The Daily

Episodes

• How Elon Musk Engineered the World’s Biggest I.P.O. 02.06.2026 30m

  An initial public offering of SpaceX is likely to be one of the largest ever.
• Inside Trump’s Mad Dash to Renovate Washington 01.06.2026 36m

  Depending on where you sit, the projects are either boldly cutting red tape or blowing through every regulation designed to protect taxpayer dollars.
• Popcast: Olivia Rodrigo Tried Writing Love Songs. Then Life Got Messy. 31.05.2026 1h 29m

  Olivia Rodrigo sat down with Joe and Jon for her first in-depth conversation about her new album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” out June 12. She discussed the many ways her creative process intersects with the extracurricular noise of pop superstardom, whether its managing relationship drama, being targeted for the way she dresses; accusations of pilfering songwriting gestures from Taylor Swift, her onetime idol, or her willingness to speak up about political and social causes in a way many of her peers won’t.
• Want to ‘Optimize’ Your Happiness? This Happiness Expert Says: Don’t. 30.05.2026 47m

  Laurie Santos on what will really bring meaning and fulfillment to your life, and what won’t.
• Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz 29.05.2026 26m

  We hear from two of the thousands of seafarers who became stuck in the middle of the war.
• Sites Unseen: What’s Revealed by Traveling With the Blind 24.05.2026 27m

  Andy Isaacson is a writer and photographer. His work for The Times has taken him to every corner of the world, and he has transmitted what he’s experienced through his images. But recently, Isaacson took a trip unlike any he’d taken before. Not because of where he traveled, but because of how he traveled. Paired with a set of unlikely travel companions, he put down his camera and experienced the word through touch, smell and sound. On today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Isaacson talks with Host Michael Barbaro about a trip that forever changed the way he travels.
• For Mother’s Day, Classic Mom-isms 10.05.2026 29m

  For Mother’s Day, we asked you about your “Mom mantras”: the oft-repeated mottos or go-to expressions that your moms have said over the years. In partnership with the Well desk, we received thousands of submissions, full of sayings that ranged from wise to funny to profound. In today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” we feature your “Mom mantras,” and the host Rachel Abrams calls her mother to ask about hers.
• The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters 03.05.2026 43m

  Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, was published this week. Today, Michael Barbaro talks with Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor of The Times Magazine, who oversaw the project, as well as Joe Coscarelli and Jody Rosen, two members of the cadre of critics assigned with compiling the final list. They discuss the list-making process, what defines a great songwriter and why Billy Joel didn’t make the final cut. We also hear from some of the songwriters featured on the list, including Taylor Swift, Nile Rodgers and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.
• Daniel Radcliffe, Mariska Hargitay and the Happiest List on Earth 26.04.2026 41m

  With war, political wrangling and price hikes jockeying for headlines, it’s a rare thing to sit for an hour with a large group of strangers and focus on the small pleasures in life. But that’s what the show “Every Brilliant Thing” is all about. Since 2013, Duncan Macmillan’s audience-participation-heavy play has been performed in dozens of languages in hundreds of locations across the globe. It revolves around a central character who writes a list of all the good things in life for a depressed parent. And while it tackles dark subject matter — including frequent mentions of a loved one’s suicide — it may be one of the funniest shows about depression, ever. In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Michael Barbaro talks with Daniel Radcliffe, who currently stars in a Broadway production of the show, and Mariska Hargitay, who will step into the role in a few weeks. We’ll also hear from the playwright and several other actors who have performed the play on stages, in living rooms, on basketball courts and aircraft carriers all over the world.
• Dating on the Spectrum 19.04.2026 35m

  The reality show “Love on the Spectrum” — which just released its fourth season — has become a big hit; it’s currently one of the most watched shows on Netflix in the United States. The show follows autistic adults as they search for love. “Love on the Spectrum” is unlike much of reality television — a genre known to subject its cast members to drama and humiliation for entertainment’s sake. Instead, the show captures a dating world that has more heartwarming moments than histrionics, and is sensitive and nuanced in its portrayal of neurodivergent people. On today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Rachel Abrams talks with Anna Peele, a contributing writer for The New York Times, about the show’s origin story and why it has resonated with so many people.
• One Reporter’s Life-Altering Psychedelic Trip 12.04.2026 41m

  The first time Robert Draper heard about the psychedelic drug ibogaine, it was from an unlikely source: the retired U.S. senator Kyrsten Sinema. As a political reporter for The New York Times, Draper often talks to figures like Ms. Sinema. But on this occasion, he said, she wanted to tell him about how she had tried ibogaine, which is illegal in the United States. She’d become such a believer in the drug that she was pushing her home state of Arizona to fund clinical trials for veterans with combat-related trauma. Draper found that Ms. Sinema wasn’t the only politician to take up the cause. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, Republican presidential candidate and Trump energy secretary, has also advocated for research into ibogaine in recent years and taken the drug himself. In 2025, because of Mr. Perry’s efforts, Texas became the first state to dedicate public funds to ibogaine research with veterans. Recent studies of ibogaine at Stanford University and elsewhere suggest that it might prove effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, addiction and a range of other conditions. As Draper reported on ibogaine’s transformative effects on others, he wondered: Could it help him, too? Today, on “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks to Robert Draper about what drew him to travel to Mexico to try ibogaine, and how his trip changed his life.
• She Risked Her Voice to Become a Mother 05.04.2026 39m

  Lise Davidsen is one of the greatest opera singers of our time — a soprano with a voice so rare, critics reach back a century for comparison. This spring, she has been starring in a sold-out new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera. But she’s also at a crossroads: Her first performance as “Isolde” on the Met stage came just nine months after giving birth to twins. Today on The Sunday Daily, Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times writer Zachary Woolfe about his recent conversation with Davidsen, and the unexpected emotional weight she felt while returning to the stage as a new mother. They discuss how a production centered on birth, death and renewal gave Davidsen a way to work through this seismic shift in her life, all while tackling the role of a lifetime.
• Our Enduring Fascination With the Kennedys 29.03.2026 34m

  “Love Story,” the FX limited series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s relationship, has taken audiences by storm. Its unstoppable wave of ’90s nostalgia has swept through the world of fashion, revitalized iconic New York landmarks and set off a yearning for simpler days before smartphones and dating apps. The series has also drawn significant backlash, with criticism ranging from bad reviews to accusations of inaccuracy and even harm. Today, Rachel Abrams talks to Alexandra Jacobs, a critic for The New York Times Book Review, about why America can’t seem to look away from “Love Story.”
• Injections, Bone Hammering and the Pursuit of Peak Male Beauty 22.03.2026 37m

  If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you’ve probably come across a video of a young, square-jawed influencer calling himself Clavicular. He has become the face of an internet subculture called looksmaxxing, in which men do almost anything — like taking steroids and hormones or bashing their jaws with a hammer — to try to become more handsome. In this episode, Natalie Kitroeff talks with reporter Joseph Bernstein about the world of looksmaxxing and how what might seem like a fringe phenomenon is actually the culmination of a digital culture that rewards physical perfection with status and algorithmic power.
• To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite 15.03.2026 37m

  For 12 years, Pete Wells had his dream job: working as the chief restaurant critic for The New York Times. The job’s journalistic mission required Wells to eat out most nights and taste nearly everything on any given restaurant’s menu. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the excessive eating had taken a toll on his body. Then came a health crisis, followed by his doctor’s advice to “stop doing what you’re doing right now.” In 2024, Wells gave up his post as restaurant critic and set out to remake his entire relationship with food. On today’s episode, Michael Barbaro speaks with Wells about the realities of life as a restaurant critic, and what he’s learning about the joys of home cooking, mindful eating and grocery shopping for the diet he intends to follow.
• Oscars 2026: Who Will Win, and Who Should Win? 08.03.2026 35m

  Today on “The Sunday Daily,” The Times’s chief movie critic, Manohla Dargis, talks with the “Daily” host Michael Barbaro about this year’s batch of Oscar nominees, which — according to her — are uncommonly good. They discuss the performances that Dargis believes deserve to win, the dark horses that might pull off upsets, and the ambitious films that give her hope for Hollywood’s future.
• Is the Swipe Era Over? 22.02.2026 35m

  In 2012, Tinder revolutionized dating apps with its swipe feature. With the flick of a finger, singles could accept or reject a potential mate. While this innovation has worked for many, some have grown weary of the simple swipe, and long for a more nuanced way to find love. Today on “The Sunday Daily,” Rachel Abrams examines two dating tends on the rise: in-person mixers that are far from old-fashioned, and emerging A.I. technology that promises singles a ‘soul’ match. Rachel speaks with The New York Times’s dating columnist Gina Cherelus; Luke Vander Ploeg, a producer on the “Daily”; and Amanda Hess, a writer at large at The Times.
• Boos, Rivalries and Records: Inside the 2026 Olympics 15.02.2026 43m

  In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” the host Rachel Abrams is joined by her New York Times colleagues Motoko Rich, Shawna Richer and Juliet Macur, who are all covering this year’s Olympic Games. They discuss how the geopolitical climate may or may not be influencing the competition, and talk about some of the extraordinary athletes who are pushing the limits of physical achievements.
• Bad Bunny Takes Over America 01.02.2026 48m

  At the Grammy Awards tonight, the Puerto Rican pop sensation Bad Bunny is the first Spanish-language artist to be nominated for album, record and song of the year simultaneously. For most artists, this would be the high point of their year, if not their career. For Bad Bunny, this is just an appetizer for what’s in store for him next week. Next Sunday, he will headline the Super Bowl halftime show. His performance comes in the middle of a nationwide crackdown on immigration — an issue he’s been vocal about — and follows a backlash against the N.F.L. for booking him in the first place. Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, the hosts of The Times’s pop music show “Popcast,” discuss Bad Bunny’s rise to the heights of pop stardom, and explore what it means for a Puerto Rican artist to headline the world’s biggest stage.
• We Underestimated the Neanderthal 25.01.2026 32m

  Pop culture has not been kind to the Neanderthal. In books, movies and even TV commercials, the species is portrayed as rough and mindless, a brutish type that was rightly supplanted by our Homo sapiens ancestors. But even 40,000 years after the last Neanderthals walked the earth, we continue to make discoveries that challenge that portrayal. New research suggests Neanderthals might have been less primitive — and a lot more like modern humans — than we might have thought. The Times science reporters Carl Zimmer and Franz Lidz discuss recent discoveries about Neanderthals, and what those discoveries can tell us about the origins of humanity.