In an extraordinarily tense showdown on Thursday, senators of both parties confronted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine policies, his firing of the director of the C.D.C., and the growing list of federal health officials who have resigned in protest of his leadership.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The Times, explains what it was like in the room and describes what seems like a turning point in the relationship between Congress and Mr. Kennedy.
Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a correspondent based in Washington covering health policy for 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.
Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
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When the incoming chief of Britain’s secret services takes the helm on October 1st, she must balance competing priorities and navigate a world in which technology has made spycraft both tougher and riskier. Could nuclear power finally start to fulfil its potential? And remembering refugee and entrepreneur Stephanie Shirley.
In a contentious Senate hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defends his decisions on vaccine policy. Economists fret about the American job landscape. And London crews try to dismantle a collection of trash in the Thames known as “Wet Wipe Island.”
A dinosaur with metre-long spikes has been discovered. The species, Spicomellus afer, is from the Jurassic Period and is the oldest example of a group of animals called ankylosaurs.
The scientists behind the research have dubbed the new dinosaur the ‘punk rock dinosaur’, which led the Unexpected Elements team to go out searching for the science on all things punk, rock, and heavy metal.
First up, we find out what other punks might be lurking in the fossil record. And meet a pair of unconventional molluscs.
Next up on the set list, we investigate the physics underpinning mosh pits and the implications this could have for crowd control.
We speak with Anirudh Patel, an astrophysicist from Columbia University, who is scouring deep space to find out more about the origins of heavy metals.
And we dig into the unexpected link between water pipes and IQ.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Meral Jamal
Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski
For this week’s Rapid Response Friday we take up three major judicial rulings pushing back against executive overreach on three completely different topics: removals under the Alien Enemies Act, the use of the National Guard to conduct domestic law enforcement, and the imposition of tariffs as an executive action under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Also: it turns out a DC grand jury really can't indict a ham sandwich, and why Brazil is so much better at prosecuting insurrectionists than the US is.
