The Daily

The passage of the stimulus package last week ushered in an expansion of the social safety net that Democrats have celebrated. But one key policy was not included: a doubling of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.   Today, we look at the history of that demand, and the shifting political and economic arguments for and against it.  Guest: Ben Casselman , an economics and business reporter for...

Wyoming has powered the nation with coal for generations. Many in the state consider the industry part of their identity. It is in this state, and against this cultural backdrop, that one of America’s largest wind farms will be built. Today, we look at how and why one local politician in Carbon County, Wyo. — a conservative who says he’s “not a true believer” in climate change — brought wind power...

Just a few months ago, Israel was in dire shape when it came to the coronavirus. It had among the highest daily infection and death rates in the world.  Now, Israel has outpaced much of the world in vaccinating its population and hospitalizations have fallen dramatically.  Today, how it is managing the return to normality and the moral and ethical questions that its decisions have raised.  Guest:...

Long before it became an archaic and filthy symbol of everything wrong with America’s broken cities, the New York subway was a marvel. In recent years, it has been falling apart. Today on The Sunday Read, a look at why failing to fix it would be a collective and historic act of self-destruction.  This story was written by Jonathan Mahler and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publis...

Odessa is a four-part series. All episodes of the show released so far are available here .  In 1988, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, was so good that it became the inspiration for a book, movie and, eventually, the television series “Friday Night Lights.” And in the decades since, as West Texas has weathered the unsettling undulations of the oil industry, football has remained stead...

This episode contains references to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. In 1995, Diana, Princess of Wales, made a decision that was unprecedented for a member of the British royal family: She sat down with the BBC to speak openly about the details of her life. On Sunday, her younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, told Oprah Winfrey of their own travails within the family. Today, we...

When Officer Harry Dunn reporter for work at the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 6, he expected a day of relatively normal protests. But the situation soon turned dangerous. Today, we talk with Officer Dunn about his experience fending off rioters during the storming of the Capitol. Guest: Officer Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who was on duty during the storming of the Capitol.  Sign up here...

Even as recently as a year ago, even the most cleareyed analysts thought it was a long shot. But this week, a child tax credit is expected to be passed into law, as part of the economic stimulus bill. The child tax credit is an income guarantee for American families with children. It will provide a monthly check of up to $300 per child — no matter how many children. We look at why this provision i...

The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border is growing — and, with it, anxiety in the Biden administration. Newer concerns have mixed with longstanding ones to create a situation at the border that could become untenable. Today, in the second part of our series on what we’re learning about the Biden administration, we look at the president’s response to the growing numb...

Thousands die in New York every year. Some of them alone. The city might weep when the celebrated die, or the innocent are slain, but for those who pass in an unwatched struggle, there is no one to mourn for them and their names, simply added to a death table. In 2014, George Bell, 72, was among those names. He died alone in his apartment in north central Queens. On today’s Sunday Read, what happe...

Joe Biden has had harsh words for the Saudis and the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It appeared that the period of appeasement toward the Saudis in the Trump administration was over. But the Biden administration’s inaction over a report that implicated the crown prince in the 2018 killing of the dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappointed many of his all...

It’s been almost a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. And the virus is persisting: A downward trend in the U.S. caseload has stalled, and concern about the impact of variants is growing. Yet inoculations are on the rise, and the F.D.A. has approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, the third to be approved in the U.S. Today, we check in on...

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Microsoft founder Bill Gates was the most powerful and provocative private individual operating within global public health. Today, we look at the role he has played in public health and his latest mission: procuring Covid-19 vaccines for countries in the developing world. Guest: Megan Twohey , an investigative reporter for The New York Times; and Nicholas Ku...

The Senate is preparing to vote on another stimulus bill — the third of the pandemic. The bill has the hallmarks of a classic stimulus package: money to help individual Americans, and aid to local and state governments. It also contains provisions that would usher in long-term structural changes that have been pushed for many years by Democrats. Today, we explore the contours of the Biden administ...

Even as the cold has lifted and the ice has melted in Texas, the true depth of the devastation left by the state’s winter storm can be difficult to see. Today, we look at the aftermath through the eyes of Iris Cantu, Suzanne Mitchell and Tumaini Criss — three women who, after the destruction of their homes, are reckoning with how they are going to move forward with their lives. Guest: Jack Healy ,...

It all started when Sigrid E. Johnson was 62. She got a call from an old friend, asking her to participate in a study about DNA ancestry tests and ethnic identity. She agreed. Ms. Johnson thought she knew what the outcome would be. When she was 16, her mother told her that she had been adopted as an infant. Her biological mother was an Italian woman from South Philadelphia, and her father was a Bl...

Odessa is a four-part audio documentary series about one West Texas high school reopening during the pandemic — and the teachers, students and nurses affected in the process. For the past six months, The New York Times has documented students’ return to class at Odessa High School from afar through Google hangouts, audio diaries, phone calls and FaceTime tours. And as the country continues to deba...

Five years ago, Judge Merrick B. Garland became a high-profile casualty of Washington’s political dysfunction. President Barack Obama selected him to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, but Senate Republicans blocked his nomination. In the process, Mr. Garland became known for the job he didn’t get. Now, after being nominated by the Biden administration t...

When the pandemic was bearing down on New York last March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration issued a directive that allowed Covid-19 patients to be discharged into nursing homes in a bid to free up hospital beds for the sickest patients. It was a decision that had the potential to cost thousands of lives. Today, in the second part of our look at New York nursing homes, we explore the effects of...

When New York was the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, Gov. Andrew Cuomo emerged as a singular, strong leader. Now his leadership is embattled, particularly over the extent of deaths in nursing homes during the peak. Today, in the first of two parts on what went wrong in New York's nursing homes, we look at the crisis through the eyes of a woman, Lorry Sullivan, who lost her mother...

The conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh died last week. He was 70. For decades, he broadcast mistrust and grievance into the homes of millions. Mr. Limbaugh helped create an entire ecosystem of right-wing media and changed the course of American conservatism. Today, we look back on Rush Limbaugh’s career and how he came to have an outsize influence on Republican politics. Guest: Jim Rutenbe...

In recent years, travel — cheap travel, specifically — has boomed. Like all booms it has its winners (including influencers and home-sharing platforms like Airbnb) and its losers (namely locals and the environment). Somewhere in that mix is The Points Guy, Brian Kelly, who runs a blog that helps visitors navigate the sprawling, knotty and complex world of travel and credit card rewards. Today on T...

The end of summer 2021 has been earmarked as the time by which most American adults will be vaccinated. But still remaining is the often-overlooked question of vaccinations for children, who make up around a quarter of the U.S. population. Without the immunization of children, herd immunity cannot be reached. Today, we ask when America’s children will be vaccinated. Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli , a s...

The story of how Paul Rusesabagina saved the lives of his hotel guests during the Rwandan genocide was immortalized in the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda.” Leveraging his celebrity, Mr. Rusesabagina openly criticized the Rwandan government, and is now imprisoned on terrorism charges. Today, we look at what Mr. Rusesabagina’s story tells us about the past, present and future of Rwanda. Guest: Declan Walsh...

An intense winter storm has plunged Texas into darkness. The state’s electricity grid has failed in the face of the worst cold weather there in decades. The Texas blackouts could be a glimpse into America’s future as a result of climate change. Today, we explore the reasons behind the power failures. Guest: Clifford Krauss , a national energy business correspondent based in Houston for The New Yor...