Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Warning: This episode contains strong language.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday released new guidelines that dramaticaly cut down the number of childhood vaccines recommended by the federal government.

Apoorva Mandavilli and Benjamin Mueller, who cover health, explain what is being cut and how it fits into Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s broader agenda.

Guest:

• Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter at The New York Times.
• Benjamin Mueller, a reporter covering health and medicine for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Mr. Kennedy on Monday scaled back the number of vaccines recommended for children.
• Here’s what to know about the new childhood vaccine schedule.

Photo: Annie Rice/EPA, via Shutterstock

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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Paris Marx is joined by Karen Hao to discuss how Sam Altman’s goal of scale at all costs has spawned a new empire founded on exploitation of people and the environment, resulting in not only the loss of valuable research into more inventive AI systems, but also exacerbated data privacy issues, intellectual property erosion, and the perpetuation of surveillance capitalism.

Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. This episode originally aired in June 2025.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Karen was the first journalist to profile OpenAI.

• Karen has reported on the environmental impacts and human costs of AI.

• The New York Times reported on why we're unlikely to get artificial general intelligence anytime soon.

The rising cost of health care is among Americans’ biggest worries, according to recent year-end polls. Insurance coverage for prescription drugs has been decreasing as their prices have been increasing. Texas is the hardest hit state for the uninsured.array(3) { [0]=> string(38) "https://www.tpr.org/podcast/the-source" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

The thriller-machine (and civics savant) returns to talk The Viper, the latest Zig-and-Nola mystery, and why he'll write 350 pages before he bothers naming the thing. Plus, a harrowing Minneapolis video after an ICE agent shoots into a slowly moving SUV—and the yawning gap between what the footage seems to show and DHS talk of "rioters" and a "weaponized" vehicle. Also: the debut of what may become a recurring segment—Let's Parse What Tony Dokoupil Said—from a 17-second January 6th mention to a Marco Rubio kicker that might have been a "meh" joke or might have been the death knell of democracy, depending on your source.

Produced by Corey Wara

Coordinated by Lya Yanne

Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig

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Last night, President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela would start sending the U.S. oil. He’s voiced his desire to exploit the country’s vast reserves since ousting Nicolás Maduro in a midnight raid over the weekend.

The Venezuelan government hasn’t yet confirmed the move. And the country’s leaders continue to condemn U.S. actions in their country as they crack down on anti-Maduro sentiment.

This begs the question – who is in charge of Venezuela? And what does the relationship between the Trump administration and the Delcy Rodriguez, their pick to lead the nation, look like?

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• Monday's "Morning Shots," including Mark Hertling on the "belly-button rule" 
  
  
• Tim’s 2025 Music Year in Review 

• Snag the hoodie that will bring you comfort for life, the American Giant Classic Full Zip. Go to https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code BULWARK. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!
  

The U.S. just carried out a stunning strike in Venezuela—capturing Nicolás Maduro—and Ravi argues the hard part isn’t the raid, but the chaos, precedent, and “what happens next,” with oil looming over everything. He’s then joined by The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer to unpack the CBS/60 Minutes controversy, where a vetted segment on deportations to an overseas prison was spiked, allegedly to appease the Trump administration. Serwer argues this exposes a growing double standard on the right: “free speech” as the freedom to speak, but not to criticize—backed by real pressure on newsrooms, universities, and public debate. A sharp episode about power—who gets to invade, who gets to speak, and who decides what the public is allowed to see.

Adam Serwer’s writing at The Atlantic

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• Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/ 

Join Washington Examiner Senior Writer David Harsanyi and Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway as they discuss the Trump administration's operation targeting deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro, examine President Donald Trump's interest in Greenland, and give an update on the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal and Tim Walz's decision to drop his re-election bid. Mollie and David also share several reviews of movies, including The Ref, Crazy Rich Asians, One False Move, The Phoenician Scheme, and F1.

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