The Sunday Read: ‘What Does the U.S. Space Force Actually Do?’

Tonya Harding had talent, but the world of figure skating wanted nothing to do with her. She was called “white trash.” And when Nancy Kerrigan was bashed in the knee just before the 1994 Winter Olympics, Ms. Harding became a villain. Now, 24 years later, her narrative is being revisited — and she is back in the spotlight. Guest: Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who interviewed Tonya Harding (now Tonya Price) for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

24 Tammi 201835min

President Trump’s plan to build a “big, beautiful wall” between the United States and Mexico has become the ultimate symbol of a hard-line immigration policy. So why, as Congress voted to end a government shutdown and take up the issue of immigration, have Democrats suggested that they would agree to fund the wall if Republicans protect the Dreamers?Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

23 Tammi 201822min

Democrats forced the federal government to shut down by saying there could be no budget deal without a deal on the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Republicans have refused to end the shutdown by saying there can be no DACA deal without a budget deal. There’s been a lot of finger-pointing between the two parties, and the future of young undocumented immigrants hangs in the balance. Guest: Thomas Kaplan, a New York Times reporter who covers Congress. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

22 Tammi 201818min

The only Democrat in the room when President Trump railed against African immigrants as coming from “shithole countries” tells his side of the story. The ensuing fight over immigration has put the government on the verge of a shutdown. If that happens, whose fault would it be? Guests: Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, who spoke to Carl Hulse, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times, about the meetings with President Trump; Jonathan Weisman, the deputy Washington editor for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

19 Tammi 201822min

America’s addiction crisis has become a lucrative business, and fortunes have been made in the growing rehab industry. But the death of a patient in California has raised questions about how to treat people who want to get clean, and what it means to profit from the health crisis. Guest: Michael Corkery, an investigative reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

18 Tammi 201822min

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on border walls turned into a fight over the language President Trump used to describe Haiti and some African countries. Why does it matter so much to members of Congress? Also, Stephen Bannon is the first member of Mr. Trump’s inner circle to receive a grand jury subpoena in the Russia investigation. Guests: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, a White House correspondent for The New York Times; Michael S. Schmidt, an investigative reporter for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

17 Tammi 201820min

As South Korea prepares to host the Winter Olympics, it has been eager to get the North to participate. What is Seoul afraid will happen if it won’t? And, for 38 minutes on Saturday morning, people in Hawaii believed that a missile was headed for the state. Guest: Susan Chira, a Times journalist who covered Asia in the 1980s, when South Korea hosted the Olympic Games for the first time; voice mail messages from people who received a false alert about an incoming missile attack in Hawaii. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

16 Tammi 201823min

President Trump has demanded to know why the United States should welcome immigrants from “shithole countries.” His words have alarmed lawmakers and threatened an immigration deal. But they have also raised a question about a certain American ideal: Who should be let in? Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who covers the White House for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

12 Tammi 201819min