The Daily

Long before it became an archaic and filthy symbol of everything wrong with America’s broken cities, the New York subway was a marvel.

In recent years, it has been falling apart.

Today on The Sunday Read, a look at why failing to fix it would be a collective and historic act of self-destruction. 

This story was written by Jonathan Mahler and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers 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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Odessa is a four-part series. All episodes of the show released so far are available here. 
In 1988, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, was so good that it became the inspiration for a book, movie and, eventually, the television series “Friday Night Lights.” And in the decades since, as West Texas has weathered the unsettling undulations of the oil industry, football has remained steady. 

So after the pandemic hit, the town did what it could to make sure the season wasn’t disrupted. And at Odessa High School, where the football team struggles to compete against local rivals, the members of their award winning marching band were relieved they could keep playing. In Part 2 of Odessa, we follow what happened when the season opened — and how the school weighed the decision to start against the possible risks to students’ physical and mental health.

New episodes of Odessa will be released as they become available in this feed. For more information visit nytimes.com/odessa.

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 references to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.

In 1995, Diana, Princess of Wales, made a decision that was unprecedented for a member of the British royal family: She sat down with the BBC to speak openly about the details of her life.

On Sunday, her younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, told Oprah Winfrey of their own travails within the family.

Today, we look at the similarities between these two interviews.

Guest: Sarah Lyall, a writer at large for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• A quarter-century after Diana broke her silence about life among the British royals, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, did the same. Their stories were remarkably similar.
• The Sussexes have accused the royal family of failing to protect them, both emotionally and financially. Here’s what we learned from Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

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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When Officer Harry Dunn reporter for work at the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 6, he expected a day of relatively normal protests. But the situation soon turned dangerous.

Today, we talk with Officer Dunn about his experience fending off rioters during the storming of the Capitol.

Guest: Officer Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who was on duty during the storming of the Capitol. 

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Background reading: 

• “Black officers fought a different battle” on Jan. 6, Officer Harry Dunn said. Here is what he saw and heard when rioters, including white supremacists, stormed the Capitol.

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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Even as recently as a year ago, even the most cleareyed analysts thought it was a long shot. But this week, a child tax credit is expected to be passed into law, as part of the economic stimulus bill.

The child tax credit is an income guarantee for American families with children. It will provide a monthly check of up to $300 per child — no matter how many children.

We look at why this provision is so revolutionary and what has changed in the policy landscape to allow its passage.  

Guest: Jason DeParle, a senior writer for The New York Times and frequent contributor to The Times Magazine. 

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Background reading: 

• The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children.
• What’s in the stimulus bill? Here is a guide to where the money will be going. 

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 number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border is growing — and, with it, anxiety in the Biden administration.

Newer concerns have mixed with longstanding ones to create a situation at the border that could become untenable.

Today, in the second part of our series on what we’re learning about the Biden administration, we look at the president’s response to the growing number of minors at the border.

Guest: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a homeland security correspondent based in Washington for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• In recent months, hundreds of migrant families have been released into the United States by Border Patrol agents. Thousands more are hoping for a chance to enter under looser policies.
• President Biden is trying to untangle an interlocking web of Trump-era border restrictions, leading for now to disparate treatment of migrants and rampant confusion.
• The Biden administration has said it will shorten the detention of migrant families. Researchers say children can show symptoms of trauma after spending long periods in custody.

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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Thousands die in New York every year. Some of them alone. The city might weep when the celebrated die, or the innocent are slain, but for those who pass in an unwatched struggle, there is no one to mourn for them and their names, simply added to a death table.

In 2014, George Bell, 72, was among those names. He died alone in his apartment in north central Queens.

On today’s Sunday Read, what happens when someone dies, and no one is there to arrange their funeral? And who exactly was George Bell?

This story was written by N.R. Kleinfield and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers 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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Joe Biden has had harsh words for the Saudis and the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

It appeared that the period of appeasement toward the Saudis in the Trump administration was over. But the Biden administration’s inaction over a report that implicated the crown prince in the 2018 killing of the dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappointed many of his allies.

Today, the first of a two-part look at what we’re learning about the Biden administration. First, a look at its approach to Saudi Arabia. 

Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The Times. 

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Background reading: 

• For President Biden, deliberation and caution has thus far been his approach on the world stage.
• The president has decided not to penalize the Saudi crown prince over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, fearing a breach in relations. This decision will disappoint many in the human rights community and in his own party. 

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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It’s been almost a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

And the virus is persisting: A downward trend in the U.S. caseload has stalled, and concern about the impact of variants is growing. Yet inoculations are on the rise, and the F.D.A. has approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, the third to be approved in the U.S.

Today, we check in on the latest about the coronavirus.

Guest: Carl Zimmer, a science writer and author of the “Matter” column for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• After the Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval, President Biden vowed that there would be enough vaccine doses for “every adult in America” by the end of May.
• For more information about the emerging mutations, check out The Times’s variant tracker. 

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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When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Microsoft founder Bill Gates was the most powerful and provocative private individual operating within global public health.

Today, we look at the role he has played in public health and his latest mission: procuring Covid-19 vaccines for countries in the developing world.

Guest: Megan Twohey, an investigative reporter for The New York Times; and Nicholas Kulish, an enterprise correspondent covering philanthropy, wealth and nonprofits for The Times.

Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Bill Gates is working with the World Health Organization, drugmakers and nonprofits to tackle the coronavirus, including in the world’s poorest nations. Can they do it?
• An operation to supply billions of vaccine doses to poorer countries got underway last week. But as rich countries buy most of the available supply, stark inequalities remain.

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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