The Daily

From the earliest days of the pandemic, herd immunity has consistently factored into conversations about how countries can find their way out of lockdowns and restrictions. Now, many experts believe that the United States may never reach the requisite level of immunity. We explore why, and what it might look like to live in a country where there is no herd immunity against the coronavirus. Guest:...

Was Facebook right to indefinitely bar former President Donald J. Trump from the platform after the Capitol riot? The company’s oversight board, which rules on some of the thorniest speech decisions on the platform, decided that, while the ban was justified at the time, the parameters of the suspension needed to be defined. What does the ruling tell us about Facebook’s “Supreme Court.” Guest: Ceci...

Japan is the “grayest” nation in the world. Close to 30 percent of the population is over 65. The reason is its low birthrate, which has caused the population to contract since 2007. With the birthrate in the United States also dropping, what are the implications of a shrinking population, and what lessons can be learned from Japan? Guest: Motoko Rich , the Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Time...

The latest census revealed that the United States had seen the second-slowest decade of population growth since 1790, when the count began. The country may be entering an era of substantially lower population growth, demographers said. How could this redefine the nation’s future? Guest: Sabrina Tavernise , a national correspondent covering demographics for The New York Times.  Sign up here to get...

Inside the world of complaint sites and what can be done about the “the bathroom wall of the internet.” Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter .  Background:  Listen to part one here .   For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily . Transcripts of e...

For years, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a Dominican-born teacher of classics at Princeton, has spoken openly about the harm caused by the discipline’s practitioners in the two millenniums since antiquity — the classical justifications of slavery, race science, colonialism, Nazism and other 20th-century fascisms. He believes that classics is so entangled with white supremacy as to be inseparable from it...

For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C. Some people point fingers at a Black advocacy group, the Bladen County Improvement Association, accusing it of bullying voters, tampering with ballots and stealing votes outright. These allegations have never been substantiated, but they persist. The reporter Zoe Chace went to Bladen County to...

This episode contains references to mental health challenges, including eating disorders. Joanna Lopez, the high school senior we met in our first episode of Odessa, has turned inward: staying in her bedroom, ghosting friends and avoiding band practice. But playing with the marching band at the last football game of her high-school career offers a moment of hope that maybe, one day, things will ge...

In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Biden set out an expansive vision for the role of American government. He spent much of the address detailing his proposals for investing in the nation’s economic future — spending that would total $4 trillion.  We analyze the president’s address and his plans for remaking the American economy.  Guest: Jim Tankersley , a White House cor...

At the beginning of this year, many people in India thought the worst of the pandemic was finished there. But in the last few weeks, any sense of ease has given way to widespread fear.  The country is suffering from the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, with people being turned away from full hospitals and a scarcity of medical oxygen.   How did India, after successfully containing the viru...

During a global climate summit, President Biden signaled America’s commitment to fighting climate change with an ambitious target: The U.S. will cut its economywide carbon emissions by 50 percent of 2005 levels by 2030.   What became clear is that the rest of the world has become cautious about following the United States’ lead after years of commitments shifting from one administration to the nex...

In recent years, Russia has tried to reassert its global influence in many ways, from military action in Ukraine to meddling in U.S. elections. So when Russia developed a coronavirus vaccine, it prioritized exporting it to dozens of other countries — at the expense of its own people. Today, we look at how Russia has put vaccine diplomacy to work.  Guest: Andrew E. Kramer , a reporter based in the...

In summer 2003, Shahawar Matin Siraj, then 21, met Osama Eldawoody, a nuclear engineer twice his age. To Mr. Siraj’s delight they struck up an unlikely friendship — never before had someone this sophisticated taken him so seriously. At the older man’s encouragement, Mr. Siraj became entangled in a plot to place a bomb in Herald Square subway station. He would later want out of the plan, but it was...

This episode contains strong language.  On Sunday, 12 elite soccer teams in Europe announced the formation of a super league. The plan was backed by vast amounts of money, but it flew in the face of an idea central to soccer’s identity: You have to earn your place. Fans reacted with blind fury and protest. Players and managers spoke out. Figures like Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and Pri...

Last spring, Brandon Hole’s mother alerted the police in Indiana about her son’s worrying behavior. Invoking the state’s “red flag” law, officers seized his firearm. But Mr. Hole was able to legally purchase other weapons, and last week, he opened fire on a FedEx facility, killing eight people and then himself. Why did the law fail? Guest: Campbell Robertson , a national correspondent for The New...

On Tuesday, after three weeks of jury selection, another three weeks of testimony and 10 hours of deliberations, Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd. The jurors found Mr. Chauvin guilty of all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Sentencing will take place several weeks from...

Just four months into 2021 and there have already been more than 80 bills, introduced in mostly Republican-controlled legislatures, that aim to restrict transgender rights, mostly in sports and medical care. But what’s the thinking behind the laws, and why are there so many? We look into the motivation behind the bills and analyze the impact they could have. Guest: Dan Levin , who covers American...

When a nuclear fuel enrichment site in Iran blew up this month, Tehran immediately said two things: The explosion was no accident, and the blame lay with Israel. Such an independent action by Israel would be a major departure from a decade ago, when the country worked in tandem with the United States to set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions. We look at what the blast says about relations between the U...

The Skagit Valley choir last sang together on the evening of March 10, 2020. This rehearsal, it would turn out, was one of the first documented superspreader events of the pandemic. Of the 61 choristers who attended practice that night, 53 developed coronavirus symptoms. Two later died. The event served as an example to other choirs of the dangers of coming together in the pandemic. It also provid...

This episode contains strong language and emotional descriptions about the challenges of parenting during the pandemic, so if your young child is with you, you might want to listen later. Several months ago, The Times opened up a phone line to ask Americans what it’s really been like to raise children during the pandemic. Liz Halfhill, a single mother to 11-year-old Max, detailed her unvarnished h...

Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus shot as they examine a rare blood-clotting disorder that emerged in six recipients. Every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico halted their rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine almost immediately. The same went for the U.S. military, federally run vaccination sites, and CVS, Walgreens...

In a ruling a few days ago, the Supreme Court lifted coronavirus restrictions imposed by California on religious services held in private homes. The decision gave religious Americans another win against government rules that they say infringe on their freedom to worship. With the latest victory, the question has become whether the Supreme Court’s majority is protecting the rights of the faithful o...

It started with a picture posted on the internet, and ended in an extravagant cryptocurrency bidding war. NFTs, or “nonfungible tokens,” have recently taken the art world by storm. Sabrina Tavernise , a national correspondent for The Times, speaks with the Times columnist Kevin Roose about digital currency’s newest frontier, his unexpected role in it and why it matters. Guest: Kevin Roose , a tech...

Europe’s vaccination process was expected to be well-orchestrated and efficient. So far, it’s been neither. Sabrina Tavernise, a national correspondent for The Times, spoke with our colleague Matina Stevis-Gridneff about Europe’s problems and why things could get worse before they get better. Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff , the Brussels correspondent for The New York Times, covering the European U...

The author Philip Roth, who died in 2018, was not sure whether he wanted to be the subject of a biography. In the end, he decided that he wanted to be known and understood. His search for a biographer was long and fraught — Mr. Roth parted ways with two, courted one and sued another — before he settled on Blake Bailey, one of the great chroniclers of America’s literary lives. Today on The Sunday R...