News Desk

Artificial intelligence has gone from struggling with basic arithmetic to helping solve some of mathematics’ most famous open problems — and the field is reckoning with what that means.

Steven Strogatz, a professor of mathematics at Cornell University, describes the excitement and grief of watching A.I. take on work that gives people a sense of purpose — and asks what could be lost if machines deliver answers without the human struggle, insight and understanding that make solving problems meaningful.

Guest: Steven Strogatz, a professor of mathematics at Cornell University who writes for The New York Times about the future of research.

Background reading: 

• Mathematics isn’t just a game to let A.I. solve — history shows why.
• A.I. is mastering the kinds of projects that have long helped to build the careers of young mathematicians. What does that mean for their future?

Photo: Ian C. Bates 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. 

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The documentary film “NAZA,” which investigates the methods the Israeli military has used in the war in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, received a record-breaking standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival last month. Just a few days later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would propose legislation that could revoke the directors’ Israeli citizenship, arguing that they had defamed their country.

Now, with a global theatrical release underway, the directors spoke with “The Daily” to discuss the film and all the pushback that it — and they — have experienced.

Guest: 

• Rachel Szor, an Israeli investigative journalist, film director and activist.
• Yuval Abraham, an Israeli investigative journalist, film director and Arabic-Hebrew translator.

Background reading: 

• After accolades abroad, “NAZA” met backlash at home.
• Read The Times’s review of the film.

Photo: Stefano Rellandini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, The Guardian/IFC Center, Ander Gillenea/Agence France-Presse — 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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A dramatic pop music comeback story is underway: Celine Dion is performing again.

In 2022, Dion, the renowned Canadian singer, announced that she had stiff person syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disorder that causes painful muscle spasms and affects roughly one in a million people. The announcement came as a shock to her fans, and in a raw and revealing documentary released in 2024, “I Am: Celine Dion," she shared her struggle to overcome her condition, and sing again. But Dion worked her way back to performing, and is now appearing in a run of sold out shows in Paris.

The culture reporter Elisabeth Vincentelli was there on opening night, and in this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” she talks with our host Natalie Kitroeff about the remarkable comeback of Celine Dion.

On Today’s Episode:

• Elisabeth Vincentelli, an arts, culture, and theater journalist.

Background Reading:

• Celine Dion Is Back Onstage. Naturally, She Chose Paris.
• Paris Really, Really Loves Celine Dion

Photo credit: Clementine Schneidermann 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.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric goes to both sides of conflicts. She’s worried that our warring world is spiraling out of control.

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

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For weeks, thousands of high school students in France have been out in the streets protesting the conditions of public schools. They want better funding, something that won’t be easy with the current state of French finances.

Mark Landler, the Paris bureau chief, explains why after years of overspending, France is in crisis, and is driving toward a fiscal cliff.

Guest: Mark Landler, the Paris bureau chief of The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• France’s debt problem is a warning to the world.
• Understand the country’s polycrisis.
• For the resurgent far left, the protests are an opening and a threat.

Photo: Miguel Medina/Agence France-Presse — 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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Christa Pike survived two doses of a lethal injection drug last week during a botched execution in Tennessee.

Pamela Colloff, who writes for The New York Times Magazine, discusses the waning public support for the death penalty and why despite it some states are doubling down.

Guest: Pamela Colloff, a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading: 

• Pamela Colloff, a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine.

Photo: George Walker IV/Associated Press

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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What exactly happened near an air base in Britain used by the United States?

Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, discusses what he’s learned about the mysterious events around the base, including the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. Air Force bombers.

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A mysterious call near a military base used by the United States set in motion a huge counterterrorism response and days of uncertainty in Britain.
• The United States withdrew 12 bombers from the base after information emerged about a potential Iranian drone attack, U.S. and British officials said.

Photo: 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, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over the past few weeks, millions of people have rushed to download a new type of artificial intelligence app — agents. They are useful, kind of cute and need your most sensitive personal information to work.

Eli Tan, a reporter who covers technology for The New York Times, opened up his life to Muse, Meta’s A.I. agent. He explained what happened next.

Guest: Eli Tan, a reporter covering the technology industry for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Muse, Meta’s new A.I. agent, can send your emails and book your travel.
• Eli Tan said he “was blown away” by Muse after using it to perform dozens of day-to-day tasks.

Photo: Gabriela Bhaskar/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.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A new set of polls from The New York Times finds that Democratic candidates are doing remarkably well in the Republican-leaning states that they need to win to gain control of the U.S. Senate in next month’s midterm elections.

They are doing less well in the blue states that, in theory, should be easier to win.

Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The Times, offers his idea of what is behind the numbers.

Guest: Nate Cohn, The New York Times’s chief political analyst.

Background reading: 

• Polls suggested that Hispanic voters, whose support helped propel President Trump to the White House in 2024, would largely support the Democratic Party this time.
• Senator Susan Collins of Maine led polls for the first time since Graham Platner dropped out of the race in July.

Photo: Ash Adams 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.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you dine out regularly, you might have noticed some changes in restaurants over the past few years. Perhaps you’ve found yourself ordering at a counter, scanning a QR code to see the menu, or eating … a lot more soft serve.

These changes aren’t just trends. Brett Anderson, a New York Times food reporter, says they are restaurant owners’ desperate attempts to stay afloat in an industry in crisis. According to a report from the National Restaurant Association, 42 percent of restaurant owners said they weren’t profitable in 2025. Many of them were at serious risk of closing.

In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Brett talks with our host Michael Barbaro about the economic realities that are forcing businesses to rethink the entire concept of a restaurant, including a radical experiment at one Minneapolis diner that stopped charging for food entirely.

On Today’s Episode:

• Brett Anderson, a reporter for the Food section of The New York Times.

Background Reading:

• This Restaurant Stopped Charging for Food. And Profits Are Up.

• The Restaurant List 2026

  Photo credit: Caroline Yang 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.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.