The Daily

President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised a radically different approach to foreign policy from that of the Biden administration. In Ukraine, he has pledged to end the war in a day.

But just weeks before he’s set to take office, the war has taken an unexpected turn.

Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times, discusses the conflict’s dangerous new phase.

Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Tit-for-tat moves this week included the use of American-made ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia, and new nuclear threats from Moscow.
• As Ukraine fires U.S. missiles, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has sent a chilling message.

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.

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After the movie “Free Willy” became a hit, word got out that the star of the film, a killer whale named Keiko, was sick and living in a tiny pool at a Mexican amusement park. Fans were outraged and pleaded for his release. “The Good Whale” tells the story of the wildly ambitious science experiment to return Keiko to the ocean — while the world watched.

An epic tale that starts in Mexico and ends in Norway, the six-episode series follows Keiko as he’s transported from country to country, each time landing in the hands of well-intentioned people who believe they know what’s best for him — people who still disagree, decades later, about whether they did the right thing.

“The Good Whale" is a new show from Serial Productions and The New York Times. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts, or follow it at https://lnk.to/good-whale 

For an exclusive look inside the making of “The Good Whale,” sign up for the newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter

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

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After just nine days as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from consideration.

Michael S. Schmidt, an investigative reporter for The Times, discusses the revelations and the reporting that doomed the prospective nomination of Gaetz, a former representative of Florida.

Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, covering Washington.

Background reading: 

• Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration for attorney general.
• A federal inquiry traced payments from Gaetz to women.

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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Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and death.

On Wednesday afternoon, a guilty verdict was reached in the death of the Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. A 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela was convicted.

Rick Rojas, the Atlanta bureau chief for The Times, discusses the case, and how it became a flashpoint in the national debate over border security.

Guest: Rick Rojas, the Atlanta bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Ms. Riley, 22, was attacked in February while running on a trail on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Her killer was sentenced to life in prison.
• Lawmakers in Georgia approved tougher rules on immigration after the killing.

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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For decades, breast augmentations have been one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries in the United States. But in recent years, a new trend has emerged: the breast reduction.

Lisa Miller, who covers personal and cultural approaches to health for The Times, discusses why the procedure has become so common.

Guest: Lisa Miller, a domestic correspondent for the Well section of The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Are women asserting their independence or capitulating to yet another impossible standard of beauty?

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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Warning: this episode contains strong language.

For the past two weeks, Lynsea Garrison of “The Daily” has been talking to people who were part of a movement, known as the resistance, that opposed Donald Trump’s first term as president.

With Mr. Trump preparing to again retake the White House, she asked those past protesters how they might react this time.

Background reading: 

• Was Mr. Trump’s election a setback for women? Even women do not agree.
• Nonprofits have vowed a new resistance. Will donors pay up?

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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President-elect Donald J. Trump has picked Representative Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.

Robert Draper, who covers domestic politics for The Times, discusses what the nomination reveals about Mr. Trump’s promise for retribution and how far Republicans might be willing to go to help him get it.

Guest: Robert Draper, who covers domestic politics for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The attorney general pick has set a new bar for in-your-face nominations.
• A vendetta over the congressional ethics investigation into Mr. Gaetz helped sink the last speaker. The new speaker has moved to quash the report.

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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Nationwide, just over a million children, mostly girls, participate in cheer each year (some estimates are even higher), more than the number who play softball or lacrosse. And almost every part of that world is dominated by a single company: Varsity Spirit.

It’s hard to cheer at the youth, high school or collegiate level without putting money in the company’s pocket. Varsity operates summer camps where children learn to do stunts and perform; it hosts events where they compete; it sells pompoms they shake and uniforms they wear on the sidelines of high school and college football games.

Varsity’s market power has made the cheer world a paranoid place. In the reporting for this article, dozens of people spoke about the company in conspiratorial tones better suited to a spy thriller.

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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