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:...
Mar 14, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: How did environmentally conscious investing became...
Mar 13, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Wa...
Mar 12, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Protesters restricted road access to Israel’s main airpo...
Mar 10, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: The shadow work force of migrant children extends across industries in every state, flouting la...
Mar 09, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Europea...
Mar 08, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Mr. DeSantis will soon get a chance to check off his wish list of proposals for Florida , including...
Mar 07, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: A bipartisan group of lawmakers has prop...
Mar 06, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Mar 05, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Using adoptions, Russia has turned Ukrain...
Mar 03, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: The student loan case could redefine the limits of presidential power . Here’s how the arguments...
Mar 02, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 com...
Mar 01, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 r...
Feb 28, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Feb 27, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Feb 26, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Here’s a guide to how...
Feb 24, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: The decision on website immunity has the potential to alter the very structure of the internet . Lawmakers are targeti...
Feb 23, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Lawmakers find it hard to “just say no” to combat veterans seeking support for drug decriminalization efforts. In January, Oregon became the first ...
Feb 22, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Alarmed by shipping chaos and geopolitical fractures, exporters from China are s...
Feb 21, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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, an...
Feb 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Feb 17, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 corresponden...
Feb 16, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: When Mic...
Feb 15, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 nation...
Feb 14, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 star...
Feb 13, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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, b...
Feb 12, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Cigars, booze, money: A lobbying blitz helped to make sports be...
Feb 10, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Feb 09, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Sea...
Feb 08, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Th...
Feb 07, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
