The Daily

This episode contains strong language.  A year and a half ago, the Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Karen Weise began examining labor practices at Amazon. In the process, they met Christian Smalls and Derrick Palmer, two Amazon workers at a warehouse in New York, who had embarked on an improbable attempt to create the company’s first union. Last week, they did it. We sat down Mr. Smalls and Mr. P...

For more than two decades, Belarus existed in an equilibrium of quiet authoritarianism. If the government’s repressions didn’t directly touch them, most Belarusians tolerated them. But over the course of 2020, the country’s history and identity, which never much interested a majority of people who lived there, became something they would sacrifice their lives for. Sarah A. Topol explores the battl...

Thirty years ago, Germany put forth a theory for how to work with Russia. Major energy deals, leaders argued, would keep Russia from going to war with its neighbors. Over the past 20 years, Germany has made itself incredibly dependent on Russian gas.  The war in Ukraine has complicated that relationship and has shown how Germany’s approach to Russia has not only failed, but also backfired. Guest:...

As countries have struggled with disease and death throughout the coronavirus pandemic, one part of the world seems to have been mostly spared: central and western Africa. South Africa was deeply affected by waves of the coronavirus, as were countries in East Africa like Kenya and Uganda. But nations in the center and west of the continent appear to have been largely spared. What is behind these l...

This episode details graphic scenes.  Many around the world are calling the indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Bucha, a suburb northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, a war crime. But investigating such atrocities is painstakingly complicated. Could one case that resulted in convictions — the genocide in Bosnia in the 1990s — offer lessons on how to proceed? Guest: Roger Cohen , the Paris bu...

Ukraine and Russia are enormous producers of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and fertilizer. One study calculated that the two countries accounted for 12 percent of the world’s calories. With Ukraine under attack and Russia hit with strict sanctions, a huge supply of food is suddenly trapped — with Africa and the Middle East particularly imperiled. Guest: Jack Nicas , the Brazil bureau chief fo...

After months of investigation by a congressional committee, a federal judge has found that President Donald J. Trump and his allies most likely engaged in illegal activity in the wake of the 2020 election. How did the committee achieve that ruling? Guest: Luke Broadwater , a congressional reporter for The New York Times. Have you lost a loved one during the pandemic? The Daily is working on a spec...

Exploring the personal experiences of Sara Mardini and Seán Binder, two volunteers who were arrested in February 2018 after helping migrants cross safely into Lesbos, Greece, the journalist Alex W. Palmer outlines the complex situation aid workers in Europe find themselves in: increasingly demonized by local authorities while also facing pressure from different ends of the international political...

This episode details graphic scenes.  Russia has mounted a brutal siege around the port city of Mariupol for more than a month, framing it as the key to a war of liberation. In reality, it’s a campaign against a city that is critical to Russia’s strategy — it would help open an important supply route and serve as a symbol of victory.  What is happening inside Mariupol, and what does the fighting m...

In the past, Republicans have been able to secure what some see as an unfair political advantage by gerrymandering political districts. But after the recent redrawing of zones, the congressional map across the U.S. is perhaps more evenly split than at any time in the past 50 years. What happened? Guest: Nate Cohn , a domestic correspondent for The Upshot at The New York Times. Have you lost a love...

A series of text messages released in the past week show how Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, urged White House officials to push to overturn the result of the 2020 election. There has never been a spouse of a sitting justice who has been as overt a political activist as Ms. Thomas — and that presents a real conundrum for the court. Guest: Jo Becker , an investig...

At every step of his political career, Senator Joe Manchin III has helped a West Virginia power plant that is the sole customer of his private coal business, including by blocking ambitious climate action. A Times investigation has revealed the strands of the unusual relationship between Mr. Manchin and that especially dirty power plant, showing just how entwined they are. Guest: Christopher Flave...

Since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, 10 million Ukrainians — about a quarter of the population — have been displaced, and about four million have fled the country. Iryna Baramidze is one of them. From a middle-class neighborhood of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, she has been married to her husband for 12 years and has an 11 year-old son, Yuri. Over three weeks, our producer Clare Toenisko...

Demand for traveling nurses skyrocketed during the pandemic. In March 2020, there were over 12,000 job opportunities for traveling nurses, but by early December of that year, the number had grown to more than 30,000 open positions. Lauren Hilgers details the experiences of America’s traveling nurses and questions whether this “boom” will continue. Myriad factors compelled thousands to abandon thei...

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, thousands of women and girls who were in school or had jobs were forced back into their homes. The Daily producers Lynsea Garrison and Stella Tan have been talking to women and girls across the country about their lives under Taliban rule — and about what kind of future they now face. Background reading:  The Taliban has reneged on its promi...

From the outside, Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine looks indiscriminate and improvised. But the approach is part of an approach devised decades ago in Chechnya. The Times journalist Carlotta Gall, who covered the Chechen conflict, explains why wars fought by Russia some 30 years ago could inform what happens next in Ukraine. Guest: Carlotta Gall , the Istanbul bureau chief for The New Yo...

Democratic support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who could become the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, was never in much doubt. Less certain was the depth of Republican opposition. To analyze how the arguments have played out so far in her confirmation hearing, we look at four key moments. Guest: Adam Liptak , a reporter covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times. H...

Among the actions taken by the West to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine is the blacklisting of the incredibly rich and politically connected Russian businessmen known as oligarchs. But how could sanctions on Russia’s superwealthy increase the pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin to end the war? Guest: Matt Apuzzo , a reporter for The New York Times, based in Brussels. Have you lost a l...

More than two years into the pandemic, coronavirus infections are surging in China and nations in Europe. The reason: BA.2, a highly contagious version of the Omicron variant. At the same time, the United States is doing away with a number of pandemic restrictions, with mask mandates ending and businesses no longer requiring proof of vaccination from customers. We explore what these BA.2 surges lo...

In the high-stakes competition to dominate the business of clean energy, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a major arena: The country is the source of more than two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, a key component of electric-car batteries. In recent years, China has established a strong presence in Congo, while the United States has lost ground. We went to the African country to understand how tha...

It has been three weeks since the war in Ukraine began. The fighting grinds on and there is no clear end in sight. But what are the potential paths forward in the coming days and weeks? On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an address to Congress, proposed one such path, though it is an incredibly unlikely one: a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Elsewhere, Times reporting has suggested four othe...

With prices on the rise in the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce on Wednesday an increase in interest rates, essentially pouring a cold glass of water on the economy. Why would the central bank do that? The answer lies in the inflation crisis of the 1970s, when a failure to react quickly enough still looms large in the memory. Guest: Jeanna Smialek , a reporter covering the...

This episode details graphic scenes and contains strong language. The image shows four people lying on the ground — a woman, a man and two children who had been fleeing from a suburb of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The woman and her children had been killed by a mortar moments earlier. Around them are Ukrainian soldiers attempting to revive the man. The picture was taken by the photojournalist Lyn...

Russians and Ukrainians are deeply connected. Millions of Ukrainians have relatives in Russia. Many have lived in the country. But Moscow has taken steps to shield its people from open information about the war, even as its bombing campaign intensifies. When Ukrainians try to explain the dire situation to family members in Russia, they are often met with denial, resistance, and a kind of refusal t...

Rozina Ali profiles Rashida Tlaib, the 45-year-old second-term congresswoman from Detroit, who has risen from adverse circumstances to play a significant role in American politics, most notably bringing greater awareness to the ongoing conflict over Palestine. Tlaib is the only Palestinian American serving in the House of Representatives, and the first with family currently living in the West Bank...