Podcast: The Daily

For years, Uber has said it is one of the safest ways to travel. But a New York Times investigation found that the company has been contending with a major problem: Hundreds of thousands of people reported that they were sexually assaulted or harassed during Uber rides.

Emily Steel, who broke the story, discusses what executives knew about the problem and how they failed to take certain steps that were supposed to make riders safer.

During President Trump’s first term, the intentional separation of migrant child from their parents shocked the country and persuaded Mr. Trump to say he would end the practice for good.

Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration policy for The Times, has found that in Mr. Trump’s second term, the practice has returned.

For many, the logic seemed unassailable: Giving poor families money would measurably improve the lives of their children. And so, a few years ago, social scientists set out to test whether that assumption was right.

The results of the experiment have shocked them.

For many Americans, the government’s monthly jobs number was a pretty dull statistic — until a few days ago, when President Trump angrily fired the person responsible for producing it, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Now, from Washington to Wall Street, many people are wondering whether you can still trust federal statistics if the president is willing to just get rid of people who give him facts he doesn’t like.

On this episode, Ben Casselman joins The Daily to discuss how the government’s economic data suddenly turned into a national drama.

In a dramatic act of protest on Sunday, Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives began to flee the state. It is a last-ditch attempt to stop President Trump and Texas Republicans from adopting an aggressively redrawn congressional map that would eliminate Democratic seats — and could help lock in a Republican majority in next year’s elections. Shane Goldmacher, a Times political correspondent, explains this new chapter in the era of unvarnished partisan warfare.

“Am I in trouble?” “Am I secretly bad?” These are questions Meg Josephson, a therapist and author, grew up asking herself. She was constantly trying to anticipate other people’s needs, worried that she was letting other people down. And it wasn’t until she found herself standing in the aisle of a Bed Bath & Beyond, trying to remember her favorite color, that she realized her desire to please everyone was eroding her sense of self.

On this episode of Modern Love, Josephson talks about how that realization led her to confront her tumultuous childhood, and what it took to stop “people pleasing.” She then reads the Modern Love essay “My Three Years as a Beloved Daughter” by Erin Brown, about a woman who found a type of love in her best friend’s parents that she had never experienced before, and what that taught her about her own parents.
Josephson’s book, “Are You Mad At Me?,” is available Aug. 5, 2025.

For more Modern Love, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday.

As the images of starving Palestinian children continue to come out of Gaza and aid groups have confirmed a rising number of deaths from malnutrition, there has been a new round of international outrage, including from Israel’s own allies.

Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, an independent Israeli journalist, discusses whether any of the outcry is resonating with Israeli society.

After rolling back a slew of regulations aimed at reversing climate change, and pulling funding for the scientists who monitor it, the Trump administration is now taking its boldest action yet.

It’s eliminating the scientific finding at the heart of the government’s ability to fight climate change in the first place.

Lisa Friedman, who covers climate policy, discusses the history of the finding, what it did and what happens once it’s gone.

A major investigation from The Times has found that government pressure to perform more organ transplants is creating greater risk for donors and threatening the overall fairness of the system.

Brian M. Rosenthal, an investigative reporter at The Times, explains what he’s uncovered.

By almost all accounts, the historic trade deal that was reached between the United States and the 27 nations of the European Union is far better for the United States than it is for Europe.

Jeanna Smialek, the Brussels bureau chief for The Times, explains why the European Union gave in to President Trump and the blowback that’s causing.

The summer, some of the biggest food companies in America have announced that they plan to stop using artificial food dyes. It’s a move that would transform the look of some of the best known brands.

Julie Creswell, who covers the food industry, explains how the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., got the food industry to commit to a change that it has resisted for years — and that could be bad for business.

The pop singer and actress Reneé Rapp has a deep love for her friends. She maintains a nonstop group chat with more than 15 close friends every day. Their lives are so intertwined that the line between platonic and romantic can sometimes get blurry, particularly since many of them have dated each other.

Rapp, best known for her role in the Broadway musical and new film adaptation “Mean Girls,” has an upcoming album, “Bite Me,” which delves into the intimacy and messiness of friendships, not just romantic relationships. Mirroring her album’s themes, Rapp walks Modern Love host Anna Martin through various vulnerable moments she has recently shared with friends, including one with her best friend and former “The Sex Lives of College Girls” co-star Alyah Chanelle Scott.

It’s no surprise that Rapp chose to read the Modern Love essay “This is What Happens When Friends Fall in Love” by Sammy Sass. The piece resonates with her own experiences of sustaining love within queer friendships. While Rapp says she doesn’t have a blueprint, she has learned to navigate misunderstandings and express genuine love to those closest to her.

The former U.S. Labor Secretary on how complacency and corporate ties created a “bully in chief.”

This year, “The Great Gatsby” turns 100.

A.O. Scott, a critic at large for The New York Times Book Review, tells the story of how an overlooked book by a 28-year-old author eventually became the great American novel, and explores why all of these decades later, we still see ourselves in its pages.

The suffering in Gaza has reached new depths, and now finding food, which was already scarce, has become a deadly endeavor.

Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds of desperate and hungry people who were trying to reach aid sites established by a new and controversial humanitarian group. Hundreds of people have been killed, according to Gaza health officials.

Aaron Boxerman, who covers Gaza for The Times, explains who is behind the distribution system and why it has been so deadly.

Warning: This episode contains strong language.

An explosive whistle-blower report claims that the Justice Department is asking government lawyers to lie to the courts, and that this has forced career officials to chose between upholding the Constitution and pledging loyalty to the president.

Rachel Abrams speaks to the whistle-blower about his career in the Justice Department and his complaint saying he was fired for telling the truth.

In the global fight to dominate A.I., China is quickly catching up to the United States — which is why President Trump barred the tech giant Nvidia from selling its superpowered computer chips to Chinese companies.

Then, a few days ago, Mr. Trump abruptly changed course.

Tripp Mickle, who covers Silicon Valley for The New York Times, explains how Nvidia’s C.E.O. persuaded the president that the best way to beat China at A.I. is to help them compete.

For the past two weeks, President Trump has been trying and failing to get his supporters to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein.

David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times, and Shawn McCreesh, a Times White House correspondent, explain why MAGA won’t let go of this scandal, how the president misread his own base — and what all this shows about the limits of Mr. Trump’s power.

When we meet Rob Delaney’s character, “Neighbor Guy,” in FX’s limited series “Dying for Sex,” he’s scarfing down a burrito in an elevator, dripping food on his face and the floor. But Delaney’s performance reveals that under Neighbor Guy’s messy exterior is a man capable of deep vulnerability and empathy.

“Dying for Sex” follows a woman named Molly, played by Michelle Williams, who is dying of cancer and desperate to experience sexual pleasure before it’s too late. At first, Molly thinks Neighbor Guy is disgusting, but the two soon discover they make sense together, sexually and emotionally. Williams and Delaney received Emmy nominations for their roles.

On this episode of Modern Love, Delaney tells host Anna Martin why exposing the messy and painful parts of ourselves to other people can be rewarding and hilarious. He talks about tending his own relationship and reads a Modern Love essay about a couple who decides to try some role play to avoid getting too comfortable with each other.

For more Modern Love, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday.

The actress discusses discrimination in Hollywood, what she’s learned about herself in her 50s and her iconic role on "Grey's Anatomy.”