The closest thing to a bat signal for stoners is the blue lettering of the Cookies logo. When a new storefront comes to a strip mall or a downtown shopping district, fans flock to grand-opening parties, drawn by a love of the brand — one based on more than its reputation for selling extremely potent weed. People often compare Cookies to the streetwear brand Supreme. That’s accurate in one very literal sense — they each sell a lot of hats — and in other, more subjective ones. They share a penchan...
Feb 25, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, when a civil court judge in New York ruled against Donald J. Trump, he imposed a set of penalties so severe that they could temporarily sever the former president from his real-estate empire and wipe out all of his cash. Jonah Bromwich, who covers criminal justice in New York, and Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The Times, explain what that will mean for Mr. Trump as a businessman and as a candidate. Guests: Jonah E. Bromwich , a criminal justice correspondent fo...
Feb 23, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, the Russian authorities announced that Aleksei A. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and an unflinching critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, had died in a remote Arctic prison at the age of 47. Yevgenia Albats, his friend, discusses how Mr. Navalny became a political force and what it means for his country that he is gone. Guest: Yevgenia Albats, a Russian investigative journalist and a friend of Mr. Navalny. Background reading: Who was Aleksei Navalny ? The sudden d...
Feb 22, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past few weeks, a growing sense of alarm across Europe over the future of the continent’s security has turned into outright panic. As Russia advances on the battlefield in Ukraine, the U.S. Congress has refused to pass billions of dollars in new funding for Ukraine’s war effort and Donald Trump has warned European leaders that if they do not pay what he considers their fair share toward NATO, he would not protect them from Russian aggression. Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic corres...
Feb 21, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode contains strong language and descriptions of war. After months of telling residents in the Gaza Strip to move south for safety, Israel now says it plans to invade Rafah, the territory’s southernmost city. More than a million people are effectively trapped there without any clear idea of where to go. Two Gazans describe what it is like to live in Rafah right now. Guest: Ghada al-Kurd and Hussein Owda, who are among more than a million people sheltering in Rafah. Background reading: I...
Feb 20, 2024•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Times investigation has found that dentists and lactation consultants around the country are pushing “tongue-tie releases” on new mothers struggling to breastfeed, generating huge profits while often harming patients. Katie Thomas, an investigative health care reporter at The Times, discusses the forces driving this emerging trend in American health care and the story of one family in the middle of it. Guest: Katie Thomas , an investigative health care reporter at The New York Times. Backgroun...
Feb 19, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re sharing the latest episode of Modern Love, a podcast about the complicated love lives of real people, from The New York Times. Anna Martin, host of the show, spoke to David Finch, who wrote three Modern Love essays about how hard he had worked to be a good husband to his wife, Kristen. As a man with autism who married a neurotypical woman, Dave found it challenging to navigate being a partner and a father. Eventually, he started keeping a list of “best practices” to cover every situa...
Feb 18, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In tense proceedings in Georgia, a judge will decide whether Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, and her office should be disqualified from their prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump. Richard Fausset, a national reporter for The Times, talks through the dramatic opening day of testimony, in which a trip to Belize, a tattoo parlor and Grey Goose vodka all featured. Guest: Richard Fausset , a national reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: With everything ...
Feb 16, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast A crisis of confidence is brewing inside China, where the government is turning believers in the Chinese dream into skeptics willing to flee the country. Li Yuan, who writes about technology, business and politics across Asia for The Times, explains why that crisis is now showing up at the United States’ southern border. Guest: Li Yuan , who writes the New New World column for The New York Times. Background reading: Why more Chinese are risking danger in southern border crossings to the United S...
Feb 15, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about President Biden’s age sharpened again recently after a special counsel report about his handling of classified information described him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The Times, explains why Mr. Biden’s condition can no longer be ignored. Guest: Peter Baker , the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: How Old Is Too Old to Be President? An Uncomfortable Question Arises...
Feb 14, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Voters in New York are choosing the successor to George Santos, the disgraced Republican who was expelled from Congress in December. Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, explains how the results of the race will hold important clues for both parties in November. Guest: Nicholas Fandos , a reporter covering New York politics and government for The New York Times. Background reading: What to Know About the Race to Replace George Santos Days before a special H...
Feb 13, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast When a piece of an Alaska Airlines flight blew out into the sky in January, concern and scrutiny focused once more on the plane’s manufacturer, Boeing. Sydney Ember, a business reporter for The Times, explains what has been learned about the incident and what the implications might be for Boeing. Guest: Sydney Ember , a business reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: The Alaska Airlines plane may have left the Boeing factory missing bolts , the National Transportation Safety Board ...
Feb 12, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast The first death happened before the academic year began. In July 2021, an undergraduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute was reported dead. The administration sent a notice out over email, with the familiar, thoroughly vetted phrasing and appended resources. Katherine Foo, an assistant professor in the department of integrative and global studies, felt especially crushed by the news. She taught this student. He was Chinese, and she felt connected to the particular set of pressures he f...
Feb 11, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast In December, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a bombshell ruling that said Donald Trump was ineligible to be on the state’s ballot for the Republican presidential primary, saying he was disqualified under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution because he had engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6. The Supreme Court has taken on the case and on Thursday, the justices heard arguments for and against keeping Trump on the ballot. Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, analyzes the argu...
Feb 09, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: this episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence. A few days ago, for the first time, an American jury convicted a parent for a mass shooting carried out by their child. Lisa Miller, who has been following the case since its beginning, explains what the historic verdict really means. Guest: Lisa Miller, a domestic correspondent for The New York Times Background reading: From New York Magazine: Will James and Jennifer Crumbley be Found Guilty for Their Son’s Mass Shooti...
Feb 08, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast El Salvador has experienced a remarkable transformation. What had once been one of the most violent countries in the world has become incredibly safe. Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, discusses the cost of that transformation to the people of El Salvador, and the man at the center of it, the newly re-elected President Nayib Bukele. Guest: Natalie Kitroeff , the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbea...
Feb 07, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Late last month, an explosive allegation that workers from a crucial U.N. relief agency in Gaza had taken part in the Oct. 7 attacks stunned the world and prompted major donors, including the United States, to suspend funding. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The Times, explains what this could mean for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and how it might complicate Israel’s strategy in the war. Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times. Background re...
Feb 06, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Biden has struggled to sell Americans on the positive signs in the economy under his watch, despite figures that look good on paper. That could have important ramifications for his re-election hopes. Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The Times, explains why, to understand the situation, it may help to look back at another election, 76 years ago. Guest: Nate Cohn , the chief political analyst for The New York Times. Background reading: Want to Understand 2024? Look at 1948 . Th...
Feb 05, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Of all the dozens of suspected thieves questioned by the detectives of the Train Burglary Task Force at the Los Angeles Police Department during the months they spent investigating the rise in theft from the city’s freight trains, one man stood out. What made him memorable wasn’t his criminality so much as his giddy enthusiasm for trespassing. That man, Victor Llamas, was a self-taught expert of the supply chain, a connoisseur of shipping containers. Even in custody, as the detectives interrogat...
Feb 04, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Democratic presidential nomination process begins tomorrow in South Carolina, and President Biden is running largely uncontested. But his campaign is expending significant resources in the race to try to reach a crucial part of his base: Black voters. Maya King, a politics reporter at The Times, explains. Guest: Maya King , a politics reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: In South Carolina, Mr. Biden is trying to persuade Black voters to reject Trump . South Carolina was the h...
Feb 02, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast For the past few weeks, Democrats and Republicans were closing in on a game-changing deal to secure the U.S.-Mexico border: a bipartisan compromise that’s unheard-of in contemporary Washington. Karoun Demirjian, who covers Congress for The Times, explains why that deal is now falling apart. Guest: Karoun Demirjian , a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Divided Republicans coalesced behind a bit of legislative extortion: No Ukraine aid without a border crackdo...
Feb 01, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a major advance in science, DNA from Bronze Age skeletons is providing clues to modern medical mysteries. Carl Zimmer, who covers life sciences for The Times, explains how a new field of study is changing the way we think about treatments for devastating diseases. Guest: Carl Zimmer , a science correspondent who writes the Origins column for The New York Times. Background reading: Ancient Skeletons Give Clues to Modern Medical Mysteries Morning Person? You Might Have Neanderthal Genes to Than...
Jan 31, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Inside the Republican Party, a class war is playing out between the pro-Trump base, which is ready for the nomination fight to be over, and the anti-Trump donor class, which thinks it’s just getting started. Astead Herndon, a political correspondent for The Times and the host of “The Run-Up,” explains the clash. Guest: Astead W. Herndon , a political correspondent and host of The Run-Up for The New York Times. Background: Listen to “The Run-Up” on tensions between big Republican donors and the p...
Jan 30, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode contains strong language and audio excerpts of violence. About a decade ago, police departments across the United States began equipping their officers with body cameras. The technology was meant to serve as a window into potential police misconduct, but that transparency has often remained elusive. Eric Umansky, an editor at large at ProPublica, explains why body cameras haven’t been the fix that many hoped they would be. Guest: Eric Umansky, an editor at large at ProPublica. Backg...
Jan 29, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast On April 26, 2019, a beluga whale appeared near Tufjord, a village in northern Norway, immediately alarming fishermen in the area. Belugas in that part of the world typically inhabit the remote Arctic and are rarely spotted as far south as the Norwegian mainland. Although they occasionally travel solo, they tend to live and move in groups. This particular whale was entirely alone and unusually comfortable around humans, trailing boats and opening his mouth as though expecting to be fed. News of ...
Jan 28, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Across the United States, millions of families are confronting a seemingly impossible question: When dementia changes a relative, how much should they accommodate their new personality and desires? Katie Engelhart, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, tells the story of one family’s experience. Guest: Katie Engelhart , a writer for The New York Times Magazine. Background reading: The Mother Who Changed: A Story of Dementia Katie Englehart has reported on dementia for years, and one image of...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast The era of hybrid work has spawned a new kind of office culture — one that has left many workers less connected and less happy than they have ever been. Emma Goldberg, a business reporter covering workplace culture for The Times, explains how mixing remote and office work has created a malaise, as workers confront new challenges and navigate uncertainty, and employers engage in a wave of experiments. Guest: Emma Goldberg , a business reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: Emma Gold...
Jan 25, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump beat Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. His win accelerated a push for the party to coalesce behind him and deepened questions about the path forward for Ms. Haley, his lone remaining rival. Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The Times, discusses the real meaning of the former president's victory. Guest: Jonathan Weisman , a political correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Donald Trump’s win in New Hampshire added to an air of inevitability ...
Jan 24, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nominations for the Oscars are announced on Tuesday and “Oppenheimer,” a film about the father of the atomic bomb, is expected to be among the front-runners. Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains how the film sent her on a quest to find the secret story of how Congress paid for the bomb, and what it reveals about the inner workings of Washington. Guest: Catie Edmondson , a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading: Watching “Oppenheim...
Jan 23, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the International Court of Justice, South Africa is accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Amanda Taub, a human rights lawyer-turned-journalist at The Times, walks through the arguments of the case, and the power that the rules of war have beyond any verdict in court. Guest: Amanda Taub , writer of The Interpreter for The New York Times. Background reading: What might happen next in the genocide case against Israel. With its accusations against Israel, South Africa is challenging the...
Jan 22, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
