The Daily

For Aleksander Doba, pitting himself against the wide-open sea — storms, sunstroke, monotony, hunger and loneliness — was a way to feel alive in old age. Today, listen to the story of a man who paddled toward the existential crisis that is life and crossed the Atlantic alone in a kayak. Three times. Mr. Doba died on Feb. 22 on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. He was 74. This st...

Early on Wednesday morning, a group of men killed President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti in his residence on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. It was a brazen act. Very rarely is a nation’s leader killed in at home. What does the attack means for Haiti’s future? Guest: Maria Abi-Habib , bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get Th...

After a 20-year war, the United States has effectively ended its operations in Afghanistan with little fanfare. In recent weeks, the Americans have quietly vacated their sprawling military bases in the nation, and without giving Afghan security forces prior notice. What does this withdrawal look like on the ground? Guest: Thomas Gibbons-Neff , a correspondent in the Kabul bureau for The New York T...

When the F.D.A. approved the drug Aduhelm, the first Alzheimer’s treatment to receive the agency’s endorsement in almost two decades, it gave hope to many. But the decision was contentious; some experts say there’s not enough evidence that the treatment can address cognitive symptoms. What is the story behind this new drug? Guest: Pam Belluck , a health and science writer for The New York Times.  ...

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is threatening to put the world in an entirely new stage of the pandemic. The variant is spreading fast, particularly in places with low vaccination rates — it is thought to be around 50 percent more transmissible than previous versions. What can be done to stop Delta, and how will the variant hamper global efforts to return to normalcy? Guest: Carl Zimmer , a...

In Loudoun County, Va., a fierce debate has been raging for months inside normally sleepy school board meetings. At the heart of this anger is critical race theory, a once obscure academic framework for understanding racism in the United States. How, exactly, did critical race theory enter American public life, and what does this debate look like on the ground? Guest: Trip Gabriel , a national cor...

Throughout its 115-year history, the N.C.A.A.’s bedrock principle has been that student-athletes should be amateurs and not allowed to profit off their fame. This week, after years of agitation and legislation, the rule was changed. What will this new era of college sports look like? Guest: Alan Blinder , a reporter covering college sports for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get The Daily in...

Recently, the government released a long-awaited report: a look at unexplained aerial phenomena. We explore the report and what implications it may have. Will it do anything to quell theories of extraterrestrial visitors? Guest: Julian E. Barnes , a national security reporter for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the big...

A few years ago, engineers sounded alarm bells about Champlain Towers, a residential building in Surfside, Fla. Last week, disaster struck and the towers collapsed. At least 11 residents have been confirmed dead and 150 more are still unaccounted for. What caused the building to fail, and why are so many people still missing? Guest: Patricia Mazzei , the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times. ...

After last year’s postponement, both the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government are determined that the Tokyo Games will take place this summer. But the public in Japan appears unconvinced: About 85 percent of people say they fear that the Olympics will cause a rebound of the virus in the country. Will the sense of discontent fade as the Games begin? Guest: Motoko Rich , the T...

Neglected by art history for decades, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, the sister-in-law to Vincent van Gogh, is finally being recognized as the force who opened the world’s eyes to his genius. This story was written by Russell Shorto and recorded by Audm . To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android . Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on A...

On this episode of Sway, a podcast from NYT Opinion, America’s chief immunologist responds to the recent leak of his emails, being compared to Hitler, and weighs in on the Wuhan lab-leak theory.  Every Monday and Thursday on Sway, Kara Swisher investigates power: who has it, who’s been denied it and who dares to defy it. Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today at nyt...

In this episode, we get answers on just how bad the problem of far-right infiltration in the German military and police really is — and how Germany is trying to address it.  We learn about Germany's "defensive democracy," which was designed after World War II to protect the country against threats from the inside. One of those threats, according to some German officials, is the Alternative for Ger...

When the coronavirus hit, the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, seemed uniquely positioned to help. It struck a deal with AstraZeneca, promising a billion vaccine doses to low- and middle-income nations.  Earlier this year, a ban instituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi put a stop to those plans.  What has that meant for the nations promised millions of doses? Guest: E...

The For the People Act, a bill created by House Democrats after the 2018 midterm elections, could have been the most sweeping expansion of voting rights in a generation. On Tuesday night, however, Senate Republicans filibustered the bill before it could even be debated. What lessons can we take from its demise?  Guest: Nicholas Fandos , a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.  Sign u...

In the wake of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, a central question of the New York City mayoral contest has become: Is New York safer with more or fewer police officers? Today, we see this tension play out in a single household, between Yumi Mannarelli and her mother, Misako Shimada. Guests: Misako Shimada and Yumi Mannarelli, a mother and daughter who live in New York City.  Sign up here...

How does the 1965 Voting Rights Act work? That is the question in front of the Supreme Court as it rules on a pair of Arizona laws from 2016 — the most important voting rights case in a decade. What arguments have been made in the case? And what implications will the decision have? Guest: Adam Liptak , a reporter covering the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get...

During his childhood, Nicholas Casey, Madrid bureau chief for The New York Times, received visits from his father. He would arrive from some faraway place where the ships on which he worked had taken him, regaling his son with endless stories. He had black curly hair like Nicholas’s and the beard he would one day grow. But then after Nicholas’s seventh birthday, he vanished. The familial riddle th...

We meet Franco A., an officer in the German military who lived a double life as a Syrian refugee and stands accused of plotting an act of terrorism to bring down the German government. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts...

In 2019, it seemed to many that Gov. Ralph Northam’s career was over. That year, the Democratic governor of Virginia became embroiled in a highly publicized blackface scandal centered on a racist picture in his medical-school yearbook. There were widespread calls for his resignation. Two years later, Mr. Northam has emerged as the most racially progressive leader in the state’s history. How did it...

This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence. Just a few years ago, Ethiopia’s leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, the nation is in the grips of a civil war, with widespread reports of massacres and human rights abuses, and a looming famine that could strike millions in the northern region of Tigray.  How did Ethiopia get here? Guest: Declan Walsh , the chief Africa corresponde...

Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Elon Musk and George Soros are household names. They are among the wealthiest people in the United States. But a recent report by ProPublica has found another thing that separates them from regular Americans citizens: They have paid almost nothing in taxes. Why does the U.S. tax system let that happen? Guest: Jonathan Weisman , a congressional correspondent for The N...

Apple built the world’s most valuable business by figuring out how to make China work for Apple. A New York Times investigation has found that the dynamic has now changed. China has figured out how to make Apple work for China. Guest: Jack Nicas , who covers technology from San Francisco for The New York Times. He is one of the reporters behind the investigation into Apple’s compromises in China....

During months of pandemic isolation, Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The New York Times, decided to grow a mustache. The reviews were mixed and predictable. He heard it described as “porny” and “creepy,” as well as “rugged” and “extra gay.” It was a comment on a group call, however, that gave him pause. Someone noted that his mustache made him look like a lawyer for the N.A.A.C.P.’s legal def...

Franco A. is not the only far-right extremist in Germany discovered by chance. For over a decade, 10 murders in the country, including nine victims who were immigrants, went unsolved. The neo-Nazi group responsible was discovered only when a bank robbery went wrong.  In this episode, we ask: Why has a country that spent decades atoning for its Nazi past so often failed to confront far-right extrem...