Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Three visions of darkness as the days draw in. Adam Rutherford's guests for Radio 4's Monday discussion programme are a poet, a photographer of night-time and a National Gallery curator.

Night Vision is the latest book from the award-winning poet and writer Jean Sprackland exploring our complex relationship with the dark: what we fear and what we wish to banish. In the dark she finds a place of possibility and she asks what might we discover in the dark if we free our imagination.

The photographer Jasper Goodall has been taking photographs in the dark for many years, mainly in forests and woodlands. In 2025 in exhibitions on show at Nottingham, Brighton, Cornwall and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition he has displayed works which draw on classical myth, European folklore and animistic belief systems.

Christine Riding, Director of Collections and Research, talks about the images of scientific experiment and industrialisation in England on show in the National Gallery's exhibition showcasing the candlelight paintings of Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Wright of Derby: From the Shadows in the Sunley Room at the National Gallery runs until 10 May 2026 and there is an entrance fee.

Producer: Ruth Watts

Headlines have made clear that we are in a crisis of loneliness, but the conversation has yet to explore how social isolation impacts the body and mind on a cellular level. We are animals that need community and unity. We hear a neuroscientist’s guide to boosting your brain health by living a more connected life.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture.

This week, we’re listening to the songs and albums that defined the year, for better or worse. Gilbert Cruz is joined by Caryn Ganz and Lindsay Zoladz from The Times’s pop music desk to discuss some of the biggest and best releases of 2025.

Albums and songs mentioned in this episode:

Bad Bunny, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos”

Lady Gaga, “Mayhem”

Justin Bieber, “Daisies”

Chappell Roan, “The Giver” and “The Subway”

Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”

Doechii, “Alligator Bites Never Heal”

Taylor Swift, “The Life of a Showgirl”

Morgan Wallen, “I’m the Problem”

Ghost, “Skeletá”

Dijon, “Baby”

Geese, “Getting Killed”

Water From Your Eyes, “It’s a Beautiful Place”

PinkPantheress, “Fancy That”

Lily Allen, “Tennis”

Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”

Sleigh Bells, “Bunky Becky Birthday Boy”

Hayley Williams, “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party”

Turnstile, “Never Enough”

On Today’s Episode

Caryn Ganz is the pop music editor at The Times.

Lindsay Zoladz is a pop music critic at The Times and the writer of The Amplifier newsletter.

Additional Reading

Best Albums of 2025

Best Songs of 2025

 

Photo Illustration by The New York Times; From left, Angela Weiss/AFP — Getty Images (Lady Gaga); OK McCausland for The New York Times (Geese); Erika Santelices/Reuters (Bad Bunny); Helle Arensbak/AFP -- Getty Images, via Ritzau Scanpix (PinkPantheress)

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Last week, Bari sat down with Erika Kirk for an hour-long town hall in front of a live audience on CBS.

It was an extremely powerful conversation. Erika and Bari spoke about a lot—rising political violence in this very divided country; the way some people justified or excused Charlie’s murder; what Erika thinks about some of the controversial things Charlie said in his lifetime; her response to Candace Owens and the conspiracy theories Owens and others are peddling; the growing antisemitism on the right; and her decision to forgive Charlie’s killer.

They also talked about the posthumous release of Charlie’s last book, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life.

This town hall was the first of many conversations and debates Bari will be bringing to CBS News about the things that matter most. Which, of course, are often the hardest to talk about. We really hope you will tune in. 

In case you missed this first one with Erika Kirk, we’re thrilled to share the conversation here on Honestly. And we can’t wait for you to catch the next one on CBS News.

The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.

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In this special Saturday edition, Mike sits down with Daniel Oppenheimer of Eminent Americans to tackle a high-stakes question: Who is worthy of the Fresh Air throne? They dissect the craft of interviewing, critique the "unprepared celebrity" podcast trend, and evaluate potential successors ranging from Colin McEnroe to Jon Ronson.

Produced by Corey Wara

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The current and former lawmakers get candid about bipartisan politics, party leadership and the state of the Senate.

• Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.com
• Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast
• For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Democrats were on the receiving end of some midterm election momentum this week. In Indiana, Republicans lawmakers defied intense pressure from President Donald Trump rejecting his demands for a newly gerrymandered Congressional map.

In Miami, residents elected Eileen Higgins as mayor, the first woman to hold the job in the city’s history. She’s also the first Democrat to hold the office in 28 years. And a Georgia state House seat flipped in a district Trump won by double digits.

And Congress is considering limiting the Pentagon’s travel budget after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to release footage of a “double-tap” strike he ordered on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, can the United States legally seize a Venezuelan oil tanker or is it an act of “international piracy.”? What does this latest move by the Trump Administration towards Nicolas Maduro mean for escalating the ongoing pressure campaign? President Donald Trump says the vessel was taken “for a very good reason.”

Under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, 600 trucks per day carrying aid must be allowed into Gaza. This week, an analysis by the Associated Press showed an average of only 459 are crossing into the territory daily. This comes as torrential rain from Storm Byron swept across the Strip flooding overcrowded tents sheltering tens of thousands of families displaced by the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sounding the alarm about the role China is playing in helping Russia beef up its military industry.

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Shadi Hamid joins to discuss his new book, The Case for American Power, arguing that progressives' retreat from global engagement is a mistake. He contends that while the Left often views U.S. hegemony as intrinsically immoral—citing the legacy of Iraq and the tragedy in Gaza—the alternative of withdrawal often leads to greater atrocities, such as the unchecked devastation in Syria. Hamid makes the case that moral righteousness without power is toothless, and that ceding the global stage to bad actors or rival superpowers creates a more dangerous world. Plus, Mike critiques the Sunday show trend of grilling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the price of bananas and Tonka trucks, arguing that "gotcha" questions about specific items ignore the reality of inflation as a composite number.

Produced by Corey Wara

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