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The Daily

The New York Timeswww.nytimes.com
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, Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff. Twenty minutes a day, six days a week, ready by 6 a.m. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.
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Episodes

Everything You Need to Know About the World Cup

The 2026 World Cup is about to descend on North America — spread across three countries, with 48 teams, and 104 games, and with billions of fans across the globe tuning in to watch the biggest sporting event on the planet. Today, Tariq Panja, global soccer correspondent for The New York Times, breaks down everything you need to know about this year’s tournament — the arrival of historic first-timers, like Curaçao, the aging legends like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are making their fi...

Jun 06, 202637 min

One Town's Blueprint for Resegregating America

A real estate investor’s pursuit of cheap land has prompted a lawsuit against a compound in Arkansas that will test whether civil rights laws can stop a whites-only town from existing in America. Today, Debra Kamin, a New York Times investigative reporter, discusses the community and why its members are convinced that in this political climate, no one is going to stop them. Guest: Debra Kamin , an investigative reporter focusing on wealth, power and corruption for The The New York Times. Backgro...

Jun 05, 202634 min

How Trump Was Persuaded to Regulate A.I.

President Trump has begrudgingly accepted that artificial intelligence requires oversight and on Tuesday signed an executive order asking companies to voluntarily give the government access to new models before they’re released to the public. Tripp Mickle, who covers Silicon Valley, discusses the battle in the White House over the issue and how it played out over the last few weeks. Guest: Tripp Mickle , who reports about Silicon Valley for The New York Times from San Francisco. Background readi...

Jun 04, 202634 min

Why the Ebola Outbreak Has Been Nearly Impossible to Stop

At the front lines of the Ebola crisis in Central Africa, badly equipped health workers with little outside support are losing the fight against one of the worst outbreaks in history. Declan Walsh, a New York Times correspondent covering the outbreak, takes us to the epicenter of the virus and explains why, so far, its spread has been so difficult to stop. Guest: Declan Walsh , the chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Inside the Ebola epicenter, the virus rages ...

Jun 03, 202631 min

How Elon Musk Engineered the World’s Biggest I.P.O.

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker, is set to go public and begin selling shares as soon as next week. Ryan Mac, who reports on business, explains the plan for the company’s expected record-shattering debut on the stock market, and how it is changing the rules for investing. Guest: Ryan Mac , a New York Times reporter based in Los Angeles who covers corporate accountability across the global technology industry. Background reading: Why sky-high I.P.O. pricing isn’t great for real peo...

Jun 02, 202631 min

Inside Trump’s Mad Dash to Renovate Washington

In the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary, President Trump is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a major renovation of the nation’s capitol. David A. Fahrenthold, who has been investigating how the projects have come together, takes listeners on a walking tour of the sites being remade. Guest: David A. Fahrenthold , an investigative reporter for The New York Times, writing primarily about nonprofit organizations. Background reading: See what’s wrong with the Lincoln Memorial Reflect...

Jun 01, 202637 min

Popcast: Olivia Rodrigo Tried Writing Love Songs. Then Life Got Messy.

Olivia Rodrigo sat down with Joe and Jon for her first in-depth conversation about her new album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” out June 12. She discussed the many ways her creative process intersects with the extracurricular noise of pop superstardom, whether its managing relationship drama; being targeted for the way she dresses, accusations of pilfering songwriting gestures from Taylor Swift, her onetime idol, or her willingness to speak up about political and social causes in ...

May 31, 20261 hr 30 min

Want to ‘Optimize’ Your Happiness? This Happiness Expert Says: Don’t.

Laurie Santos on what will really bring meaning and fulfillment to your life, and what won’t. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of perso...

May 30, 202648 min

Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz

While the United States and Iran have each signaled that they may be making progress toward a peace deal, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Thousands of crew members have been stranded in the shipping channel since the war broke out three months ago. Two seafarers who got stuck in the strait explain what it is like to be trapped in a war zone, and what it would mean to get everyone out. Guest: Capt. Virendra Vishwakarma, who managed to leave the Strait of Hormuz, and Aung Thu Khant, a seafare...

May 29, 202627 min

Can A.I. Make People Feel Less Lonely?

For years, caretakers and health officials have been raising alarms about loneliness and social isolation among older Americans. Eli Saslow, a reporter at The New York Times, tells the story of one woman who is using artificial intelligence to keep her independence, and to keep her company. Guest: Eli Saslow , a reporter for The New York Times who writes in-depth stories about the impact of major national issues on people’s lives. Background reading: At 85, Jan Worrell lived alone on a remote co...

May 28, 202629 min

The Whiplash Over a Possible Peace Deal With Iran

President Trump claimed over the long weekend that he was on the brink of a peace deal with Iran but offered few details. The United States then carried out new strikes against the country on Monday. David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager, who cover the Trump administration for The New York Times, discuss what happened and the state of the peace negotiations. Guest: David E. Sanger , a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. Tyler Pager, a White House correspondent for T...

May 27, 202626 min

A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs

As America is beginning to wrap its arms around the fentanyl crisis, a new kind of drug epidemic is emerging. It is faster, more addictive, more lethal and powered by synthetic drugs — substances that can be made almost anywhere. Matt Richtel, a science and health reporter, and Azam Ahmed, an international investigative correspondent, have been pursuing a series of stories looking at the rise of ultra-potent lab-made drugs. On today’s episode of “The Daily,” Azam explains how these drugs are beg...

May 26, 202627 min

Sites Unseen: What’s Revealed by Traveling With the Blind

Andy Isaacson is a writer and photographer. His work for The Times has taken him to every corner of the world, and he has transmitted what he’s experienced through his images. But recently, Isaacson took a trip unlike any he’d taken before. Not because of where he traveled, but because of how he traveled. Paired with a set of unlikely travel companions, he put down his camera and experienced the word through touch, smell and sound. On today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Isaacson talks with Ho...

May 24, 202627 min

Nicolas Cage Made Himself a Legend. Then He Had to Live With It.

The iconic actor on his thrillingly risky choices, on screen and off, and becoming a meme. Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.com Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, downl...

May 23, 20261 hr 2 min

For Mother’s Day, Classic Mom-isms

For Mother’s Day, we asked you about your “Mom mantras”: the oft-repeated mottos or go-to expressions that your moms have said over the years. In partnership with the Well desk , we received thousands of submissions, full of sayings that ranged from wise to funny to profound. In today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” we feature your “Mom mantras,” and the host Rachel Abrams calls her mother to ask about hers. On Today’s Episode: Readers of The New York Times Background Reading: The Wisdom of Our...

May 10, 202630 min

The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters

Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living A...

May 03, 202643 min

Daniel Radcliffe, Mariska Hargitay and the Happiest List on Earth

With war, political wrangling and price hikes jockeying for headlines, it’s a rare thing to sit for an hour with a large group of strangers and focus on the small pleasures in life. But that’s what the show “Every Brilliant Thing” is all about. Since 2013, Duncan Macmillan’s audience-participation-heavy play has been performed in dozens of languages in hundreds of locations across the globe. It revolves around a central character who writes a list of all the good things in life for a depressed p...

Apr 26, 202641 min

Dating on the Spectrum

The reality show “Love on the Spectrum” — which just released its fourth season — has become a big hit; it’s currently one of the most watched shows on Netflix in the United States. The show follows autistic adults as they search for love. “Love on the Spectrum” is unlike much of reality television — a genre known to subject its cast members to drama and humiliation for entertainment’s sake. Instead, the show captures a dating world that has more heartwarming moments than histrionics, and is sen...

Apr 19, 202636 min

One Reporter’s Life-Altering Psychedelic Trip

The first time Robert Draper heard about the psychedelic drug ibogaine, it was from an unlikely source: the retired U.S. senator Kyrsten Sinema. As a political reporter for The New York Times, Draper often talks to figures like Ms. Sinema. But on this occasion, he said, she wanted to tell him about how she had tried ibogaine, which is illegal in the United States. She’d become such a believer in the drug that she was pushing her home state of Arizona to fund clinical trials for veterans with com...

Apr 12, 202642 min

She Risked Her Voice to Become a Mother

Lise Davidsen is one of the greatest opera singers of our time — a soprano with a voice so rare, critics reach back a century for comparison. This spring, she has been starring in a sold-out new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera. But she’s also at a crossroads: Her first performance as “Isolde” on the Met stage came just nine months after giving birth to twins. Today on The Sunday Daily, Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times writer Zachary Woolfe about his rec...

Apr 05, 202639 min

Our Enduring Fascination With the Kennedys

“Love Story,” the FX limited series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s relationship, has taken audiences by storm. Its unstoppable wave of ’90s nostalgia has swept through the world of fashion, revitalized iconic New York landmarks and set off a yearning for simpler days before smartphones and dating apps. The series has also drawn significant backlash, with criticism ranging from bad reviews to accusations of inaccuracy and even harm. Today, Rachel Abrams talks to Alexandra Jacobs...

Mar 29, 202634 min

Injections, Bone Hammering and the Pursuit of Peak Male Beauty

If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you’ve probably come across a video of a young, square-jawed influencer calling himself Clavicular. He has become the face of an internet subculture called looksmaxxing, in which men do almost anything — like taking steroids and hormones or bashing their jaws with a hammer — to try to become more handsome. In this episode, Natalie Kitroeff talks with reporter Joseph Bernstein about the world of looksmaxxing and how what might seem like a fringe ...

Mar 22, 202638 min

To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite

For 12 years, Pete Wells had his dream job: working as the chief restaurant critic for The New York Times. The job’s journalistic mission required Wells to eat out most nights and taste nearly everything on any given restaurant’s menu. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the excessive eating had taken a toll on his body. Then came a health crisis, followed by his doctor’s advice to “stop doing what you’re doing right now.” In 2024, Wells gave up his post as restaurant critic and set out to rem...

Mar 15, 202637 min

Oscars 2026: Who Will Win, and Who Should Win?

Today on “The Sunday Daily,” The Times’s chief movie critic, Manohla Dargis, talks with the “Daily” host Michael Barbaro about this year’s batch of Oscar nominees, which — according to her — are uncommonly good. They discuss the performances that Dargis believes deserve to win, the dark horses that might pull off upsets, and the ambitious films that give her hope for Hollywood’s future. On Today’s Episode: Manohla Dargis , Chief Film Critic for The New York Times. Background Reading: ‘Hamnet’ | ...

Mar 08, 202635 min

Is the Swipe Era Over?

In 2012, Tinder revolutionized dating apps with its swipe feature. With the flick of a finger, singles could accept or reject a potential mate. While this innovation has worked for many, some have grown weary of the simple swipe, and long for a more nuanced way to find love. Today on “The Sunday Daily,” Rachel Abrams examines two dating tends on the rise: in-person mixers that are far from old-fashioned, and emerging A.I. technology that promises singles a ‘soul’ match. Rachel speaks with The Ne...

Feb 22, 202635 min

Boos, Rivalries and Records: Inside the 2026 Olympics

In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” the host Rachel Abrams is joined by her New York Times colleagues Motoko Rich, Shawna Richer and Juliet Macur, who are all covering this year’s Olympic Games. They discuss how the geopolitical climate may or may not be influencing the competition, and talk about some of the extraordinary athletes who are pushing the limits of physical achievements. On Today’s Episode Motoko Rich is the Rome bureau chief for The New York Times. Juliet Macur is a national rep...

Feb 15, 202643 min

Bad Bunny Takes Over America

At the Grammy Awards tonight, the Puerto Rican pop sensation Bad Bunny is the first Spanish-language artist to be nominated for album, record and song of the year simultaneously. For most artists, this would be the high point of their year, if not their career. For Bad Bunny, this is just an appetizer for what’s in store for him next week. Next Sunday, he will headline the Super Bowl halftime show. His performance comes in the middle of a nationwide crackdown on immigration — an issue he’s been ...

Feb 01, 202649 min

We Underestimated the Neanderthal

Pop culture has not been kind to the Neanderthal. In books, movies and even TV commercials, the species is portrayed as rough and mindless, a brutish type that was rightly supplanted by our Homo sapiens ancestors. But even 40,000 years after the last Neanderthals walked the earth, we continue to make discoveries that challenge that portrayal. New research suggests Neanderthals might have been less primitive — and a lot more like modern humans — than we might have thought. The Times science repor...

Jan 25, 202632 min

Hollywood’s A.I. Moment

There’s a lot of anxiety about artificial intelligence invading Hollywood; the general mood there right now could be called “doom and gloom.” But speculation about a future where A.I. actors perform A.I. scripts in A.I.-generated movies often obscures the role A.I. is currently playing in the industry. In this episode, the host Michael Barbaro talks with the Hollywood reporter Brooks Barnes and the movie critic Alissa Wilkinson about the ways that A.I. is already showing up in our movies and tel...

Jan 18, 202638 min

Sunday Special: The Best Movies of 2025

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture. This week, on our final episode of the podcast, we’re talking about movies. The potential acquisition of Warner Brothers by Netflix has dominated entertainment news in recent weeks, but the year in movies has been about a lot more than corporate mergers. Alissa Wilkinson, a movie critic for The New York Times, and Nicole Sperling, a culture reporter based in Los Angeles, join Gilbert Cruz to talk about what reall...

Dec 28, 202554 min
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