The Daily

In January 2021, one of President Biden’s first big moves in office was to sign an executive order mandating masks in airports and on planes and other forms of public transit.But an unexpected ruling from a judge in Florida has abruptly and unexpectedly overturned that mandate — and the implications of the decision could tie the government’s hands when it comes to future health emergencies.Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent covering health policy for The New York Times; and Heather Murphy, a reporter covering travel for The Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: In the end, the mask mandate was brought down by a little-known nonprofit, a conservative judge, and chance.While the C.D.C. wants to keep the mandate intact, appealing the ruling is risky: If the Florida decision is upheld, it could permanently weaken the agency’s authority.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thed

A Times investigation last year found that minor traffic stops in the United States were far more deadly than widely thought — in the previous five years, 400 unarmed motorists who were not under pursuit for any violent crime were killed by the police during such checks.We look at the different efforts across the country to rethink the stops and at the pushback from opponents who say that restrictions on the practice could keep more guns and criminals on the streets.Guest: David D. Kirkpatrick, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A recent example of a fatal end to a traffic stop was the death in Grand Rapids, Mich., of Patrick Lyoya, an unarmed 26-year-old Black man who was pulled over for a mismatched license plate.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full ac

A Times investigation last year found that minor traffic stops in the United States were far more deadly than widely thought — in the previous five years, 400 unarmed motorists who were not under pursuit for any violent crime were killed by the police during such checks.We look at the different efforts across the country to rethink the stops and at the pushback from opponents who say that restrictions on the practice could keep more guns and criminals on the streets.Guest: David D. Kirkpatrick, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A recent example of a fatal end to a traffic stop was the death in Grand Rapids, Mich., of Patrick Lyoya, an unarmed 26-year-old Black man who was pulled over for a mismatched license plate.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full ac

America is home to 735 billionaires with a collective worth greater than $4.7 trillion, according to Forbes. There were just 424 billionaires in 2012, Forbes found, and only 243 a decade before that. The billionaires keep multiplying.In this article, Willy Staley uses information from the first billionaire count — commissioned in 1981 by the entrepreneur Malcolm Forbes for his own magazine — to consider the reasons behind the rapid increase in American billionaires, but also the changing attitudes on publicizing the details of one’s wealth.Many factors enabled American entrepreneurs to amass such enormous fortunes, including the Reagan administration’s policies, the arrival of computer technology, the creation of a more globalized economy and the rise of the developing world.Yet despite the conspicuous consumption this level of wealth often encourages, Staley finds that few billionaires want to be discovered. So how do you keep tabs on America’s billionaires?This story was written by Willy Staley and recorded

America is home to 735 billionaires with a collective worth greater than $4.7 trillion, according to Forbes. There were just 424 billionaires in 2012, Forbes found, and only 243 a decade before that. The billionaires keep multiplying.In this article, Willy Staley uses information from the first billionaire count — commissioned in 1981 by the entrepreneur Malcolm Forbes for his own magazine — to consider the reasons behind the rapid increase in American billionaires, but also the changing attitudes on publicizing the details of one’s wealth.Many factors enabled American entrepreneurs to amass such enormous fortunes, including the Reagan administration’s policies, the arrival of computer technology, the creation of a more globalized economy and the rise of the developing world.Yet despite the conspicuous consumption this level of wealth often encourages, Staley finds that few billionaires want to be discovered. So how do you keep tabs on America’s billionaires?This story was written by Willy Staley and recorded

When they go to the polls on Sunday, voters in France will be faced with the same two presidential candidates as 2017: Emmanuel Macron, the president and a polished centrist, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party.Yet the context is different. There is a war in Europe, and the contest is tight.What are the stakes in the runoff election, and how has the race become so close?Guest: Roger Cohen, Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: President Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, in the runoff on Sunday. The outcome will be crucial for France and reverberate globally.No French president has been the object of such intense dislike among significant segments of the population as Mr. Macron. How deep that loathing runs will be a critical factor in the election.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Tra

When they go to the polls on Sunday, voters in France will be faced with the same two presidential candidates as 2017: Emmanuel Macron, the president and a polished centrist, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party.Yet the context is different. There is a war in Europe, and the contest is tight.What are the stakes in the runoff election, and how has the race become so close?Guest: Roger Cohen, Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: President Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, in the runoff on Sunday. The outcome will be crucial for France and reverberate globally.No French president has been the object of such intense dislike among significant segments of the population as Mr. Macron. How deep that loathing runs will be a critical factor in the election.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Tra

In Texas, a heated political battle is taking place over care provided to young transgender people, with Gov. Greg Abbott taking a leading role.The story of this confrontation began, improbably, with the contentious divorce of a suburban couple from Dallas, and a nasty custody battle over their daughter.We look at how a domestic dispute precipitated one of the fiercest political clashes in the country, and return to yesterday’s story about a trans teenager, Grayson, and his mother to explore the impact of this clash.Guests: J. David Goodman, The New York Times’s Houston bureau chief, covering Texas; and Azeen Ghorayshi, a reporter covering the intersection between sex, gender and science for The Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: How a custody battle in the Dallas suburbs amplified a growing conservative cause and helped fuel a move to treat transgender medicine as abuse.For more information on today’s episode,

In Texas, a heated political battle is taking place over care provided to young transgender people, with Gov. Greg Abbott taking a leading role.The story of this confrontation began, improbably, with the contentious divorce of a suburban couple from Dallas, and a nasty custody battle over their daughter.We look at how a domestic dispute precipitated one of the fiercest political clashes in the country, and return to yesterday’s story about a trans teenager, Grayson, and his mother to explore the impact of this clash.Guests: J. David Goodman, The New York Times’s Houston bureau chief, covering Texas; and Azeen Ghorayshi, a reporter covering the intersection between sex, gender and science for The Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: How a custody battle in the Dallas suburbs amplified a growing conservative cause and helped fuel a move to treat transgender medicine as abuse.For more information on today’s episode,

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of younger Americans who identify as transgender and are seeking medical intervention to support their transition. This increase has coincided with laws introduced in Republican State Houses across the country that seek to block trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care. Nowhere is the political battle more polarized and heated than in Texas. In the first of two episodes on the situation in Texas, we explore the story of one family seeking such care for their son when the political storm hit. Guest: Azeen Ghorayshi, a reporter covering the intersection between sex, gender and science for The New York Times. Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A Texas clinic for transgender adolescents closed last year amid political pressure. Its demise is evidence of how treating trans minors has become a contentious issue in Republican-controlled states.Texas offi

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of younger Americans who identify as transgender and are seeking medical intervention to support their transition. This increase has coincided with laws introduced in Republican State Houses across the country that seek to block trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care. Nowhere is the political battle more polarized and heated than in Texas. In the first of two episodes on the situation in Texas, we explore the story of one family seeking such care for their son when the political storm hit. Guest: Azeen Ghorayshi, a reporter covering the intersection between sex, gender and science for The New York Times. Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A Texas clinic for transgender adolescents closed last year amid political pressure. Its demise is evidence of how treating trans minors has become a contentious issue in Republican-controlled states.Texas offi

Nearly two months into the war in Ukraine, many Russians have gone from shock and denial to support for their troops and anger at the West.What is behind this shifting view, and what does it mean for those who go against it?Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: In Russia, some citizens are turning on one another, illustrating how the war is feeding paranoia and polarization in Russian society.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Nearly two months into the war in Ukraine, many Russians have gone from shock and denial to support for their troops and anger at the West.What is behind this shifting view, and what does it mean for those who go against it?Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: In Russia, some citizens are turning on one another, illustrating how the war is feeding paranoia and polarization in Russian society.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Across the United States, 45 million borrowers now owe $1.6 trillion in debt for federal loans taken out for college — more than consumers owe on any other debt except mortgages.For the past two years, beginning as the pandemic spread, the U.S. government has allowed tens of millions of Americans to stop paying back their students loans.This experiment in debt deferral has had unintended consequences, and poses a dilemma for President Biden.Guest: Stacy Cowley, a finance reporter for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The Biden administration has paused student loans once again. The four-month delay means the pause will become an issue again before the midterm elections.While politically popular with Mr. Biden’s party, the extension of the loan moratorium has drawn criticism for adding a small measure of oomph to the inflation the government is trying to tame.For more information on today’s episode

Across the United States, 45 million borrowers now owe $1.6 trillion in debt for federal loans taken out for college — more than consumers owe on any other debt except mortgages.For the past two years, beginning as the pandemic spread, the U.S. government has allowed tens of millions of Americans to stop paying back their students loans.This experiment in debt deferral has had unintended consequences, and poses a dilemma for President Biden.Guest: Stacy Cowley, a finance reporter for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The Biden administration has paused student loans once again. The four-month delay means the pause will become an issue again before the midterm elections.While politically popular with Mr. Biden’s party, the extension of the loan moratorium has drawn criticism for adding a small measure of oomph to the inflation the government is trying to tame.For more information on today’s episode

The Indigenous Brazilian territory of Ituna-Itatá was established in 2011 for the protection of an isolated group that has never been contacted by outsiders or fully confirmed to exist. But despite its special status, it has become one of the most invaded Indigenous territories in Brazil since the election of the pro-development, anti-regulatory president, Jair Bolsonaro, in 2018 — becoming something of a poster board for the Amazon’s eventual demise.William Langewiesche explores the process of defending these preserves from outside harm, and uses Ituna-Itatá, which has now been heavily deforested, as a grim illustration of the intractable forces destroying the Amazon through logging, ranching and mining.This story was written by William Langewiesche and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podc

The Indigenous Brazilian territory of Ituna-Itatá was established in 2011 for the protection of an isolated group that has never been contacted by outsiders or fully confirmed to exist. But despite its special status, it has become one of the most invaded Indigenous territories in Brazil since the election of the pro-development, anti-regulatory president, Jair Bolsonaro, in 2018 — becoming something of a poster board for the Amazon’s eventual demise.William Langewiesche explores the process of defending these preserves from outside harm, and uses Ituna-Itatá, which has now been heavily deforested, as a grim illustration of the intractable forces destroying the Amazon through logging, ranching and mining.This story was written by William Langewiesche and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podc

In the 1990s, Dennis Wayne Hope committed a series of armed robberies. After proving adept at escaping prison, he was put in isolation. He has been there for nearly three decades.His case, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear it, could answer the fundamental question of how long people can be held in solitary confinement.Guest: Adam Liptak, a reporter covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Mr. Hope has spent more than half his life in solitary confinement, in a cell that is nine feet long and six feet wide — smaller than a compact parking space.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In the 1990s, Dennis Wayne Hope committed a series of armed robberies. After proving adept at escaping prison, he was put in isolation. He has been there for nearly three decades.His case, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear it, could answer the fundamental question of how long people can be held in solitary confinement.Guest: Adam Liptak, a reporter covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Mr. Hope has spent more than half his life in solitary confinement, in a cell that is nine feet long and six feet wide — smaller than a compact parking space.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Elon Musk’s recent investment in Twitter has turned a high-profile and frequent user of the platform into the company’s largest stakeholder.At first, the involvement of Mr. Musk, the C.E.O. of Tesla, was seen by the social media giant as a chance to gain a powerful ally. Instead, Twitter’s fate has suddenly become much harder to predict.Guest: Mike Isaac, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: Twitter has survived founder infighting, boardroom revolts and outside shareholder ire, but Mr. Musk is an activist investor unlike any other.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.