Monday, Feb. 19, 2018

On April 26, 2019, a beluga whale appeared near Tufjord, a village in northern Norway, immediately alarming fishermen in the area. Belugas in that part of the world typically inhabit the remote Arctic and are rarely spotted as far south as the Norwegian mainland. Although they occasionally travel solo, they tend to live and move in groups. This particular whale was entirely alone and unusually comfortable around humans, trailing boats and opening his mouth as though expecting to be fed.News of the friendly white whale spread quickly. In early May, a video of the beluga went viral, eventually earning a spot on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” By midsummer, he had become an international celebrity, drawing large groups of tourists. All the while, marine experts had been speculating about the whale’s origin. Clearly this animal had spent time in captivity — but where?In the years since the whale, publicly named Hvaldimir, first entered the global spotlight, the very qualities that make him so endearing — his intelligence, curiosity and charisma — have put him in perpetual danger. Hvaldimir is now at the center of a dispute over his welfare. Even as he swims freely through the ocean, he is caught in a tangle of conflicting human ambitions, some noble, others misguided, nearly all distorted by inadequate understanding. Whether to intervene, and how to do so, remain contentious subjects among scientists, activists and government officials. 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.

28 Jan 202444min

Across the United States, millions of families are confronting a seemingly impossible question: When dementia changes a relative, how much should they accommodate their new personality and desires?Katie Engelhart, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, tells the story of one family’s experience.Guest: Katie Engelhart, a writer for The New York Times Magazine.Background reading: The Mother Who Changed: A Story of DementiaKatie Englehart has reported on dementia for years, and one image of a prisoner haunts her.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 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.

26 Jan 20241h

The era of hybrid work has spawned a new kind of office culture — one that has left many workers less connected and less happy than they have ever been.Emma Goldberg, a business reporter covering workplace culture for The Times, explains how mixing remote and office work has created a malaise, as workers confront new challenges and navigate uncertainty, and employers engage in a wave of experiments.Guest: Emma Goldberg, a business reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: Emma Goldberg reflects on her evolving beat as tens of thousands of employees return to the office.From March: Office Mandates. Pickleball. Beer. What will make hybrid work stick?For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  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.

25 Jan 202430min

On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump beat Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. His win accelerated a push for the party to coalesce behind him and deepened questions about the path forward for Ms. Haley, his lone remaining rival.Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The Times, discusses the real meaning of the former president's victory.Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Donald Trump’s win in New Hampshire added to an air of inevitability, even as Nikki Haley sharpened the edge of her rhetoric.Here are five takeaways from the New Hampshire primary.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  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 Jan 202425min

Nominations for the Oscars are announced on Tuesday and “Oppenheimer,” a film about the father of the atomic bomb, is expected to be among the front-runners. Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains how the film sent her on a quest to find the secret story of how Congress paid for the bomb, and what it reveals about the inner workings of Washington.  Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Watching “Oppenheimer,” a journalist wondered: How did the president get the $2 billion secret project past Congress?What to expect from the Oscar nominations.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 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 Jan 202421min

In the International Court of Justice, South Africa is accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.Amanda Taub, a human rights lawyer-turned-journalist at The Times, walks through the arguments of the case, and the power that the rules of war have beyond any verdict in court.Guest: Amanda Taub, writer of The Interpreter for The New York Times.Background reading: What might happen next in the genocide case against Israel.With its accusations against Israel, South Africa is challenging the Western-led order.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  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 Jan 202437min

Liz Flatt drove to Austin, Texas, mostly out of desperation. She had tried talking with the police. She had tried working with a former F.B.I. profiler who ran a nonprofit dedicated to solving unsolved murders. She had been interviewed by journalists and at least one podcaster. She had been featured on a Netflix documentary series about a man who falsely confessed to hundreds of killings.Although she didn’t know it at the time, Flatt was at a crossroads in what she had taken to calling her journey, a path embarked on after a prayer-born decision five years earlier to try to find who killed her sister, Deborah Sue Williamson, or Debbie, in 1975. It was now 2021.She had come to Austin for a conference, CrimeCon, which formed around the same time that Flatt began her quest, at a moment now seen as an inflection point in the long history of true crime, a genre as old as storytelling but one that adapts quickly to new technologies, from the printing press to social media. Flatt met a woman who would later put her in touch with two investigators who presented at the conference that year: George Jared and Jennifer Bucholtz. They were podcasters, but Jared was also a journalist and Bucholtz an adjunct professor of forensics and criminal justice at the for-profit American Military University. Their presentation was on another cold case, the murder of Rebekah Gould in 2004, whose killer they claimed to have helped find using a technique that has quickly become a signature of the changing landscape of true crime: crowdsourcing. 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.

21 Jan 202448min

On its surface, the case before the Supreme Court — a dispute brought by fishing crews objecting to a government fee — appears to be routine.But, as Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times explains, the decision could transform how every industry in the United States is regulated.Guest: Adam Liptak, a Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: How a fight over a fishing regulation could help tear down the administrative state.The case is part of a long-game effort to sap regulation of business.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 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 Jan 202426min