The Daily

The coronavirus seems to be in retreat in the United States, with the number of cases across the country down about 25 percent compared with a couple of weeks ago. Hospitalizations and deaths are also falling.So, what stage are we in with the pandemic? And how will developments such as a new antiviral treatment and the availability of booster shots affect things?Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The authorization for booster shots applies to groups of people in the United States fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, but about 45 percent of the country’s fully inoculated people received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson doses.Merck said it would seek authorization for molnupiravir, an antiviral pill that the company says is effective against Covid. Experts said such trea

The Senate testimony of Frances Haugen on Tuesday was an eagerly awaited event.Last month, Ms. Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, leaked internal company documents to The Wall Street Journal that exposed the social media giant’s inner workings.How will Ms. Haugen’s insights shape the future of internet regulation?Guest: Sheera Frenkel, a technology 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Ms. Haugen told how Facebook deliberately made efforts to keep users — including children — hooked to its service.Here are other key takeaways from her testimony.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or

The Senate testimony of Frances Haugen on Tuesday was an eagerly awaited event.Last month, Ms. Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, leaked internal company documents to The Wall Street Journal that exposed the social media giant’s inner workings.How will Ms. Haugen’s insights shape the future of internet regulation?Guest: Sheera Frenkel, a technology 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Ms. Haugen told how Facebook deliberately made efforts to keep users — including children — hooked to its service.Here are other key takeaways from her testimony.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or

The latest term of the U.S. Supreme Court will include blockbuster cases on two of the most contentious topics in American life: abortion and gun rights.The cases come at a time when the court has a majority of Republican appointees and as it battles accusations of politicization.Why is the public perception of the court so important? And how deeply could the coming rulings affect the fabric of American society?Guest: Adam Liptak, a reporter covering the United States Supreme Court 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The Supreme Court’s highly charged docket will test the leadership of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who has said that he prefers to guide the court toward consensus and incrementalism.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workd

The latest term of the U.S. Supreme Court will include blockbuster cases on two of the most contentious topics in American life: abortion and gun rights.The cases come at a time when the court has a majority of Republican appointees and as it battles accusations of politicization.Why is the public perception of the court so important? And how deeply could the coming rulings affect the fabric of American society?Guest: Adam Liptak, a reporter covering the United States Supreme Court 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The Supreme Court’s highly charged docket will test the leadership of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who has said that he prefers to guide the court toward consensus and incrementalism.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workd

Ivermectin is a drug that emerged in the 1970s, used mainly for deworming horses and other livestock.But during the pandemic, it has been falsely lauded in some corners as a kind of miracle cure for the coronavirus.What is fueling the demand for a drug that the medical establishment has begged people not to take?Guest: Emma Goldberg, a writer 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Public health warnings against using the anti-parasitic ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 appear to have made little progress in stemming its popularity in parts of the United States.Veterinarians, ranchers and farmers say they are struggling with the effects of the surging demand for the drug.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New

Ivermectin is a drug that emerged in the 1970s, used mainly for deworming horses and other livestock.But during the pandemic, it has been falsely lauded in some corners as a kind of miracle cure for the coronavirus.What is fueling the demand for a drug that the medical establishment has begged people not to take?Guest: Emma Goldberg, a writer 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Public health warnings against using the anti-parasitic ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 appear to have made little progress in stemming its popularity in parts of the United States.Veterinarians, ranchers and farmers say they are struggling with the effects of the surging demand for the drug.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New

Jon Mooallem, the author of today’s Sunday Read, had a bad pandemic.“I began having my own personal hard time,” he writes. “The details aren’t important. Let’s just say, I felt as if I were moldering in place.”Then, The New York Times Magazine offered him the opportunity to fly somewhere for its travel issue — at that point he had spent 17 months parenting two demanding children. So, he asked: “What if I drove to Spokane?” Jon had been curious about it for years.Spokane, Wash., is the birthplace of Father’s Day, the hometown of Bing Crosby and a city with a sequence of wide, rocky waterfalls pouring through its center like a Cubist boulevard.“I also knew that Spokane was a city with a history of minor-league baseball that stretched back more than a hundred years,” Jon writes. “A minor-league game felt like a manageable, belated step into the mid-pandemic lifestyle that people were calling post-pandemic life.”This story was written and narrated by Jon Mooallem. To hear more audio stories from publications like

Jon Mooallem, the author of today’s Sunday Read, had a bad pandemic.“I began having my own personal hard time,” he writes. “The details aren’t important. Let’s just say, I felt as if I were moldering in place.”Then, The New York Times Magazine offered him the opportunity to fly somewhere for its travel issue — at that point he had spent 17 months parenting two demanding children. So, he asked: “What if I drove to Spokane?” Jon had been curious about it for years.Spokane, Wash., is the birthplace of Father’s Day, the hometown of Bing Crosby and a city with a sequence of wide, rocky waterfalls pouring through its center like a Cubist boulevard.“I also knew that Spokane was a city with a history of minor-league baseball that stretched back more than a hundred years,” Jon writes. “A minor-league game felt like a manageable, belated step into the mid-pandemic lifestyle that people were calling post-pandemic life.”This story was written and narrated by Jon Mooallem. To hear more audio stories from publications like

This episode contains strong language.A month ago, Texas adopted a divisive law which effectively banned abortions in the state. Despite a number of legal challenges, the law has survived and is having an impact across state lines. Trust Women is abortion clinic in Oklahoma just three hours north of Dallas — one of the closest clinics Texas women can go to. On the day the Texas law came into effect, “it was like a light had been flipped,” said one of the workers who staffs the clinic’s phone lines. “We had everyone’s line lit up for almost eight hours straight.” We visit Trust Women and speak to workers and patients about the real-world impact of the most restrictive abortion law in the country. 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 reading: The new Texas law prohibits abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. Many women are now traveling out of st

This episode contains strong language.A month ago, Texas adopted a divisive law which effectively banned abortions in the state. Despite a number of legal challenges, the law has survived and is having an impact across state lines. Trust Women is abortion clinic in Oklahoma just three hours north of Dallas — one of the closest clinics Texas women can go to. On the day the Texas law came into effect, “it was like a light had been flipped,” said one of the workers who staffs the clinic’s phone lines. “We had everyone’s line lit up for almost eight hours straight.” We visit Trust Women and speak to workers and patients about the real-world impact of the most restrictive abortion law in the country. 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 reading: The new Texas law prohibits abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. Many women are now traveling out of st

The first year of a Congress is usually the best time for a president to put forward any sort of ambitious policy. For President Biden, whose control of Congress is fragile, the urgency is particularly intense.But now members of his own party are threatening to block one big part of his agenda — his $1 trillion infrastructure plan — in the name of protecting an even bigger part.We speak to Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, the chairwoman of the  Progressive Caucus, about why she is willing to vote no on the infrastructure bill.Guest: Emily Cochrane, a correspondent covering Congress for The New York Times; and Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus.  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 reading: Democrats prepared legislation on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown, but they were desperately trying to salvage Presid

The first year of a Congress is usually the best time for a president to put forward any sort of ambitious policy. For President Biden, whose control of Congress is fragile, the urgency is particularly intense.But now members of his own party are threatening to block one big part of his agenda — his $1 trillion infrastructure plan — in the name of protecting an even bigger part.We speak to Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, the chairwoman of the  Progressive Caucus, about why she is willing to vote no on the infrastructure bill.Guest: Emily Cochrane, a correspondent covering Congress for The New York Times; and Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus.  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 reading: Democrats prepared legislation on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown, but they were desperately trying to salvage Presid

Britney Spears is one of the biggest celebrities on the planet — she makes millions of dollars performing, selling perfumes and appearing on television. At the same time, however, her life is heavily controlled by a conservatorship, which she has been living under for 13 years. Soon, a court will decide whether to remove Mr. Spears as conservator or terminate the conservatorship altogether. We explore the details of Ms. Spears’s conservatorship, the security apparatus that has surrounded it and its future. Guest: Liz Day, a reporter and supervising producer for the documentary television show, “The New York Times Presents.” 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 reading: A former employee of the security team hired by Ms. Spears’s father gave the most detailed account yet of the singer’s life under 13 years of conservatorship.For more information on today’s episode, visit

Britney Spears is one of the biggest celebrities on the planet — she makes millions of dollars performing, selling perfumes and appearing on television. At the same time, however, her life is heavily controlled by a conservatorship, which she has been living under for 13 years. Soon, a court will decide whether to remove Mr. Spears as conservator or terminate the conservatorship altogether. We explore the details of Ms. Spears’s conservatorship, the security apparatus that has surrounded it and its future. Guest: Liz Day, a reporter and supervising producer for the documentary television show, “The New York Times Presents.” 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 reading: A former employee of the security team hired by Ms. Spears’s father gave the most detailed account yet of the singer’s life under 13 years of conservatorship.For more information on today’s episode, visit

This episode contains strong language.Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security, has held some of the highest ranks in the Afghan security forces and government. From the moment Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, the United States has put much of the blame of Afghan security forces — a force that President Biden said gave up without a fight.“The reality is that we’re not cowards,” said General Sadat. “We did not lay our arms, we would not lay our arms based on military pressure.”We speak to General Sadat about growing up under the Taliban, his career in the military and the future of Afghanistan. Guest: Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security.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 reading: When General Sadat became the highest-ranking police official in Afghanistan, he tried to overhaul the country’s police with the

This episode contains strong language.Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security, has held some of the highest ranks in the Afghan security forces and government. From the moment Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, the United States has put much of the blame of Afghan security forces — a force that President Biden said gave up without a fight.“The reality is that we’re not cowards,” said General Sadat. “We did not lay our arms, we would not lay our arms based on military pressure.”We speak to General Sadat about growing up under the Taliban, his career in the military and the future of Afghanistan. Guest: Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security.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 reading: When General Sadat became the highest-ranking police official in Afghanistan, he tried to overhaul the country’s police with the

Increasing numbers of Haitian migrants have been traveling to the border town of Del Rio, Texas, recently, in the hope of entering the United States.Border Patrol took action — in some cases, sending the migrants back to Haiti; in others, taking them into custody or releasing them as they await trial.Why did so many thousands of Haitians come to the border in the first place? And what was behind the Biden administration’s reaction?Guest: Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The U.S. is flying migrants back to Haiti and other countries as President Biden struggles to manage an immigration system already buckling under record migration.Haitians who lived abroad for years have been returned to a country that they barely recognize — often, they say, without a hearing.For more information on today’

Increasing numbers of Haitian migrants have been traveling to the border town of Del Rio, Texas, recently, in the hope of entering the United States.Border Patrol took action — in some cases, sending the migrants back to Haiti; in others, taking them into custody or releasing them as they await trial.Why did so many thousands of Haitians come to the border in the first place? And what was behind the Biden administration’s reaction?Guest: Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent 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 biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The U.S. is flying migrants back to Haiti and other countries as President Biden struggles to manage an immigration system already buckling under record migration.Haitians who lived abroad for years have been returned to a country that they barely recognize — often, they say, without a hearing.For more information on today’

Throughout 2020, multiple strangers came at Monthanus Ratanapakdee seemingly out of nowhere. An old man yelled at her in Golden Gate Park — something about a virus and going back to her country. When she discussed these incidents, her father would ask, “Is it really that bad?”Her father, Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84, was a lifelong Buddhist, the kind of person who embraced the world with open arms. During the coronavirus pandemic, he usually left the house before 8 a.m. and made it back before his grandsons started their Zoom classes.This year, on the morning of Jan. 28, he headed out. A surveillance video captured what happened next. A tall figure suddenly darts across a street and slams into a much smaller one; the smaller figure crumples onto the pavement and doesn’t get back up.Mr. Ratanapakdee's death helped awaken the nation to a rise in anti-Asian violence. For his grieving family, the reckoning hasn’t gone far enough.This story was written by Jaeah Lee and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from p