Podcast: The Daily

This week, President-elect Donald J. Trump asked the Supreme Court to prevent him from being sentenced in a New York criminal case and implied that he could use military force to seize control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, while President Biden did his best to try to Trump-proof his legacy. The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs discuss the latest in the presidential transition.

Over the past 48 hours, wildfires have consumed acre after acre and building after building across greater Los Angeles. More than 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and at least five people have died. The Times’s L.A. bureau chief, Corina Knoll, and our staff meteorologist, Judson Jones, explain the paths of the fires and the conditions that have made them so hard to contain.

This week, Justin Trudeau said he would step down as prime minister of Canada — a stunning downfall for a man who was once seen as a global icon of progressive politics.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Canada bureau chief for The New York Times, explains the forces that led to Trudeau’s collapse, and discusses the populist leader who could replace him.

During their first few days in power, the Republican-controlled House and Senate vowed to put aside their furious intraparty battles to make Donald J. Trump’s sweeping agenda the law of the land. Catie Edmonson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, discusses how likely that actually is.

Since the riot on Capitol Hill four years ago, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have set out to sanitize the events of that day, changing it from a day of violence into, in Mr. Trump’s words, a day of love. As he prepares to take office for his second term, Mr. Trump said he plans to issue pardons to some of those responsible, throwing hundreds of criminal cases into doubt. Alan Feuer, a reporter covering extremism and political violence for The New York Times, talks to one of those rioters and explains how the pardons could help rewrite the story of what happened on Jan. 6.

At the end of a tenure marked by war and division, the outgoing secretary of state defends his legacy on Gaza and Ukraine and says he’s made America stronger.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence and death.

A mere three hours into 2025, terrorism struck in downtown New Orleans.

The Times journalists Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Mike Baker, and Christina Morales discuss what we know about the attack, the man who carried it out and the victims.

Guests:

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, a reporter at The New York Times covering criminal justice.
Mike Baker, a national reporter for The New York Times.
Christina Morales, a reporter for The New York Times.

Warning: this episode contains strong language.

Over the past five years, one sports league has gained popularity faster than any other: Ultimate Fighting Championship, or U.F.C.

Matt Flegenheimer, a correspondent for The Times, discusses the man behind the league and how his longtime friendship with President-elect Donald J. Trump has transformed what once was a fringe sport into a culture and political powerhouse.

Guest: Matt Flegenheimer, a correspondent at The New York Times who focuses on in-depth profiles of powerful figures.

As 2024 comes to a close, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including books.

The deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, Melissa Kirsch, speaks with the editor of The New York Times Book Review, Gilbert Cruz, about the best books of 2024 — and of the century. Also, The Times’s book critics detail their favorite reads of the year.

To end the year, Melissa Kirsch, The New York Times’s deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, talks with Times reporters, editors and columnists whose jobs involve thinking about how we live, and how we might live better.

First, she speaks with Philip Galanes, who writes the Social Q’s column, on what makes good advice. Then, Jancee Dunn, a reporter on the Well desk, shares some of the most useful tips she has gleaned this year. Finally, Daniel Jones, who has edited the Modern Love column for more than 20 years, reflects on the lessons he has learned about love.

And we hear from listeners about the best advice they received this year.

In 1976, after the Watergate scandal and the country’s withdrawal from the Vietnam War, American voters elected Jimmy Carter, a Washington outsider who had served one term as governor of Georgia, to the presidency. Mr. Carter brought a new humility to the Oval Office but, by 1980, many Americans had tired of his modest sensibility and chose not to re-elect him. As it would turn out, the qualities that hurt Mr. Carter in the White House formed the foundation of a post-presidential period that helped redefine, and redeem, his legacy in the final decades of his life.

Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, explains the life, death and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter.

For decades, Big Food has been marketing products to people who can’t seem to stop eating, and now, suddenly, they can. The active ingredient in new drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound mimics a natural hormone that slows digestion and signals fullness to the brain.

Around seven million Americans take these drugs, but estimates from Morgan Stanley suggest that number could increase to 24 million within the next decade. More than 100 million American adults are obese, and the drugs may eventually be rolled out to people who don’t have diabetes or obesity, as they seem to tame addictions beyond food — appearing to make cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes more resistible. Research is at an early stage, but the drugs may also cut the risk of stroke, heart and kidney disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Major food companies are scrambling to research the impact of the drugs on their brands — and figure out how to adjust. But for Mattson, which has invented products for the nation’s biggest food conglomerates for nearly 50 years, the Ozempic threat could be a boon.

By the time Sam Apple pulled up with his goldendoodle, Steve, to their resting place, he was tired from the long drive and already second-guessing his plan. He felt a little better when they stepped inside the Dogwood Acres Pet Retreat. The lobby, with its elegant tiled entrance, might have passed for the lobby of any small countryside hotel, at least one that strongly favored dog-themed decor. But this illusion was broken when the receptionist reviewed their reservation — which, in addition to their luxury suite, included cuddle time, group play, a nature walk and a “belly rub tuck-in.”

Venues like this one, on Kent Island in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, didn’t exist when Apple was growing up in the 1980s. If you needed a place to board your dog back then, you went to a kennel, where your dog spent virtually the entire day in a small — and probably not very clean — cage. There were no tuck-ins, no bedtime stories, no dog-bone-shaped swimming pools. There was certainly nothing like today’s most upscale canine resorts, where the dogs sleep on queen-size beds and the spa offerings include mud baths and blueberry facials; one pet-hotel franchise on the West Coast will even pick up your dog in a Lamborghini. Apple knew Dogwood Acres wouldn’t be quite as luxurious as that, but the accommodations still sounded pretty nice. So he decided to check his dog in, and to tag along for the journey.

As 2024 comes to a close, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including music.Today, The Times’s pop music critics Jon Pareles, Lindsay Zoladz and Jon Caramanica talk with Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, about a new generation of women in pop, how the rapper Kendrick Lamar beat Drake in their feud, and why so many pop stars went country.

As we approach the end of 2024, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including television and film.The Times’s chief television critic James Poniewozik and chief film critic Manohla Dargis talk with Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, about why recent entertainment offerings may feel a little “blah,” and also recommend shows and movies that stand out.

In 2022, seven years after surviving a brain aneurysm that left her unable to sing or even speak, Joni Mitchell appeared onstage at the Newport Folk Festival. Singing alongside her were her supportive — and emotional — musician friends, including Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd and Annie Lennox.

Our critic Wesley Morris had his doubts. What was really happening here? Did Joni Mitchell even want this? Or were her younger adoring musician fans propping her up for their own reasons? When he learned this fall that Joni would be appearing onstage again, at the Hollywood Bowl, he bought a ticket to see for himself.

On today’s episode, Wesley talks with his editor Sasha Weiss about the concert, and what it’s like to experience an 80-year-old in full command of her meaning.

Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit. The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expected it — in the monotony of Hallmark’s Christmas movies.

How President Biden could transform women’s rights and rescue his legacy with just a ring. Dozens of congressional Democrats have a simple pitch to President Biden: with a single phone call he can revolutionize women’s rights and salvage his damaged legacy. Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent at The New York Times, discusses whether that plan is possible and, if so, whether Mr. Biden would try.

His wife was spiraling into insomnia, and his children were afraid to go to school, so Jaime Cachua sought out the person he trusted most in a crisis. He sat at his kitchen table in rural Georgia across from his father-in-law, Sky Atkins, the family patriarch. Jaime, 33, hadn’t seen his own father since he was 10 months old, when he left Mexico in a car seat bound for the United States.

“We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” Jaime told him. “There’s a chance we could lose everything.”

Jaime muted the football game on TV and began to explain his new reality as an undocumented immigrant after the election of Donald Trump, who had won the presidency in part by promising to deport more than 11 million people living in the country illegally.

“I’m going to be straight with you,” Sky told Jaime. “I voted for Trump. I believe in a lot of what he says.”

“I figured as much,” Jaime said. “You and just about everyone else around here.”

“It’s about protecting our rights as a sovereign country,” Sky said. “We need to shut down the infiltration on the border. It’s not about you.”

“It is about me,” Jaime said. “That’s the thing I don’t understand.”

The star of “The Chosen” discusses his early struggles in Hollywood, fans who conflate him with his character and how his own faith informs his work.