Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

The vast political divide in America has largely become a battle between folks who live in the cities and those who don’t. This was not always the case. Somehow rural voters have almost uniformly become Republican voters. How did the divide emerge and why does it pose a threat to democracy?array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

•  Chris Geidner on Greg Bovino's appalling misuse of E.B. White's legacy and "Charlotte's Web"
• Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" with Mark Hertling on Venezuela
• Tim's book, "Why We Did It"
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The last two weeks have highlighted fractures within both the Republican and Democratic parties.

The fight over releasing the Epstein files has shaken the GOP, causing some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies – like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – to call him out. And recent incidents of antisemitism within the MAGA movement have prompted infighting about how (and whether) to root it out.

Despite that, the party in the country’s crosshairs is on the left.

The longest government shutdown in American history ended last week after 43 days. And it ended with eight senators breaking with the Democratic caucus to pass a spending bill – without securing the health insurance provisions they had demanded.

Many Democrats across the country — from Washington strategists to local activists — called the move a surrender. They say the defectors gave up a winning hand right when public opinion was on their side. The loudest criticism came from younger Democrats who called for new party leadership.

In this latest installment of “If You Can Keep It,” our weekly series on the state of democracy, we look at the fractures the shutdown exposed on the left and how a new generation of lawmakers thinks the party should govern in the years ahead.

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When President Trump proposed the introduction of a 50-year mortgage, he challenged a bedrock of the American housing market and financial system. He also revealed how desperate the administration is to lower prices for consumers.

Conor Dougherty, who covers housing and development, explains what’s attractive about the idea and its potential drawbacks — and why housing affordability is such an intractable problem.

Guest: Conor Dougherty, a reporter for The New York Times covering housing and development for more than a decade.

Background reading: 

• The Trump administration is facing backlash from U.S. consumers as higher costs from tariffs blunt wage gains.
• Many Americans bought their first houses during the pandemic, when mortgage rates dipped to record lows. Now, some feel trapped.

Photo: Joe Raedle/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. 

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.

How can we reclaim the internet? Tom Sutcliffe and guests discuss the digital age - its supporters and discontents.

Tech critic Cory Doctorow introduces his new book Enshittification, a blistering diagnosis of how online platforms have decayed — from innovation to exploitation — and what we can do to make it better for ordinary users.

Novelist and broadcaster Naomi Alderman draws on history in Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today, arguing that we’ve lived through information crises before, and that lessons from the invention of writing and the printing press can help us navigate today’s digital turbulence.

Journalist Oliver Moody, the author of Baltic: The Future of Europe, discusses Estonia’s radical embrace of digital governance, and what it reveals about the possibilities — and limits — of a truly connected state.

Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

When the No Kings protests recently took place on streets across the nation, Trump administration officials said these were quote "hate America" rallies. But in fact, these were patriots using their constitutional right to dissent and voice their opposition to government policies — a practice that has been part of America since the founding.

There was once a time when documentaries could be found only on public television or in art-house cinemas. But today, documentaries are more popular and accessible than ever, with streaming services serving up true crime, celebrity documentaries, music documentaries and so much more.

On today’s Sunday Special, Gilbert is joined by The New York Times’s chief television critic, James Poniewozik, and Alissa Wilkinson, a Times film critic, to talk about the documentaries that are worth your viewing time.

 

On Today’s Episode:

James Poniewozik is the chief TV critic for The Times.

Alissa Wilkinson is a movie critic at The Times, and writes the Documentary Lens column.

 

Background Reading:

What ‘The American Revolution’ Says About Our Cultural Battles

‘Come See Me in the Good Light’: The Sweetness After a Terminal Diagnosis

 

 

Discussed on this episode:

“The American Revolution,” 2025, directed by Ken Burns

“The Alabama Solution,” 2025, directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman

“The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” 2015, directed by Andrew Jarecki

“Making a Murderer,” 2015, directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos

“The Yogurt Shop Murders,” 2025, directed by Margaret Brown

“The Perfect Neighbor,” 2025, directed by Beet Gandbhir

“The Last Dance,” 2020, directed by Jason Hehir

“Copa 71,” 2023, directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erkine

“Cheer,” 2020, created by Greg Whiteley

“Last Chance U,” 2016, directed by Greg Whiteley, Adam Ridley and Luke Lorentzen

“Pee-wee as Himself,” 2025, directed by Matt Wolf

“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” 2024, directed by Benjamin Ree

“Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music,” 2025, directed by Questlove

“Cameraperson,” 2016, directed by Kirsten Johnson

“An American Family,” 1973, created by Craig Gilbert

“Look Into My Eyes,” 2024, directed by Lana Wilson

“When We Were Kings,” 1996, directed by Leon Gast

 

Photo: Mike Doyle/American Revolution Film Project and Florentine Films

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.