A.M. Edition for Feb. 4. Software stocks are sliding again today, following a rough day on Wall Street that saw the rise of new AI tools shave more than $300 billion off of companies that sell or invest in software. WSJ’s Hannah Miao explains what’s driving the selloff and what it all means for investors. Plus, Novo Nordisk shares plummet as the weight-loss drugmaker warns of unprecedented pricing pressure. And we look at why China is banning retractable car door handles. Luke Vargas hosts.
Congress ended the shutdown but now faces a tight deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats and Republicans far apart over immigration enforcement reforms after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minnesota. Russia has resumed heavy strikes on Ukraine’s power grid during extreme cold, despite President Trump saying Vladimir Putin agreed to pause attacks, putting new strain on fragile diplomatic efforts. And President Trump is calling for the federal government to “take over” elections in some states, escalating concerns among election officials about interference ahead of the midterms.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Miguel Macias, Ben Swasey, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
The explosion of prediction markets in the United States, where people bet on everything from Taylor Swift’s wedding date to election outcomes, has radically expanded the universe of gambling.
David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter, explains how these platforms became so widespread so fast, and how betting on everything could change the way we live.
Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times, covering the crypto industry.
Background reading:
David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times, covering the crypto industry.
Photo: Photo Illustration: atakan/iStock, via Getty Images
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
An American fighter jet shoots down an Iranian drone. Arizona authorities examine a slew of tips in the apparent abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mother. And more federal prosecutors resign in protest near Minneapolis.
We're back for another live show at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, hosted by the Northwestern Federalist Society! We discuss the term's two Second Amendment arguments -- first recapping the oral argument in Wolford v. Lopez, featuring Hawaii's law about getting consent to bear arms on private property; and then previewing the oral argument in United States v. Hemani, about the ban on possession of guns by drug users.
Hosts Mary Katharine Ham and Vic Matus talk the Washington Auto show and generational shifts in car culture, plus their first cars! They delve into the Democratic drama of the Texas Senate race and the influence of social media on politics. The conversation also touches on the Grammys, the Kennedy Center's controversies, city dysfunction with school closures and trash heaps, and the Loudoun County School Board is absolutely insane again. Finally, they are trying to care about the Winter Olympics.
The Epstein Files have been released--or have they? Days after the Department of Justice’s delayed and poorly-redacted release of millions of new documents connected with the world’s most infamous sex trafficker, we sit down for a first look at what is (and isn’t) in here. We begin with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s attempt to fight for the right to party with Jeffrey Epstein before evaluating the DOJ’s efforts to comply with its Congressional mandate to release the files more than a month after they were supposed to. We also look at a heartbreaking journal from an anonymous survivor to try to understand before Matt pulls out some selections from keyword searches which implicate Elon Musk, mega-financier Leon Black, magician David Copperfield, sitting Secretary of the Treasury Howard Lutnick, former Obama administration lawyer Kathy Ruemmler, and many more. Also: what to make about the wilder allegations you may have heard involving Donald Trump, and what it means to “be in the Epstein files” at all.
NEXT TIME: the most disgusting plea deal in American history somehow gets… worse?
If you haven't been following conservative media for a long time, you might not know that there have actually been many eras of Tucker Carlson. He launched his career in print journalism before landing under the bright lights of Fox News in 2009. That's where he developed his super power – giving his audience exactly what they want, and feeding some of their worst impulses again and again under the glossy veneer of respectability. New Yorker staff writer Jason Zengerle first met Carlson back in the 1990s and has been following his career ever since. His new book, "Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind," examines Carlson's evolution and the media's. We spoke with Zengerle about Carlson's past and what his shifting priorities reveal about American politics.
And in headlines, the House narrowly passes a spending bill to end the partial government shutdown, Renee Good's brothers testify before Congressional Democrats, and a U.S. fighter jet shoots down an Iranian drone.
