The Sunday Read: ‘What Alice Munro Knew’
“My life has gone rosy, again,” Alice Munro told a friend in a buoyant letter of March 1975. For Munro, who was then emerging as one of her generation’s leading writers, the previous few years had been blighted by heartbreak and upheaval: a painful separation from her husband of two decades; a retreat from British Columbia back to her native Ontario; a series of brief but bruising love affairs, in which, it seems, Munro could never quite make out the writing on the wall. “This time it’s real,” she wrote, speaking of a new romantic partner, Gerald Fremlin, the emphasis acknowledging that her friend had heard these words before. “He’s 50, free, a good man if I ever saw one, tough and gentle like in the old tire ads, and this is the big thing — grown-up.”The judgment would prove premature. In July 2024, two months after Munro’s death at age 92, Andrea Skinner, the youngest of her three daughters, revealed in an essay in The Toronto Star that Fremlin had sexually abused her. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
12 Jan 1h 1min
'The Interview': Ben Stiller on 'Severance,' Selling Out and Being Jewish Today
The actor-director discusses the long-awaited return of the hit series, the comedies that made him a star and growing up with his famous parents.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
11 Jan 48min
Trump 2.0: A Criminal Sentencing, Presidential Legacies, and Greenland
This week, President-elect Donald J. Trump asked the Supreme Court to prevent him from being sentenced in a New York criminal case and implied that he could use military force to seize control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, while President Biden did his best to try to Trump-proof his legacy.The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs discuss the latest in the presidential transition.Guests: Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times.David E. Sanger, the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times.Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: The Supreme Court denied Trump’s last-ditch effort to avoid sentencing.Trump floated using force to take Greenland and the Panama Canal.News analysis: Trump is back and chaos ensues.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
10 Jan 34min
L.A. on Fire
Over the past 48 hours, wildfires have consumed acre after acre and building after building across greater Los Angeles. More than 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and at least five people have died.The Times’s L.A. bureau chief, Corina Knoll, and our staff meteorologist, Judson Jones, explain the paths of the fires and the conditions that have made them so hard to contain.Guests: Corina Knoll, the Los Angeles bureau chief for The New York Times, covering Southern California; and Judson Jones, a meteorologist and reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: Follow the latest news on the California wildfires.Catch up on what we know about the fires.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
9 Jan 22min
The End of Justin Trudeau’s Canada
This week, Justin Trudeau said he would step down as prime minister of Canada — a stunning downfall for a man who was once seen as a global icon of progressive politics.Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Canada bureau chief for The New York Times, explains the forces that led to Trudeau’s collapse, and discusses the populist leader who could replace him.Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Canada bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: A timeline of Justin Trudeau’s rise and fall.Here are four possible contenders to succeed Mr. Trudeau.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
8 Jan 29min
Republicans Take Control of Congress — and Harris Certifies Her Own Loss
During their first few days in power, the Republican-controlled House and Senate vowed to put aside their furious intraparty battles to make Donald J. Trump’s sweeping agenda the law of the land.Catie Edmonson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, discusses how likely that actually is.Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York TimesBackground reading: Vice President Kamala D. Harris presided over the certification of her own loss without disputing it, and Democrats made no move to challenge the results.Speaker Mike Johnson narrowly avoided a painful and prolonged fight to keep his post, but his messy victory showed how difficult his job will be.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
7 Jan 31min
The Reinvention of Jan. 6
Since the riot on Capitol Hill four years ago, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have set out to sanitize the events of that day, changing it from a day of violence into, in Mr. Trump’s words, a day of love.As he prepares to take office for his second term, Mr. Trump said he plans to issue pardons to some of those responsible, throwing hundreds of criminal cases into doubt.Alan Feuer, a reporter covering extremism and political violence for The New York Times, talks to one of those rioters and explains how the pardons could help rewrite the story of what happened on Jan. 6.Guest: Alan Feuer, a reporter covering extremism and political violence for The New York Times.Background reading: How Mr. Trump inverted the violent history of Jan. 6.Hundreds of rioters accused of nonviolent crimes during the attack on the Capitol have wrapped up their cases. Here’s what some of their lives look like now.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
6 Jan 35min
'The Interview': Antony Blinken Insists He and Biden Made the Right Calls
At the end of a tenure marked by war and division, the outgoing secretary of state defends his legacy on Gaza and Ukraine and says he’s made America stronger.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
4 Jan 52min
