Charlie Kirk, the conservative organizer, activist and media mogul, died on Wednesday after being shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University.

Mr. Kirk brought millions of young Americans in to the Republican Party, and to the ballot box for Donald Trump.

Robert Draper, who profiled Charlie Kirk for The New York Times Magazine, discusses Mr. Kirk’s improbable rise to power, his stunning assassination, and his controversial legacy.

Guest: Robert Draper, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Read the profile of Charlie Kirk from February.
• Read updates about the shooting.

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

Photo: Nic Antaya for The New York Times

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.

For months, President Trump has tried to dismiss questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, notably denying that he had been the author of a lewd birthday message to the financier and sex offender.

On Monday, Congress released the message — and many more like it.

David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor at The Times, explains how the book, and an investigation into Mr. Epstein’s finances, reveal how Mr. Epstein leveraged his rich and powerful friends to fund a yearslong criminal conspiracy.

Guest: David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A House panel released the drawing for Mr. Epstein apparently signed by Mr. Trump.
• A Times investigation found that JPMorgan spent years supporting — and profiting from — the notorious sex offender, ignoring red flags, suspicious activity and concerned executives.

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

Photo: Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post, via Associated Press

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.

Over the weekend, Russia bombarded Ukraine with the largest drone assault in the war thus far.

It’s the latest in a relentless Russian offensive that keeps escalating, despite President Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace.

Anatoly Kurmanaev, who covers Russia for The Times, discusses the economic war machine that’s driving Russia’s success on the battlefield, and making it so hard for anyone to get President Vladimir V. Putin to back down.

Guest: Anatoly Kurmanaev, a reporter for The New York Times, covering Russia and its transformation following the invasion of Ukraine.

Background reading: 

• Why Putin thinks Russia has the upper hand against Ukraine.
• Russia wants ‘security guarantees’ too. Here’s what they look like.

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

Photo: Pool photo by Alexander Kazakov

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.

One month after sending the National Guard into Washington, D.C. saying they would fight crime there, President Trump is so pleased with the results that he is discussing how to put federal troops onto the streets of cities across the country — from Chicago to New Orleans. It’s a potentially dramatic expansion of what has already become an unprecedented military deployment on domestic soil.

Today, we hear from residents of Washington about what life is like with the National Guard in town.

Guest:

• Jessica Cheung, a senior audio producer at The New York Times

Background reading: 

• The District of Columbia sued the Trump administration last week, challenging the National Guard deployment and describing it as a “military occupation.”
• Here’s what we know about Mr. Trump’s crime and immigration crackdown across the U.S.

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

Photo: Alex Kent for The New York Times

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.

As kids across America head back to school, Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, is thinking about the books he read when he was in school.

On today’s Sunday Special, Gilbert talks with the Book Review editor Sadie Stein and the author Louis Sachar (“Wayside School” series, “Holes”) about the books they read when they were students, and ways to encourage young readers today to keep reading.

Additional reading

10 Books for Kids Starting Preschool

12 Books for Kids Starting Kindergarten

15 Books for Kids Starting Middle School

For a future Sunday Special, ask us your personal style questions.

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.

The author and podcaster wants to apply her old ideas about vulnerability and empathy to the workplace.

• Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]
• Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast
• For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview

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.

In an extraordinarily tense showdown on Thursday, senators of both parties confronted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine policies, his firing of the director of the C.D.C., and the growing list of federal health officials who have resigned in protest of his leadership.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The Times, explains what it was like in the room and describes what seems like a turning point in the relationship between Congress and Mr. Kennedy.

Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a correspondent based in Washington covering health policy for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A defiant Kennedy defended vaccine changes and the shake-up at the C.D.C.
• Some states said they would go their own way on vaccine policy.
• Will the C.D.C. survive?

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

Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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.

For decades, the government has struggled with how to police monopolies in the tech industry.

This week, a landmark ruling in a case against Google became the most aggressive attempt in the modern era to level the playing field.

David McCabe, who covers tech policy for The Times, explains who won, who lost and what it all means for the race to dominate artificial intelligence.

Guest: David McCabe, a New York Times reporter who covers the complex legal and policy issues created by the digital economy and new technologies.

Background reading: 

• Google avoided the harshest penalties in a federal judge’s monopoly ruling.

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

Photo: Jason Henry for The New York Times

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.

In the last few weeks, the Trump administration has turned its sights on the Smithsonian, the latest target in a campaign to remake cultural institutions in its image.

Officials are trying to change exhibits at the center of the country’s culture wars and reshape American history at one of the largest museum complexes in the world.

Robin Pogrebin, who covers cultural institutions for The Times, discusses the clash over who gets to tell the American story.

Guest: Robin Pogrebin, a New York Times culture reporter who covers cultural institutions, the art world and architecture.

Background reading: 

• The White House announced a comprehensive review of Smithsonian exhibitions.
• The Trump administration’s plan to, in effect, audit the content of Smithsonian museums drew criticism from groups that represent scholars and promote free speech.

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

Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

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.

In a series of extraordinary deals, President Trump has muscled himself directly into the business of corporate America.

The U.S. government has been made the largest shareholder of Intel, one of the most iconic companies in the country. Senator Bernie Sanders has praised the move, while conservatives have criticized it as socialism.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, a columnist at The Times, explains how Mr. Trump’s deal could reshape America’s approach to capitalism.

Guest: Andrew Ross Sorkin, a columnist and the founder and editor at large of DealBook, which publishes the flagship business and policy newsletter of The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Intel agreed to sell a 10 percent stake in its business to the U.S. government.
• From DealBook: Trump may expand his revision of U.S. capitalism.

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

Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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.