Andy Isaacson is a writer and photographer. His work for The Times has taken him to every corner of the world, and he has transmitted what he’s experienced through his images.

But recently, Isaacson took a trip unlike any he’d taken before. Not because of where he traveled, but because of how he traveled.

Paired with a set of unlikely travel companions, he put down his camera and experienced the word through touch, smell and sound.

On today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Isaacson talks with Host Michael Barbaro about a trip that forever changed the way he travels.

On today's episode:

Andy Isaacson, a contributing writer and photographer for The New York Times.

Background Reading

Sites Unseen: What Travel Is Like for Those Who Can’t See

Photo credit: Andy Isaacson

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The iconic actor on his thrillingly risky choices, on screen and off, and becoming a meme.

• Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]
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• For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview

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A new major poll from The Times/Siena suggests that despite his seemingly unchecked power over the federal government and his own party, President Trump’s national support is crumbling to record lows and Democrats are poised to win back many of the key voters who got him into office in 2024.

Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, walks us through the poll’s results and what they mean for the midterms this fall.

Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times. I cover American politics, with a focus on elections, public opinion, demographics and polling.

Background reading: 

• A crack in the polling floor puts Mr. Trump in new territory.

Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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 and Spotify. 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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The U.S. charged Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former leader and Communist general, with murder on Wednesday. It was the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to force political change on the island.

The New York Times reporters Frances Robles and Julian Barnes break down what is behind the charges against Mr. Castro and what the American government really wants from Cuba.

Guest:

• Frances Robles, an international correspondent covering Latin America and the Caribbean for The New York Times.
• Julian E. Barnes, a reporter covering the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The Justice Department charged the former Cuban president in fatal downing of planes.
• Here’s what happened on the day Cuba shot down two civilian planes.

Photo: Norlys Perez/Reuters

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 and Spotify. 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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The Trump administration announced the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate those who claim they were targeted by the Biden Justice Department and Democrats.

Andrew Duehren, who covers tax policy, explains how the fund came about and who might get the money. 

Guest: Andrew Duehren, who writes about tax policy for The New York Times from Washington.

Background reading: 

• The Justice Department announced the $1.8 billion fund on Monday.
• Mr. Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, explained.

Photo: Eric Lee for The New York Times

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 and Spotify. 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 Mother’s Day, we asked you about your “Mom mantras”: the oft-repeated mottos or go-to expressions that your moms have said over the years. In partnership with the Well desk, we received thousands of submissions, full of sayings that ranged from wise to funny to profound.

In today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” we feature your “Mom mantras,” and the host Rachel Abrams calls her mother to ask about hers.

On Today’s Episode:

• Readers of The New York Times

Background Reading:

The Wisdom of Our Mothers

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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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Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, was published this week.

Today, Michael Barbaro talks with Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor of The Times Magazine, who oversaw the project, as well as Joe Coscarelli and Jody Rosen, two members of the cadre of critics assigned with compiling the final list. They discuss the list-making process, what defines a great songwriter and why Billy Joel didn’t make the final cut.

We also hear from some of the songwriters featured on the list, including Taylor Swift, Nile Rodgers and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.

On Today's Episode:

Sasha Weiss is a deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine.

Joe Coscarelli is a culture reporter for The Times. He is a co-host of “Popcast,” a producer of the “Song of the Week” video series and the author of “Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story.”

Jody Rosen is a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of “Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle.”

Background Reading:

The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters

Cast Your Vote for the Greatest Living American Songwriters

Photo credit: Stefan Ruiz for The New York Times

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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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With war, political wrangling and price hikes jockeying for headlines, it’s a rare thing to sit for an hour with a large group of strangers and focus on the small pleasures in life. But that’s what the show “Every Brilliant Thing” is all about.

Since 2013, Duncan Macmillan’s audience-participation-heavy play has been performed in dozens of languages in hundreds of locations across the globe. It revolves around a central character who writes a list of all the good things in life for a depressed parent. And while it tackles dark subject matter — including frequent mentions of a loved one’s suicide — it may be one of the funniest shows about depression, ever.

In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Michael Barbaro talks with Daniel Radcliffe, who currently stars in a Broadway production of the show, and Mariska Hargitay, who will step into the role in a few weeks. We’ll also hear from the playwright and several other actors who have performed the play on stages, in living rooms, on basketball courts and aircraft carriers all over the world.

On today's episode:

Daniel Radcliffe
Mariska Hargitay
Duncan Macmillan
Candunn Jennette
Greg Dragas
Mugambi Nthiga
Erika de la Vega
Jung Sae-Byul
Mohsina Akhter
Tommy Schoffler
Nanda Mohammad

Background reading:

‘Every Brilliant Thing,’ Now Starring Daniel Radcliffe and You

Daniel Radcliffe Makes ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Shine

Daniel Radcliffe Wanted a Break From Broadway. Then He Read This Play.

Photo credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

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The reality show “Love on the Spectrum” — which just released its fourth season — has become a big hit; it’s currently one of the most watched shows on Netflix in the United States. The show follows autistic adults as they search for love.

“Love on the Spectrum” is unlike much of reality television — a genre known to subject its cast members to drama and humiliation for entertainment’s sake. Instead, the show captures a dating world that has more heartwarming moments than histrionics, and is sensitive and nuanced in its portrayal of neurodivergent people.

On today’s episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Rachel Abrams talks with Anna Peele, a contributing writer for The New York Times, about the show’s origin story and why it has resonated with so many people.

On Today’s Episode:

Anna Peele is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and the author of the forthcoming book “Enter the Villa,” about the reality show “Love Island.”

Photo credit: Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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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The first time Robert Draper heard about the psychedelic drug ibogaine, it was from an unlikely source: the retired U.S. senator Kyrsten Sinema. As a political reporter for The New York Times, Draper often talks to figures like Ms. Sinema. But on this occasion, he said, she wanted to tell him about how she had tried ibogaine, which is illegal in the United States. She’d become such a believer in the drug that she was pushing her home state of Arizona to fund clinical trials for veterans with combat-related trauma.

Draper found that Ms. Sinema wasn’t the only politician to take up the cause. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, Republican presidential candidate and Trump energy secretary, has also advocated for research into ibogaine in recent years and taken the drug himself. In 2025, because of Mr. Perry’s efforts, Texas became the first state to dedicate public funds to ibogaine research with veterans.

Recent studies of ibogaine at Stanford University and elsewhere suggest that it might prove effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, addiction and a range of other conditions. As Draper reported on ibogaine’s transformative effects on others, he wondered: Could it help him, too?

Today, on “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks to Robert Draper about what drew him to travel to Mexico to try ibogaine, and how his trip changed his life.

On Today’s Episode: 

Robert Draper (usually) writes about domestic politics for The New York Times.

Background Reading:

It’s an Obscure Psychedelic Used to Treat Trauma. Could It Help Me?

The Long, Strange Trip of Rick Perry

Art Credit: Illustration By Melissa Santamaría

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Lise Davidsen is one of the greatest opera singers of our time — a soprano with a voice so rare, critics reach back a century for comparison. This spring, she has been starring in a sold-out new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera. But she’s also at a crossroads: Her first performance as “Isolde” on the Met stage came just nine months after giving birth to twins.

Today on The Sunday Daily, Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times writer Zachary Woolfe about his recent conversation with Davidsen, and the unexpected emotional weight she felt while returning to the stage as a new mother. They discuss how a production centered on birth, death and renewal gave Davidsen a way to work through this seismic shift in her life, all while tackling the role of a lifetime.

On Today’s Episode:

Zachary Woolfe is a writer and editor for The New York Times.

Background Reading:

With Twin Babies, the Opera Star Lise Davidsen Wonders What Comes Next

The Met Opera’s Desperate Hunt for Money

Photo credit: Amir Hamja for The New York Times

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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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