A measles outbreak continues to spread in Texas. More than 200 people have been infected. One child has died. And health experts are now concerned that low vaccination rates will make it harder to contain. Teddy Rosenbluth, a health reporter at The New York Times, explains the rapid outbreak — and asks whether the government’s response will signal a turning point in how America views public heath. Guest: Teddy Rosenbluth , a health reporter at The New York Times. Background reading: The Texas me...
Mar 12, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his recent address before Congress, President Trump talked once again about his big ambitions for Greenland. He told the icebound island’s “incredible people” that he supported their right to determine their future. But he ended his message with a threat, declaring, “One way or the other we are going to get it.” Jeffrey Gettleman, an international correspondent for The New York Times who recently traveled to the island, explains what Mr. Trump wants from Greenland, and whether he may actually...
Mar 11, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the coming days, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would follow through on one of his major campaign promises: to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. The catch is that he still needs the department to impose his vision on American schools. Dana Goldstein, who covers education for The Times, explains how Mr. Trump is balancing his desire both to dismantle and to weaponize the Education Department. Guest: Dana Goldstein , a reporter covering education and familie...
Mar 10, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast One thing I’ve learned from being married to my wife, Jess, who is a couples therapist, is how vast the distance is between the masks people show to the world and the messy realities that live behind them. Every couple knows its own drama, but we still fall prey to the illusion that all other couples have seamlessly satisfying relationships. The truth about marriage — including my own — is that even the most functional couples are merely doing the best they can with the lives that have been best...
Mar 09, 2025•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast The pop superstar reflects on her struggles with mental health, the pressures of the music industry and why she’s returned to the sound that made her famous.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Mar 08, 2025•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and domestic abuse. Over the past few years, a celebrated filmmaker has tried to unlock the mysteries of the pop icon Prince. Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine, says that the result is a cinematic masterpiece. How is it possible that nobody will ever see it? Guest: Sasha Weiss , a deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine. Background reading: Inside Ezra Edelman’s documentary on Prince . For more information ...
Mar 07, 2025•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast For years, even as fentanyl has killed Americans at an astonishing rate, Mexico has claimed that it was doing everything possible to crack down on production of the drug. This week, President Trump began using punishing new tariffs to test that claim. Natalie Kitroeff, who is the Mexico City bureau chief for The New York Times, discusses the surprising result of his tactics. Guest: Natalie Kitroeff , the Mexico City bureau chief for The New York Times. Background reading: Mr. Trump’s threats and...
Mar 06, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his first address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Trump took a highly partisan victory lap as Democratic lawmakers openly protested against him. Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The Times, walks us through the speech, including the reactions to it in the room. Guest: Maggie Haberman , a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: A combative President Trump taunted his political rivals during his speech. Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump’s...
Mar 05, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since President Trump took office, Elon Musk and DOGE have wielded an unprecedented level of power to help the administration cut the U.S. government, and they claim to have stopped tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains why those claims are not what they seem — and what that tells us about Mr. Musk’s project to shrink the federal bureaucracy. Guest: David A. Fahrenthold , an investigative reporter for The New Yor...
Mar 04, 2025•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Friday, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in an explosive televised Oval Office meeting and abruptly cut short a visit that was meant to help coordinate a plan for peace. Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The Times, discusses the clash and its consequences. Guest: Peter Baker , the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Trump and his administration. Background reading: Mr. Trump berate...
Mar 03, 2025•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jim Tucker could hardly believe what he was hearing. It sounded like fiction, a nightmare too outlandish for an unassuming town like his. It was July 2023, and Tucker was hosting a meeting of the board of Heartland Tri-State Bank, a community-owned business in a small Kansas town called Elkhart. Heartland was a beloved local institution and a source of Tucker family pride: Tucker served on the board with his elderly father, Bill, who founded the bank four decades earlier. All of the board member...
Mar 02, 2025•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Massachusetts leader, whose influence goes well beyond her state, discusses how the Democratic Party can pick its battles and rebuild its brand. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Mar 01, 2025•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, President Trump proposed two deals that would require allies to put his needs ahead of their own. Times’ Journalists Michael Barbaro, Catie Edmonson, Maggie Haberman, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs discuss how, in both cases, Trump got what he wanted. Guest: Catie Edmondson , a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Maggie Haberman , a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Zolan Kanno-Youngs , a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Trum...
Feb 28, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast During his decades-long path to become America’s highest-ranking military officer, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. won the crucial support of President Trump. That all changed when Mr. Brown publicly talked about a subject that is taboo in Mr. Trump’s government. Helene Cooper, who covers national security for The Times, explains why General Brown was fired and why it has rocked the military. Guest: Helene Cooper , who cover national security issues for The New York Times. Background reading: Presiden...
Feb 27, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, as the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas enters its most fragile phase, no one knows who will control the future of Gaza. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, talks through this delicate moment — as the first part of the deal nears its end — and the questions that hover over it. Guest: Patrick Kingsley , the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times. Background reading: Gaza’s truce could end in days, with no extension agreed. What happens next? Alarm...
Feb 26, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: This episode discusses sexual themes. Artificial intelligence has changed how millions of people write emails, conduct research and seek advice. Kashmir Hill, who covers technology and privacy, tells the story of a woman whose relationship with a chatbot when much further than that. Guest: Kashmir Hill , a features writer on the business desk at The New York Times, covering technology and privacy. Background reading: She is in love with ChatGPT . For more information on today’s episode,...
Feb 25, 2025•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: This episode contains mentions of suicide. Since President Trump took office, his plan to deport millions of undocumented people has kept running into barriers. That has forced the White House to come up with ever more creative, and controversial, tactics. The Times journalists Julie Turkewitz and Hamed Aleaziz explain why some migrants are being held in a hotel in Panama. Guest: Julie Turkewitz , the Andes bureau chief for The New York Times, based in Bogotá, Colombia. Her recent work ...
Feb 24, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast When David Muhammad was 15, his mother moved from Oakland, Calif., to Philadelphia with her boyfriend, leaving Muhammad in the care of his brothers, ages 20 and 21, both of whom were involved in the drug scene. Over the next two years, Muhammad was arrested three times — for selling drugs, attempted murder and illegal gun possession. For Muhammad, life turned around. He wound up graduating from Howard University, running a nonprofit in Oakland called the Mentoring Center and serving in the leade...
Feb 23, 2025•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer talks about burnout from covering the pandemic and how bird-watching gave him a new sense of hope.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Feb 22, 2025•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, President Trump falsely claimed that Ukraine started the war against Russia, ordered federal agencies created by Congress to answer directly to him and installed himself as the leader of Washington’s premiere cultural institution. The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Charlie Savage and Elisabeth Bumiller sit down to make sense of it all. Guest: Zolan Kanno-Youngs , a White House correspondent for The New York Times, Charlie Savage , who writes about national secu...
Feb 21, 2025•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The sweeping federal corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams seemed to spell the end of his career. Then he got a sudden reprieve from President Trump — but as the terms of that support became public, an extraordinary blowback ensued. Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, walks us through the saga. Guest: Nicholas Fandos , a reporter covering New York politics and government for The New York Times. Background reading: Here are the charges against Mayor A...
Feb 20, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump and his allies left little doubt that, if they returned to power, federal workers would face layoffs, buyouts and agency closures. Now that President Trump’s plan has become a reality, dozens of federal workers explain what it’s been like to live through it. Background reading: Here’s where Mr. Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE have cut federal workers so far . Stunned government workers are facing sleeplessness, anger and tears. For more information on today’s epi...
Feb 19, 2025•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast During less than a month in office, President Trump has pursued more trade actions against adversaries and allies than all the trade measures he took in his entire first four-year term. There is one man guiding it all: his trade adviser Peter Navarro. Ana Swanson, who covers trade and international economics for The Times, explains why Mr. Navarro thinks tariffs will usher in a new age of American prosperity. Guest: Ana Swanson , who covers trade and international economics for The New York Time...
Feb 18, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few days ago, the Trump administration began blowing up America’s existing approach to ending the war in Europe by embracing Russia and snubbing Ukraine. The shift has quickly turned into a broader assault on America’s relationship with Europe. Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief of The Times, explains how it’s all adding up to a stunning victory for Vladimir V. Putin. Guest: Anton Troianovski , the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times. Background reading: Analysis: Vladimir V. Pu...
Feb 17, 2025•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Arizona lawmaker diagnoses what he thinks needs to change in the way his party communicates with men, Latinos and Trump voters.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Feb 15, 2025•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past week, President Donald J. Trump dramatically ceded the stage to Elon Musk in the Oval Office, turned the Democratic mayor of New York City into a political pawn and ensured that Vladimir Putin begins peace talks with Ukraine on Russia’s terms. The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs sit down and discuss the latest week in the Trump administration. Guests: Maggie Haberman , a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Dav...
Feb 14, 2025•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast An outbreak of bird flu has been tearing through the nation’s dairy farms and infecting more and more people. Now there are troubling signs that the United States may be closer to another pandemic, even as President Trump dismantles the country’s public health system. Apoorva Mandavilli, who covers science and global health for The Times, explains how the virus has changed and why our government might be ill-equipped to respond. Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli , a science and global health reporter at...
Feb 13, 2025•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast As President Trump issues executive orders that encroach on the powers of Congress — and in some cases fly in the face of established law — a debate has begun about whether he’s merely testing the boundaries of his power or triggering a full-blown constitutional crisis. Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, walks us through the debate. Guests: Adam Liptak , who covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar , a column on legal developments, for The New York Times. Background read...
Feb 12, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: This episode contains strong language. As President Trump demolishes the government’s biggest provider of foreign aid, the United States Agency for International Development, he is ending a 60-year bipartisan consensus about the best way to keep America safe from its enemies. Michael Crowley, who covers U.S. foreign policy, and Stephanie Nolen, a global health reporter for The New York Times, discuss the rise and fall of U.S.A.I.D. — and American soft power. Guests: Michael Crowley , a ...
Feb 11, 2025•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past week, President Trump avoided a trade war with Canada and Mexico. But he escalated a trade war with China. His reasoning? China has become more powerful in domestic manufacturing than the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Britain combined. Keith Bradsher, the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, explains why China’s dominance as a trading partner has become a threat to Trump’s agenda — and asks whether America will ever be able to catch up. Guests: Keith Bradsh...
Feb 10, 2025•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
