The Daily

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, described the current status of the pandemic in the United States as a “mixed bag” that is leaning more toward the positive than the negative.

But, he said, there is still more work to do.

In our conversation, he weighs in on vaccine mandates, booster shots and the end of the pandemic.

Guest: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases. 

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Background reading: 

• In a turnaround, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant Pfizer’s request to expand booster shot eligibility to all adults before the winter holiday season.
• This week, the Biden administration argued that the federal government had all the power it needed to require large employers to mandate vaccination of their workers against the virus — or to require those who refuse the shots to wear masks and submit to weekly testing.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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This episode contains strong language.

When the coronavirus hit the United States, the nation’s public health officials were in the front line, monitoring cases and calibrating rules to combat the spread.

From the start, however, there has been resistance. A Times investigation found that 100 new laws have since been passed that wrest power from public health officials.

What is the effect of those laws, and how might they affect the response to a future pandemic?

Guest: Mike Baker, the Seattle bureau chief for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• State and local public health departments have endured not only the public’s fury, but also widespread staff defections, burnout, firings, unpredictable funding and a significant erosion in their authority to impose the health orders that were critical to America’s early response to the pandemic.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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Over the past year, a record 2,000 migrants from Africa have drowned trying to reach Spain.

Many of these migrants make the journey in rickety vessels, not much bigger than canoes, that often don’t stand up to strong currents.

What happens, then, when their bodies wash ashore?

This is the story of Martín Zamora, a 61-year-old father of seven, who has committed himself to returning the bodies of drowned migrants to their families. 

Guest: Nicholas Casey, the Madrid bureau chief for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Martín Zamora, the owner of a funeral parlor near Gibraltar, has found an unusual line of business among the relatives of migrants who drown trying to reach Europe: He collects the bodies of those who don’t make it to Spain alive. Read this article in Spanish here.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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In a bipartisan win for President Biden, Democrats and Republicans have passed a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Now comes the difficult part — trying to win approval for a $2 trillion social spending bill.

For more moderate Democrats in swing districts, the vote will be among the toughest of the Biden era — and one that some fear could cost them their seats in next year’s midterms.

To gauge their concerns, we speak to one such lawmaker, Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia.

Guest: Representative Abigail Spanberger, Democrat of Virginia.

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Background reading: 

• After the Democrats’ poor performance in last week’s elections, Ms. Spanberger was critical of Mr. Biden’s sweeping agenda. “Nobody elected him to be F.D.R., they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos,” she said.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to rule on an area of the law that it has been silent on for over a decade: the Second Amendment.

The case under consideration will help decide whether the right to bear arms extends beyond the home and into the streets.

The implications of the decision could be enormous. A quarter of the U.S. population lives in states whose laws might be affected.

Guest: Adam Liptak, a reporter covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• A New York law, which imposes strict limits on carrying guns in public, faced a skeptical reception from the Supreme Court last week. Their questions suggest that the law is unlikely to survive.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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Like many other Americans, Jamie Lauren Keiles, the author of this week’s Sunday Read, bought their first motorcycle during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I thought I was just purchasing a mode of transportation — a way to get around without riding the train,” they wrote. “But after some time on the street with other riders, I started to suspect I’d signed up for a lot more.”

Jamie was aware of biker culture, but had decided that these tropes — choppers, leather jackets — “were all but contentless by now, mere tchotchkes on the wall in the T.G.I. Fridays of American individualism.”

However, Jamie was shocked to discover that not only did this strain of biker culture still exist, but that they existed within it. So, curious about what remained vital at its heart, Jamie set out for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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This episode contains strong language and scenes of violence.

Last summer, as the country reeled from the murder of George Floyd, another Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis. People took to the streets in Kenosha in protest and were soon met by civilians in militia gear — a confrontation that turned violent.

On the third night of protests, a white teenager shot and killed two people, and maimed a third. The gunman, Kyle Rittenhouse, became a symbol of the moment, called a terrorist by the left and a patriot by the right. Now, he’s on trial for those shootings.

Guest: Julie Bosman, the Chicago bureau chief of The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Here are some of the takeaways from the trial so far.
• These are the events that led to Mr. Rittenhouse, now 18, standing trial in the fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of another in Kenosha, Wis.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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On a major night of elections across the United States on Tuesday, the Republican Glenn Youngkin claimed an unexpected victory over his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, to win the governor’s race in Virginia.

As the night went on, it became clear that the contest in Virginia was not a singular event — Republicans were doing well in several unlikely places.

What do the results tell us about the current direction of American politics?

Guest: Alexander Burns, a national political correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Reeling from a barrage of unexpected losses, an array of Democrats have pleaded with President Biden and his party’s lawmakers to address the quality-of-life issues that plagued their candidates in Tuesday’s elections.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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In a giant conference hall in Glasgow, leaders from around the world have gathered for the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Convention, or COP26. This is the 26th such session.

Many say this may be the last chance to avoid climate disaster. Will anything change this time?

Guest: Somini Sengupta, the international climate reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• The opening day of the COP26 summit was heavy on dire warnings and light on substantive proposals.
• We have a live briefing from the conference, where the focus is now turning to behind-the-scenes talks and how to finance the different proposals to combat climate change.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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Inflation in the United States is rising at its fastest rate so far this century. At 4 percent, according to one index, it is double the Federal Reserve’s target.

We look at why prices are on the rise and at the tense political moment they have created.

Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Supply chain disruptions, a worker shortage and pain at the gasoline pump have made inflation an economic and political problem for the White House.
• Pressure is on the Federal Reserve and the Biden administration as they try to calibrate policy during a tumultuous period.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

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