The Daily

On Tuesday, the United States Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill — the largest single infusion of federal funds into infrastructure projects in more than a decade. It was a bipartisan vote, with 19 Republicans voting alongside the Democrats. Soon after, the Senate passed a more expansive budget plan  — this time along party lines. What do these two votes tell us about how Washington is working today? Guest: Emily Cochrane, a reporter covering Congress for The New York Times.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced yesterday that he would resign from office, exactly one week after a searing report found that he sexually harassed 11 women. What convinced him to step aside, how did the scandal bring about such a rapid and astonishing reversal of fortune for one of the nation’s best-known leaders, and what happens next? Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

The Taliban have made big moves in the last few days in their bid to take control of Afghanistan. This weekend, they seized several cities and suddenly claimed a lot of the north. On Monday, they took another provincial capital. What is the Taliban’s strategy, what will the United States do, and where does this leave the Afghan government? Guest: Carlotta Gall, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times. She previously reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2001 to 2011.

To ensure students’ safe return to in-person learning amid a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus, some school districts plan to institute mask mandates. Yet that move isn’t necessarily straightforward — several of the country’s hardest-hit states have banned such mandates. We look at how this conflict is playing out in Arkansas. Guest: Richard Fausset, a correspondent covering the American South for The New York Times.

For much of America’s history, a person with a disability had few civil rights related to their disability. That began to change when, in the 1980s, a group of lawmakers started to agitate for sweeping civil rights legislation. The result of their efforts was the Americans With Disabilities Act, or A.D.A. Albert Dytch, a 71-year-old man with muscular dystrophy, has filed more than 180 A.D.A. lawsuits in California. Is it profiteering — or justice?

Don, a 38-year-old single father from Pittsburgh, doesn’t want to be lumped into the “crazy anti-vax crowd.” Jeannie, a middle school teacher, has never vaccinated her teenage son and says she won’t start now. Lyndsey, from Florida, regrets having not had her late grandmother vaccinated against Covid-19. With the Delta variant of the coronavirus raging, we hear from some Americans who have decided not to get vaccinated...

This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment. After accusations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York surfaced early this year, an independent investigation was begun. And while people around the governor — and his critics — expected the ensuing report to be bad, what came out this week was worse. There have been widespread calls for Mr. Cuomo to resign, but will he go? Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

Tunisia was supposed to be the success story of the Arab Spring — the only democracy to last in the decade since revolutions swept the region. Recently, after mass protests, President Kais Saied appears to be taking the reins of power for himself. What happened? We hear from Mr. Saied and citizens of Tunisia on the ground. Guest: Vivian Yee, the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times.

This episode contains strong language. Bartenders, sous chefs, wait staff — at the moment, managers in the U.S. hospitality industry are struggling to fill a range of roles at their establishments. Managers blame pandemic unemployment benefits for the dearth of talent. Employees say that the pandemic has opened their eyes to the realities of work. We spoke to workers and managers about why it has become so hard to get some staff back to work.

Recent data from the C.D.C. has found that not only can vaccinated people get infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus, though instances are rare, but they also can potentially spread the virus just as much as an unvaccinated person. What are the practical implications of this new information? Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times.