A Times investigation revealed that in much of the United States, communities and farms are pumping out groundwater at alarming rates. Aquifers are shrinking nationwide, threatening supplies of drinking water and the country’s status as a food superpower. Christopher Flavelle, who covers climate adaptation for The Times, went to Arizona, the state at the forefront of the crisis, and looked at one especially controversial idea to address it: desalination. Guest: Christopher Flavelle covers climat...
Sep 01, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast A year ago, Congress overhauled the way drugs for older Americans get paid for, by giving Medicare the power to bargain with drug makers over prices in the biggest change to health care for more than a decade. This week, the Biden administration began its implementation. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The Times, discusses the decades long battle for bargaining power and Rebecca Robbins, who covers the pharmaceutical industry for The Times, explains its potential to reshape the...
Aug 31, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the Republican presidential race, the battle for second place has been jolted by the sudden rise of a political newcomer whose popularity has already eclipsed that of far more seasoned candidates — Vivek Ramaswamy. Jonathan Weisman, who is a political correspondent for The Times, explains the rising candidate’s back story, message and strategy. Guest: Jonathan Weisman , a political correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Surging poll numbers underscore that Vivek Ramaswamy i...
Aug 30, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past decade, China has placed more and more restrictions on the lives of its citizens — tightening its hold over what people can do, read and say. When Bei Zhenying’s husband was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison for “smearing” the country’s political system, she was left to pick up the pieces of his life. She now believes that her husband was the writer behind one of the most mysterious blogs on the Chinese internet, which for 12 years had ridiculed the ruling Communist P...
Aug 29, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, India landed its spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, becoming the first country to land such a craft near the south pole, where scientists believe vital reserves of water could be found frozen. The landing also revealed just how much the international space race has changed. Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The Times, explains why a new set of players are dominating the space race and what is motivating their groundbreaking missions to the moon. Guest: Kenneth Chang , a science...
Aug 28, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The signs on the gate at the entrance to the path and along the edge of the reservoir were clear. “No swimming,” they warned, white letters on a red background. On a chill mid-April day in northwest England, with low, gray clouds and rain in the forecast, the signs hardly seemed necessary. But then people began arriving, by the dozens and then the hundreds. Some walked only from nearby Hayfield, while others came by train or bus or foot from many hours away. In a long, trailing line, they trampe...
Aug 27, 2023•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast The mysterious crash of a private jet outside Moscow is believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner militia who led an armed rebellion against Moscow in June. Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The Times, explains what we’ve learned about the crash, and what a potential political assassination says about President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Guest: Anton Troianovski , the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times. Background reading: All 10 people on a jet linked ...
Aug 25, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last night, Republicans held their first debate of the 2024 presidential cycle without the party’s dominant candidate onstage: Donald J. Trump. Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The Times, walks us through the debate and discusses how it might influence the rest of the race. Guest: Maggie Haberman , a senior political correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Seven takeaways from the first Republican debate. Trump skipped the event in favor of a gentle online ...
Aug 24, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast After a closely watched vote, driverless cars, once a Silicon Valley fantasy, have become a 24-hour-a-day reality in San Francisco. Are autonomous vehicles an interesting and safe transportation alternative? Or are they a nuisance and a traffic-blocking disaster waiting to happen? Cade Metz, who covers technology for The Times, describes the unique challenges of coexisting with cars that drive themselves. Guest: Cade Metz , a technology correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: O...
Aug 23, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast A marine heat wave is warming the waters off the coast of Florida, pushing temperature readings as high as 101 Fahrenheit and endangering a critical part of sea life: the coral reef. Catrin Einhorn, who covers biodiversity, climate and the environment for The Times, discusses the urgent quest to save coral and what it might mean for the world if it disappears. Guest: Catrin Einhorn , a biodiversity, climate and environment correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: A desperate pus...
Aug 22, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida began the race for the Republican nomination with high expectations and a clear argument: that he was a political fighter with a solid record of conservative achievements in his state. Now, he appears to be in a downward spiral. Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The Times, explains why the DeSantis campaign is stumbling so badly. Guest: Shane Goldmacher , a national political reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: Governor DeSantis, wh...
Aug 21, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Where did it come from? More than three years into the pandemic with untold millions of people dead, that question about the origin of Covid-19 remains widely disputed and fraught, with facts sparkling amid a tangle of analyses and hypotheticals like Christmas lights strung on a dark, thorny tree. One school of thought holds that the virus, known to science as SARS-CoV-2, spread to humans from a nonhuman animal, probably in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, an emporium brimming with fish, mea...
Aug 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: This episode contains descriptions of death. When fires swept West Maui, Hawaii, many residents fled for their lives — but soon discovered they had nowhere to go. Thousands of structures, mostly homes, have been reduced to rubble. Husks of incinerated cars line the historic Front Street in Lahaina, while search crews nearby make their way painstakingly from house to house, looking for human remains. Ydriss Nouara, a resident of Lahaina, recounts his experience fleeing the inferno and Mi...
Aug 18, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast A plea deal struck between the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden was supposed to bring his years of legal troubles to an end. Instead, that deal has unraveled and a special counsel has been named to take over the case. Michael Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The Times, explains why that turn of events is increasingly pitting the interests of Hunter Biden against those of President Biden. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt , a Washington correspondent for The New York Times. Background readin...
Aug 17, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a region of Africa where authoritarianism has been rising, Niger seemed to be on a different path of democracy and partnership with the United States. Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The Times, explains how a military coup has now put all of that in jeopardy and why Niger’s allies still think it’s possible to reverse that coup. Guest: Declan Walsh , the chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: The military junta that seized power in Niger said it wou...
Aug 16, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Monday, former President Donald J. Trump and 18 others were indicted by an Atlanta grand jury, with Mr. Trump and some of his former top aides accused of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to reverse the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Richard Fausset, who covers politics and culture in the American South for The Times, explains why, of all the charges piling up against Trump, this one may be the hardest to escape. Guest: Richard Fausset , a New York Times correspondent based in A...
Aug 15, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, wildfires broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui that became the deadliest in the United States in over a century. The town of Lahaina, once the royal capital of the kingdom of Hawaii, was one of the places hit hardest — its historic center was decimated, including Waiola Church, the oldest on the island and a cherished meeting place. Today, the minister of Waiola Church, Anela Rosa, explains what it means to lose Lahaina and what it will take to rebuild it. Guest: Anela Rosa, minis...
Aug 14, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last October, the United States Bureau of Industry and Security issued a document that, underneath its 139 pages of dense bureaucratic jargon and minute technical detail, amounted to a declaration of economic war on China. The magnitude of the act was made all the more remarkable by the relative obscurity of its source. In recent years, semiconductor chips have become central to the bureau’s work. Despite the immense intricacy of their design, semiconductors are, in a sense, quite simple: tiny p...
Aug 13, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few days ago, when the U.S. team was eliminated from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it marked the end of a history-making run. Rory Smith, chief soccer correspondent for The Times, argues that it also marked the end of something even bigger: an entire era that redefined women’s sports. Guest: Rory Smith , the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: After 48 games in the Women’s World Cup, half the teams had been sent home. And yet the field of potential winners feel...
Aug 11, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast This summer, unrelenting heat waves have taken a devastating toll in many parts of the world, putting this year on track to be the hottest ever recorded. Coral Davenport, who covers energy and environmental policy for The Times, and Dana Smith, a reporter for the Well section, discuss what it means to live in this new normal, an era in which extreme heat threatens our way of life. Guest: Coral Davenport , an energy and environmental policy correspondent for The New York Times. Dana G. Smith , a ...
Aug 10, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Satellites owned by Elon Musk’s Starlink orbit the earth and beam an internet connection to almost anywhere. In 2019, the company sent its first 60 or so satellites into orbit — today, it has some 4,500 circling the planet, with around 1.5 million customers across about 50 countries and territories. Adam Satariano, a technology correspondent for The Times, details the company’s rise and power, and discusses the implications of one man’s controlling it all. Guest: Adam Satariano , a technology co...
Aug 09, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast To win a conviction against former President Donald J. Trump for trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election, Jack Smith, the special counsel, is applying laws in ways that have never been used before. Charlie Savage, a Washington correspondent for The Times, explains Mr. Smith’s approach and previews Mr. Trump’s likely response. Guest: Charlie Savage , a Washington correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: By layering varied charges atop the same facts, while sidestepping...
Aug 08, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast The latest economic figures are some of the best of President Biden’s tenure so far. It appears increasingly likely that the United States has managed to tame high inflation without causing a recession. Jim Tankersley, who covers economic policy for The Times, discusses the encouraging outlook and speculates about why the positive data hasn’t translated into a bump in President Biden’s popularity. Guest: Jim Tankersley , a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: For...
Aug 07, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Barb’s father all but left, her mother turned inward, sitting quietly in front of the television, always smoking, often with a cocktail. Something had overtaken her, though it wasn’t clear what. Six years later, Barb was 20 and in college when someone else in the family needed help. Her sister Christy was the second-born, 24 years older than Barb and the star of the family in many ways. But where once Christy was capable and professionally ambitious and socially conscious, now, at 44, she w...
Aug 06, 2023•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast The wildfires sweeping Canada have become the largest in its modern history. Across the country, 30 million acres of forest have burned — three times as much land as in the worst American fire in the past 50 years. The scale has forced an international response and a re-evaluation of how the world handles wildfires. Firefighters on the front lines discuss the challenges they face, and David Wallace-Wells, a climate columnist for The Times, explores how climate change has shifted thinking about w...
Aug 04, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast With Donald Trump facing charges in three different criminal cases, the biggest questions in American politics are whether that creates an opening for his Republican rivals in the presidential race — and whether it disqualifies him in the eyes of general election voters. A new set of Times polls has answers to those questions. It shows the president and the former president still tied among registered voters, each at 43 percent. Nate Cohn, The New York Times’s chief political analyst, talks us t...
Aug 03, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Tuesday afternoon, the special counsel Jack Smith filed criminal charges against former President Donald Trump over his wide-ranging attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter for The Times, talks us through the indictment and the evidence it lays out that Trump participated in an illegal conspiracy to remain in power. Guest: Luke Broadwater , a congressional reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: The New York Times’s live coverage of the i...
Aug 02, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did the National Rifle Association, America’s most influential gun-rights group, amass its power? A New York Times investigation has revealed the secret history of how a fusty club of sportsmen became a lobbying juggernaut that would compel elected officials’ allegiance, derail legislation behind the scenes, and redefine the legal landscape. Mike McIntire, an investigative reporter for The Times, sets out the story of the N.R.A.’s transformation — and the unseen role that members of Congress...
Aug 01, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last year, Giorgia Meloni, an Italian far-right politician, became prime minister on an agenda that many feared would mark a radical turn for the country. Now, her visit to the White House last week has bolstered her credentials on the international stage. Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief for The New York Times, explains how she got here and the path she has carved out for Europe’s far-right parties. Guest: Jason Horowitz , the Rome bureau chief for The New York Times. Background reading: A...
Jul 31, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the weekends, when Roy Gamboa was a little boy, his grandfather would wake him before dawn. He would pour some coffee into a bowl of rice, and that would be the boy’s breakfast. Roy knew better than to question anything; he sat quietly in his grandfather’s truck as they rumbled down the big hill from their village, Hågat, to Big Navy, as the U.S. Naval Base in Guam is known. They passed through the military gates, along a dirt road and onto the shore of a little cove, next to one of America’s...
Jul 30, 2023•2 hr 44 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
