In the U.S., emergency-use authorization has been granted for convalescent plasma, the efficacy of which is yet to be robustly tested. For some, this echoes the situation with hydroxychloroquine and the government’s subsequent U-turn on its rollout.

Meanwhile, America’s infection rate appears to be flattening out — but at tens of thousands of cases per day. This stands in stark contrast to China, where daily cases are under 40.

Overseas, a Hong Kong resident has been reinfected with the virus, the first recorded instance of a second bout. And Russia and China have begun distributing vaccines, sidestepping Phase 3 safety trials to the incredulity of immunologists and vaccine executives.

We check back in with Donald G. McNeil Jr. on the coronavirus and the impact of these developments.

Guest: Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong was infected with the coronavirus for a second time. It is unclear how often people might become reinfected, and how soon after the first bout.
• Despite flattening, America’s infection rate remains one of the highest in the world.
• The F.D.A. has permitted the expansion of convalescent plasma treatment after pressure from President Trump.
• Russia has approved a coronavirus vaccine and is set to begin mass vaccinations in the fall. China has reportedly been giving experimental vaccines to high-risk groups since July.

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.

Gun violence is on the rise in New York City. By the end of July, there had been more shootings in 2020 than in all of 2019. Shootings have risen in other metropolises, too, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Houston.

Several theories have been advanced about why. Experts on crime say the coronavirus outbreak has deepened the endemic problems that often underlie gun violence, including poverty, unemployment, housing instability and hunger.

Police leaders also cite budget cuts and a political climate that has made officers reluctant to carry out arrests because of what they see as unfair scrutiny of their conduct.

Today, we look at how the various diagnoses could influence activists’ calls for the police to be defunded.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• “Right now, communities are being held hostage by the cops and the robbers at the same time,” a City Council member from Queens said. The summertime surge in shootings is unlike anything New York has seen in two decades.
• The summer usually brings with it an increase in violent crime. Across the U.S., as many states emerge from lockdown, the increase has been steeper than usual.

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.

Much of the fashion industry has buckled under the weight of the coronavirus — it appears to have sped up the inevitable.

This story was written by Irina Aleksander and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers 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.

When the coronavirus hit the United States, the N.B.A. was faced with a unique challenge. It seemed impossible to impose social distancing in basketball, an indoor sport with players almost constantly jostling one another for more than two hours. However, there was a big financial incentive to keep games going: ending the 2019 season early would have cost the league an estimated $1 billion in television revenue.

The solution? A sealed campus for players, staff and selected journalists at Disney World in Florida.

Marc Stein, who covers the N.B.A. for The New York Times, has been living out of a hotel room in the complex for the last 40 days. Today, we speak to him about what life is like inside the bubble.

Guest: Marc Stein, a sports reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Twenty-two of the league’s 30 teams are living in the Disney World complex. Life on the campus is both strange and mundane.
• The N.B.A. has sought to replicate the home-court edge through music, audio cues and graphics from the “home” teams’ arenas.

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.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. first ran for president in 1988, when his campaign was cut short after he made a series of blunders. After six terms in the Senate, he tried again in 2008 but failed to gain any traction in a contest won by Barack Obama. In the current political landscape, however, his focus on personal integrity and experience, which were also centerpieces of his previous campaigns, has proved much more compelling. Today, we chart Mr. Biden’s political journey and explore the baggage he will carry into the November election. Guest: Matt Flegenheimer, a national politics reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Mr. Biden’s political career has been marked by personal loss. Eulogies he has delivered offer an insight into how he would lead a nation grappling with death and crisis.
• “I’ve done some dumb things. And I’ll do dumb things again.” The former vice president’s campaign for the 1988 Democratic nomination reveals the political flaws that continue to color his public life.

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 installation of Louis DeJoy as postmaster general has caused alarm. Since taking up the role in June, he has enacted a number of cuts to the Postal Service: ending overtime for workers, limiting how many runs they can make in a day, reassigning more than 20 executives and, from the perspective of the unions, speeding up the removal of mail-sorting machines.

The actions of Mr. DeJoy, a Republican megadonor and Trump ally, have been interpreted by many Democrats as an attempt to sabotage the election in concert with President Trump, who has himself admitted to wanting to limit funding that could help mail-in voting.

Today, we explore to what extent Mr. Trump is using the post office, and the postmaster general, to influence the election.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Postmaster General DeJoy has ushered in measures that, three months out from an election that is expected to rely heavily on mail-in voting, have caused widespread delays.
• Amid warnings that changes to the agency may disenfranchise voters, Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the House from summer recess to vote on legislation blocking any further steps. Mr. DeJoy will testify before the Senate on Friday.
• In response to mounting criticism, the Postal Service has suspended operational changes until after the election. It is unclear whether changes already in place will be reversed.

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 March 2018, Mark Landler — then a White House correspondent at The New York Times — attended a dinner party hosted by the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador, Yousef al-Otaiba, at a Washington restaurant. There he witnessed a chance encounter between the ambassador and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — one the ambassador asked to keep private. Two years after that delicate conversation, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalize diplomatic and trade relations. Today, we speak to Mr. Landler about the Trump administration’s role in the agreement, what normalization means for Palestinians and what it says about the Middle East’s political climate. Guest: Mark Landler, London bureau chief at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The Arab Spring, growing power of Iranian proxies and demographic changes — how changing dynamics in the Middle East set the stage for the deal.
• The U.A.E. has agreed to normalization in exchange for Israel’s suspending annexation of areas in the occupied West Bank. Many Palestinians see the deal as less of a balm and more of a stab in the back.

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.

Operation Warp Speed has in some ways lived up to its name: The U.S. government has awarded almost $11 billion to seven different companies to develop vaccines, three of which — Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer — are in late-stage trials.

Things are going according to the most aggressive schedule.

However, accelerating the development process has increased the likelihood of cronyism and undue political influence.

Today, we ask whether the White House’s defiance of the timelines that have long governed the development of vaccines is working.

Guest: Katie Thomas, a reporter at The New York Times who covers the health care sector, with a focus on the drug industry.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• There is a lot of optimism surrounding the coronavirus vaccine and its potential to usher in a return to normality in the near future — but doctors warn that those expectations ought to be tempered.
• With thousands dying, economic tumult and a looming election, the U.S. government is eager to start vaccinating as soon as possible. Experts worry that the Trump administration will push the Food and Drug Administration to overlook insufficient data.
• The vaccine effort has spelled big profits for corporate insiders.

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.

What is the extent of Russia’s interest in the 2020 U.S. election? Last year, a classified report written by intelligence officials tried to answer this question.

In this episode, Robert Draper, a writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine, explores what happened after the report — which stated that President Trump was Russia’s favored candidate in the upcoming election — was drafted.

This story was written by Robert Draper and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers 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.

“As a Black woman who works at Adidas my experiences have never been business as usual.”

Julia Bond, an assistant apparel designer at the sportswear giant, says she had resigned herself to experiencing and witnessing racism at work — until she saw the George Floyd video.

Today, we speak to Ms. Bond, an assistant apparel designer at Adidas, who has brought the global racial reckoning to the company’s front door.

Wanting more than just schemes and targets, she has been protesting in front of the company’s Portland headquarters every day since June, awaiting an apology from leadership and an admission that they have enabled racism and discrimination. Guest: Julia Bond, assistant apparel designer at Adidas, who has been protesting outside the company’s Portland headquarters for the last three months. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Adidas has made a number of pledges to diversify its work force. However, Black employees want more: an admission that the company’s leadership has enabled racism and an apology.
• From Facebook’s pledge to double the number of Black and Latinx by 2023 to YouTube creating a $100 million fund for Black creators, organizations across the U.S. have committed to redressing racial imbalance.

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.