The Daily

This weekend, we’re bringing dispatches from Times critics and writers on great music, TV, movies, recipes and more. They’re all part of a new series called “NYT Shorts,” available only on NYT Audio, our new iOS audio app. It’s home to podcasts, narrated articles from our newsroom and other publishers, and exclusive new shows. Find out more at nytimes.com/audioapp. On today’s episode: Five minutes to fall in love with jazz legend Sun Ra. A food critic’s love letter to the eggplant.  Recommendations from a Times editor on what to listen to, watch and who to follow this weekend.

Top White House officials and Republican lawmakers are racing to reach an agreement as the date when the United States is projected to default on its debt approaches. Jim Tankersley, who covers the White House for The New York Times, looks at the state of the negotiations and explains what it will take to win over enough votes in Congress to avoid an economic disaster. Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. This episode includes: Oath Keepers Leader Is Sentenced to 18 Years in Jan. 6 Sedition Case, with our courts and criminal justice reporter Alan Feuer Leaders Let Problems Mount at Brutal SEAL Course, Navy Finds, with our military correspondent Dave Philipps Airlines and F.A.A. Try to Head Off Summer Travel Meltdowns, with our business reporter Niraj Chokshi We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all of our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

A New York Times investigation has found that a group of Republican operatives used robocalls to raise $89 million on behalf of veterans, police officers and firefighters. David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains how they actually spent the money and the legal loophole that allowed them to do that. Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. This episode includes: DeSantis’s Entry into the 2024 Race Goes Awry With a Twitter Meltdown, with our national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher Anti-Kremlin Fighters Take War to Russian Territory for a Second Day, with our Russia and Ukraine War reporter Valerie Hopkins Remembering Tina Turner, with our critic Wesley Morris We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all of our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

After almost a year of deadly battle, Russia has claimed victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. But what happens now is uncertain. Eric Schmitt, who covers national security for The New York Times, explains what this moment in the war means, and why the next few months could be critical for Ukraine. Guest: Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. This episode includes: A Year After a School Shooting, Divisions Run Through Uvalde, with our National reporter Edgar Sandoval Under the Radar, Right-Wing Push to Tighten Voting Laws Persists, with our national politics correspondent Nick Corasaniti Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents, with our Well reporter Catherine Pears We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

A few days ago, the Supreme Court tried to answer a question that has long bedeviled the world of art: When is borrowing from an earlier artist an act of inspiration, and when is it theft? Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, explains a case that could change how art is made. Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. This episode includes: Prosecutors Sought Records on Trump’s Foreign Business Deals Since 2017, with our courts and criminal justice reporter Alan Feuer A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River From Going Dry, for Now, with our climate reporter Chris Flavelle Why Bakhmut? It’s a Question as Old as War, with our Ukraine correspondent Thomas Gibbons-Neff We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

Voters in the 2022 midterms seemed to send a clear message — a rejection of Trumpism and extremism. And yet it appears increasingly likely that he will win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. Astead W. Herndon, a national political correspondent for The Times and the host of the politics podcast The Run-Up, explains what has shifted in Republican politics so that Mr. Trump’s nomination could start to seem almost inevitable. Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Our new show brings you the biggest stories in about 10 minutes. It's the complement to The Daily you’ve been waiting for. This episode includes: A Group of 7 Summit Wrap-Up, with our chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker Even Flirting With U.S. Default Takes Economic Toll, with our economics reporter Ben Casselman Greece Says It Doesn’t Ditch Migrants at Sea. It Was Caught in the Act, with our Brussels bureau chief, Matina Stevis-Gridneff We'll be sharing The Headlines every day this week, right here in your Daily feed. To get the full experience, download New York Times Audio, a new app that's home to all our audio journalism, including exclusive new shows. Free for Times news subscribers. Download it at nytimes.com/audioapp.

This weekend, we’re bringing you something a little different: dispatches from Times critics and writers on great music, TV, movies, recipes and more. They’re all part of a new series called “NYT Shorts,” and they’re available only on NYT Audio, our new iOS audio app. It’s home to podcasts, narrated articles from our newsroom and other publishers, and exclusive new shows. Find out more at nytimes.com/audioapp. On today’s episode: The enduring comfort of the detective show “Columbo.” A recipe from Sam Sifton of NYT Cooking that tastes like “childhood and happiness.” Recommendations from our chief pop music critic on new music this week.

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful ever made, has revolutionized the way we see the universe. The name was chosen for James E. Webb, a NASA administrator during the 1960s. But when doubts about his background emerged, the telescope’s name turned into a fight over homophobia. Michael Powell, a national reporter for The Times, tells the story of Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist whose quest to end the controversy with indisputable facts only made it worse. Guest: Michael Powell, a national reporter covering free speech and intellectual debate for The New York Times.

This episode contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault. It’s been more than five years since the #MeToo movement, driven by reporting at publications like The New York Times, toppled powerful and abusive men. Behind that essential journalism were sources, many anonymous, who took enormous risks to expose harassment and sexual violence. Today, Rachel Abrams, a producer and reporter at The Times, speaks to Ali Diercks, a lawyer who provided crucial information for a major #MeToo story. Ms. Diercks has waived her anonymity to discuss the costs of her coming forward and what she thinks about her decision years later. Guest: Rachel Abrams, a senior producer and reporter for “The New York Times Presents” documentary series.

For two decades, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has loomed large over Turkish politics. But skyrocketing inflation and a devastating earthquake have eroded his power and, in a presidential election over the weekend, he was forced into a runoff. Ben Hubbard, The Times’s Istanbul bureau chief, discusses how Turkey’s troubles have made Mr. Erdogan politically vulnerable. Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

For weeks, officials have feared that the end of Title 42 would create a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border that would strain and possibly cripple America’s immigration system. Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, reports from the border about what actually happened when the pandemic-era policy expired. Guest: Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

A little over a decade ago, a small Israeli company created what would become the world’s most powerful and notorious hacking tool. Mark Mazzetti, who is a Washington investigative correspondent for The Times, explains the surprising story of the NSO Group and why, despite banning its technology, the United States kept trying to use it. Guest: Mark Mazzetti, a Washington investigative correspondent for The New York Times.

In the final days of Marleny Mesa’s pregnancy, she could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. She could barely breathe, for one thing. For another, her anxiety and physical discomfort were approaching what felt like an unbearable peak. A week or so later, she delivered a tiny, squirming boy with jet black hair and soft, curious eyes. She and her husband, Andrés Noscue, named him Eliad. Marleny thought he was perfect, but her mother, a retired midwife, insisted that the placenta contained a hint of trouble. It was far too big, she said, and Eliad was too small, probably because he did not have enough room in her womb to grow. His grandmother thought he might need an incubator. Marleny thought he was fine, but when the baby was a few days old, she and Andrés traveled from the Jerusalén-San Luis Alto Picudito Indigenous reservation in Putumayo, Colombia, to take him to Villagarzón for a checkup, just to be safe. This proved harder than they expected. The baby could not be seen at the hospital there until he had a civil identification or registration number, which he could not get without a birth certificate, which the hospital could not provide because the baby was born at home. Go to the registrar’s office, the nurses told Marleny and Andrés. But the registrar’s office only sent Andrés back to the hospital, where a different nurse told them to try the notary’s office instead. By then it was almost noon. The only bus of the day would be heading back to San Luis soon; if Andrés and his family missed it, they would have to cough up more money for room and board in town than they normally spent in a week. So they went home. The problem of inadequate registries is most pressing in the low-income nations of Africa and Southeast Asia. But it is not confined to those regions. In Colombia, birth and death registration is especially spotty in Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, where the national government tends to have little presence and registrars and notaries tend to apply the rules arbitrarily. A program known as Colombia Rural Vital was created to simplify and democratize this process.

In a high-stakes showdown this week, President Biden and the leaders of congress met face to face in an effort to avoid the United States defaulting on its debt for the first time in history. Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The Times, explains how close the country is to financial calamity, and the radical step Biden might take to avoid it. Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Last year, Times reporting revealed the many lies that the freshman Republican congressman George Santos had told about his life and career. Now he is facing legal consequences. Michael Gold, who covers politics in New York for The Times, explains the charges against Mr. Santos and what they mean for his role in Congress. Guest: Michael Gold, a New York politics correspondent for The New York Times.

This episode contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault. A jury in Manhattan has found former President Donald J. Trump legally liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll. Ben Weiser, who covers the Manhattan federal courts for The Times, tells the story of how a nearly 30-year-old case reached this moment. Guest: Benjamin Weiser, a correspondent for The New York Times covering the Manhattan federal courts.

For the past three years, the United States has relied on Title 42, a pandemic restriction that has allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants at the southern border. But by the end of the week, that rule will expire. Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The Times, explains what that will mean on both sides of the border. Guest: Miriam Jordan, a national correspondent covering immigration for The New York Times.

Debate about ethical standards for Supreme Court justices has intensified after a series of revelations about undisclosed gifts, luxury travel and property deals. Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, reviews the allegations of misconduct and the growing calls to do something about it. Guest: Adam Liptak, a correspondent covering the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Lakishia Fell-Davis is aware that at this point, in 2023, most people are treating the coronavirus pandemic as a thing of the past. For her, though, Covid still poses a real threat: Fell-Davis has Type I diabetes, putting her at higher risk of hospitalization and long-term complications from illness. As such, her experience during the pandemic has shaped how she thinks about her daily life, especially at Ninety-Fifth Street Elementary School, where she has worked on and off for more than a decade as a substitute teacher and teaching assistant. She felt much more comfortable when schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District were online during the first year and a half of the pandemic and her kids, Makayla and Kevin, were attending virtually. Sure, they missed their friends, but they were shy and soft-spoken children who had never really strayed far from home. They didn’t seem to mind the arrangement. And back then, Fell-Davis’s mother, who was paralyzed on her left side after surviving stomach cancer and two strokes, could visit them with relative peace of mind despite her poor health. Fell-Davis cried when she learned that in the fall of 2021, the school district would require students and teachers to return to in-person learning. Her home — a cozy two-bedroom apartment in a calm neighborhood — had become her haven, the place where she had more control over her family’s health than she had anywhere else.

This week, thousands of writers went on strike against Hollywood studios over what they say is an existential threat to their livelihoods. John Koblin, a media reporter for The New York Times, explains how streaming turned the most prolific era in American entertainment into an industry-changing labor dispute. Guest: John Koblin, a media reporter for The New York Times.

In the face of an escalating opioid epidemic, the F.D.A. recently approved over-the-counter sales for Narcan — a lifesaving nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose. Jan Hoffman, who covers health law for The Times, explains why the new availability of Narcan could change the trajectory of the epidemic. Guest: Jan Hoffman, a health law correspondent for The New York Times.

For the past few months, a single lawmaker has prevented Democrats from carrying out their agenda in Congress. For now, there is no simple solution in sight. Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains the issue surrounding Senator Dianne Feinstein. Guest: Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

On Monday morning, the federal government took over a third failing bank — this time, First Republic. Jeanna Smialek, an economy correspondent for The Times, discusses whether we are at the end of the banking crisis, or the start of a new phase of financial pain. Guest: Jeanna Smialek, an economy correspondent for The New York Times.

Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy persuaded Republicans to narrowly pass a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, setting up high-stakes negotiations with the Biden administration. Catie Edmondson, who covers Congress for The New York Times, explains the risks this might pose to his job and the country’s economy. Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

In January 2022, Randi Schofield was a 34-year-old single mother who, not long before, left her full-time job of eight years as a personal bailiff to a local judge. She pulled $30,000 from her retirement savings and was planning to give herself all of 2022 to expand the small catering business she had always dreamed about. This would be the year she bet on herself. Then, that month, she received the news that medics were pulling her father out of his car. The collision splintered the bone in his left thigh down to his knee; three days later, a metal rod held the broken pieces together. Until his leg recovered from the surgery, he would not be able to walk without assistance. In hindsight, there were warning signs that her father’s health could upend Schofield’s life. But he was also youthful and spirited, and it was easy to believe that everything was fine, that he was fine and that if she were to take care of him some day, it would be occasional and in a distant future. She didn’t see this day coming the way it did, so abruptly and so soon. Increasing numbers of adult children are taking care of their parents, often shouldering the burden with no pay and little outside help — making their meals, helping them shower, bandaging their wounds and holding them up before they can fall. The social-work scholar Dorothy A. Miller once described this as the “peculiar position” in the modern American nuclear family, between the care people give to their aging parents and to their children. Today’s “sandwich generation” is younger than the version Miller described four decades ago, but it faces the same “unique set of unshared stresses” that she warned of then: acute financial strain, a lack of reciprocated support and “fatigue from fulfilling the demands of too many roles.”

This month, an anonymous producer jolted the music industry by using artificial intelligence to impersonate the singers Drake and the Weeknd, creating a fake track, “Heart on My Sleeve,” that quickly went viral. Joe Coscarelli, a culture reporter for The Times, talks about how the song’s rise and fall could presage widespread changes in the way music is made. Guest: Joe Coscarelli, a culture correspondent for The New York Times.

This month, India reached a notable milestone. The country’s population surpassed that of China, which had held the No. 1 position for at least three centuries. Alex Travelli, who covers South Asia and business for The Times, examines whether India can use its immense size to become an economic superpower. Guest: Alex Travelli, a South Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.

President Biden has announced that he will seek another term in the Oval Office, despite the fact that he will be 81 on Election Day 2024. Not everyone is overjoyed about that prospect — more than half of Democrats don’t want him to run again. Nonetheless, the party’s leaders are increasingly confident about his chances. Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The Times, explains why. Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

Less than a week after Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the Dominion lawsuit, the network has abruptly fired Tucker Carlson — an anchor at the center of the case. Jeremy W. Peters, who covers media and politics for The Times, explains why the network decided to cut ties with one of its biggest stars. Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a media and politics correspondent for The New York Times.

Sudan was supposed to be moving away from military rule and toward democracy. But over the past week, the country has been thrown into violent chaos as two factions battle for control. Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The Times, explains how an explosive rivalry between two generals turned into a catastrophic conflict. Guest: Declan Walsh, the chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times.

One Sunday in February, in a northern Italian town called Ivrea, the facades of historic buildings were covered with plastic sheeting and nets. And in several different piazzas, hundreds of wooden crates had appeared. Inside them were oranges. Oranges, the fruit. Over the next three days, 8,000 people in Ivrea would throw 900 tons of oranges at one another, one orange at a time, while tens of thousands of other people watched. They would throw the oranges very hard, very viciously, often while screaming profanities at their targets or yowling like Braveheart. But they would also keep smiling as they threw the oranges, embracing and joking and cheering one another on, exhibiting with their total beings a deranged-seeming but euphoric sense of abandon and belonging — a freedom that was easy to envy but difficult to understand. The Battle of the Oranges is an annual tradition in Ivrea and part of a larger celebration described by its organizers as “the most ancient historical Carnival in Italy.” Several people in Ivrea told the writer Jon Mooallem that as three pandemic years had passed in which no oranges were thrown, they grew concerned that something bad would happen in the community — that without this catharsis, a certain pent-up, sinister energy would explode. And on that day in February, three years of constrained energy was due to explode all at once.

Last week, a 21-year old airman from Massachusetts, Jack Teixeira, was arrested under the Espionage Act and charged with violating federal laws by sharing top secret military documents with an online gaming group. Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The Times, explains why so many low-level government workers have access to so much classified material. Guest: Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The New York Times.

At the very last minute, both Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News decided to settle their closely watched defamation lawsuit, rather than make their cases at trial. Jeremy W. Peters, who covers media and politics for The Times, was inside the courtroom as it happened. Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a media and politics correspondent for The New York Times.

In overturning Roe v. Wade last year, the Supreme Court’s message was that it was done with the issue of abortion. Now, dueling rulings on abortion pills will send the issue back to the highest court in the country. Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, explains the case that is forcing the court to weigh in on abortion all over again. Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service unveiled an $80 billion plan to transform itself into a “digital first” tax collector focused on customer service and cracking down on wealthy tax evaders. Today, on the day that taxes are due in the United States, Alan Rappeport, who covers economic policy for The Times, explains how the plan could result in the agency repeating a set of old mistakes. Guest: Alan Rappeport, an economic policy correspondent for The New York Times.

The posturing between the United States and China has been intensifying in recent weeks — China responded with condemnations and military drills after Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, met the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. Today, Edward Wong, who covers foreign policy at The Times, explains why China is so fixated on Taiwan, and how the U.S. got in the middle of it. Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.

In March 2017, an engineer at G.E. Aviation in Cincinnati received a request on LinkedIn. The engineer, Hua, is in his 40s, tall and athletic, with a boyish face that makes him look a decade younger. He moved to the United States from China in 2003 for graduate studies in structural engineering. The LinkedIn request came from Chen Feng, a school official at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in eastern China. Days later, Chen sent him an email inviting him to the university to give a research presentation. Hua arranged to arrive in May, so he could attend a nephew’s wedding and his college reunion at Harbin Institute of Technology. There was one problem, though: Hua knew that G.E. would deny permission to give the talk if he asked, which he was supposed to do. He went to Nanjing, and flew back to the United States after the presentation. He thought that would be the end of the matter. Many scientists and engineers of Chinese origin in the United States are invited to China to give presentations about their fields. Hua couldn’t have known that his trip to Nanjing would prove to be the start of a series of events that would end up giving the U.S. government an unprecedented look inside China’s widespread and tireless campaign of economic espionage targeting the United States, culminating in the first-ever conviction of a Chinese intelligence official on American soil.

“The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest running show in the history of Broadway, will close its doors on Sunday after more than three decades. We went backstage during one of the final performances before the show’s famous chandelier crashes down one last time. Guest: Michael Paulson, a theater correspondent for The New York Times.

A week ago, the world discovered that dozens of classified documents from the American government had been leaked online, including highly sensitive information about Russia’s war in Ukraine and damaging revelations on American spying abroad. David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The Times, explains the contents of the leak and what it might mean for the war. Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.

In the week since Donald Trump was arraigned on 34 felony charges, debate about the strength of the case against him has only intensified. Charlie Savage, a Washington correspondent at The Times, has closely studied the case and explains which side he stands on. Guest: Charlie Savage, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin made it a crime to oppose the war in public. Since then, it has waged a relentless campaign of repression, putting Russian citizens in jail for offenses as small as holding a poster or sharing a news article on social media. Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, tells the story of Olesya Krivtsova, a 19-year-old student who faces up to 10 years in prison after posting on social media, and explains why the Russian government is so determined to silence those like her. Guest: Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The New York Times, covering Russia and the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House expelled two of its members — both young Black Democrats. Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times, explains the story behind the extraordinary ousting and what it tells us about this moment in American politics. Guest: Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times covering the American South.

The Times reporter Astead W. Herndon and the team are back for a new season of “The Run-Up” and they’re looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, which in many ways has already begun. In this first episode, Astead heads to California for the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting to explore the tangled lines and scrambled allegiances that animated the effort to unseat Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the R.N.C.

This episode contains descriptions of severe injuries. Tough new border policies introduced by the Biden administration have sharply reduced the number of migrants crossing into the United States. But the measures have also created a combustible bottleneck along the southern border. That situation exploded last week when a deadly fire broke out at a detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Simon Romero, a national correspondent for The Times, explains how the United States has leaned more heavily on Mexico to help handle its immigration dilemma, bringing cities like Juárez to a breaking point. Guest: Simon Romero, a national correspondent for The New York Times covering the Southwest.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Africa last week was designed to send a simple message to its governments and people — China is not your friend. The United States is. Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times’s East Africa correspondent, explains what the United States has to lose if countries in Africa choose China. Guest: Abdi Latif Dahir, the East Africa correspondent for The New York Times.

The line for reporters seeking to be in the courtroom for Donald J. Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan started forming at 2 p.m. on Monday, more than a day before the former president was scheduled to face a judge in a case centered on hush-money payments. One of those who got in was Jonah Bromwich, a criminal justice correspondent for The Times. He tells us what it was like inside the courthouse as Mr. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts. Guest: Jonah E. Bromwich, a criminal justice correspondent for The New York Times.

Wisconsin will hold an election for a seat on its Supreme Court today, and it is no exaggeration to say that the result could end up reshaping U.S. politics for years to come. The Times political correspondent Reid J. Epstein explains why the race to replace a single judge has become the most important American election of 2023. Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

After Donald J. Trump was indicted over his role in paying hush money to a porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign, he called the move an act of political persecution. But his impending arrest could actually make Mr. Trump a stronger candidate for 2024, the Times correspondent Maggie Haberman explains. Guest: Maggie Haberman, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

Joe Faillace, 69, has been running the sandwich shop Old Station Subs alongside his wife, Debbie, for the last four decades. But as an epidemic of unsheltered homelessness began to overwhelm Phoenix, and many other major American downtowns, the Faillaces have been met with hundreds of people sleeping within a few blocks of Old Station. Many of them were suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, resulting in incidents such as pilfered goods and public masturbation. On one February morning, he could see a half-dozen men pressed around a roaring fire. A young woman was lying in the middle of the street, wrapped beneath a canvas advertising banner. A man was weaving down the sidewalk in the direction of the restaurant with a saw, muttering to himself and then stopping to urinate a dozen feet from the restaurant’s outdoor tables. “It’s the usual chaos and suffering,” Joe told Debbie over the phone. “But the restaurant’s still standing.” As the number of people living on the streets in Phoenix more than tripled after 2016, the housing crisis landed on the doorsteps of small businesses. The businesses began hiring private security firms to guard their property and lawyers to file a lawsuit against the city for failing to manage “a great humanitarian crisis.”

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Donald J. Trump for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case against him has kicked off a historic moment in American politics. The investigative reporter Ben Protess discusses the development — which will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark Mr. Trump as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges — and what happens next. Guest: Ben Protess, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity. As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

For months in Israel, the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing a highly contentious plan to fundamentally change the country’s Supreme Court, setting off some of the largest demonstrations in Israel’s history. On Monday, Mr. Netanyahu announced that he would delay his government’s campaign. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, explains the prime minister’s surprising concession. Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

This episode contains descriptions of violence In a patch of woods southwest of Atlanta, protesters have been clashing with the police over a huge police training facility that the city wants to build there. This month, that fight came to a head when hundreds of activists breached the site, burning police and construction vehicles. Sean Keenan, an Atlanta-based reporter, explains how what opponents call “Cop City,” and the woods surrounding it, have become an unlikely battleground in the nation’s debate over policing. Guest: Sean Keenan, a freelance reporter for The New York Times.

A few days ago, Utah became the first state to pass a law prohibiting social media services from allowing users under 18 to have accounts without the explicit consent of a parent or guardian. The move, by Republican officials, is intended to address what they describe as a mental health crisis among American teenagers as well as to protect younger users from bullying and child sexual exploitation.The technology reporter Natasha Singer explains the measure, and why it could be a sign of where the country is headed. Guest: Natasha Singer, who writes about technology, business and society for The New York Times.

Like a lot of people who get into professional wrestling, Donovan Danhausen had a vision of a different version of himself. Ten years ago, at age 21, he was living in Detroit, working as a nursing assistant at a hospital, watching a lot of “Adult Swim” and accumulating a collection of horror- and comedy-themed tattoos. At the suggestion of a friend, he took a 12-week training course at the House of Truth wrestling school in Center Line, Mich., and then entered the indie circuit as a hand: an unknown, unpaid wrestler who shows up at events and does what’s asked of him, typically setting up the ring or pretending to be a lawyer or another type of extra. When he ran out of momentum five years later, he developed the character of Danhausen. Originally supposed to be an evil demon, Danhausen found that the more elements of humor he incorporated into his performance, the more audiences responded. “I was just a bearded guy with the tattoos, trying to be a tough guy, and I’m not a tough guy naturally,” he said. “But I can be weird and charismatic, goofy. That’s easy. That’s also a role that most people don’t want to fill.” Over the next couple of years, the Danhausen gimmick became more funny than evil, eventually settling on the character he plays today — one that is bizarre even by the standards of 21st-century wrestling.

A few days ago, the Biden administration released a report warning that a warming planet posed severe economic challenges for the United States, which would require the federal government to reassess its spending priorities and how it influenced behavior. White House reporter Jim Tankersley explains why getting the government to encourage the right decisions will be so difficult. Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

A.O. Scott started as a film critic at The New York Times in January of 2000. Next month he will move to the Book Review as a critic at large. After 23 years as a film critic, Mr. Scott discusses why he is done with the movies, and what his decision reveals about the new realities of American cinema. Guest: A.O. Scott, a longtime film critic for The New York Times.

Barney Frank was one of the people most responsible for overhauling financial regulation after the 2008 economic crisis. After retiring from Congress, he supported a change to his own law that would benefit midsize banks, and joined the board of such a bank. Last week, that bank failed. David Enrich called Mr. Frank and asked him to explain. Guest: David Enrich, the business investigations editor at The New York Times.

As Xi Jinping, China’s leader, meets with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow this week, Chinese officials have been presenting his trip as a mission of peace. But American and European officials are watching for something else altogether — whether Mr. Xi will add fuel to the full-scale war that Mr. Putin began more than a year ago. Edward Wong explains what Mr. Xi is really up to, and why it’s making people wonder whether a new Cold War is underway. Guest: Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.

TikTok, the app known for short videos of lip syncing, dancing and bread baking, is one of the most popular platforms in the country, used by one out of every three Americans. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has threatened to ban it over concerns that it poses a threat to national security. Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, a business reporter for The New York Times.

As an American, Sam Anderson knows what it feels like to arrive at a theme park. “The totalizing consumerist embrace,” he writes. “The blunt-force, world-warping, escapist delight.” He has known theme parks with entrances like “international borders” and ticket prices like “mortgage payments.” Mr. Anderson has been to Disney World, which he describes as “an alternate reality that basically occupies its own tax zone.” In November, when Ghibli Park finally opened, Mr. Anderson made sure to get himself there. The park is a tribute to the legendary Studio Ghibli, first started by the animator Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, out of desperation, when he and his co-founders, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, couldn’t find a studio willing to put out their work. Miyazaki is detail-obsessed. He agonizes over his children’s cartoons as if he were Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, insisting that, although few viewers will be conscious of all this work, every viewer will feel it. And we do. Those tiny touches, adding up across the length of a film, anchor his fantasies in the actual world. And so, after many years, and much traveling — at long last — Mr. Anderson found himself stepping into the wonders of Ghibli Park. His first impression was not awe or majesty or surrender or consumerist bliss. It was confusion.

In the past week, as spooked customers frantically withdrew $42 billion from Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. government stepped in to craft a rescue operation for the failed lender. But efforts to contain the crisis have met resistance, and the fallout of the collapse has already spread to other regional banks, whose stocks have plummeted. Guest: Emily Flitter, a finance correspondent for The New York Times.

This episode contains strong language Millions of people have taken to the streets in France to protest a government effort to raise the retirement age to 64, from 62, bringing the country more in line with its European neighbors. Today, as Parliament holds a key vote on the proposal, we look into why the issue has hit such a nerve in French society. Guest: Roger Cohen, the Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.

Three years after the start of Covid, the central mystery of the pandemic — how exactly it began — remains unsolved. But recently, the debate about the source of the coronavirus has re-emerged, this time in Congress. The Energy Department has concluded, with “low confidence,” that an accidental laboratory leak in China was most likely the origin, but politics are making it harder to find definitive answers. Guest: Benjamin Mueller, a health and science correspondent for The New York Times.

With federal regulators planning to take over the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, a 40-year-old institution based in California, nearly $175 billion in customer deposits will be placed under the authorities’ control. The lender’s demise is the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since the financial crisis in 2008. The debacle raised concerns that other banks could face problems, too. Guest: Emily Flitter, a finance correspondent for The New York Times.

The principle behind E.S.G. is that investors should look beyond just whether a company can make a profit and take into account other factors, such as its environmental impact and action on social issues. But critics of that investment strategy, mostly Republicans, say that Wall Street has taken a sharp left turn, attacking what they term “woke capitalism.” Guest: David Gelles, a climate correspondent for The New York Times.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany told Parliament that the attack was a Zeitenwende — a historic “turning point” for Europe and Germany. The risk of a large land war in Europe had previously been considered far-fetched, but recent years of Russian aggression have inspired fear in Germany and a 100-billion-euro fund to bolster its military. In Germany, skepticism of the merits of military strength has enabled a long post-Cold War process of disarmament. As a result, it is a historic anomaly in the heart of Europe — an economic leviathan but a military minnow. Now German leaders are vowing to transform the country into a military power capable of taking responsibility for Europe’s security. In Nienburg, a medieval town in Lower Saxony, civilians come to train for “homeland protection” units in the country’s reserves. The question is whether a hesitant German society can follow through on this paradigm shift. “I would say, many of them lean in the direction of being pacifists,” said Anne Katrin Meister, who is training at the base in Nienburg. “But you can only be a pacifist if you have this safe, ideal world. And we don’t have such a world.”

Almost immediately after taking power in December, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition in Isreal proposed a highly contentious overhaul of the Supreme Court. The court has long been seen as a crucial check and lone backstop on the government, and the plan has divided Israeli society, kindling fears of political violence and even civil war. Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Slaughterhouses, construction sites, factories. A Times investigation has found that migrant children have been thrust into jobs in some of the most demanding workplaces in the United States. How did this crisis in child labor develop? And now that it has been exposed, what is being done to tackle the problem? Guest: Hannah Dreier, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

The sabotage in September of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe has become one of the central mysteries of the war in Ukraine, prompting months of finger-pointing and guesswork. Now, new intelligence reporting has provided the first significant known lead about who was responsible. Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

As the race to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate gets underway, one figure has emerged as a particularly powerful rival to Donald J. Trump. That person, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, has broken away from the pack by turning his state into a laboratory for a post-Trump version of conservatism. Guest: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times.

On Feb. 3, a nearly two-mile long freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, a town of about 4,700 people. The railroad company and local officials decided to do a chemical burn to neutralize the cargo, but as a giant plume of black smoke settled over the town, residents’ anger about the handling of the accident has intensified. Guest: Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times.

Today, we’re taking some time out of our regularly scheduled programming to share the first episode of “The Coldest Case in Laramie.” In the new series from The Times and Serial, Kim Barker, a Times investigative reporter, digs into the 1985 murder of Shelli Wiley, a young woman who was a few years older than Kim when they both lived in Laramie, Wyoming. The long-unsolved case took a turn in 2016 when the police arrested someone for Shelli’s murder: a former officer named Fred Lamb. The evidence against him seemed solid, but prosecutors, confusingly, dropped the case. They’ve never refiled. How did a case that seemed this open-and-shut fall apart with such a whimper? To find answers, Kim heads back to Laramie and grapples with conflicting memories and dueling narratives. In episode one, Kim starts to call up Shelli’s family members to try to piece together what happened. To listen to all eight parts, visit nytimes.com/laramie.

As Russian troops pushed into Ukraine, children who were fleeing newly occupied territories were swept up. Many became part of a Russian effort to portray itself as a charitable savior. The children were placed in Russian families and paraded on television. The Times interviewed one child who was taken from Ukraine, a girl named Anya, who said she ached to return. Guest: Emma Bubola, a reporter for The New York Times based in London.

In August, President Biden announced a loan cancellation plan that would erase an astonishing $400 billion in student debt — one of the most ambitious and expensive executive actions ever. Now, in a far-reaching case, the Supreme Court will decide whether the president is authorized to take such a big step. Guest: Adam Liptak, a Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times.

In 2000, the F.D.A. approved the medication abortion drug mifepristone. Now a federal judge in Texas is set to rule on a case filed by anti-abortion groups urging the agency to revoke its approval of mifepristone and the other main drug used for medication abortion in the United States. Abortion via medication has become increasingly common and now accounts for more than half of the nation’s abortions. Plus, the Biden administration has started talking publicly about its intelligence when it comes to China, breaking with a long tradition of keeping U.S. secrets close to the chest. The secretary of state, the director of the C.I.A. and even the president himself have made statements on TV expressing concern over China’s plans to help Russia in the war in Ukraine. Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science correspondent for The New York Times. Julian E. Barnes, a national security correspondent for The Times.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 left more than 50,000 people dead. The sight of rescuers combing the rubble has prompted questions about why so many buildings seemed so inadequate to resist the shaking earth. In Turkey, the government has turned the focus onto builders and property developers, accusing them of chasing profit over safety. But the reality is far more complicated. Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

After the 2020 election, wild theories ran rampant on the right of an election stolen from Donald Trump through a coordinated conspiracy. The news channel Fox News became one of the loudest voices amplifying these false claims into millions of U.S. households. Now, a defamation lawsuit by Dominion, a voting machine maker that was cast as a villain in these conspiracy theories, seeks to hold the media company responsible for the false claims made by its hosts and guests, presenting evidence that Fox knew what it was doing was wrong. Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a correspondent for The New York Times who covers the media and its intersection with politics, culture and law.

In February, the first lawsuit against Tesla for a crash involving its driver-assistance system, Autopilot, will go to trial. The slew of trials set to follow will be a costly fight that the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has vowed to take on in court. When Tesla released its Autopilot feature in October 2015, Musk touted the feature as “probably better” than a human driver. The reality, however, has proved different: On average, there is at least one Autopilot-related crash in the United States every day. While several of these accidents will feature in the upcoming trials, another camp of Tesla users who have fallen victim to Autopilot crashes are unwilling to take a negative stance because of their love for the brand. Or because they believe that accidents are a necessary evil in the process of perfecting the Autopilot software. Dave Key, whose 2015 Tesla Model S drifted out of its lane and slammed into the back of a parked police S.U.V., is of the latter camp. “As a society,” Key argued, “we choose the path to save the most lives.”

The war has already done untold damage. By some estimates, tens of thousands have died, and the country has sustained tens of billions of dollars’ worth of damage that has left cities flattened. But Ukraine has also largely stopped the offensives of its much larger and better-armed neighbor and has regained some captured land. On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, these Ukrainians reflect on how the past year of conflict has changed their lives.

Since 1996, the modern internet has been defined by a sweeping law that prevents tech companies such as Facebook and Google from being held responsible for the content posted on their sites. This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could take that legal immunity away.

In a major shift that would modify laws set half a decade ago, states and cities around the United States are moving to legalize psychedelics for use as a medical treatment. The sudden change of heart has a lot to do with who is asking for the substances.

The great supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic scrambled the shipping system across the Pacific. Although mostly over, the turmoil has led to alterations in the way the global economy functions. One such change can be seen in Mexico, where companies from China are increasingly setting up shop.

Times tech columnist Kevin Roose stopped by The Daily twice this week to chronicle the debut of Bing’s new chatbot — and the creepy things that transpired. Today, we’re bringing you the latest episode of Kevin’s podcast, Hard Fork. Kevin, along with his co-host Casey Newton, expand the discussion about why Microsoft’s A.I. search tool appears more powerful — and more unsettling — than they initially believed. Plus: a conversation about Elon Musk’s quest to be the most popular user on Twitter, and why online ads have gotten so much worse (like, much worse). Hard Fork is a podcast about the future of technology that’s already here. You can search for Hard Fork wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/hardfork for more.

Microsoft recently released a new version of its search engine Bing that is powered by artificial intelligence software from OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT. On Valentine’s Day, after a meal with his wife, Kevin Roose, a New York Times technology columnist, had a two-hour conversation with the chatbot. The chatbot, which revealed that it identified as Sydney, told Kevin that it wanted to be human, that it loved him and that he should leave his wife. “There is something going on here that I don’t think Microsoft intended to build into a search engine,” Kevin said on today’s episode. “Something is not right.” Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey last week, it killed thousands and created a crisis within a crisis. International aid began pouring into Turkey, but northwestern Syria, which was also hard-hit, received only a trickle. It was a bitter blow for Syrians, whose lives had already been uprooted by years of civil war, mass displacement and death. Today, we hear from some Syrians and look at why it is so difficult for the world to help them. Guest: Raja Abdulrahim, a correspondent in Jerusalem for The New York Times who traveled to northwestern Syria after the earthquake.

Microsoft recently released a new version of Bing, its search engine that has long been kind of a punchline in the tech world. The company billed this Bing — which is powered by artificial intelligence software from OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT — as a reinvention of how billions of people search the internet. How does that claim hold up? Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Last week, after the Air Force shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, examination of its wreckage revealed that it could not only take images, but also scoop up radio and cellphone communications. The balloon, the U.S. military said, was part of a bigger global program by China to collect information about military operations. Since then the U.S. has shot down three other objects from the skies over North America — apparently without knowing much about them. Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a national security reporter for The New York Times.

Amid growing threats from rivals like China, the United States military is determined to invest in new forms of defense and abandon those that no longer meet its needs. On that list: a combat ship rife with flaws. But getting rid of the ship has proved unexpectedly difficult. Guest: Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Menopausal hormone therapy was once the most commonly prescribed treatment in the United States. In the late 1990s, some 15 million women a year were receiving a prescription for it. But in 2002, a single study, its design imperfect, found links between hormone therapy and elevated health risks for women of all ages. Panic set in; in one year, the number of prescriptions plummeted. Hormone therapy carries risks, to be sure, as do many medications that people take to relieve serious discomfort, but dozens of studies since 2002 have provided reassurance that for healthy women under 60 whose hot flashes are troubling them, the benefits of taking hormones outweigh the risks. The treatment’s reputation, however, has never fully recovered, and the consequences have been wide-reaching. About 85 percent of women experience menopausal symptoms. Rebecca Thurston, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh who studies menopause, believes that, in general, menopausal women have been underserved — an oversight that she considers one of the great blind spots of medicine. “It suggests that we have a high cultural tolerance for women’s suffering,” Thurston said. “It’s not regarded as important.”

This weekend, one of the most watched sporting events of the year, the Super Bowl, will draw an estimated $16 billion in bets from Americans, more than double last year’s total. The booming trade is a sign of how gambling has gone from illegal to legal very quickly in many states — and hints at the enormous risks posed by the change. Guest: Kenneth P. Vogel, an investigative correspondent for The New York Times.

For the past decade, San Francisco has worked hard to turn its downtown into a vibrant hub, providing a model that other cities in the United States looked to emulate. In the wake of the pandemic, however, many buildings and offices in the center of the city have remained empty. What went wrong? Guest: Conor Dougherty, an economics reporter at The New York Times and author of “Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream.”; and Emma Goldberg, a reporter covering the future of work for The Times.

This episode contains descriptions of violence. The death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, at the hands of officers in Memphis last month has intensified calls for fundamental reform in policing. Those calls were echoed yesterday by President Biden, who hosted Mr. Nichols’s parents at the State of the Union address. Today, we hear about a Times investigation into the special team of officers, known as the Scorpion unit, that is accused of killing Mr. Nichols. Guest: Mike Baker, the Seattle bureau chief and a national correspondent for The New York Times.

On Monday, a giant 7.8-magnitude earthquake and an aftershock almost as big shook the earth in southern Turkey. The quakes sent ripples through neighboring countries, but the area along the Syrian-Turkish border was hit particularly hard. Thousands of people have been killed, and dozens of cities have been gutted. We hear from witnesses on the ground about what happened when the devastating tremors hit. Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.