The Daily

Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Africa last week was designed to send a simple message to its governments and people — China is not your friend. The United States is. Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times’s East Africa correspondent, explains what the United States has to lose if countries in Africa choose China. Guest: Abdi Latif Dahir , the East Africa correspondent for The New York Times...

The line for reporters seeking to be in the courtroom for Donald J. Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan started forming at 2 p.m. on Monday, more than a day before the former president was scheduled to face a judge in a case centered on hush-money payments. One of those who got in was Jonah Bromwich, a criminal justice correspondent for The Times. He tells us what it was like inside the courthouse as...

Wisconsin will hold an election for a seat on its Supreme Court today, and it is no exaggeration to say that the result could end up reshaping U.S. politics for years to come. The Times political correspondent Reid J. Epstein explains why the race to replace a single judge has become the most important American election of 2023. Guest: Reid J. Epstein , a political correspondent for The New York T...

After Donald J. Trump was indicted over his role in paying hush money to a porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign, he called the move an act of political persecution. But his impending arrest could actually make Mr. Trump a stronger candidate for 2024, the Times correspondent Maggie Haberman explains. Guest: Maggie Haberman , a political correspondent for The New York Times. Background re...

Joe Faillace, 69, has been running the sandwich shop Old Station Subs alongside his wife, Debbie, for the last four decades. But as an epidemic of unsheltered homelessness began to overwhelm Phoenix, and many other major American downtowns, the Faillaces have been met with hundreds of people sleeping within a few blocks of Old Station. Many of them were suffering from mental illness or substance a...

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Donald J. Trump for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case against him has kicked off a historic moment in American politics. The investigative reporter Ben Protess discusses the development — which will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mar...

Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity. As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt , a national security correspondent for The New York Times. Background readi...

For months in Israel, the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing a highly contentious plan to fundamentally change the country’s Supreme Court, setting off some of the largest demonstrations in Israel’s history. On Monday, Mr. Netanyahu announced that he would delay his government’s campaign. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, e...

This episode contains descriptions of violence In a patch of woods southwest of Atlanta, protesters have been clashing with the police over a huge police training facility that the city wants to build there. This month, that fight came to a head when hundreds of activists breached the site, burning police and construction vehicles. Sean Keenan, an Atlanta-based reporter, explains how what opponent...

A few days ago, Utah became the first state to pass a law prohibiting social media services from allowing users under 18 to have accounts without the explicit consent of a parent or guardian. The move, by Republican officials, is intended to address what they describe as a mental health crisis among American teenagers as well as to protect younger users from bullying and child sexual exploitation....

Like a lot of people who get into professional wrestling, Donovan Danhausen had a vision of a different version of himself. Ten years ago, at age 21, he was living in Detroit, working as a nursing assistant at a hospital, watching a lot of “Adult Swim” and accumulating a collection of horror- and comedy-themed tattoos. At the suggestion of a friend, he took a 12-week training course at the House o...

A few days ago, the Biden administration released a report warning that a warming planet posed severe economic challenges for the United States, which would require the federal government to reassess its spending priorities and how it influenced behavior. White House reporter Jim Tankersley explains why getting the government to encourage the right decisions will be so difficult. Guest: Jim Tanker...

A.O. Scott started as a film critic at The New York Times in January of 2000. Next month he will move to the Book Review as a critic at large. After 23 years as a film critic, Mr. Scott discusses why he is done with the movies, and what his decision reveals about the new realities of American cinema. Guest: A.O. Scott , a longtime film critic for The New York Times. Background reading:  A.O. Scott...

Barney Frank was one of the people most responsible for overhauling financial regulation after the 2008 economic crisis. After retiring from Congress, he supported a change to his own law that would benefit midsize banks, and joined the board of such a bank.  Last week, that bank failed. David Enrich called Mr. Frank and asked him to explain. Guest: David Enrich , the business investigations edito...

As Xi Jinping, China’s leader, meets with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow this week, Chinese officials have been presenting his trip as a mission of peace. But American and European officials are watching for something else altogether — whether Mr. Xi will add fuel to the full-scale war that Mr. Putin began more than a year ago. Edward Wong explains what Mr. Xi is really up to, and...

TikTok, the app known for short videos of lip syncing, dancing and bread baking, is one of the most popular platforms in the country, used by one out of every three Americans. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has threatened to ban it over concerns that it poses a threat to national security. Guest: Sapna Maheshwari , a business reporter for The New York Times. Background reading:  TikTok’...

As an American, Sam Anderson knows what it feels like to arrive at a theme park. “The totalizing consumerist embrace,” he writes. “The blunt-force, world-warping, escapist delight.” He has known theme parks with entrances like “international borders” and ticket prices like “mortgage payments.” Mr. Anderson has been to Disney World, which he describes as “an alternate reality that basically occupie...

In the past week, as spooked customers frantically withdrew $42 billion from Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. government stepped in to craft a rescue operation for the failed lender. But efforts to contain the crisis have met resistance, and the fallout of the collapse has already spread to other regional banks, whose stocks have plummeted. Guest: Emily Flitter , a finance correspondent for The New Y...

This episode contains strong language Millions of people have taken to the streets in France to protest a government effort to raise the retirement age to 64, from 62, bringing the country more in line with its European neighbors. Today, as Parliament holds a key vote on the proposal, we look into why the issue has hit such a nerve in French society. Guest: Roger Cohen , the Paris bureau chief for...

Three years after the start of Covid, the central mystery of the pandemic — how exactly it began — remains unsolved. But recently, the debate about the source of the coronavirus has re-emerged, this time in Congress. The Energy Department has concluded, with “low confidence,” that an accidental laboratory leak in China was most likely the origin, but politics are making it harder to find definitiv...

With federal regulators planning to take over the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, a 40-year-old institution based in California, nearly $175 billion in customer deposits will be placed under the authorities’ control. The lender’s demise is the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since the financial crisis in 2008. The debacle raised concerns that other banks could face probl...

The principle behind E.S.G. is that investors should look beyond just whether a company can make a profit and take into account other factors, such as its environmental impact and action on social issues. But critics of that investment strategy, mostly Republicans, say that Wall Street has taken a sharp left turn, attacking what they term “woke capitalism.” Guest: David Gelles , a climate correspo...

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany told Parliament that the attack was a Zeitenwende — a historic “turning point” for Europe and Germany. The risk of a large land war in Europe had previously been considered far-fetched, but recent years of Russian aggression have inspired fear in Germany and a 100-billion-euro fund to bolster its...

Almost immediately after taking power in December, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition in Isreal proposed a highly contentious overhaul of the Supreme Court. The court has long been seen as a crucial check and lone backstop on the government, and the plan has divided Israeli society, kindling fears of political violence and even civil war. Guest: Patrick Kingsley , the Jerusalem bureau chief...

Slaughterhouses, construction sites, factories. A Times investigation has found that migrant children have been thrust into jobs in some of the most demanding workplaces in the United States. How did this crisis in child labor develop? And now that it has been exposed, what is being done to tackle the problem? Guest: Hannah Dreier , an investigative reporter for The New York Times. Background read...