The Daily

During his decades-long path to become America’s highest-ranking military officer, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. won the crucial support of President Trump.

That all changed when Mr. Brown publicly talked about a subject that is taboo in Mr. Trump’s government.

Helene Cooper, who covers national security for The Times, explains why General Brown was fired and why it has rocked the military.

Guest: Helene Cooper, who cover national security issues for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• President Trump fired General Brown amid a flurry of dismissals at the Pentagon.
• Democratic lawmakers and retired military officers expressed concern about politicization of the military under Mr. Trump.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock

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Today, as the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas enters its most fragile phase, no one knows who will control the future of Gaza.

Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, talks through this delicate moment — as the first part of the deal nears its end — and the questions that hover over it.

Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Gaza’s truce could end in days, with no extension agreed. What happens next?
• Alarmed by President Trump’s Gaza plan, Arab leaders brainstormed about one of their own.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Warning: This episode discusses sexual themes.

Artificial intelligence has changed how millions of people write emails, conduct research and seek advice.

Kashmir Hill, who covers technology and privacy, tells the story of a woman whose relationship with a chatbot when much further than that.

Guest: Kashmir Hill, a features writer on the business desk at The New York Times, covering technology and privacy.

Background reading: 

• She is in love with ChatGPT.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Helen Orr for The New York Times

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When David Muhammad was 15, his mother moved from Oakland, Calif., to Philadelphia with her boyfriend, leaving Muhammad in the care of his brothers, ages 20 and 21, both of whom were involved in the drug scene. Over the next two years, Muhammad was arrested three times — for selling drugs, attempted murder and illegal gun possession.

For Muhammad, life turned around. He wound up graduating from Howard University, running a nonprofit in Oakland called the Mentoring Center and serving in the leadership of the District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. Then he returned to Oakland for a two-year stint as chief probation officer for Alameda County, in the same system that once supervised him.

Muhammad’s unlikely elevation came during a remarkable, if largely overlooked, era in the history of America’s juvenile justice system. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of young people incarcerated in the United States declined by an astonishing 77 percent. Can that progress be sustained — or is America about to reverse course and embark on another juvenile incarceration binge?

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer talks about burnout from covering the pandemic and how bird-watching gave him a new sense of hope.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Jeanna Smialek, who covers the U.S. economy for The Times, will be 33 in a few weeks; she is part of a cohort born in 1990 and 1991 that makes up the peak of America’s population.

At every life stage, that microgeneration has stretched a system that was often too small to accommodate it, leaving its members — so-called peak millennials — with outsize economic power but also a fight to get ahead.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a U.S. economy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• When millennials gripe that they get blamed for everything, the accusers might actually be onto something.
• Millennials have the children, but boomers have the houses.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.