The Sunday Read: ‘Why We Take Animal Voyages’

Two Futures Face Off in Brazil: Voters in Brazil on Sunday will choose between two larger-than-life, populist candidates in a presidential race that is widely seen as the nation’s — and Latin America’s — most important election in decades. Who are the candidates, and why is the future of Brazilian democracy also on the ballot? Guest: Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times. by The Daily

29 min listen

Special Episode: What Does It Mean to 'Never Forget'?: Two planes hijacked by Al Qaeda pierced the north and south towers of the World Trade Center. A third slammed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. A fourth crashed in an open field outside Shanksville, Pa. All in less than 90 minutes. What, exactly, do you remember? What stories do you tell when a casual conversation morphs into a therapy session? What stories do you keep to yourself? And what instantly transports you back to that deceptively sunny Tuesday morning? In a study of more than 3,000 people, what distinguished the memories of Sept. 11, when compared with ordinary autobiographical memories, was the extreme confidence that people had developed in their altered remembrances. Dan Barry, a longtime Times reporter, remembered “the acrid smell of loss drifting uptown through the newsroom’s open windows. The landfill. The funerals.” Today, he shares an essay about the effects of time on those memories. by The Daily

13 min listen

The Fear Facer: An Update: In 2019, Julia Longoria, then a Daily producer, traveled to Nashville to speak with Ella Maners and her mother, Katie Maners. Ella, 8 going on 9, was terrified of tornadoes and getting sick. So she did something that was even scarier than her fears: confront them at Fear Facers camp. We revisit her story and catch up with Ella, now 12 and in the fifth grade, who has since returned to the camp. by The Daily

33 min listen

'The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 1: This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. Today, we talk to conservative voters about the forces animating the midterm elections for them — and what Washington can learn from the people. What do you think of “The Run-Up” so far? Please take our listener survey at nytimes.com/therunupsurvey. “The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, you can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/therunup for more. by The Daily

52 min listen

Why Is It So Hard to Buy a House in America Right Now?: This episode contains strong language. When Drew Mena and Amena Sengal decided last year to sell their home in New York and relocate their young family to Austin, Texas, they figured they’d have no problem. What they hadn’t realized was that, across the country, home prices — and competition to secure properties — had risen to jaw-dropping levels. Guest: Francesca Mari, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a fellow at the think tank New America. by The Daily

31 min listen

Is This How Roe Ends?: The revelation that the Supreme Court could end the constitutional right to abortion in the United States has set off a political firestorm and deepened divisions about one of the most contentious issues in American society. What exactly is in the draft opinion that was leaked this week, and what does it mean for the court and for the country? Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times. by The Daily

28 min listen

How Biden’s Approval Rating Got So Low: During his campaign for president and in his first year in office, Joe Biden tried to be all things to all people. But trying to govern on behalf of such a broad political coalition has left his administration with something of an identity crisis. In alarming figures for Democrats ahead of the midterms, Mr. Biden’s approval rating has reached the lowest level of his presidency, while 70 percent of Americans say that the country is on the wrong track. Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

35 min listen

What It’s Like Inside One of China’s Protests: Over the weekend, protests against China’s strict coronavirus restrictions ricocheted across the country in a rare case of nationwide civil unrest. It was the most extensive series of protests since the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989. This is what these demonstrations look and feel like, and what they mean for President Xi Jinping and his quest for “zero Covid.” Guest: Vivian Wang, a China correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

31 min listen

Introducing: 'The Run-Up': In November, Americans will head to the polls for the first nationwide election since the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. But what happens this fall won’t just be about who wins and who loses. On the first episode of "The Run-Up,” host Astead Herndon lays out the stakes of the midterm elections and explores the big questions the podcast is looking to answer. “The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. For more information, visit nytimes.com/therunup. by The Daily

14 min listen

The Man Trying to Save Phoenix From Historic Heat: As a historic heat wave grips much of the world and the United States, no city has become more emblematic of the crisis than Phoenix, where temperatures have exceeded 110 degrees for the past three weeks. Today, the city’s chief heat officer, David Hondula, discusses how the city is adjusting to the new reality of chronic extreme heat — and whether we are adapting to it fast enough. Guest: David Hondula, the director of heat response and mitigation for the city of Phoenix. by The Daily

24 min listen

The Sunday Read: ‘It Was Just a Kayaking Trip. Until It Upended Our Lives.’: It was meant to mark the start of their lives out of college, but the adventure quickly turned into a nightmare. Beginning with what seemed to be a lucky whale sighting, three friends set out on a sea-kayaking trip through Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, watching out for bears, and having a good time, when tragedy struck. In recounting the days preceding and following the accident, which seriously injured one of his friends, the Times journalist Jon Mooallem explains how he was forced to reckon with his fears. Detailing the incident’s surprising repercussions, he muses on the importance of overcoming one’s fears, and finding poetry in life’s darkest moments. by The Daily

61 min listen

The Sunday Read: ‘Animals That Infect Humans Are Scary. It’s Worse When We Infect Them Back’: There’s a working theory for the origins of Covid-19. It goes like this: Somewhere in an open-air market in Wuhan, China, a new coronavirus, growing inside an animal, first made the jump to a human. But what happens when diseases spread in the other direction? Sonia Shah, a science journalist, explores the dangers of “spillback,” or “reverse zoonosis”: when humans infect non-humans with disease. Using the history of diseases spreading through mink farms in the United States and Europe as a focus, Shah considers the implications of spillback, and how we might minimize its future impact. Shah considers how spillback can ignite epidemics in wild species, including endangered ones, and can ravage whole ecosystems. More worryingly, she describes how it can establish new wildlife reservoirs that shift the pathogens’ evolutionary trajectory, unleashing novel variants that can fuel new, dangerous wa by The Daily

42 min listen

Vacationing in the Time of Covid: Charles Falls Jr., known as Chillie, loves to take cruises. But Covid, as it has done for so many, left him marooned at home in Virginia. As he told Cristal Duhaime, a producer at the Times podcast First Person, as soon as restrictions eased, he eagerly planned a return to the waves. But for Chillie, who suffers from prostate cancer, resuming his beloved travels — particularly aboard the cramped quarters of a cruise ship, most people’s idea of a pandemic nightmare — was especially perilous. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. by The Daily

30 min listen

The Mexican Model of Abortion Rights: When the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion with Roe v. Wade, it established the United States as a global leader on abortion rights, decades ahead of many other countries. Now, with Roe likely to be overturned, we look to Mexico, a country where the playbook for securing legalized abortion could be a model for activists in the United States. Guest: Natalie Kitroeff, a correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for The New York Times. by The Daily

41 min listen

Race, Power and the Leaked Recording in Los Angeles: This episode contains strong language.A leaked audio recording of Latino lawmakers in Los Angeles making racist comments has created a political firestorm and brought demands for resignations. But not only has the uproar forced the authorities to reckon with what officials say behind closed doors, it has also raised a sharp issue: Why is a city with so many Latino constituents represented by so few of them? Guest: Shawn Hubler, a California correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

28 min listen

Qatar’s Big Bet on the World Cup: The World Cup, the biggest single sporting event on the planet, began earlier this month. By the time the tournament finishes, half the global population is expected to have watched. The 2022 World Cup has also been the focus of over a decade of controversy because of its unlikely host: the tiny, energy-rich country of Qatar. How did such a small nation come to host the tournament, and at what cost? Guest: Tariq Panja, a sports business reporter for The New York Times. by The Daily

34 min listen

Biden, Trump and a Split Screen at the Texas Border: President Biden and Donald J. Trump both made appearances at the southern border on Thursday as they addressed an issue that is shaping up to be one of the most important in the 2024 election: immigration. Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The Times, discusses Mr. Biden’s risky bid to take perhaps Trump’s biggest rallying point and use it against him. by The Daily

30 min listen

Why Inflation Doesn’t Affect Us All the Same: Fresh data from the U.S. government on Wednesday showed that inflation was still climbing at a rapid pace, prompting President Biden to say that controlling the rising prices was his “top domestic priority.” But not everybody experiences inflation equally. Why is that? Guest: Ben Casselman, an economics and business reporter for The New York Times. by The Daily

28 min listen

A New Child Labor Crisis in America: 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. by The Daily

33 min listen

The Sunday Read: ‘The Silicon Blockade’: This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. by The Daily

34 min listen

Pakistan, Under Water: A few weeks into this year’s monsoon season in Pakistan, it became clear that the rains were unlike anything the country had experienced in a long time. The resulting once-in-a-generation flood has marooned entire villages and killed 1,500 people, leaving a trail of destruction, starvation and disease. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, an Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

36 min listen

Cosmic Questions: What is a black hole? Why do we remember the past but not the future? If time had a beginning, does it have an end? We don’t have the answers to some of the universe’s biggest questions. What we do know often feels bleak, such as the notion that in a billion years there will most likely be no life on Earth. Or the reality that someday the entire human race will probably be forgotten. Nonetheless, people search for answers. These are some of the cosmic questions that haunt the human experience. by The Daily

25 min listen

Why Proving War Crimes Is Difficult and Rare: This episode details graphic scenes. Many around the world are calling the indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Bucha, a suburb northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, a war crime. But investigating such atrocities is painstakingly complicated. Could one case that resulted in convictions — the genocide in Bosnia in the 1990s — offer lessons on how to proceed? Guest: Roger Cohen, the Paris bureau chief for The New York Times. by The Daily

32 min listen

The Story of Roe v. Wade, Part 1: Who Was Jane Roe? (From the Archive): This week, the release of a draft Supreme Court opinion striking down Roe v. Wade has put a spotlight on the 50-year-old case that redefined abortion in America. Today, we revisit a two-part series that first ran in 2018 about the history of the case and the woman behind it. In Part 1, the story of Jane Roe. by The Daily

23 min listen

Broken Climate Pledges and Europe’s Heat Wave: A record-breaking heat wave is currently washing over Europe. In parts of Britain, the mercury has hit a freakishly high 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more. While that is happening, both Europe and the United States — two of the world’s largest contributors to global warming — are abandoning key commitments to limit emissions. Guest: Somini Sengupta, the international climate reporter for The New York Times. by The Daily

26 min listen

How Roe’s Demise Could Safeguard Gay Marriage: After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Democrats introduced a bill to prevent the right to gay marriage from meeting the same fate as the right to abortion. The bill was expected to go nowhere, but it has won more and more Republican support and now seems to have a narrow path to enactment. Guest: Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

27 min listen

The Sunday Read: ‘Want to Do Less Time? A Prison Consultant Might Be Able to Help.’: People heading to court often turn to the internet for guidance. In so doing, many come across the work of Justin Paperny, who dispenses advice on his YouTube channel. His videos offer preparation advice and help manage expectations, while providing defendants information to be able to hold their current lawyers accountable, and to try to negotiate a lighter sentence. Mr. Paperny, a former financial criminal, also leads White Collar Advice with his partner Michael Santos, another former convict. The firm is made up of 12 convicted felons who each have their own consulting specialty based on where they served time and their own sentencing experiences. The journalist Jack Hitt relates the story of the two men and the details of their firm, which “fills a need in 21st-century America.” It is, Mr. Hitt writes, “a natural market outgrowth of a continuing and profound shift in America’s judicial system.” by The Daily

43 min listen

Is California Jump-Starting the Electric Vehicle Revolution?: As California watches the impact of rising temperatures devastate its environment with brutal heat waves and raging fires, the state is taking increasingly far-reaching steps to combat climate change. One of those measures — banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 — could prove a turning point for the transition to electric vehicles. Guest: Neal E. Boudette, an automotive correspondent for The New York Times. by The Daily

34 min listen

The Summer of Airline Chaos: Across the United States, airline travel this summer has been roiled by canceled flights, overbooked planes, disappointment and desperation. Two and a half years after the pandemic began and with restrictions easing, why is flying still such an unpleasant experience? by The Daily

24 min listen

How the War in Ukraine is Creating a Global Food Crisis: Ukraine and Russia are enormous producers of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and fertilizer. One study calculated that the two countries accounted for 12 percent of the world’s calories. With Ukraine under attack and Russia hit with strict sanctions, a huge supply of food is suddenly trapped — with Africa and the Middle East particularly imperiled. Guest: Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times. by The Daily

22 min listen

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The Sunday Read: ‘Why We Take Animal Voyages’

The Sunday Read: ‘Why We Take Animal Voyages’

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