The Sunday Read: ‘The Kidnapped Child Who Became a Poet’

The individual mandate started as a Republican idea to fix health care, but it was at the heart of a Democratic president’s signature measure. Now Congress is using the tax bill to kill the mandate. Why did Republicans turn on their own big idea, and what does it mean for the future of the Affordable Care Act?Guests: Margot Sanger-Katz, a health care reporter for The Times; Jonathan Gruber, a professor of economics at M.I.T. who advised Mitt Romney’s team on overhauling health care in Massachusetts, and the Obama administration in drafting the Affordable Care Act. 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.

20 Dec 201721min

Nearly eight years ago, an earthquake devastated Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The capital’s morgues were so overwhelmed that thousands of bodies were dumped into mass graves. But one group of men stepped in, collecting abandoned bodies to bury them. A New York Times reporter talked to the heroes of Burial Road.Guests: Catherine Porter, a New York Times reporter, talked to the men who tend to the unclaimed bodies of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 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 Dec 201729min

There was military footage of unidentified flying objects that couldn’t be explained, and a decade of hidden funding in the defense budget. A Times investigation discovered a shadowy secret program at the Pentagon that looks at the potential threat of U.F.O.s.Guests: Helene Cooper, who covers the Pentagon for The New York Times; Luis Elizondo, an intelligence officer who led the program inside the Pentagon. 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 Dec 201718min

Student debt levels are soaring — and so are defaults on educational loans. A New York Times investigation found that some creditors are taking extreme measures to get paid. In many cases, those measures are costing people the jobs they need to pay back the loans they took out to get those jobs in the first place.Guests: Jessica Silver-Greenberg, a business reporter for The Times; Shannon Otto, who had her nursing license suspended after she fell behind on loan payments. 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.

15 Dec 201720min

Republican lawmakers have reached a deal on their sweeping tax bill, and they are on track to send it to President Trump by Christmas. Why has such an unpopular plan moved so swiftly through Congress? And the Federal Communications Commission is expected to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules today. What would the modern internet look like without such regulation? Guests: Jim Tankersley, who has been covering the tax bill for The New York Times; Kevin Roose, who writes about the internet. 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.

14 Dec 201724min

Voters in Alabama have elected Doug Jones, a former prosecutor, to the Senate, rejecting the scandal-plagued Roy Moore and giving Democrats a rare victory in a staunchly conservative state. That cuts the Republican majority in the Senate to just one seat. Guest: Jonathan Martin, a national political 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.

13 Dec 201722min

Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, has built a legal and political career as a conservative crusader and a man of faith. As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, those early battles may shield him from the sexual misconduct allegations that have made the race a close one. Guests: Alan Blinder, a New York Times correspondent based in Atlanta; Bill Willard, a lawyer in Gadsden, Ala. 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 Dec 201719min

One day before the polls open in the Alabama special election, many are asking whether voters will find it harder to support Roy Moore or a Democrat. And we take a look at James O’Keefe, the newly emboldened conservative provocateur famous for trying to use secret recordings to embarrass liberals and journalists. Guests: Jonathan Martin, who is covering the Alabama Senate race; Kenneth P. Vogel, who writes about the confluence of money, politics and influence. 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.

11 Dec 201724min