The Daily

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 about a quarter of the country to flee. 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.Background reading: The “Iron Lady” of Venezuela threatens to unseat its autocrat.As many as one-third of Venezuelans would consider migrating if the country’s authoritarian leader is given another six years in power, one poll showed.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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.Background reading: Ms. Harris gave her first speech as the de facto Democratic nominee to a deafening crowd.Her presidential bid is getting a pop music rollout online.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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.Background reading: See a visual timeline of the shooting at the Trump rally.In resigning, Ms. Cheatle said that one of the Secret Service’s foremost duties was to protect the nation’s leaders, adding that it “fell short of that mission” on July 13.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

As Democrat after Democrat races to anoint 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.Background reading: On her first full day in the race, Ms. Harris drew endorsements from her final possible rivals, hauled in record sums of cash and attacked Donald J. Trump.Here are the latest polls on the Harris-Trump matchup.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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.Background reading: Mr. Biden dropped out of the presidential race, scrambling the campaign for the White House.Inside the weekend when he decided to withdraw.How will Democrats replace Mr. Biden at the top of the presidential ticket?For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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

The N.B.A. star talks Philly cheesesteaks, Twitter trolling and playing for Team U.S.A. over France in the Olympics.

Donald J. Trump’s acceptance of his party’s nomination put an exclamation point on a triumphant week for a Republican Party that emerged from its convention confident and unified. At the same time, the Democratic Party is moving closer and closer to replacing President Biden on the ticket.Jonathan Swan, who covers Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Republican National Convention, and Reid J. Epstein, who covers Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign, discusses where it stands as expectations are rising among Democrats that the president will reconsider his decision to stay in the race.Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a reporter covering politics for The New York Times.Jonathan Swan, a reporter covering politics and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The New York Times.Background reading: Here are six takeaways from the Republican National Convention.Mr. Trump ended the convention with a lengthy speech that started solemn and turned rambling. Read the transcript.As Republicans rall

In a special series leading up to Election Day, “The Daily” will explore what a second Trump presidency would look like, and what it could mean for American democracy.Since he began his latest campaign, former President Donald J. Trump’s message has changed, becoming darker, angrier and more focused on those out to get him than it ever was before.Charles Homans, who covers national politics for The Times, has been studying the evolution of Mr. Trump’s message, and what exactly it means to his supporters and for the country.Guest: Charles Homans, who covers national politics for The New York Times.Background reading: No major American presidential candidate has talked as Mr. Trump now does at his rallies — not Richard Nixon, not George Wallace, not even Mr. Trump himself.The first night of the Republican National Convention sought to strike a new note. But some of the lyrics were familiar.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by

As the Republican National Convention entered its second day, former President Donald J. Trump and his allies absorbed the stunning new reality that the most formidable legal case against him had been thrown out by a federal judge, who ruled that the appointment of the special counsel who brought the case, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution. Alan Feuer, who has been covering the classified documents case for The Times, explains what it means that the case could now be dead.Guest: Alan Feuer, a reporter covering extremism and political violence for The New York Times.Background reading: Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Mr. Trump.The effort to hold Mr. Trump to account has already yielded a Supreme Court decision giving former presidents broad immunity. Now another case could make prosecuting political figures more complicated.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

On the first day of the Republican National Convention, Donald J. Trump chose his running mate: Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.We watched the process unfold in real time in Milwaukee.Michael C. Bender, who covers Mr. Trump and his movement for The Times, takes us through the day.Guest: Michael C. Bender, a political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump and his Make America Great Again movement for The New York Times.Background reading: What to know about J.D. Vance, Mr. Trump’s running mate.Mr. Trump’s decision to pick Mr. Vance signals concern for the future of his MAGA movement.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Today’s episode sets out what we know about the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening.Doug Mills, a photographer for The Times, recounts what it was like to witness the shooting, and Glenn Thrush, who covers gun violence for The Times, discusses the state of the investigation into the man who did it.Guest: Doug Mills, a photographer in the Washington bureau of The New York Times.Glenn Thrush, who reports on the Justice Department for The New York Times.Background reading: What we know about the assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.A Times photographer who was feet away from Mr. Trump describes the shooting.The gunman appears to have acted alone, but his motives remain unclear.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Cindy Elgan glanced into the lobby of her office and saw a sheriff’s deputy waiting at the front counter. “Let’s start a video recording, just in case this goes sideways,” Elgan, 65, told one of her employees in the Esmeralda County clerk’s office. She had come to expect skepticism, conspiracy theories and even threats related to her job as an election administrator. She grabbed her annotated booklet of Nevada state laws, said a prayer for patience and walked into the lobby to confront the latest challenge to America’s electoral process.The deputy was standing alongside a woman that Elgan recognized as Mary Jane Zakas, 77, a longtime elementary schoolteacher and a leader in the local Republican Party. She often asked for a sheriff’s deputy to accompany her to the election’s office, in case her meetings became contentious.“I hope you’re having a blessed morning,” Zakas said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people are still very concerned about the security of their votes. They’ve lost all trust in the system.”After t

The author of “Bowling Alone” warned us about social isolation and its effect on democracy a quarter century ago. Things have only gotten worse.

Over the past decade, the cost of veterinary care in the U.S. has skyrocketed, as health care for pets has come to look more like health care for people.Katie Thomas, an investigative health care reporter for The Times, discusses how pet care became a multi-billion-dollar industry, and the fraught emotional and financial landscape that has created for pet owners.Guest: Katie Thomas, an investigative health care reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: Why you’re paying your veterinarian so much.From 2021: A pandemic-era pet boom spurred veterinary companies to open new, upscale clinics.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

For the past three days, President Biden has fought to save his re-election campaign, as panicked congressional Democrats returned to Washington and openly debated whether to call on him to step aside.In this episode, Times reporters in Washington go inside the 72 hours that could make or break Mr. Biden’s nomination.Guest: Representative Adam Smith, of the 9th Congressional District in WashingtonRepresentative Lloyd Doggett, of the 37th Congressional District in TexasBackground reading: President Biden has faced fresh calls to withdraw as Democrats fear electoral rout.Veteran Democrats telegraphed not panic but respect, in hopes of appealing to the Joe Biden who has taken a breath and stepped aside in the past.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

For more than a decade, Britain has been governed by the Conservative Party, which pushed its politics to the right, embracing smaller government and Brexit. Last week, that era officially came to an end.Mark Landler, the London bureau chief for The Times, explains why British voters rejected the Conservatives and what their defeat means in a world where populism is on the rise.Guest: Mark Landler, the London bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: Five takeaways from the British general election.The Conservatives have run Britain for 14 years. How have things changed in that time?For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Outmanned and outgunned in what has become a war of attrition against Russia, Ukraine has looked for any way to overcome its vulnerabilities on the battlefield. That search has led to the emergence of killer robots.Paul Mozur, the global technology correspondent for The Times, explains how Ukraine has become a Silicon Valley for autonomous weapons and how artificial intelligence is reshaping warfare.Guest: Paul Mozur, the global technology correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading:In the Ukraine war, A.I. has begun ushering in an age of killer robots.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.