Will & Hesse sit down with Ari Aster, director of Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid, and the upcoming Eddington. They rap on evil movies, mixing stupid slapstick humor with pain & discomfort, creating a contemporary western out of the recent past, some of Ari’s favorite films & filmmakers, and of course…the all-consuming sense of impending doom & lurking doubt that surrounds us.
Check out Eddington, in theaters this summer on July 18th.
Plus: Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” faces a contentious vote in the House. And Paramount agrees to pay $16 million to settle Trump lawsuit over ‘60 Minutes’ interview. Luke Vargas hosts.
A.M. Edition for July 2. A day after its passage in the Senate, House Republicans are lining up to oppose the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” with fiscal conservatives and centrists leading the charge. Plus, Trump threatens Japan with tariffs as high as 35% ahead of a looming deadline to complete trade talks. And the U.S. stops delivery of key weapons for Ukraine as Moscow keeps up punishing air attacks. WSJ foreign correspondent Ian Lovett discusses the state of play as the war enters its fourth summer and what a pullback in foreign support might mean for Ukraine. Luke Vargas hosts.
What once was taboo has now gone mainstream. As television and print audiences have dwindled over recent years, social media is now the No. 1 place for Americans to get their news updates.
Detailed in the reportfrom the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, Americans across the political spectrum are using social media for news consumptions over traditional avenues. However, conservative influencers have seen the largest audiences and most engagement.
Marketplace’s Nova Safo spoke with Nic Newman, a co-author of the report, to talk about the state of news consumption in the U.S.
The Senate approved President Trump's megabill, which includes tax cuts and boosts border security and defense programs. Cuts to Medicaid in the bill are unpopular with some Senators and the general public. Also, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is planning to loosen or eliminate some gun regulations.
Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Carrie Fiebel, Gigi Douban, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zo van Ginhoven. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.
Noah Smith is a star economics writer behind the “Noahpinion” blog and co-host of the Econ 102 podcast. Smith joins Big Technology to discuss whether generative AI is actually boosting productivity or still waiting for its “electricity moment.” Tune in to hear his contrarian take on the so-called AI jobs apocalypse and how businesses will need to reorganize before the gains show up in earnings. We also cover immigration crackdowns, tariff uncertainty, wage-inequality myths, and how China’s military buildup reshapes economic strategy. Hit play for a sharp, no-hype dive into AI, economics, and geopolitics.
The Senate passes Trump’s sweeping tax and healthcare bill by a single vote — but it still faces a challenge in the House. Questions grow around Pam Bondi’s claim of “tens of thousands” of Epstein videos, as legal experts say there’s no evidence they exist. Apple considers outsourcing Siri’s core technology to OpenAI or Anthropic as it struggles to compete in the A.I. space. And Lululemon files a lawsuit against Costco, accusing the wholesaler of selling lookalike gear that mimics its high-end designs.
Swami Vivekananda is credited with introducing Hinduism to the West. His work earned him an honorary street sign on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, but it went missing.
With a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, the Senate has adopted President Trump’s giant domestic policy bill, which now heads back to the House for a final vote.
The legislation is defined by the staggering amount of debt it will create: more than $3 trillion.
Andrew Duehren, who covers tax policy, and Colby Smith, who covers the economy, talk about how Republicans have rewritten the rules to make that debt vanish, and why the world is less and less convinced that the United States can handle its debts.
Guest:
Andrew Duehren, who writes about tax policy for The New York Times from Washington.
Colby Smith, a New York Times reporter covering the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy.
Background reading:
The Senate bill would add at least $3.3 trillion to the national debt, the budget office says.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Ken Cedeno/Reuters
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 Donald Trump’s landmark legislation narrowly passes the Senate, our correspondent analyses the long-term political and economic consequences. Why foreign fighters are heading to the front line in Ukraine. And how congestion charging transformed the streets of New York.
