By the time Sam Apple pulled up with his goldendoodle, Steve, to their resting place, he was tired from the long drive and already second-guessing his plan. He felt a little better when they stepped inside the Dogwood Acres Pet Retreat. The lobby, with its elegant tiled entrance, might have passed for the lobby of any small countryside hotel, at least one that strongly favored dog-themed decor. But this illusion was broken when the receptionist reviewed their reservation — which, in addition to ...
Mar 24, 2024•22 min
In a pointed speech from the Senate floor this month, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called for Israel to hold a new election and for voters to oust the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Soon after, Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for the Times, sat down with Mr. Schumer to understand why he did it. Guest: Annie Karni , a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Mr. Schumer, America’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, said he felt obligated...
Mar 22, 2024•36 min
This year, the star of college basketball is Caitlin Clark, a woman who is changing everything about the game — from the way it’s played, to its economics, to who is watching. Matt Flegenheimer, a profile writer for The Times, discusses Clark’s extraordinary impact. Guest: Matt Flegenheimer , who writes in-depth profiles for The New York Times. Background reading: Her fiery competitiveness, no-look passes and 3-point bombs have made for must-see basketball in Iowa. What happens when she leaves? ...
Mar 21, 2024•27 min
For decades, an invisible hand has been guiding and controlling the American real estate industry, dictating how much buyers and sellers pay to their agents and how homes are sold. A few days ago, after a stunning legal settlement, that control — wielded by the National Association of Realtors — collapsed. Debra Kamin, who reports about real estate desk for The Times, explains how the far-reaching change could drive down housing costs. Guest: Debra Kamin , a reporter on real estate for The New Y...
Mar 20, 2024•26 min
Over the past week, Donald J. Trump has burned down and rebuilt the Republican National Committee, gutting the leadership and much of the staff. Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The Times, explains why the former president is trying to reinvent such a crucial piece of campaign apparatus so close to an election. Guest: Shane Goldmacher , a national political correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Days after allies took over the Republican National Commit...
Mar 19, 2024•27 min
Warning: this episode contains a discussion about domestic abuse . As cars become ever more sophisticated pieces of technology, they’ve begun sharing information about their drivers, sometimes with unnerving consequences. Kashmir Hill, a features writer for The Times, explains what information cars can log and what that can mean for their owners. Guest: Kashmir Hill , a features writer on the business desk at The New York Times. Background reading: Automakers are sharing consumers’ driving behav...
Mar 18, 2024•23 min
In October 2022, amid a flurry of media appearances promoting their film “Tàr,” the director Todd Field and the star Cate Blanchett made time to visit a cramped closet in Manhattan. This closet, which has become a sacred space for movie buffs, was once a disused bathroom at the headquarters of the Criterion Collection, a 40-year-old company dedicated to “gathering the greatest films from around the world” and making high-quality editions available to the public on DVD and Blu-ray and, more recen...
Mar 17, 2024•29 min
Russians go to the polls today in the first presidential election since their country invaded Ukraine two years ago. The war was expected to carry a steep cost for President Vladimir V. Putin. Valerie Hopkins, who covers Russia for The Times, explains why the opposite has happened. Guest: Valerie Hopkins , an international correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Mr. Putin, in pre-election messaging, was less strident on nuclear war . What to know about Russia’s 2024 presidentia...
Mar 15, 2024•32 min
Jeanna Smialek, who covers the U.S. economy for The Times, will be 33 in a few weeks; she is part of a cohort born in 1990 and 1991 that makes up the peak of America’s population. At every life stage, that microgeneration has stretched a system that was often too small to accommodate it, leaving its members — so-called peak millennials — with outsize economic power but also a fight to get ahead. Guest: Jeanna Smialek , a U.S. economy correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: When...
Mar 14, 2024•26 min
Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence and self harm. Last fall, an Army reservist killed 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, before turning the gun on himself. Dave Philipps, who covers military affairs for The Times, had already been investigating the idea that soldiers could be injured just by firing their own weapons. Analyzing the case of the gunman in Lewiston, Dave explains, could change our understanding of the effects of modern warfare on the...
Mar 13, 2024•25 min
In 2020, motivated to try a different way to combat drug use, Oregon voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs including fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine. Things didn’t turn out as planned. Mike Baker, a national reporter for The Times, explains what went wrong. Guest: Mike Baker , a national reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: Amid soaring overdose deaths, Oregon lawmakers have voted to bring back some restrictions . State leaders declared a 90-da...
Mar 12, 2024•27 min
For years, a mysterious company has been buying farmland on the outskirts of Silicon Valley, eventually putting together a plot twice the size of San Francisco. At every step, those behind the company kept their plans for the land shrouded in secrecy. Conor Dougherty, an economics reporter at The Times, figured out what they were up to. Guest: Conor Dougherty , an economics reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: Tech industry investors spent roughly $900 million buying land to buil...
Mar 11, 2024•28 min
That people will travel to Mars, and soon, is a widely accepted conviction within NASA. Rachel McCauley, until recently the acting deputy director of NASA’s Mars campaign, had, as of July, a punch list of 800 problems that must be solved before the first human mission launches. Many of these concern the mechanical difficulties of transporting people to a planet that is never closer than 33.9 million miles away; keeping them alive on poisonous soil in unbreathable air, bombarded by solar radiatio...
Mar 10, 2024•50 min
President Biden used his State of the Union address last night to push for re-election and to go on the attack against Donald J. Trump, his likely adversary in November. Jim Tankersley, who covers economic policy at the White House for The Times, discusses the speech’s big moments. Guest: Jim Tankersley , who covers economic policy at the White House for The New York Times. Background reading: Biden made it clear that he saw the election as an existential struggle between democracy and extremism...
Mar 08, 2024•30 min
When Google released Gemini, a new chatbot powered by artificial intelligence, it quickly faced a backlash — and unleashed a fierce debate about whether A.I. should be guided by social values, and if so, whose values they should be. Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The Times and co-host of the podcast “Hard Fork,” explains. Guest: Kevin Roose , a technology columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the podcast “Hard Fork.” Background reading: Hard Fork: Gemini’s culture wars , and m...
Mar 07, 2024•31 min
Millions of voters in states across the country cast their ballots in the presidential primary on Super Tuesday, leaving little doubt that the November election will be a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump. But in a race that is increasingly inevitable, a New York Times/Siena College poll found a critical group of voters who are making the outcome of that race anything but certain. Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, explains who these voters are and...
Mar 06, 2024•23 min
Late last week, an effort to get food into northern Gaza turned deadly, as thousands of desperate Gazans descended on aid trucks, and Israeli troops tasked with guarding those trucks opened fire. Exactly how people died, and who was responsible, remains contested. Hiba Yazbek, a reporter-researcher in Jerusalem for The Times, explains what we know about what happened and what it tells us about hunger in Gaza. Guest: Hiba Yazbek , a reporter-researcher in Jerusalem for The New York Times. Backgro...
Mar 05, 2024•30 min
A single piece of unverified intelligence became the centerpiece of a Republican attempt to impeach President Biden. Michael S. Schmidt, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains how that intelligence was harnessed for political ends, and what happened once it was discredited. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt , an investigative reporter for The New York Times, covering Washington. Background reading: Ignoring warnings, Republicans trumpeted a now-discredited allegation against President Biden. ...
Mar 04, 2024•25 min
At the end of a quiet, leafy street in the Valley in Los Angeles, the reality TV star Tom Sandoval has outfitted his home with landscaping lights that rotate in a spectrum of colors, mimicking the dance floor of a nightclub. The property is both his private residence and an occasional TV set for the Bravo reality show “Vanderpump Rules.” After a series of events that came to be known as “Scandoval,” paparazzi had been camped outside, but by the new year it was just one or two guys, and now they ...
Mar 03, 2024•49 min
President Biden and Donald J. Trump both made appearances at the southern border on Thursday as they addressed an issue that is shaping up to be one of the most important in the 2024 election: immigration. Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The Times, discusses Mr. Biden’s risky bid to take perhaps Trump’s biggest rallying point and use it against him. Guest: Zolan Kanno-Youngs , a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: In appearances some 300 mile...
Mar 01, 2024•30 min
A Times investigation has revealed how applesauce laced with high levels of lead sailed through a food safety system meant to protect American consumers, and poisoned hundreds of children across the U.S. Christina Jewett, who covers the Food and Drug Administration for The Times, talks about what she found. Guest: Christina Jewett , who covers the Food and Drug Administration for The New York Times. Background reading: Lead-tainted applesauce sailed through gaps in the food-safety system . What ...
Feb 29, 2024•25 min
U.S. officials have acknowledged a growing fear that Russia may be trying to put a nuclear weapon into orbit. Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains that their real worry is that America could lose the battle for military supremacy in space. Guest: Eric Lipton , an investigative reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: The U.S. warned its allies that Russia could put a nuclear weapon into orbit this year . The Pentagon is in the early stages of a program to pu...
Feb 28, 2024•25 min
In the past few weeks, activists in Michigan have begun calling voters in the state, asking them to protest President Biden’s support for the Israeli military campaign in Gaza by not voting for him in the Democratic primary. The activists are attempting to turn their anger over Gaza into a political force, one that could be decisive in a critical swing state where winning in November is likely to be a matter of the slimmest of margins. Jennifer Medina, a political reporter for The Times, explain...
Feb 27, 2024•35 min
A surprise ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court has halted fertility treatments across the state and sent a shock wave through the world of reproductive health. Azeen Ghorayshi, who covers sex, gender, and science for The Times, explains what the court case means for reproductive health and a patient in Alabama explains what it is like navigating the fallout. Guests: Azeen Ghorayshi , who covers sex, gender and science for The New York Times; and Meghan S. Cole, who is in the final stages of IV...
Feb 26, 2024•29 min
The closest thing to a bat signal for stoners is the blue lettering of the Cookies logo. When a new storefront comes to a strip mall or a downtown shopping district, fans flock to grand-opening parties, drawn by a love of the brand — one based on more than its reputation for selling extremely potent weed. People often compare Cookies to the streetwear brand Supreme. That’s accurate in one very literal sense — they each sell a lot of hats — and in other, more subjective ones. They share a penchan...
Feb 25, 2024•29 min
Last week, when a civil court judge in New York ruled against Donald J. Trump, he imposed a set of penalties so severe that they could temporarily sever the former president from his real-estate empire and wipe out all of his cash. Jonah Bromwich, who covers criminal justice in New York, and Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The Times, explain what that will mean for Mr. Trump as a businessman and as a candidate. Guests: Jonah E. Bromwich , a criminal justice correspondent fo...
Feb 23, 2024•25 min
Last week, the Russian authorities announced that Aleksei A. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and an unflinching critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, had died in a remote Arctic prison at the age of 47. Yevgenia Albats, his friend, discusses how Mr. Navalny became a political force and what it means for his country that he is gone. Guest: Yevgenia Albats, a Russian investigative journalist and a friend of Mr. Navalny. Background reading: Who was Aleksei Navalny ? The sudden d...
Feb 22, 2024•32 min
Over the past few weeks, a growing sense of alarm across Europe over the future of the continent’s security has turned into outright panic. As Russia advances on the battlefield in Ukraine, the U.S. Congress has refused to pass billions of dollars in new funding for Ukraine’s war effort and Donald Trump has warned European leaders that if they do not pay what he considers their fair share toward NATO, he would not protect them from Russian aggression. Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic corres...
Feb 21, 2024•23 min
This episode contains strong language and descriptions of war. After months of telling residents in the Gaza Strip to move south for safety, Israel now says it plans to invade Rafah, the territory’s southernmost city. More than a million people are effectively trapped there without any clear idea of where to go. Two Gazans describe what it is like to live in Rafah right now. Guest: Ghada al-Kurd and Hussein Owda, who are among more than a million people sheltering in Rafah. Background reading: I...
Feb 20, 2024•41 min
A Times investigation has found that dentists and lactation consultants around the country are pushing “tongue-tie releases” on new mothers struggling to breastfeed, generating huge profits while often harming patients. Katie Thomas, an investigative health care reporter at The Times, discusses the forces driving this emerging trend in American health care and the story of one family in the middle of it. Guest: Katie Thomas , an investigative health care reporter at The New York Times. Backgroun...
Feb 19, 2024•36 min
