The Daily

Some of the worst symptoms of menopause — including hot flashes, sleeplessness and pain during sex — have an established treatment. Why aren’t more women offered it?Susan Dominus, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains how menopause has been misunderstood both by doctors and society for years, and tells us what happened when her article about it went viral.Guest: Susan Dominus is a writer for The New York Times Magazine.Background reading: From The New York Times Magazine: Women have been misled about menopause.A selection of seven books to guide you through menopause.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.

A major new study has revealed just how much elite colleges admissions in the U.S. systematically favor the rich and the superrich.David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The Times and The Morning, walks through the data and explains why the study is fueling calls to abandon longstanding practices like legacy admissions.Guest: David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The New York Times and The Morning.Background reading: From the Upshot: A study of elite college admissions data suggests being very rich is its own qualification.Here’s David Leonhardt’s article for The Morning discussing the results of the study.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.

On Wednesday morning, Hunter Biden was scheduled to a guilty plea in a Delaware courtroom, marking the end of a yearslong federal investigation that many Republicans believed would put the president’s son in prison, and put an end to the Biden presidency.Michael Schmidt, who covers national security and federal investigations for The New York Times, explains why none of that has happened.Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times who covers national security and federal investigations.Background reading: Under an agreement with the Justice Department, Hunter Biden accepted probation for filing his taxes late.Republicans in Congress sought to block the plea deal, arguing that it had been tainted by political interference.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 n

When Russia invaded Ukraine, it put the global food supply at risk — until the two countries struck an unusual deal to keep shipments flowing. Last week, that deal fell apart.Marc Santora, who has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, explains what the collapse of the agreement means for the war and why its impact will be felt by tens of millions of people across the world.Guest: Marc Santora, a Ukraine correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: After Russia pulled out of the agreement allowing ships to carry grain past its Black Sea blockade, Ukraine accused Moscow of aiming strikes at food export infrastructure.Russia has hit the port city of Odesa repeatedly since withdrawing from the grain deal.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/podc

For the past few months, a single senator — Tommy Tuberville — has blocked hundreds of promotions in the U.S. military.Karoun Demirjian, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains what’s behind the senator’s blockade, and why military leaders say it’s becoming a threat to national security.Guest: Karoun Demirjian, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Tuberville’s bid to reverse a Pentagon policy ensuring abortion access for service members has delayed the smooth transfer of power at the highest echelons of the armed forces.Here’s David Firestone of Times Opinion on Tuberville’s blockade.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.

On the morning of Feb. 7, 2017, two electricians were working on a warning siren near the spillway of Oroville Dam, 60 miles north of Sacramento, when they heard an explosion. As they watched, a giant plume of water rose over their heads, and chunks of concrete began flying down the hillside toward the Feather River. The dam’s spillway, a concrete channel capable of moving millions of gallons of water out of the reservoir in seconds, was disintegrating in front of them. If it had to be taken out of service, a serious rainstorm, like the one that had been falling on Northern California for days, could cause the dam — the tallest in the United States — to fail.Kory Honea, the sheriff of Butte County, which includes the dam and the town it is named for, first heard that something was wrong from Dino Corbin, a local radio personality, who called him at his office: “Are you aware there’s a hole in the spillway?” Around the same time, one of the sheriff’s dispatchers received a confusing message from California’s D

“Barbie” is premiering this weekend and is trying to pull off a seemingly impossible task: taking a doll best known for reinforcing conventional stereotypes of women and rebranding it as a symbol of feminism, all without coming off as a shameless ad for the doll’s maker, Mattel. Willa Paskin, a journalist and host of Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast, recounts her conversation with the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, about how she approached the challenge.Guest: Willa Paskin, Slate’s television critic and the host of Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast.Background reading: Mattel wanted a summer blockbuster to kick off its new wave of brand-extension movies. Greta Gerwig wanted the film to be a work of art.The reviews are in: Some critics viewed “Barbie” as satirically capitalistic, while others saw it as capitalistically satirical.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 exp

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.Background reading: Arizona is used to scorching summers, but a long stretch of days with 110-degree temperatures is straining patience and resources.Weeks of 110-degree days have left the Phoenix fire department scrambling to rescue people overcome by heat — a test for a force already accustomed to tough summers.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 cul

Last week, for the first time in U.S. history, federal regulators approved the sale of a birth control pill without a prescription.Pam Belluck, a health and science correspondent for The Times, explains why, after decades of brutal battles over contraception, this decision played out so differently.Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: The F.D.A. approved a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription for the first time in the United States, a milestone that could significantly expand access to contraception.Here’s how women reacted to the news.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.

To refine their popular technology, new artificial intelligence platforms like Chat-GPT are gobbling up the work of authors, poets, comedians and actors — without their consent.Sheera Frenkel, a technology correspondent for The Times, explains why a rebellion is brewing.Guest: Sheera Frenkel, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Fed up with A.I. companies consuming online content without consent, fan fiction writers, actors, social media companies and news organizations are among those rebelling.The comedian and actress Sarah Silverman has joined two lawsuits accusing the companies of training A.I. models using her writing without permission.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.

When China suddenly dismantled its lockdowns and other Covid precautions last December, officials in Beijing and many investors expected the economy to spring back to life. It hasn’t worked out that way.Daisuke Wakabayashi, an Asia business correspondent for The Times, explains why China’s economic rebound hit a wall, and what it says about the country’s next chapter.Guest: Daisuke Wakabayashi, an Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Policymakers and investors expected China’s economy to rev up again after Beijing abruptly dropped Covid precautions, but recent data shows alarming signs of a slowdown.Nanchang’s skyscrapers represented urban transformation, but the city added apartments faster than its population grew. The result: vacant homes and offices.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 t

Some years ago, a psychiatrist named Wendy Dean read an article about a physician who died by suicide. Such deaths were distressingly common, she discovered. The suicide rate among doctors appeared to be even higher than the rate among active military members, a notion that startled Dean, who was then working as an administrator at a U.S. Army medical research center in Maryland. Dean started asking the physicians she knew how they felt about their jobs, and many of them confided that they were struggling. Some complained that they didn’t have enough time to talk to their patients because they were too busy filling out electronic medical records. Others bemoaned having to fight with insurers about whether a person with a serious illness would be preapproved for medication.The doctors Dean surveyed were deeply committed to the medical profession. But many of them were frustrated and unhappy, she sensed, not because they were burned out from working too hard but because the health care system made it so difficu

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the second Black justice to sit on the court after Thurgood Marshall, has spent years opposing affirmative action. When the high court struck down the policy last month, Justice Thomas was one of the most influential figures behind the ruling.Abbie VanSickle, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, explains the impact affirmative action has had on Justice Thomas’s life and how he helped to bring about its demise.Guest: Abbie VanSickle, a Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: A look at Justice Thomas’s path to the Supreme Court.Here’s what the justices have said in the past about affirmative action.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.

Two weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, declaring that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful.Today, three people whose lives were changed by affirmative action discuss the complicated feelings they have about the policy.Guest: Sabrina Tavernise, a co-host of The Daily.Background reading: For many of the Black, Hispanic and Native Americans whose lives were shaped by affirmative action, the moment has prompted a personal reckoning with its legacy.In earlier decisions, the court had endorsed taking account of race as one factor among many to promote educational diversity.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.

 Tens of millions of Americans changed jobs over the past two years, a rare moment of worker power as employees demanded higher pay, and as employers, short on staff, often gave it to them.The tidal wave of quitting became known as the “great resignation.” Now, as the phenomenon seems to have fizzled out, the Times economic writer Ben Casselman discusses whether there have been any lasting benefits for American workers.Guest: Ben Casselman, an economy correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: The furious pace of job-switching in recent years has led to big gains for low-wage workers. But the pendulum could be swinging back toward employers.Last year, the Times opinion writer Paul Krugman questioned the great resignation narrative.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.co

For months, President Biden has been wrestling with one of the most vexing questions in the war in Ukraine: whether to risk letting Ukrainian forces run out of the artillery rounds they desperately need to fight Russia, or agree to ship them cluster munitions — widely banned weapons known to cause grievous injury to civilians, especially children. On Friday, the Biden administration announced that it would send the weapons, which have been outlawed by many of Washington's closest allies.David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times, tells the story behind the president’s contentious decision.Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: With Ukraine burning through stockpiles of conventional artillery, Mr. Biden concluded that he had little choice but to provide the weapons.Read The New York Times Editorial Board’s piece on “the flawed moral logic of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine.”For more

 Last week, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, released Threads, a social media platform to compete with Twitter. In just 16 hours, Threads was downloaded more than 30 million times.Mike Isaac, who covers tech companies and Silicon Valley for The Times, explains how Twitter became so vulnerable and discusses the challenges Meta faces to create a less toxic alternative.Guest: Mike Isaac, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Threads is on pace to exceed 100 million users within two months, a feat achieved only by ChatGPT.Here’s what to know about Threads and how it differs from Twitter.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.

The wave of scandals that would engulf Spain began with a police raid on a wooded property outside Madrid. It was Nov. 3, 2017, and the target was José Manuel Villarejo Pérez, a former government spy. Villarejo’s name had been circulating in the Spanish press for years. He was rumored to have had powerful friends and to have kept dirt on them all. The impressive variety of allegations against him — forgery, bribery, extortion, influence peddling — had earned him the nickname “king of the sewers.”For many decades, Villarejo’s face had been known to almost no one. He was, after all, a spy — and not just any spy, but one who had started his career in the secret police of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. In those years, he would dress in overalls from Telefónica, the national telephone company, as he conducted surveillance operations in the mountains, and on several occasions he even wore a priest’s collar in order to infiltrate the Basque separatist group ETA. More recently, Villarejo had taken to simply i

Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s sweeping plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt.Stacy Cowley, a finance reporter for The New York Times, explains what the decision means for borrowers now facing their first payments since a coronavirus pandemic-related pause and how an alternative plan could still ease their burden.Guest: Stacy Cowley, a finance correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: The proposed debt cancellation of more than $400 billion would have been one of the most expensive executive actions in U.S. history.Millions will now have to repay debts that the Biden administration had promised to eliminate.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.

Last month, a rebellion inside Russia left lingering questions about what really happened and about what the ramifications would be for President Vladimir V. Putin.Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The Times, discusses what Mr. Putin has done since the mutiny and looks at how those actions might reveal how vulnerable the president is.Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: Mr. Putin is rewarding loyalty among the ruling elite and showering his most important constituency — the men with guns — with cash.The mutiny gave a glimpse of a post-Putin Russia. Is the window still open?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.