The Daily

In a landmark antitrust ruling against Google last week, another case was at the heart of the story — one from the 1990s.Steve Lohr, who covers technology and the economy for The Times, explains the influence of United States v. Microsoft and what lessons that case might hold for the future of Big Tech today.Guest: Steve Lohr, who covers technology, the economy and work for The New York Times.Background reading: How the Google antitrust ruling may influence tech competition.The ruling on Google’s search dominance was the first antitrust decision of the modern internet era in a case against a technology giant.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

New polls by The New York Times and Siena College find that Vice President Kamala Harris has transformed the 2024 presidential race and is now leading former President Donald J. Trump in three crucial battleground states.Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The Times, explains why Ms. Harris is benefiting so much.Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times. Background reading: Ms. Harris leads Mr. Trump in three key states, according to new surveys by The Times and Siena CollegeThe polls show that the vice president has fundamentally changed the race.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

For much of the past year, Donald J. Trump and those around him were convinced that victory in the presidential race was all but certain. Now, everything has changed, after the decision by President Biden not to seek a second term.Jonathan Swan, who covers the Trump campaign for The New York Times, discusses the former president’s struggle to adjust to his new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.Guest: Jonathan Swan, who covers politics and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The New York Times.Background reading: People around the former and would-be president see a candidate disoriented by his new opponent.At a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump tried to wrestle back the public’s attention.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Les Milne was a consultant anesthesiologist, and his wife, Joy, typically found that he came home smelling of anesthetics, antiseptics and blood. But he returned one August evening in 1982, shortly after his 32nd birthday, smelling of something new and distinctly unsavory, of some thick must. From then on, the odor never ceased, though neither Les nor almost anyone but his wife could detect it. For Joy, even a small shift in her husband’s aroma might have been cause for distress, but his scent now seemed to have changed fundamentally, as if replaced by that of someone else.Les began to change in other ways, however, and soon the smell came to seem almost trivial. It was as if his personality had shifted. Les had rather suddenly become detached, ill-tempered, apathetic. It was not until much later that he would be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The scent Joy had noticed would become a possible solution for earlier diagnosis.

Senator James Lankford discusses how political calculations killed his border bill, the evangelical Christian vote and preparing for life after Trump.

More than 50 years after its inception, “breaking” — not “break dancing,” a term coined by the media and disdained by practitioners — will debut as an Olympic sport.Jonathan Abrams, who writes about the intersection of sports and culture, explains how breaking’s big moment came about.Guest: Jonathan Abrams, a Times reporter covering national culture news.Background reading: The Olympic battles in breaking will be a watershed moment for a dance form conceived and cultivated by Black and Hispanic youth in the Bronx during the 1970s.Breakers are grappling with hip-hop’s Olympic moment. Will their art translate into sport?For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Vice President Kamala Harris’s ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has transformed the U.S. presidential race. But the real test awaits: Will the party be able to translate that energy into a winning coalition of voters in November?Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The Times, discusses a group of skeptical voters in swing states who may post the biggest challenge to the vice president. Our audio producers — Jessica Cheung and Stella Tan — traveled to Wisconsin to speak to some of them.Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a reporter covering politics for The New York Times.Background reading: How Ms. Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, transformed from a little-known governor of a blue state to one of his party’s most prominent and powerful messengers.Democrats are buzzing but sustaining the impetus is the next challenge.  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 summer, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.But, in a matter of weeks, Mr. Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate.Ernesto Londoño, who reports for The Times from Minnesota, walks us through Mr. Walz’s career, politics and sudden stardom.Guest: Ernesto Londoño, a reporter for The Times based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest. Background reading: Who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate?Mr. Walz has faced criticism for his response to the George Floyd protests. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Every major U.S. stock market plunged on Monday, wiping out billions of dollars in value.Jeanna Smialek, who covers the U.S. economy for The Times, discusses what was behind the dizzying sell-off — and what it can tell us about whether America is headed for a recession.Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a reporter covering the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The New York Times.Background reading: Global stock markets fell sharply — the latest example of how distinct economic forces can ricochet across markets.What should you do when the stock market drops? Here’s the advice from our columnist.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, and Sofia Nelson, his transgender classmate at Yale Law School, forged a bond that lasted a decade. In 2021, Mr. Vance’s support for an Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors led to their falling out.Sofia Nelson, now a public defender in Detroit, discussed Mr. Vance’s pivot, politically and personally, with The Times.  Background reading: JD Vance, an unlikely friendship, and how it ended.Nelson shared with The Times about 90 emails and text messages with Mr. Vance. Here are some of the most revealing moments in their correspondence.How Yale propelled Mr. Vance’s career. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

When Maggie Jones’s marriage collapsed after 23 years, she was devastated and overwhelmed. She was in her 50s, with two jobs, two teenage daughters and one dog. She didn’t consider dating. She had no time, no emotional energy. But then a year passed. One daughter was off at college, the other increasingly independent. After several more months went by, she started to feel a sliver of curiosity about what kind of men were out there and how it would feel to date again. The last time she dated was 25 years ago, and even then, she fell into relationships mostly with guys from high school, college, parties, work. Now every man she knew was either married, too young, too old or otherwise not a good fit.That meant online dating — the default mode not just for the young but also for people Ms. Jones’s age. Her only exposure had been watching her oldest daughter, home from college one summer, as she sat on her bed rapidly swiping through guy after guy — spending no more than a second or two on each.Ms. Jones tells her

I went in expecting a swaggering, overconfident guy. I found something much more interesting.

For years, Rupert Murdoch seemed content to let his children battle it out for control of his conservative media empire once he’s gone.Jim Rutenberg, who writes about media and politics for The Times, discusses how a secret change to that plan by Mr. Murdoch touched off an ugly family squabble that could influence how much of the world sees the news.Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine.Background reading: Mr. Murdoch has moved to preserve his media businesses as a conservative force. Several of his children are fighting back.The 93-year-old media tycoon spent the past 70 years building a global media empire that gave him influence in journalism, politics and pop culture. Here’s how.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Warning: this episode contains strong language and audio of war.When the long legal saga of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, came to an end this summer, it marked the first time that the U.S. government had convicted anyone for publishing classified material.Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy for The Times, discusses what the conviction means for journalism and government accountability in a world where publishing state secrets can now be treated as a crime.Guest: Charlie Savage, a national security and legal policy correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Mr. Assange’s plea deal sets a chilling precedent on the ability of journalists to report on military, intelligence or diplomatic information that officials deem secret.To some, Mr. Assange was a heroic crusader for truth. To others, he was a reckless leaker endangering lives.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next wor

Warning: This episode contains audio of war.Over the past few days, the simmering feud between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, has reached a critical moment.Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times, explains why the latest tit-for-tat attacks are different and why getting them to stop could be so tough.Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: Israel says it killed a Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in an airstrike near Beirut.The Israeli military blamed Mr. Shukr for an assault on Saturday that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Warning: This episode contains strong language.Although Vice President Kamala Harris has officially been a presidential candidate for only about a week, the race to become her running mate is well underway.Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, takes us inside the selection process.Guest: Lisa Lerer, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: What’s more exciting than a veepstakes? A surprise veepstakes.Take a look at the leading contenders to be Ms. Harris’s running mate.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Nuclear power, once the great hope for a clean way to meet the world’s energy needs, fell out of favor decades ago.Brad Plumer, who covers technology and policy efforts to address global warming for The New York Times, explains how one company with a radical idea is now working to bring it back.Guest: Brad Plumer, who covers technology and policy efforts to address global warming for The New York Times.Background reading: Work is starting in Wyoming coal country on a new type of reactor. Its main backer, Bill Gates, says he’s in it for the emissions-free electricity.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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.