The Daily

The closure of schools because of the pandemic and the advent of widespread virtual learning has impacted students of all ages — but particularly the youngest children. Research suggests that the learning missed during this period could have lasting impacts. What is the educational cost of pandemic learning and how are schools trying to get children back to class amid the Delta variant? Guest: Dan...

On Monday night, after a 20-year war that claimed 170,000 lives, cost over $2 trillion and did not defeat the Taliban, the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan.  As the last of the American forces left under the cover of darkness, there was celebratory gunfire from the Taliban. The moment of exit, a day earlier than expected, was both historic and anticlimactic. We explore what...

Almost from the moment Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, there were attempts to remove him from office. Initially, a recall election against him seemed highly unlikely — but the pandemic has changed things. What is behind the recall effort against Mr. Newsom, and what happens next? Guest: Shawn Hubler , a California correspondent for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get The Dail...

Jeanne Calment lived her entire life in the South of France. She filled her days with leisurely pursuits, enjoying a glass of port, a cigarette and some chocolate nearly every day. In 1997, Ms. Calment died. She was 122. With medical and social advances mitigating diseases of old age and prolonging life, the number of exceptionally long-living people is increasing sharply. But no one is known to h...

For days, many dreaded an attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, as Western forces scrambled to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan. On Thursday, those fears were realized — amid the large crowds outside the airport, terrorists carried out two suicide bombings. The attacks killed at least 60 people, including 13 United States service members. ISIS-K, a branch of t...

Early on in the Biden administration, it rolled out a two-pronged migration plan: A reversal of the most punitive elements of Donald Trump’s policy and rooting out the causes of migration from Central America, namely corruption. There is, however, a conflict at the heart of this approach. Calling out corrupt leaders could destabilize nations and encourage migration in the short term. We explore th...

Since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban last week, everything and everyone has been focused on Hamid Karzai International Airport and the massive military operation to get thousands of Americans and Afghan allies out of the country. It is a monumental challenge — one of the biggest and most complicated military operations the Pentagon has had to deal with in decades. We explore these complexities a...

For years, Mexico has been gripped by horrific violence as drug cartels battle each other and kill civilians. In the last 15 years alone, homicides have tripled. The violence, the Mexican government says, is fueled, in part, by American guns.  Now Mexico is bringing a lawsuit against 10 gun manufacturers in a U.S. federal court, accusing them of knowingly facilitating the sale of guns to drug cart...

As the number of coronavirus infections in the United States surges, and school districts begin to reopen for in-person learning, some parents are apprehensive and full of questions. Recently, The Daily asked parents to send in their queries about children and Covid. We received about 600 responses. With the help of Emily Anthes, a reporter who covers the coronavirus, we try to provide some answer...

In 2002, a survey revealed there were just 1.6 Sumatran tigers per 100 square kilometers in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, one of the last habitats for the critically endangered animal. In the fall of 2015, however, research suggested that the numbers had significantly improved: 2.8 tigers per 100 square kilometers. When Matt Leggett, a newly hired senior adviser for the Wildlife Conservatio...

Two years ago, a multipart Times investigation highlighted an epidemic of child sexual abuse material which relied on platforms run by the world’s largest technology companies. Last week, Apple revealed its solution — a suite of tools which includes an update to the iPhone’s operating system that allows for the scanning of photographs. That solution, however, has ignited a firestorm over privacy i...

This episode contains strong language. Weeks ago, as the Taliban undertook a major military offensive in Afghanistan, the U.S. accelerated its evacuation of Afghans who aided them and feared retribution.  Many, however, remain in the country.  “I hope we do right by these people, but I hope we do it quickly,” Andrew Vernon, said a former Marine who has sought help for an interpreter he worked with...

This weekend, a major earthquake hit Haiti. It is the second crisis to befall the Caribbean nation is just over a month — its president was assassinated in July. The earthquake’s aftermath has been dire, with little help getting through to those most affected.  We hear what life has been like for Haitians reeling from the destruction.  Guest: Maria Abi-Habib , the bureau chief for Mexico, Central...

The last few days in Afghanistan have been chaotic as the Taliban retake control of the country. The debacle can be traced to a number of assumptions that guided the execution of the U.S. withdrawal from the country after two decades of war. How could those assumptions have proved so wrong, so quickly? Guest: David E. Sanger , a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Time...

This episode contains strong language.  On Sunday, the president of Afghanistan fled the country; the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the capital; and the American-backed government collapsed. One outspoken critic of the Taliban — a 33-year-old Kabul resident who asked that we refer to her by the initial R for fear of retaliation — shared her experiences as the insurgents closed in. Sign up here...

In 2019, Emily Bazelon, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, began communicating with Yutico Briley, an inmate at a prison in Jackson, La. Mr. Briley first reached out to Ms. Bazelon after hearing her on the radio talking about “Charges,” her book on how prosecutors have historically used their power to increase incarceration. At age 19, Mr. Briley was imprisoned and sentenced to 60 yea...

This episode contains strong language.    A major new United Nations scientific report has concluded that countries and corporations have delayed curbing fossil-fuel emissions for so long that we can no longer stop the impact of climate change from intensifying over the coming decades. In short, the climate crisis has arrived, and it’s going to get worse before it can get better. In this episode,...

On Tuesday, the United States Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill — the largest single infusion of federal funds into infrastructure projects in more than a decade. It was a bipartisan vote, with 19 Republicans voting alongside the Democrats.  Soon after, the Senate passed a more expansive budget plan  — this time along party lines.  What do these two votes tell us about how Washingt...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced yesterday that he would resign from office, exactly one week after a searing report found that he sexually harassed 11 women. What convinced him to step aside, how did the scandal bring about such a rapid and astonishing reversal of fortune for one of the nation’s best-known leaders, and what happens next? Guest: Shane Goldmacher , a national political re...

The Taliban have made big moves in the last few days in their bid to take control of Afghanistan.  This weekend, they seized several cities and suddenly claimed a lot of the north. On Monday, they took another provincial capital.  What is the Taliban’s strategy, what will the United States do, and where does this leave the Afghan government? Guest: Carlotta Gall , the Istanbul bureau chief for The...

To ensure students’ safe return to in-person learning amid a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus, some school districts plan to institute mask mandates. Yet that move isn’t necessarily straightforward — several of the country’s hardest-hit states have banned such mandates. We look at how this conflict is playing out in Arkansas.  Guest: Richard Fausset , a correspondent covering the Amer...

For much of America’s history, a person with a disability had few civil rights related to their disability. That began to change when, in the 1980s, a group of lawmakers started to agitate for sweeping civil rights legislation. The result of their efforts was the Americans With Disabilities Act, or A.D.A. Albert Dytch, a 71-year-old man with muscular dystrophy, has filed more than 180 A.D.A. lawsu...

Don, a 38-year-old single father from Pittsburgh, doesn’t want to be lumped into the “crazy anti-vax crowd.” Jeannie, a middle school teacher, has never vaccinated her teenage son and says she won’t start now. Lyndsey, from Florida, regrets having not had her late grandmother vaccinated against Covid-19. With the Delta variant of the coronavirus raging, we hear from some Americans who have decided...

This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment. After accusations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York surfaced early this year, an independent investigation was begun. And while people around the governor — and his critics — expected the ensuing report to be bad, what came out this week was worse. There have been widespread calls for Mr. Cuomo to resign, but will he...

Tunisia was supposed to be the success story of the Arab Spring — the only democracy to last in the decade since revolutions swept the region. Recently, after mass protests, President Kais Saied appears to be taking the reins of power for himself. What happened? We hear from Mr. Saied and citizens of Tunisia on the ground.  Guest: Vivian Yee , the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times.  Sign u...