Podcast: The Daily

More than 50 years after its inception, “breaking” — not “break dancing,” a term coined by the media and disdained by practitioners — will debut as an Olympic sport. Jonathan Abrams, who writes about the intersection of sports and culture, explains how breaking’s big moment came about.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has transformed the U.S. presidential race. But the real test awaits: Will the party be able to translate that energy into a winning coalition of voters in November?
Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The Times, discusses a group of skeptical voters in swing states who may post the biggest challenge to the vice president. Our audio producers — Jessica Cheung and Stella Tan — traveled to Wisconsin to speak to some of them.

Earlier this summer, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.
But, in a matter of weeks, Mr. Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate. Ernesto Londoño, who reports for The Times from Minnesota, walks us through Mr. Walz’s career, politics and sudden stardom.

Every major U.S. stock market plunged on Monday, wiping out billions of dollars in value. Jeanna Smialek, who covers the U.S. economy for The Times, discusses what was behind the dizzying sell-off — and what it can tell us about whether America is headed for a recession.

Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, and Sofia Nelson, his transgender classmate at Yale Law School, forged a bond that lasted a decade. In 2021, Mr. Vance’s support for an Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors led to their falling out. Sofia Nelson, now a public defender in Detroit, discussed Mr. Vance’s pivot, politically and personally, with The Times.

When Maggie Jones’s marriage collapsed after 23 years, she was devastated and overwhelmed. She was in her 50s, with two jobs, two teenage daughters and one dog. She didn’t consider dating. She had no time, no emotional energy. But then a year passed. One daughter was off at college, the other increasingly independent. After several more months went by, she started to feel a sliver of curiosity about what kind of men were out there and how it would feel to date again. The last time she dated was 25 years ago, and even then, she fell into relationships mostly with guys from high school, college, parties, work. Now every man she knew was either married, too young, too old or otherwise not a good fit.

That meant online dating — the default mode not just for the young but also for people Ms. Jones’s age. Her only exposure had been watching her oldest daughter, home from college one summer, as she sat on her bed rapidly swiping through guy after guy — spending no more than a second or two on each.

Ms. Jones tells her story of online dating in later adulthood, and what she learned.

I went in expecting a swaggering, overconfident guy. I found something much more interesting.

For years, Rupert Murdoch seemed content to let his children battle it out for control of his conservative media empire once he’s gone.Jim Rutenberg, who writes about media and politics for The Times, discusses how a secret change to that plan by Mr. Murdoch touched off an ugly family squabble that could influence how much of the world sees the news.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine.

Warning: this episode contains strong language and audio of war.

When the long legal saga of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, came to an end this summer, it marked the first time that the U.S. government had convicted anyone for publishing classified material.

Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy for The Times, discusses what the conviction means for journalism and government accountability in a world where publishing state secrets can now be treated as a crime.

Guest: Charlie Savage, a national security and legal policy correspondent for The New York Times.

Warning: This episode contains audio of war.

Over the past few days, the simmering feud between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, has reached a critical moment.

Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times, explains why the latest tit-for-tat attacks are different and why getting them to stop could be so tough.

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

Warning: This episode contains strong language.

Although Vice President Kamala Harris has officially been a presidential candidate for only about a week, the race to become her running mate is well underway.

Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, takes us inside the selection process.

Guest: Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Nuclear power, once the great hope for a clean way to meet the world’s energy needs, fell out of favor decades ago.

Brad Plumer, who covers technology and policy efforts to address global warming for The New York Times, explains how one company with a radical idea is now working to bring it back.

Guest: Brad Plumer, who covers technology and policy efforts to address global warming for The New York Times.

On Nov. 12, 1974, Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s father’s childhood friend Jack Teich was kidnapped out of his driveway in the nicest part of the nicest part of Long Island. He was arriving home from work when two men forced him into their car at gunpoint and took him to a house where they chained and interrogated him.

On the second day of his kidnapping, Jack’s wife, Janet, received a call from someone demanding a ransom of $750,000, and a few days later, Janet and Jack’s brother Buddy dropped the money off at Penn Station under F.B.I. surveillance. The F.B.I. did not catch the kidnapper, but afterward, he decided to let Jack go.

Jack was home safe. He had survived his kidnapping. But the actual kidnapping is not what this story is about, if you can believe it. It’s about surviving what you survived, which is also known as the rest of your life.

The Democrat talks about the election vibe shift and what a Kamala Harris win would mean for both parties.

For years, Venezuelans have been living through one of the most severe economic collapses in modern history — one that has caused millions to flee the country. But this weekend, an election is offering many a real hope for change.

Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for The Times, explains why, after years under a repressive government, Venezuelans think this time might be different.

Guest: Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for The New York Times.

Over the past 48 hours, as the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris went from theoretical to inevitable, she has delivered the first glimpses of how her campaign will run.

Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The Times, discusses what we’ve learned from her debut.

Guest: Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The New York Times.

In the week since the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the security mistakes that led to the shooting have come into sharp focus, prompting Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, to resign.

Glenn Thrush, who reports on the Justice Department for The Times, discusses what we now know about the service’s lapses that day.

Guest: Glenn Thrush, a reporter on the Justice Department for The New York Times.

As Democrat after Democrat races to anoint Vice President Kamala Harris as their party’s presidential candidate, it has become clear that she will face no real challenge for the nomination.

Nate Cohn, chief political analyst for The Times, and Reid J. Epstein, a Times reporter covering politics, discuss what that smooth path for Ms. Harris could mean for her broader campaign.

Guest:

Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.
Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The New York Times.

President Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as his replacement.

Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, discusses how the race for the White House has suddenly been turned upside down.

Guest: Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Earlier this month, the New York Times Book Review rolled out the results of an ambitious survey it conducted to determine the best books of the 21st century so far. On this special episode of the Book Review Podcast, host Gilbert Cruz chats with some fellow Book Review editors about the results of that survey and about the project itself.

To read the full list, please visit: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html

For more episodes, search “Book Review podcast” wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show.