For the past three decades, the U.S. government has released documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy with an overriding goal of dispelling conspiracy theories.

Julian E. Barnes, who covers the U.S. intelligence agencies, explains why President Trump’s motivations behind releasing the latest batch are far more complicated.

Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a reporter covering the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Inside the 24-hour scramble among top national security officials over the Kennedy documents.
• The thousands of documents posted online this week disappointed assassination buffs. But historians are finding many newly revealed secrets.

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

Photo: Reuters

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This week, top Trump officials inadvertently shared secret U.S. military plans with a prominent journalist after mistakenly adding him to a group chat.

The journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, who is editor in chief at The Atlantic, discusses what he was thinking as he read the messages and what he makes of the fallout.

Guest: Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief at The Atlantic.

Background reading: 

• Read Mr. Goldberg’s piece in The Atlantic about being added to the group chat.
• Read more about Mr. Goldberg, the editor mistakenly added to the Signal chat.
• Here’s the leaked chat, annotated.
• President Trump has downplayed the leak and pointed the finger at Mr. Goldberg.

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

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

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As President Trump set out to systematically eliminate or intimidate those who stood in his way — inspectors general, judges, law firms — the news media loomed as one of his most stubborn obstacles. Or so it seemed.

Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times, explains how Mr. Trump is circumventing and undermining the fourth estate in a way no president before him ever has.

Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading: 

• President Trump’s blueprint for bending the media to his will has Nixon written all over it.

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 for The New York Times

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In recent weeks, the Trump administration has put the American university system on notice.

It has pressed for changes, opened investigations — and in some cases withheld critical funds.

Alan Blinder, who covers education in America, explains how schools are responding to the pressure and what it might mean for the future of higher education.

Guest: Alan Blinder, a national correspondent for The New York Times, writing about education in America.

Background reading: 

• Columbia University promised changes to its protest policies, its security practices and its Middle Eastern studies department after the Trump administration moved to cut off $400 million in funding.
• President Trump’s battles with colleges could change American culture for a generation.

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

Photo: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

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Sometime in the 1850s or ’60s, at a terrible moment in U.S. history, a strange man seemed to sprout, out of nowhere, into the rocky landscape between New York City and Hartford, Conn. The word “strange” hardly captures his strangeness. He was rough and hairy, and he wandered around on back roads, sleeping in caves. Above all, he refused to explain himself. As one newspaper put it: “He is a mystery, and a very greasy and ill-odored one.” Other papers referred to him as “the animal” or (just throwing up their hands) “this uncouth and unkempt ‘What is it?’”

But the strangest thing about the stranger was his suit.

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As President Trump has rolled out his economic agenda, the assumption has been that he would quickly scale back his most aggressive policies once they began to scare consumers and the financial markets. But that assumption turned out to be wrong.

Ben Casselman, who covers economics, and Maggie Haberman, who covers the White House, explain why Mr. Trump’s economic plan may be backfiring and why he doesn’t seem to mind.

Guest: 

• Ben Casselman, the chief economics correspondent for The New York Times.
• Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Mr. Trump has said a recession might be worth the cost. Economists disagree.
• Investors thought they had Mr. Trump figured out. They were wrong.

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

Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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Five years ago, at the urging of federal officials, much of the United States locked down to stop the spread of Covid. Over time, the action polarized the country and changed the relationship between many Americans and their government.

Michael Barbaro speaks to Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, two prominent political scientists who dispute the effectiveness of the lockdowns, to find out what they think will be required when the next pandemic strikes.

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.

Guest: Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, authors of In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us

Background reading: 

• As the coronavirus spread, researchers worldwide scrambled to find ways to keep people safe. Some efforts were misguided. Others saved millions of lives.

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

Photo: Hilary Swift for The New York Times

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President Trump’s showdown with the courts reached a new milestone on Tuesday, when he called for a federal judge to be impeached and the chief justice of the Supreme Court publicly scolded the president in response.

Luke Broadwater, who covers the White House for The Times, discusses the deportation case at the center of the confrontation — and whether the constitutional crisis that many have feared has now arrived.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, who covers the White House for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A judge ordered deportation planes to turn around. The White House didn’t listen.
• The order has made the judge in the deportation case a target of Republican anger.

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

Photo: Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

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After engaging in a campaign of retribution against his enemies within the federal government, President Trump is turning to those outside of it.

Michael S. Schmidt, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, explains what that retribution has looked like for a single law firm — and the impact it has had on the entire legal profession.

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

Background reading: 

• The law firm Perkins Coie has sued the Trump administration over an executive order that would make it all but impossible for the firm to advocate for its clients.
• The president’s use of government power to punish law firms is seen by some experts as undercutting a basic tenet: the right to a strong defense.

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

Photo: Maansi Srivastava 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.