Exit polls from the presidential election reveal a divided country: Women tended to vote for Kamala Harris; men, for Donald Trump. And that divide may extend to citizens who aren’t yet of voting age. Naomi Beinart, a 16-year-old junior, witnessed it at her school in the days after the election. In this episode, Beinart says that while her fellow female students fear for the future, “this election didn’t seem to measurably change anything for the boys around me, whether their parents supported Mr...
Nov 19, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Donald Trump has referred to Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orban, as “a great man, a great leader.” In this episode, the columnist M. Gessen, who is in exile from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, draws parallels between Trump, Orban and Putin. Gessen explores what life might look like in Trump’s next term and describes their fear that, this time, “people are going to retreat into their private lives and try to shut out the political world.”
Nov 18, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a recent interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he expected that the Trump administration would recommend against putting fluoride in drinking water, which was met with public outrage and confusion. The economist Emily Oster argues the public deserves more nuanced analysis and explanation on public health issues like fluoridation to build trust. Public health is complex, she says, but experts need to believe that the public can understand the context in which decisions are made — and explain t...
Nov 14, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The biggest divide in America today is not about race or gender, the Times Opinion columnist David Brooks argues. In this episode, he explains how the “diploma divide” can help us understand Donald Trump’s overwhelming support from working-class Americans and what Democrats can do to win them back. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 13, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Voters chose Donald Trump, in part, in response to inflation under President Biden. And yet, the columnist Paul Krugman argues, the new president-elect’s economic plan “is the most inflationary program probably that any American president has ever tried to implement.” In this episode, Krugman outlines four reasons Trump’s economic plans will hurt Americans’ wallets. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 12, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast For those caught off guard, Trump’s victory has been a shock. In this episode of “The Opinions,” the columnist and “Matter of Opinion” co-host Carlos Lozada encourages his fellow Americans to ask a sobering question: If Trump is our preferred leader, what does that mean for who we are as a nation? Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com
Nov 11, 2024•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast The New York Times Opinion columnists Lydia Polgreen and Tressie McMillan Cottom discuss what was revealed about America on Tuesday, why the Democrats failed and what individuals can do about the future. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 07, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Donald Trump’s enduring hold over the Republican Party may send him back to the White House. On this episode of The Opinions, the columnist David French joins deputy Opinion Editor Patrick Healy to discuss the future of the G.O.P. and what a second Trump term might mean for America. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com .
Nov 06, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, many of us are ruminating on an unknowable future. Eliza Barclay, a climate editor for New York Times Opinion and a certified mindfulness instructor, is here to help with that. In this 5-minute mindfulness meditation, she aims to help listeners ease their fears and anxieties about the election by drawing their attention to the present moment. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 05, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Deputy Opinion Editor Patrick Healy on one of the voter insights that has stayed with him from Donald Trump's former campaign manager. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 04, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, three Puerto Rican icons — Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rita Moreno — shared a collective message in a Times Opinion essay: “Our vote won’t be a reaction to racist jokes. We’ll be voting for the future of a country that could be majority-minority by midcentury,” they wrote. In this episode, Miranda reads the trio’s essay. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 02, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Republicans’ growing support among Latinos is no longer guaranteed after a comedian made a racist joke at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. But could it cost Trump the election? Isvett Verde, a Times Opinion editor, speaks with Mike Madrid, a Republican and an expert on Latino voting trends and behaviors, about why the election may hinge on each candidate’s ability to sway Latino voters. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Nov 01, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some parents don't let their children keep their halloween candy, and instead have a "switch witch" come in the night and replace the sweets with a toy. But the Opinion writer Jessica Grose believes the spooky day doesn’t have to be so complicated. In this audio essay, she offers another approach to micromanaging holidays by letting kids’ imaginations run wild.
Oct 31, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast With less than a week to go until the most contested election in generations, law professor Mary Ziegler considers what a second term for Donald Trump would mean for abortion rights. In this audio essay, she argues that while the former president may seem indifferent on the campaign trail to tightening abortion laws, there is a real possibility that if re-elected he will seek to appease his base by using his executive power to ban abortions nationwide. This episode originally aired on Feb. 6, 20...
Oct 30, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Much of the country is laser focused on the presidential election, but control of the Senate is also up for grabs in November. One of the seats in contention is, surprisingly, in deep-red Nebraska, where the independent Dan Osborn is running against the Trump-endorsed Republican Deb Fischer. In the episode of “The Opinions,” the columnist Michelle Goldberg travels to Nebraska to report on Osborn’s appeal and argues that his decision to run lays the groundwork for a “potential new avenue for a le...
Oct 29, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Republican Party has been investing millions of dollars in anti-trans advertisements in a play to reach moderates and voters on the left who feel uncomfortable with or confused by transgender rights. In this episode of “The Opinions,” the New York Times Opinion deputy editor, Patrick Healy, and the columnist M. Gessen discuss these ads and the fear they’re tapping into in American society. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 28, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The meteorologist John Morales has been a hurricane specialist in Miami for decades, but he never found himself close to tears until he witnessed the intensification of Hurricane Milton while live on the air earlier this month. In the weeks since, the clip of Morales choking up has been viewed millions of times online. In this episode of The Opinions, Morales reflects on his emotional response to the Hurricane and urges Americans who share his climate anxiety to talk about how they feel — and vo...
Oct 24, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite growing concerns, the Opinion writer Jessica Grose doesn’t want you to panic about the falling birthrate. In this episode of “The Opinions,” she argues there’s a positive picture behind the decline in births and suggests there are creative solutions that could help us embrace a future below replacement rate. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 23, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many undecided voters aren’t undecided; they’re just uncomfortable, Patrick Healy, the deputy Opinion editor, argues. In this episode of “The Opinions,” he says that “uncomfortable Trump voters” — people who don’t want to admit that they’re going to vote for Donald Trump — could end up costing Kamala Harris the election.
Oct 22, 2024•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since coming down the escalator to announce his bid for president in 2015, Donald Trump has disparaged and dehumanized immigrants. In this episode of “The Opinions,” the Opinion columnist Carlos Lozada, an immigrant from Peru, reflects on what it means to not just discuss the issue but to be at the center of it. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 21, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the wake of the Dobbs decision, South Carolina banned abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy. The law does have a few exceptions, including rape and incest. Dr. Kristl Tomlin, a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist, saw what those exceptions look like in practice for young victims of rape — and she decided to leave the state. In this episode, Dr. Tomlin describes how having to involve the sheriff’s department and lawyers in her work hurt her patients, and pushed her to leave the commun...
Oct 17, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Florida’s two major hurricanes in the past month highlight how decades of deregulation and overdevelopment under Republican leadership have made the state increasingly vulnerable to climate change. After more than 30 years of living through Florida hurricanes, the writer Jeff VanderMeer believes a “managed retreat” is a necessary response to the growing frequency and intensity of storms. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 16, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Melania Trump promoted her recent memoir, “Melania,” with a series of glossy and cryptic promotional videos stating the desire “to share my perspective: the truth.” But what does the self-titled memoir reveal to us about the often inscrutable former first lady? The bookish Opinion columnists Carlos Lozada and Pamela Paul discuss what they learned — and often, what they did not — from her work. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 15, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite concerns over the falling birthrate, especially on the right, the Times Opinion columnist David French recognizes that the push to have more families — and bigger ones — has become problematic. In this audio essay, French explains why he thinks the recent political conversation on the topic reveals “the worst form of natalism.” Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 14, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of atomic bombing survivors, “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.” Over the summer, in an effort to bring light to this new and terrifying nuclear era , Opinion’s editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, and the writer W.J. Hennigan interviewed Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this audio essay, they share stories from two of the survivors they met, Chieko Kiriake...
Oct 12, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mirielle Silcoff received backlash when she wrote a guest essay for Times Opinion about paying her 12-year-old daughter $100 to read a novel. In this audio essay, Ms. Silcoff explains why she doesn’t regret her decision, and why she felt like the experience for her daughter was worth the cost. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 10, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Donald Trump has been on a tour of the Gen Z influencer ecosystem, from Theo Von to Adin Ross. In this episode of “The Opinions,” Daniel Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, argues that Trump is trying to win the support of young men, a once loyal Democratic constituency. Mr. Pfeiffer says Democrats ignore these voters at their peril, for the 2024 election and beyond: “There is no post-Trump era if Gen Z men become firmly adherents of MAGA philosophy,” he explains. Though...
Oct 09, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The last time Mosab Abu Toha, a poet and teacher, was in a classroom in Gaza, it was to shelter with his students and their families, all seeking refuge from Israeli airstrikes. Since then, he and his family have fled Gaza, and they temporarily reside in the United States. In this audio essay, he shares what it means when classrooms cease being places of learning and become a family’s only hope for survival. Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 08, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Israeli anger toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been building in the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Mairav Zonszein, an Israeli-American journalist and analyst, argues that this anger does not extend to the plight of the Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. More than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and yet, she says, Israelis are stuck in a cycle of “apathy” and “indifference,” unable to fully realize the devastation befalling their neighbors. Thoughts? Email u...
Oct 07, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast M. Gessen, an Opinion columnist, watched Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate with a sense of dread. In their mind, the question was not who would win the debate but, rather: How much did we lose? In this audio essay, Gessen argues that when we put Trump and his acolytes on the same platform as regular politicians and treat them equally, “that normalization degrades our political life and degrades our understanding of politics.” Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
Oct 03, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
