The Daily

Ever since scientists created the powerful gene-editing technique Crispr, they have braced for the day when it would be used to produce a genetically altered human being. Now, the moment they feared may have come. What’s likely to happen next? We also look at the latest updates on a possible government shutdown. Guests: Jennifer Senior, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, and Carl Zimmer, a science columnist for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes...

At the start of 2018, the biggest threat to the Trump presidency was an investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. As the year draws to a close, it’s his hush payments to women. We look at what’s behind that change — and how the threat may change again next year. Guests: Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times reporters who have been covering the special counsel investigation. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

It was never clear what motivated Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to hand the investigation of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, over to career prosecutors in New York rather than to the special counsel. With that investigation now implicating the president in serious campaign finance violations, we look at how fateful the decision may be. Guests: Neal Katyal, a lawyer who drafted the rules that govern special counsel investigations, and Michael S...

Last week, Victorina Morales came forward and said that for the last five years, she had been working as an undocumented immigrant at President Trump’s golf club in New Jersey. A couple of days ago, we visited her in her home with Miriam Jordan, the New York Times reporter who first broke the story. Guest: Victorina Morales, a former housekeeper at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., and Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The Times...

Despite repeated warnings over the past two decades, federal law enforcement officials in the United States have ignored the threat of violence from far-right extremists. Now, they have no idea how to stop it. Guest: Janet Reitman, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine who is working on a book about the rise of the far right in post-9/11 America. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

President Barack Obama came very close in 2015 to passing a bipartisan bill to rewrite prison and sentencing laws. Three years later, the same people who were responsible for stopping that bill may become responsible for passing a scaled-back version. Guest: Nicholas Fandos, who covers Congress for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

In a humiliating last-minute move, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain postponed a vote in Parliament on Tuesday on the terms of the country’s divorce from the European Union. We look at why Britain is so frustrated by Brexit even before Brexit has taken effect. Guests: Ellen Barry, the chief international correspondent for The New York Times, and Stephen Castle, a Times correspondent in London. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily...

A New York Times investigation has found that the information being collected about us through apps on our smartphones is far more extensive than most of us imagine — or are aware we have consented to. Guests: Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Natasha Singer and Michael H. Keller, reporters who cover technology for The Times; and Gabriel J.X. Dance, deputy investigations editor. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily...

In the three years that Saudi Arabia, supported by the United States, has been at war with the Houthis in Yemen, very few journalists have been allowed into the country to document what’s happening there. The New York Times journalist Tyler Hicks is one. This is the story of how he came to take a photograph of Amal Hussain that drew international attention to the country’s plight. Guest: Tyler Hicks, a senior photographer for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes...

Across the country, Democratic candidates for governor and attorney general won seats that had long been held by Republicans. But Republican-controlled legislatures in some states are resisting that transfer of power. Guest: Mitch Smith, who covers the Midwest for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.