Born in response to the 2008 financial crisis, cryptocurrency was supposed be a form of money that eliminated the traditional gatekeepers who had overseen the tanking of the economy.

But a crash in value recently has raised questions about cryptocurrency’s central promise.

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a reporter covering cryptocurrencies and fintech for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• No one wanted to miss out on the cryptocurrency mania. A global industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars rose up practically overnight. Now it is crashing down.
• Celsius Network was managing more than $20 billion in assets. Last month, it became the latest crypto venture to spiral into a crisis.

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.

How do you teach your child about sex? It’s a perennial question that has spawned hundreds of illustrated books meant to demystify sexual intercourse.

But for the Canadian author Cory Silverberg, there was something lacking. Silverberg, who uses they/them pronouns, felt that books on sex aimed at children often omitted mention of intimacy in the context of disability or gender nonconformity. And so they set about making a book of their own.

They wanted to tell a story of how babies are made that would apply to all kinds of children, whether they were conceived the traditional way or through reproductive technologies, whether they live with adoptive or biological parents, and no matter their family configuration.

The book critic Elaine Blair, who had also felt that children’s literature on sex was a little thin on inclusivity, recalls being drawn in by the fact that Silverberg’s “Sex is a Funny Word” is one of few children’s books that contend with the fact that children encounter representations of sexuality in the media.

Ms. Blair met up with Silverberg in Houston to understand the germ of the idea and the editorial process of delivering the book, from conception to print.

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

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 Great Salt Lake is drying up.

Soaring demand for water, exacerbated by drought and higher temperatures in the region, are shrinking the waters, which play such a crucial role in the landscape, ecology and weather of Salt Lake City and Utah.

Can the lake be saved?

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Utah’s dilemma raises a core question as the United States heats up: How quickly are Americans willing to adapt to the effects of climate change, even as those effects become urgent, obvious, and potentially catastrophic?

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.

A series of blockbuster hearings from the Jan. 6 committee has put growing pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to bring criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump over the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Before today’s committee hearing, we speak with Andrew D. Goldstein, one of the prosecutors who led the last major investigation into Mr. Trump, about why winning a case against the former president is such a challenge.

Guest: Andrew Goldstein, a federal prosecutor who was part of the Mueller inquiry into Mr. Trump. 

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Mr. Trump has issued a rambling 12-page statement containing his usual mix of outlandish claims, hyperbole and outright falsehoods, but also, apparently, with something different: the beginnings of a legal defense.
• Robert S. Mueller III was often portrayed as the omnipotent fact-gatherer for his inquiry, but it was Mr. Goldstein who had a much more involved, day-to-day role. (Here’s our profile of Mr. Goldstein from 2019.)

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.

Across the United States, Republicans emboldened by the overturning of Roe v. Wade are passing laws intended to stop medical staff from providing an abortion.

But those same laws may also be scaring health workers out of providing basic care for miscarriages.

Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science writer for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Although post-Roe laws are technically intended to apply only to abortions, some patients have reported hurdles receiving standard surgical procedures or medication for the loss of desired pregnancies.

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.

A record-breaking heat wave is currently washing over Europe. In parts of Britain, the mercury has hit a freakishly high 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

While that is happening, both Europe and the United States — two of the world’s largest contributors to global warming — are abandoning key commitments to limit emissions.

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

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, an ardent champion of the fossil fuel industry, has almost single-handedly doused any hopes of immediate climate action in Washington.
• The European Parliament recently endorsed labeling some gas and nuclear energy projects “green.” Critics said it would prolong the reliance on fossil fuels.

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.

In the past, President Biden has called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for its human rights abuses and said that he would never meet with its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

But Mr. Biden’s first trip as president to the Middle East included talks with the prince. What prompted the change in course?

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Mr. Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia garnered scathing criticism and modest accords.
• An unspoken result of Mr. Biden’s meeting with Prince Mohammed: A setback in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who was killed by Saudi agents in 2018.

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.

People heading to court often turn to the internet for guidance. In so doing, many come across the work of Justin Paperny, who dispenses advice on his YouTube channel. His videos offer preparation advice and help manage expectations, while providing defendants information to be able to hold their current lawyers accountable, and to try to negotiate a lighter sentence.

Mr. Paperny, a former financial criminal, also leads White Collar Advice with his partner Michael Santos, another former convict. The firm is made up of 12 convicted felons who each have their own consulting specialty based on where they served time and their own sentencing experiences.

The journalist Jack Hitt relates the story of the two men and the details of their firm, which “fills a need in 21st-century America.” It is, Mr. Hitt writes, “a natural market outgrowth of a continuing and profound shift in America’s judicial system.”

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

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.

Ancient galaxies carpeting the sky like jewels on black velvet. Fledgling stars shining out from deep within cumulus clouds of interstellar dust. Hints of water vapor in the atmosphere of a remote exoplanet.

This week, NASA released new images captured from a point in space one million miles from Earth.

Today, we discuss the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s most powerful space observatory, its journey to launch and what it can teach us about the universe.

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Here are more scenes of the universe captured by the Webb telescope.

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.

In recent days, the political crisis in Sri Lanka has reached a critical point, with its president fleeing the country and protesters occupying his residence and office. Today, “The Daily” explores how the island nation, whose economy was once held up as a success story in South Asia, came apart — and why it’s a cautionary tale.

Guest: Emily Schmall, a South Asia correspondent for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Yesterday, mass demonstrations and tear gas filled the streets of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, and late into the night, protesters clashed with the police outside Parliament.

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.