The Daily

The departure of President Donald Trump and the storming of the Capitol have reignited a long-dormant battle over the future of the Republican Party.Today, we look at two lawmakers in the Republican House conference whose fate may reveal something about that future: Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who voted in favor of Mr. Trump’s second impeachment, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a proponent of conspiracy theories.Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: The Republican leadership would like to blunt President Donald Trump’s influence over the party. Mr. Trump and his allies want to punish those who have crossed him. A series of clashes loom.In back-to-back votes, the Republican conference voted to keep Liz Cheney in a leadership position and the House moved to eject Marjorie Taylor Greene from its committees.

Jay Caspian Kang, the author and narrator of this week’s Sunday Read, spoke with the actor Steven Yeun over Zoom at the end of last year. The premise of their conversations was Mr. Yeun’s latest starring role, in “Minari” — a film about a Korean immigrant family that takes up farming in the rural South.They discussed the usual things: Mr. Yeun’s childhood, his parents and acting career — which includes a seven-year stint on the hugely popular television series “The Walking Dead.” But the topic of conversation kept circling back to something much deeper.Today on The Sunday Read, Jay’s profile and meditation on Asian-American identity.This story was written by Jay Caspian Kang. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for president and vice president of the United States.” So begins the 280-page complaint filed by Smartmatic, an election software company, against the Fox Corporation.Smartmatic accuses the network of doing irreparable damage to the company’s business by allowing election conspiracy theorists to use Fox News as a megaphone for misinformation.Today, we hear from Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s C.E.O., and the lawyer Erik Connelly about the $2.7 billion case.Guest: Ben Smith, the media columnist for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: In the latest volley in the dispute over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has been sued by Smartmatic, which accuses his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the si

Rumors had been swirling for days before Myanmar’s military launched a coup, taking back power and ousting the civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.Myanmar’s experiment with democracy, however flawed, now appears to be over.Today, we examine the rise and fall of Aung San Suu Kyi.Guest: Hannah Beech, The New York Times’s Southeast Asia bureau chief. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: The coup returns Myanmar to full military rule after a short span of quasi-democracy. Here is what we know.Myanmar seemed to be building a peaceful transition to civilian governance. Instead, a personal struggle between military and civilian leaders brought it all down.Aung San Suu Kyi, once considered a shimmering icon of democracy, has lost her halo.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

When her daughter Karen was kidnapped in 2014, Miriam Rodríguez knew the Zetas, a cartel that ran organized crime in her town of San Fernando, Mexico, were responsible.From the hopelessness that her daughter may never return came resolve: She vowed to find all those responsible and bring them to justice.One by one, Ms. Rodríguez tracked these people down through inventive, homespun detective methods.Today, we share the story of her three-year campaign for justice.Guest: Azam Ahmed, The New York Times’s bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: Armed with a handgun, a fake ID card and disguises, Miriam Rodríguez was a one-woman detective squad, defying a system where criminal impunity often prevails. Read Azam's full story (also available in Spanish here).For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts

President Biden’s plans for curbing the most devastating impacts of a changing climate are ambitious.His administration is not only planning a sharp U-turn from the previous White House — former President Donald Trump openly mocked the science behind human-caused climate change — but those aims go even further than the Obama administration’s.Today, we look at the Biden administration’s environmental proposals, as well as the potential roadblocks and whether these changes can last.Guest: Coral Davenport, an energy and environmental policy reporter for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: President Biden, emphasizing job creation, has signed an array of directives that elevate climate change across every level of the federal government. But huge hurdles, some from within his own party, lie ahead.On taking office, Mr. Biden brought with him the largest team of climate c

This episode contains strong language.GameStop can feel like a retailer from a bygone era. But last week, it was dragged back into the zeitgeist when it became the center of an online war between members of an irreverent Reddit subforum and hedge funds — one that left Wall Street billions of dollars out of pocket.Today, we look at how and why the GameStop surge happened, as well as how it can be viewed as the story of our time.Guests: Taylor Lorenz, a technology reporter covering internet culture for The New York Times; and Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial columnist for The Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: GameStop shares have soared 1,700 percent as millions of small investors, egged on by social media, employ a classic Wall Street tactic to put the squeeze on Wall Street.A legion of young people — primarily male — have been pouring into digital trading floors for years, rais

“Smell is a startling superpower,” writes Brooke Jarvis, the author of today’s Sunday Read. “If you weren’t used to it, it would seem like witchcraft.”For hundreds of years, smell has been disregarded. Most adults in a 2019 survey ranked it as the least important sense; and in a 2011 survey of young people, the majority said that their sense of smell was less valuable to them than their technological devices.The coronavirus has precipitated a global reckoning with the sense. Smell, as many have found in the last year, is no big deal until it’s missing.This story was written by Brooke Jarvis and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language. Inauguration Day was supposed to bring vindication for adherents of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon.Instead, they watched as Joe Biden took the oath as the 46th president of the United States.What happens to a conspiracy theory and its followers when they are proved wrong?Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: As Mr. Biden took office and Mr. Trump landed in Florida, with no mass arrests in sight, some QAnon believers struggled to harmonize the falsehoods with the inauguration on their TVs.Valerie Gilbert posts dozens of times a day in support of QAnon. Her story hints at how hard it will be to bring people like her back to reality.What is QAnon? Here is an explainer on the “big tent conspiracy theory.”For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

As Democrats and Republicans haggled over how to share power in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, made one key demand: Do not touch the filibuster rule.Today, we explore the mechanics and history of the rule and look ahead at its fate. Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, the congressional editor for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: The debate over the minority’s ability to filibuster legislation has foreshadowed a fraught landscape ahead over what Democrats should do if Republicans obstruct President Biden’s agenda.Mr. Biden doesn’t want to eliminate the filibuster, which can be an impediment to major legislation. Left-leaning Democrats disagree, but they’re holding back for now.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States is falling, but has the country turned a corner in the pandemic? And what kind of threats do the new variants pose to people and to the vaccine rollout?Today, we discuss the latest in the quest to stamp out the pandemic.  Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: New daily cases are starting to slow, in what some health experts see as a turning point. But they warn of a bumpy vaccination rollout amid the emergence of more contagious variants.The C.D.C. has eased coronavirus vaccine rules: The agency now says people can switch authorized vaccines between the first and second doses, and also extend the interval between doses to six weeks.One year, 400,000 coronavirus deaths: a look at how the U.S. set itself up for failure.For more information on today’s e

This episode contains strong language.In many instances while advising the Trump administration on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci was faced with a “difficult” situation. Yet he said he had never considered quitting.What was it like working under President Donald J. Trump? We listen in on a candid conversation between Dr. Fauci and Donald G. McNeil Jr., the Times science and health reporter.Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: From denialism to death threats, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci described to Donald G. McNeil Jr. a fraught year as an adviser to President Donald J. Trump on the pandemic.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

The Russian activist Aleksei Navalny has spent years agitating against corruption, and against President Vladimir Putin. Last summer he was poisoned with a rare nerve agent linked to the Russian state. Last week, after recovering in Germany, he returned to Moscow. He was arrested at the airport, but he managed to put out a call for protest, which was answered in the streets of more than a hundred Russian cities.Today, we look at the improbable story of Aleksei Navalny.Guest: Anton Troianovski, who has been a Moscow correspondent for The New York Times since 2019. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: Pro-Navalny protests moved across time zones and more than 3,000 people were arrested in at least 109 cities, signaling widespread fatigue with the corruption-plagued political order presided over by President Vladimir Putin.The protests presented the Russian government with its biggest wave

The cultural history of clouds seemed to be shaped by amateurs — the likes of Luke Howard and the Honorable Ralph Abercromby — each of whom projected the ethos of his particular era onto those billowing blank slates in the troposphere. Gavin Pretor-Pinney was our era’s.On today’s Sunday Read, the story of the Cloud Appreciation Society and how Mr. Pretor-Pinney, backed by good will, challenged the cloud authorities.This story was written by Jon Mooallem and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Within hours of assuming the presidency, President Biden signed a flurry of executive orders. He rejoined the Paris climate agreement, repealed the so-called Muslim travel ban and mandated the wearing of masks on federal property.The actions had a theme: They either reversed former President Donald Trump’s actions or rebuked his general policy approach.But governing by decree has a downside. We look at the potential positives of the orders and point out the pitfalls.Guest: Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: Mr. Biden’s actions on Day 1 included orders on immigration, criminal justice and the climate.Here are the president’s 17 executive orders and other directives in detail.The U.S. has some catching up to do on the Paris climate agreement. Here’s an explainer on the history of the accord.For more information on tod

Unity was the byword of President Biden’s Inaugural Address.The speech was an attempt to turn the page. But can this be achieved without, as many in the Democratic coalition believe, a full reckoning with and accountability of how America got to this point of division?Today, we explore the defining messages of the president’s inaugural address. Guests: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times; Emily Cochrane, a congressional reporter for The Times.  For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: President Biden spoke of a return to the ordinary discord of democracy, with a reminder that “politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path.” You can read the full annotated speech here.For many in an exhausted, divided nation, the inauguration was a sea change, not just a transition.At the made-for-TV swearing-in, rituals of normalcy ran into

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States today. Among Democrats, there is a sense of joy and hope, but also of caution and concern.We speak with a range of Mr. Biden’s supporters, including activists who had originally hoped for a more progressive ticket and longtime fans who embrace his moderation.Guests:Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The New York Times.For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: Urging unity, Mr. Biden has tried to focus on his policy plans. But many of those who elected him are still fixated on his predecessor.Mr. Biden’s long career in public office spanned eight presidents. Now, at 78, he will join their ranks.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily 

Polling in the days since the storming of the Capitol paints a complex picture. While most Americans do not support the riot, a majority of Republicans do not believe that President Trump bears responsibility. And over 70 percent of them say they believe that there was widespread fraud in the election.Before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, we called Trump supporters to hear their views about what happened at the Capitol and to gauge the level of dissatisfaction the new president will inherit.Guest:Jennifer Medina, a national politics reporter for The New York Times.For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: A Pennsylvania woman accused of taking Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the attack on the Capitol turned herself in to the police.Mr. Trump has prepared a wave of pardons for his final hours in office. Among those under consideration: the former New York Assembly speaker Shel

Most Americans treat climate change seriously but not literally — they accept the science, worry about forecasts but tell themselves that someone else will get serious about fixing the problem very soon.The Valve Turners, on the other hand, take climate change both very seriously and very literally.In the fall of 2016, the group of five environmental activists — all in their 50s and 60s, most with children and one with grandchildren — closed off five cross-border crude oil pipelines, including the Keystone.On today’s Sunday Read, who are the Valve Turners and what are their motivations?This story was written by Michelle Nijhuis and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language. Three days after being sworn into Congress, Representative Peter Meijer, Republican of Michigan, was sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives as pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol.After the siege, Mr. Meijer made his feelings clear: President Trump’s actions proved that he was “rankly unfit.” A week later, he became one of just a handful of Republicans to vote for impeachment.We talk with Mr. Meijer about his decision, his party and his ambitions.Guest: Representative Peter Meijer, a first-term Republican congressman from Michigan.For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: Meet the first-term Republican representatives who are emerging as some of their party’s sharpest critics.Many Republican leaders and strategists want to prepare the party for a post-Trump future. But the pro-Trump voter base has other ideas.For more information on tod