The Protocol

The New York Times•the-protocol.simplecast.com

A six-part podcast exploring the story of medical treatment for transgender young people — how the care began, the lives it changed, and the legal and political fights that could end it in the United States.

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Episodes

The Now

State bans are enacted. The Supreme Court is poised to weigh in. President Trump declares that there are only two genders and threatens to withhold federal funds from hospitals that provide pediatric gender treatments. We hear from kids, parents and providers caught in the middle about the complicated decisions they are making.

Jun 05, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 6

The Review

The heated debate is not limited to the U.S. In England, a pediatrician tasked with figuring out how the country’s health care system should provide the care finds that the evidence is “remarkably weak.” One major medical group argues that’s missing the point — and repeating history.

Jun 05, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 5

The Whistleblower

A small Midwestern gender clinic gets consumed by a growing political fight when a whistleblower goes public. She had begun to see the treatments as harmful, and decided the political route was the only way to fix it.

Jun 05, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 4

The American Approach

In Boston, a psychologist helps set up the first youth gender clinic in the U.S., adapting the Dutch approach. Across the country, a rising star in the field questions their methods. Meanwhile, demand increases worldwide as the types of patients seeking care change.

Jun 05, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 3

The Gender Kids

The new treatment is codified into a protocol, and the Dutch publish a landmark study that launches the field of youth gender medicine. A former patient describes the benefit of early treatment in a society that is still hostile to trans people.

Jun 05, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 2

The Beginning

The story of youth gender medicine starts in The Netherlands, with a clinical psychologist and a 16 year-old who was determined to go through life as the gender he long felt he was.

Jun 05, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Introducing ‘The Protocol’

Since 2021, nearly half of U.S. states have banned medical treatments for transgender minors, with the Trump administration and Supreme Court also targeting this care. This episode introduces 'The Protocol,' a new series from The New York Times investigating the complex story of youth gender medicine—its origins, purpose, and the escalating legal and political fights shaping its future. Join reporters as they explore the history, medical aspects, and political entanglement of this critical issue.

May 30, 2025•4 min

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