The Daily

The Trump administration completed its demolition of the East Wing of the White House on Thursday to make way for a new presidential ballroom. Luke Broadwater, who covers the White House, explains who is paying for President Trump’s latest construction project and why the demolition is striking a nerve.

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2025

For months, President Trump has been ratcheting up the pressure on Venezuela with increasingly aggressive military actions that the administration claims are about targeting drug traffickers. But behind the scenes, some U.S. officials are pushing toward a regime change. Anatoly Kurmanaev, who has been covering the story, discusses the battle in the White House over whether to topple the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2025

In just under 10 minutes on Sunday, thieves stole precious jewelry from the Louvre Museum in Paris after using a truck-mounted ladder to break into a second-floor window. Catherine Porter, a New York Times international correspondent in the French capital, explains how the robbery unfolded.

Transcribed - Published: 22 October 2025

During his second term, President Trump has upended 60 years of civil rights, largely under the guise of attacking diversity, equity and inclusion. Nikole Hannah-Jones, who covers racial injustice and civil rights for The New York Times Magazine, discusses the end of an era, and the growing fears of what a post-civil rights government will mean for Black Americans.

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2025

Tariffs are at their highest rate in nearly a century, and the labor market is weakening. These are volatile times for the U.S. economy — but the stock market keeps going up. Joe Rennison, a reporter covering financial markets for The New York Times, explains what is going on.

Transcribed - Published: 20 October 2025

On Friday, “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” will be released in theaters. Rather than chronicling Bruce’s entire life, the film focuses on the making of his stripped-down 1982 album “Nebraska” and on his concurrent mental health struggles. This movie is the latest in a long history of musician biopics featuring stars like Bob Dylan, Loretta Lynn, Eminem and Elvis Presley. Hollywood clearly loves telling the stories of influential artists. In this episode, Gilbert Cruz chats with Lindsay Zoladz, a pop music critic for The Times, and Joe Coscarelli, a Times culture reporter, about the tropes of the genre and their favorite films that break the mold.

Transcribed - Published: 19 October 2025

Attacks on the site are piling up. Its co-founder says trust the process.

Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2025

Under normal circumstances, the profound pain of a government shutdown compels both parties to negotiate a quick resolution on behalf of the American people. But, so far, nothing about this shutdown is normal. Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Tyler Pager, Catie Edmondson and Tony Romm sit down to discuss why this shutdown feels so different.

Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2025

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s come-from-behind victory in this summer’s Democratic primary for New York City mayor is already the stuff of political legend. But in many ways, the most intriguing phase of his campaign has been the period since then, as he has labored, painstakingly, to win over his skeptics. How, exactly, would a 33-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America, with little management experience and a record of polarizing pronouncements, win over enough voters to prevail in the general election? So far, the polls suggest he’s doing just that. And so, a few days ago, “The Daily” sat down Mr. Mamdani for an extended conversation about his campaign, the forces and ideas that have animated it and his plans, if elected on Nov. 4, to deliver on his campaign promises and contend with a Republican president who has promised to treat him as an enemy from his first day in office.

Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2025

For the past few weeks, Trump officials have repeatedly dodged questions about an undercover F.B.I. investigation of the border czar, Tom Homan, and what became of $50,000 in cash that was delivered to him. Devlin Barret, who covers the F.B.I. for The New York Times, discusses the inquiry, which was closed after President Trump came to office.

Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2025

After the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, President Trump took a victory lap to Jerusalem before going on to a peace summit in Egypt. David E. Sanger, who is covering Mr. Trump’s trip, discusses some takeaways. We also hear from the Times reporter Christopher Flavelle about how the U.S. government shutdown has given the Trump administration an extraordinary amount of power over dozens of agencies.

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2025

The Israeli military said on Monday that it had received the 20 remaining living hostages released by Hamas under the terms of the cease-fire deal. Rachel Abrams speaks to families of those hostages, and to other Israelis, about the long-anticipated moment, and Isabel Kershner, a Times reporter who covers Israel and Palestine, discusses why the hostages have been such a crucial factor in efforts to end the war.

Transcribed - Published: 13 October 2025

Broadway represents some of the best and most exciting of what American theater has to offer. But for many people, it’s inaccessible. Whether because of geography, cost or other considerations, most people will never sit in a Broadway theater and experience a play or a musical in person. For years, cast recordings have offered a way to experience Broadway shows at a remove. And now, in the streaming era, some Broadway shows are making themselves available to be watched remotely, in movie theaters and on television. Distance and expense aren’t the impediments they once were to culture lovers looking to experience world-class theater. In this episode, Gilbert Cruz talks with Jesse Green and Elisabeth Vincentelli, two of The New York Times’s culture writers, about new ways to experience some of the joys of theater from the comfort of your own home.

Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2025

On Thursday, a potentially historic agreement between Israel and Hamas began to take shape. The deal, which was brokered by President Trump, secures the exchange of all remaining Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Leaders on both sides, and Mr. Trump himself, signaled that this was a decisive step toward the end of the two-year war in Gaza. Mark Mazzetti, who covers national security for The New York Times, discusses the deal making that got us to this point and whether it really will bring peace.

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2025

Warning: this episode contains mentions of suicide. In one of the first cases of the Supreme Court’s new term, the justices considered whether to strike down a ban on conversion therapy, the contentious practice that aims to change a young person’s sexual orientation. Ann E. Marimow, Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, talks us through the case.

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2025

Over the past week, ICE and border patrol agents have clashed with Chicago residents, and federal guard troops arriving in the city might inflame tensions further. Julie Bosman, Chicago bureau chief for The Times, and Mattathias Schwartz describe the situation on the ground and explain how the city fits into a broader political fight.

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2025

In the last few years, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound have been radically reshaping the people’s lives, changing appetites and health. But the drugs also have the power to affect other parts of consumers’ lives, including their romantic relationships. Lisa Miller, who writes about health for The New York Times, tells the story of how these drugs upended one couple’s marriage.

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2025

During the continuing government shutdown, President Trump has posted memes depicting Russel T. Vought, the White House budget director, as the grim reaper. Coral Davenport, a Washington correspondent for The Times, explains how Mr. Vought, a once obscure official, has become one of the most influential figures in Washington.

Transcribed - Published: 6 October 2025

Amusement parks are enduring vacation destinations for American families. The rides, the long lines for rides, the concessions, the long lines for concessions — these are practically familial rites of passage. Theme parks are also enormous moneymakers, with industry leaders such as Disney and Universal earning billions of dollars each year from their parks. In this episode, Gilbert Cruz chats with Brooks Barnes, who writes about show business (including theme parks), and Mekado Murphy, a film editor and thrill-seeker who reports on roller coasters. They talk about the state of the contemporary amusement park and the ups and downs of roller coasters around the world.

Transcribed - Published: 5 October 2025

The California politician on his “wake-up call” at an earlier moment of political upheaval, and the one he’s experiencing today.

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2025

The suffering in the Gaza Strip has fueled international pressure on Israel to end the war and pushed western powers to recognize a Palestinian state. The isolation was on display last week at the United Nations. Jessica Cheung, a producer for “The Daily,” speaks to Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., about what Palestinian statehood means to him. Then, Mark Landler, the London bureau chief of The New York Times, discusses what the recognition means without the support of the United States and Israel, which was underscored in their new peace plan.

Transcribed - Published: 3 October 2025

As the U.S. government shutdown enters its second day, Democrats are trying to underline that the growing political fight is all about the rising cost of health care. The New York Times journalists Margot Sanger-Katz and Shane Goldmacher explain why the Democrats are betting on this strategy and who is to blame for the impasse.

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2025

The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday morning. For the Democrats, it is an act of resistance against President Trump’s second-term agenda. The question is now whether their gamble will pay off or backfire. In an episode recorded from the Capitol, Catie Edmondson and Carl Hulse, New York Times reporters who cover Congress, tell us what the decision-making looked like inside the building before the shutdown. Then, we have an interview with Senator Chuck Schumer. He explains why he pursued the shutdown in the moments before the vote.

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2025

In a new poll, The New York Times asked voters what they thought of the first eight months of President Trump’s second term. Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst at The Times, explains what the survey found and what it may tell us about where the country is heading next.

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2025

For the past decade, a simple message has been delivered to a generation of American students: If you learn to code and complete a computer science degree, you’ll get a job with a six-figure salary. Now, thousands of students who followed the advice are discovering that the promise was empty. Natasha Singer, a technology reporter for The Times, explains.

Transcribed - Published: 29 September 2025

This month kicked off the big four fashion weeks: New York, London, Milan and Paris. Each year, designers, brands, influencers and celebrities flock to these events to see and be seen. On today’s episode, Gilbert sits down with Stella Bugbee and Jacob Gallagher, two of The Times’s foremost style experts and veterans of the fashion week circuit, to discuss clothes. They talk about what fashion week means in the frenetic fashion ecosystem of 2025, and they answer some listener questions about how to cultivate a personal style.

Transcribed - Published: 28 September 2025

The actor and instigator is ready for his renaissance.

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2025

A grand jury indicted James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, on Thursday night. It is a case that President Trump has personally demanded that federal prosecutors pursue despite their own doubts about whether Mr. Comey committed a crime. Devlin Barrett, who covers the Justice Department and F.B.I. for The New York Times, explains what’s in the indictment and what that means for Mr. Trump’s ongoing campaign of retribution.

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2025

The U.S. military has blown up three boats in the Caribbean Sea in the past three weeks, killing 17 people aboard. Each time, President Trump has claimed that the boats were carrying drugs to the United States and that those killed were “narcoterrorists.” But he has offered no concrete evidence to back up this claim. Charlie Savage, who covers national security for The New York Times, tells us what he has learned about what may be the true objective behind these airstrikes and whether any of this is even legal.

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2025

President Trump and his inner circle are making millions of dollars from agreements that intersect with America’s national security interests, a New York Times investigation found. Eric Lipton, who wrote the article, explains why these conflicts of interest are unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2025

During a televised news conference on Monday night, President Trump repeatedly gave out unproven medical advice that linked autism to Tylenol and childhood vaccines. Azeen Ghorayshi, a science reporter for The New York Times, explains what Mr. Trump said and what decades of scientific research actually tells us.

Transcribed - Published: 23 September 2025

Conservatives from around the country flocked to Arizona on Sunday to memorialize the activist Charlie Kirk. The service included leaders from the highest levels of the U.S. government, including Vice President JD Vance and President Trump. Two clear strands emerged during the memorial addresses: a message of Christian unity, and a vow to fight political enemies on the left. Robert Draper, who covers domestic politics for The Times, explains how the collision of those two messages makes this a crucial moment for the MAGA movement.

Transcribed - Published: 22 September 2025

This month, The Times released a list of the 50 best restaurants in America. The Food desk’s reporters, critics and editors crisscrossed the country from Portland, Ore., to Deer Isle, Maine, to scout places formal and casual, big and small, experimental and classic. Their survey is an evocation of what it’s like to dine out, right now, in America. On today’s episode, Gilbert sits down with the Food reporters Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson, two contributors to the list, for a veritable feast of dining wisdom. They discuss what makes a restaurant worthy of the 50 best list, how they go about finding those restaurants, and the dining trends they’re loving and hating in 2025.

Transcribed - Published: 21 September 2025

The actor and producer booked her first big role when she was 14 years old. More than 30 years later, she’s an entertainment-industry powerhouse.

Transcribed - Published: 20 September 2025

The aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel are creating concerns and conversations about the state of free speech in the United States. Rachel Abrams, Jim Rutenberg, Jeremy W. Peters and Adam Liptak, all journalists for The New York Times, discuss Mr. Kimmel’s removal and why the action is provoking fears and applause from different camps of a polarized country.

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2025

For weeks, fights have been escalating between top scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., culminating in his accusation that the agency’s top official, Dr. Susan Monarez, was untrustworthy. Dr. Monarez went before a Senate committee on Wednesday to give her side of the story. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The New York Times, discusses the testimony and the rift that the hearing exposed within the Republican Party over how far to go to support Mr. Kennedy and his vaccine agenda.

Transcribed - Published: 18 September 2025

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged the man suspected of killing Charlie Kirk with aggravated murder, vowed to seek the death penalty and released a mountain of new evidence against him. Jack Healy, who has been covering the killing of Mr. Kirk for The New York Times, explains what the police have uncovered about his motives. Kenneth P. Vogel, an investigative reporter, discusses the emerging White House plan to use the federal government to crack down on the left-wing groups that it believes inspire political violence.

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2025

Warning: This episode discusses suicide. Since ChatGPT began in 2022, it has amassed 700 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer app ever. Reporting has shown that the chatbots have a tendency to endorse conspiratorial and mystical belief systems. For some people, conversations with the technology can deeply distort their reality. Kashmir Hill, who covers technology and privacy for The New York Times, discusses how complicated and dangerous our relationships with chatbots can become.

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2025

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump to remake American government, siding with the president again and again. But many of those rulings have lacked something fundamental: an explanation for why the most important judges in the country came to their decision. Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, explains the justices’ increased use of the so-called shadow docket, and why it has sown confusion — and in some cases frustration — in courts around the country.

Transcribed - Published: 15 September 2025

The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is tonight, honoring the best television shows released between June 2024 and May 2025. But before the festivities begin, Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, would like to have a TV celebration of his own. On today’s episode, he gathers Jason Zinoman, a critic at large for The Times, and Alexis Soloski, a culture reporter for The Times, to “channel surf” through some of their favorite shows of the past year.

Transcribed - Published: 14 September 2025

The writer-director made hit after hit movie, until he didn’t. But he doesn’t let it get him down.

Transcribed - Published: 13 September 2025

On Friday morning, the police in Utah said they had arrested a suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination, ending a manhunt that had stretched over 33 hours. In this special episode of The Daily, we break down what we know about the arrest and the alleged killer’s motives.

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2025

We look at the hunt for the killer of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and at the political fallout of his assassination. Nicholas Bogel-Borroughs, an investigative reporter at The New York Times, discusses why the police are struggling to answer basic questions about the shooter. And Alan Feuer, who covers extremism and political violence, discusses how the assassination might become a turning point for the conservative movement.

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2025

Charlie Kirk, the conservative organizer, activist and media mogul, died on Wednesday after being shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University. Mr. Kirk brought millions of young Americans in to the Republican Party, and to the ballot box for Donald Trump. Robert Draper, who profiled Charlie Kirk for The New York Times Magazine, discusses Mr. Kirk’s improbable rise to power, his stunning assassination, and his controversial legacy.

Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2025

For months, President Trump has tried to dismiss questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, notably denying that he had been the author of a lewd birthday message to the financier and sex offender. On Monday, Congress released the message — and many more like it. David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor at The Times, explains how the book, and an investigation into Mr. Epstein’s finances, reveal how Mr. Epstein leveraged his rich and powerful friends to fund a yearslong criminal conspiracy.

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2025

Over the weekend, Russia bombarded Ukraine with the largest drone assault in the war thus far. It’s the latest in a relentless Russian offensive that keeps escalating, despite President Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace. Anatoly Kurmanaev, who covers Russia for The Times, discusses the economic war machine that’s driving Russia’s success on the battlefield, and making it so hard for anyone to get President Vladimir V. Putin to back down.

Transcribed - Published: 9 September 2025

One month after sending the National Guard into Washington, D.C. saying they would fight crime there, President Trump is so pleased with the results that he is discussing how to put federal troops onto the streets of cities across the country — from Chicago to New Orleans. It’s a potentially dramatic expansion of what has already become an unprecedented military deployment on domestic soil. Today, we hear from residents of Washington about what life is like with the National Guard in town.

Transcribed - Published: 8 September 2025

As kids across America head back to school, Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, is thinking about the books he read when he was in school. On today’s Sunday Special, Gilbert talks with the Book Review editor Sadie Stein and the author Louis Sachar (“Wayside School” series, “Holes”) about the books they read when they were students, and ways to encourage young readers today to keep reading.

Transcribed - Published: 7 September 2025

The author and podcaster wants to apply her old ideas about vulnerability and empathy to the workplace.

Transcribed - Published: 6 September 2025

In an extraordinarily tense showdown on Thursday, senators of both parties confronted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine policies, his firing of the director of the C.D.C., and the growing list of federal health officials who have resigned in protest of his leadership. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The Times, explains what it was like in the room and describes what seems like a turning point in the relationship between Congress and Mr. Kennedy.

Transcribed - Published: 5 September 2025