have the procedure.

Guest: Elizabeth Dias, a correspondent covering faith and politics for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Aug 23, 2022
A Coal Miner’s Political Transformation
00:38:24

For more than 500 days, coal miners in rural Alabama have been on strike. Around 900 workers walked off the job in April 2021, and they haven’t been back since.

As the strike drags on, the miners are discovering that neither political party is willing to fight for them.

For Braxton Wright, 39, a second-generation coal miner and, until recently, a Republican, the experience has altered his view of American politics.

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

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Aug 22, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Can Planting a Trillion New Trees Save the World?’
00:50:42

In the past decade, planting trees has come to represent many things: a virtuous act, a practical solution and a symbol of hope in the face of climate change. But can planting a trillion trees really save the world?

Visiting the Eden Reforestation Projects in Goiás, Brazil, and interviewing numerous international scientists and activists, the journalist Zach St. George offers a vivid insight into the root of the tree-planting movement — from the Green Belt Movement of the 1970s to the Trillion Tree Campaign of the 2010s — and considers the concept’s environmental potential, as well as the movement’s shortcomings.

This story was written by Zach St. George and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Aug 21, 2022
Cosmic Questions
00:24:54

What is a black hole? Why do we remember the past but not the future? If time had a beginning, does it have an end?

We don’t have the answers to some of the universe’s biggest questions. What we do know often feels bleak, such as the notion that in a billion years there will most likely be no life on Earth. Or the reality that someday the entire human race will probably be forgotten.

Nonetheless, people search for answers. These are some of the cosmic questions that haunt the human experience.

Guest: Dennis Overbye, the cosmic affairs correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 19, 2022
About Those Documents at Mar-a-Lago
00:21:54

Last week, the F.B.I. took the extraordinary step of searching Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald J. Trump’s private club and Florida home. Their goal? To find materials he was thought to have improperly removed from the White House, including classified documents.

An inventory of the material taken from the search showed that agents seized 11 sets of documents with some type of confidential or secret marking on them.

We explore some of the latest developments in the case.

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

Background reading: 

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

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

Aug 18, 2022
The Summer of Airline Chaos
00:23:37

Across the United States, airline travel this summer has been roiled by canceled flights, overbooked planes, disappointment and desperation.

Two and a half years after the pandemic began and with restrictions easing, why is flying still such an unpleasant experience?

Guest: Niraj Chokshi, a business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • The question for many travelers is whether they can trust airlines to get them where they want to go on time. Here is what to know about the air travel mess.
  • Travelers on both sides of the Atlantic have endured long lines, delays or cancellations, and plenty of frustration. Is this the new normal?

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

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

Aug 17, 2022
The Taliban Takeover, One Year Later
00:22:55

One year ago this week, when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, they promised to institute a modern form of Islamic government that honored women’s rights.

That promise evaporated with a sudden decision to prohibit girls from going to high school, prompting questions about which part of the Taliban is really running the country.

Guest: Matthieu Aikins, a writer based in Afghanistan for The New York Times and the author of “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees.”

Background reading: 

  • After barring girls from high school — and harboring a leader of Al Qaeda — the Taliban risks jeopardizing the billions of dollars of global aid that keeps Afghans alive.

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

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

Aug 16, 2022
The Tax Loophole That Won’t Die
00:26:29

Carried interest is a loophole in the United States tax code that has stood out for its egregious unfairness and stunning longevity. 

Typically, the richest of the rich pay 40 percent tax on their income. The very narrow, select group that benefits from carried interest pays only 20 percent. 

Earlier versions of the Inflation Reduction Act targeted carried interest. But the loophole has survived. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, demanded her party get rid of efforts to eliminate it in exchange for her support. 

How has the carried interest loophole lasted so long despite its obvious unfairness? 

Guest: Andrew Ross Sorkin, a columnist for The New York Times and the founder and editor-at-large of DealBook.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 15, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘How One Restaurateur Transformed America’s Energy Industry’
00:30:26

It was a long-shot bet on liquid natural gas, but it paid off handsomely — and turned the United States into a leading fossil-fuel exporter.

The journalist Jake Bittle delves into the storied career of Charif Souki, the Lebanese American entrepreneur whose aptitude for risk changed the course of the American energy business.

The article outlines how Mr. Souki rose from being a Los Angeles restaurant owner to becoming the co-founder and chief executive of Cheniere Energy, an oil and gas company that specialized in liquefied natural gas, and provides an insight into his thought process: “As Souki sees it,” Mr. Bittle writes, “the need to provide the world with energy in the short term outweighs the long-term demand of acting on carbon emissions.”

In a time of acute climate anxiety, Mr. Souki’s rationale could strike some as outdated, even brazen. The world may be facing energy and climate crises, Mr. Souki told The New York Times, “but one is going to happen this month, and the other one is going to happen in 40 years.”

“If you tell somebody, ‘You are going to run out of electricity this month,’ and then you talk to the same person about what’s going to happen in 40 years,” he said, “they will tell you, ‘What do I care about 40 years from now?’”

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

 

Aug 14, 2022
Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts?
00:28:09

Five years ago, after decades of resistance, the Boy Scouts of America made a momentous change, allowing girls to participate. Since then, tens of thousands have joined.

Today we revisit a story, first aired in 2017, about 10-year-old twins deciding which group to join, and find out what’s happened to them since.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 12, 2022
Pregnant at 16
00:53:30

This episode contains strong language and descriptions of an abortion.

With the end of Roe v. Wade, Louisiana has become one of the most difficult places in the United States to get an abortion. The barriers are expected to disproportionately affect Black women, the largest group to get abortions in the state.

Today, we speak to Tara Wicker and Lakeesha Harris, two women in Louisiana whose lives led them to very different positions in the fight over abortion access.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 11, 2022
The F.B.I. Search of Trump’s Home
00:21:48

On Monday, federal agents descended on Mar-a-Lago, the private club and Florida home of former President Donald J. Trump, reportedly looking for classified documents and presidential papers.

Trump supporters expressed outrage about the agency’s actions, while many Democrats reacted with glee. But what do we know about the search, and what comes next?

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

Background reading: 

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

Aug 10, 2022
How Democrats Salvaged a History-Making Bill
00:28:37

This weekend, Democrats passed legislation that would make historic investments to fight climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs — paid for by raising taxes on businesses.

How did the party finally make progress on the bill, and what effects will it have?

Guest: Emily Cochrane, a Washington-based correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 09, 2022
The Alex Jones Verdict and the Fight Against Disinformation
00:33:31

This episode contains descriptions of distressing scenes. 

In a landmark ruling, a jury in Texas ordered Alex Jones, America’s most prominent conspiracy theorist, to pay millions of dollars to the parents of a boy killed at Sandy Hook for the damage caused by his lies about the mass shooting.

What is the significance of the trial, and will it do anything to change the world of lies and misinformation?

Guest: Elizabeth Williamson, a feature writer based in the Washington bureau of The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 08, 2022
The Sunday Read: 'Why Was Joshua Held for More Than Two Years for Someone Else’s Crimes?'
00:48:05

The more he insisted that his name was Joshua, the more delusional he came to be seen.

Journalist Robert Kolker tells us the remarkable story of Joshua Spriestersbach, a homeless man who wound up serving more than two years in a Honolulu jail for crimes committed by someone else.

It was a case of mistaken identity that developed into “a slow-motion game of hot potato between the police, the courts, the jails and the hospitals,” Mr. Kolker writes. He delves into how homelessness and mental illness shaped Mr. Spriestersbach’s adult life, two factors that led him into a situation in which he had little control — a bureaucratic wormhole that commandeered and consumed two and a half years of his life.

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

Aug 07, 2022
Vacationing in the Time of Covid
00:30:19

Charles Falls Jr., known as Chillie, loves to take cruises. But Covid, as it has done for so many, left him marooned at home in Virginia.

As he told Cristal Duhaime, a producer at the Times podcast First Person, as soon as restrictions eased, he eagerly planned a return to the waves. But for Chillie, who suffers from prostate cancer, resuming his beloved travels — particularly aboard the cramped quarters of a cruise ship, most people’s idea of a pandemic nightmare — was especially perilous.

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

Aug 05, 2022
How to Interpret the Kansas Referendum on Abortion
00:22:38

This episode contains mention of sexual assault. 

Kansas this week became the first U.S. state since the fall of Roe v. Wade to put the question of abortion directly to the electorate.

The result was resounding. Voters chose overwhelmingly to preserve abortion rights, an outcome that could have important political reverberations for the rest of the country.

Guest: Mitch Smith, a correspondent covering the Midwest and the Great Plains for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

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

Aug 04, 2022
Why Democrats Are Bankrolling Far-Right Candidates
00:26:21

Democrats are meddling in Republican primaries this year to an unusual degree, attempting to elevate extremist candidates who they think will be easy to defeat in midterms in the fall.

Nowhere has that strategy been more divisive than in the election for a House seat in Michigan.

Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Aug 03, 2022
The Killing of bin Laden’s Successor
00:18:46

On Monday, President Biden announced that the United States had killed Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike in Afghanistan. 

Al-Zawahri was the leader of Al Qaeda. A long time number two to Osama bin Laden and the intellectual spine of the terrorist group, he assumed power after bin Laden was killed by U.S. in 2011. 

Who was al-Zawahri, and what does his death mean for Afghanistan’s relationship with the United States and for the threat of global terrorism? 

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a senior correspondent covering national security for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Aug 02, 2022
How Monkeypox Went From Containable to Crisis
00:24:11

In mid-June, cases of monkeypox were in the double digits in the United States. There were drug treatments and vaccines against it. There didn’t seem to be any reason for alarm.

But in the weeks since, the virus has spread rapidly across the country, with some local and state officials declaring public health emergencies.

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

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Background reading: 

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

Aug 01, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Inside the Push to Diversify the Book Business’
01:08:26

For generations, America’s major publishers focused almost entirely on white readers. Now a new cadre of executives is trying to open up the industry.

The journalist Marcela Valdes spent a year reporting on what she described as “the problematic history of diversity in book publishing and the ways it has affected editors, authors and what you see (or don’t see) in bookstores.”

Interviewing more than 50 current and former book professionals, as well as authors, Ms. Valdes learned about the previous unsuccessful attempts to cultivate Black audiences, and considered the intricacies of an industry culture that still struggles to “overcome the clubby, white elitism it was born in.”

As one publishing executive puts it, the future of book publishing will be determined not only by its recent hires but also by how it answers this question: Instead of fighting over slices of a shrinking pie, can publishers work to make the readership bigger for everyone?

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

 

Jul 31, 2022
The Rise of the Conservative Latina
00:30:43

For decades, Republicans have sought to make gains with a critical voting block: Latinos.

Last month, when Mayra Flores was elected to Congress from Texas, she finally showed them a way to gain that support. Today, we explore what her campaign tells us about the future of the Latino vote.

Guest: Jennifer Medina, a national reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 29, 2022
How Expecting Inflation Can Actually Create More Inflation
00:28:41

To fight historic levels of inflation, the Federal Reserve this week, once again, raised interest rates, its most powerful weapon against rising prices.

The move was intended to slow demand, but there was also a psychological factor: If consumers become convinced that inflation is a permanent feature of the economy, that might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a correspondent covering the Federal Reserve and the economy for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 28, 2022
How Deshaun Watson Became the N.F.L.'s Biggest Scandal
00:32:43

This episode contains details of alleged sexual assault. 

In the past year, more than 20 women have accused the star N.F.L. quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct.

Despite the allegations, Watson has signed one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of football, with the Cleveland Browns, and will take the field today for training camp.

Guest: Jenny Vrentas, a sports reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 27, 2022
How Roe’s Demise Could Safeguard Gay Marriage
00:26:57

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Democrats introduced a bill to prevent the right to gay marriage from meeting the same fate as the right to abortion.

The bill was expected to go nowhere, but it has won more and more Republican support and now seems to have a narrow path to enactment.

Guest: Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 26, 2022
Death of a Crypto Company
00:29:49

Born in response to the 2008 financial crisis, cryptocurrency was supposed be a form of money that eliminated the traditional gatekeepers who had overseen the tanking of the economy.

But a crash in value recently has raised questions about cryptocurrency’s central promise.

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a reporter covering cryptocurrencies and fintech for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

  • No one wanted to miss out on the cryptocurrency mania. A global industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars rose up practically overnight. Now it is crashing down.
  • Celsius Network was managing more than $20 billion in assets. Last month, it became the latest crypto venture to spiral into a crisis.

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

Jul 25, 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘The Books About Sex That Every Family Should Read’
00:26:53

How do you teach your child about sex? It’s a perennial question that has spawned hundreds of illustrated books meant to demystify sexual intercourse.

But for the Canadian author Cory Silverberg, there was something lacking. Silverberg, who uses they/them pronouns, felt that books on sex aimed at children often omitted mention of intimacy in the context of disability or gender nonconformity. And so they set about making a book of their own.

They wanted to tell a story of how babies are made that would apply to all kinds of children, whether they were conceived the traditional way or through reproductive technologies, whether they live with adoptive or biological parents, and no matter their family configuration.

The book critic Elaine Blair, who had also felt that children’s literature on sex was a little thin on inclusivity, recalls being drawn in by the fact that Silverberg’s “Sex is a Funny Word” is one of few children’s books that contend with the fact that children encounter representations of sexuality in the media.

Ms. Blair met up with Silverberg in Houston to understand the germ of the idea and the editorial process of delivering the book, from conception to print.

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

 

Jul 24, 2022
Utah’s ‘Environmental Nuclear Bomb’
00:32:41

The Great Salt Lake is drying up.

Soaring demand for water, exacerbated by drought and higher temperatures in the region, are shrinking the waters, which play such a crucial role in the landscape, ecology and weather of Salt Lake City and Utah.

Can the lake be saved?

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 22, 2022
The Case Against Donald Trump
00:39:47

A series of blockbuster hearings from the Jan. 6 committee has put growing pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to bring criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump over the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Before today’s committee hearing, we speak with Andrew D. Goldstein, one of the prosecutors who led the last major investigation into Mr. Trump, about why winning a case against the former president is such a challenge.

Guest: Andrew Goldstein, a federal prosecutor who was part of the Mueller inquiry into Mr. Trump. 

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Background reading: 

  • Mr. Trump has issued a rambling 12-page statement containing his usual mix of outlandish claims, hyperbole and outright falsehoods, but also, apparently, with something different: the beginnings of a legal defense.
  • Robert S. Mueller III was often portrayed as the omnipotent fact-gatherer for his inquiry, but it was Mr. Goldstein who had a much more involved, day-to-day role. (Here’s our profile of Mr. Goldstein from 2019.)

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

Jul 21, 2022
How Abortion Bans Are Restricting Miscarriage Care
00:29:37

Across the United States, Republicans emboldened by the overturning of Roe v. Wade are passing laws intended to stop medical staff from providing an abortion.

But those same laws may also be scaring health workers out of providing basic care for miscarriages.

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

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Background reading: 

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

Jul 20, 2022
Broken Climate Pledges and Europe’s Heat Wave
00:26:15