Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Ravi Gupta examines new data challenging the idea of a strong economic recovery and connects the week’s biggest political and cultural stories—from deficits, tariffs, and the Epstein revelations to immigration, schools, and AI—before asking a deeper question: what holds a society together when trust in institutions fades? In conversation with former Obama White House lawyer Jason Green, the focus turns to memory, community, and preserving elders’ stories, suggesting that rebuilding meaning may begin with humility, listening, and the people closest to home.

Jason Green’s Too Precious to Lose 

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Sadie Dingfelder returns to rule on compostable dog poop bags and recycled toilet paper in a no-holds-barred round of "Is That Bulls**t?" No, it's dog sh*t. Yes, we know. In the Spiel, Pam Bondi's bruising House Judiciary testimony, in which she spars with Jamie Raskin over the Epstein files and treats oversight like open-mic night. Plus, the Trump Justice Department keeps striking out before grand juries, so expect a crime spree undertaken by newly emboldened ham sandwiches.

Produced by Corey Wara

Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig

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Hello!

Today we talk about Bad Bunny and the right’s fake outrage and then we bring back war correspondent Patrick Hultgren who is reporting live from New Jersey 11 about the primary victory of Analilia Mejia, the former Bernie campaign director and labor organizer who just upset a whole lot of big money candidates and will almost certainly be representing New Jersey in the House.

Enjoy!

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled TrumpRx to try to counteract the high cost of prescription drugs. The president hailed the website as a “transformative” health care initiative.

Margot Sanger-Katz, who covers health care policy, explains how the site works, and whether it will actually save Americans money.

Guest: Margot Sanger-Katz, a reporter for The New York Times who covers health care policy and government spending.

Background reading: 

• President Trump’s online drugstore opened for business last week.
• Here’s how to tell if you will save money using TrumpRx.

Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times

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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While George Washington was doing military work, a small group of leaders including Ben Franklin and John Jay were on the Committee of Secret Correspondence, which did diplomatic and foreign intelligence work in the service of the American cause. In this missive, Ben Franklin recaps the failed Canada campaign Washington referenced to John Hancock and offers an account of a Canadian visitor to Congress, who sounds like an intelligence asset, and his report on political reasons the campaign isn't working in Canada and how it could be helped. Turns out, it never did catch on north of the border.

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