The Daily

R.F.K. Jr.’s Newest Mission: Getting Us Off Antidepressants

In his latest public health crusade, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, is asking why millions of Americans have been taking psychiatric drugs for far longer than ever intended. In the process, he’s highlighting an open secret in medicine: that doctors are better at starting drug treatments than at stopping them, and that patients who want to end their treatment are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. Ellen Barry, a mental health reporter, takes us inside the growing movement to “deprescribe.” Guest: Ellen Barry [https://www.nytimes.com/by/ellen-barry], a reporter covering mental health for The New York Times. Background reading: Some psychiatrists fear that Mr. Kennedy’s call to rein in the use of depression medications will drive patients away from care. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/science/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssri-psychiatry.html] Photo: Darren Staples/Reuters For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily [http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily]. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can a Bad Man Be a Good Father?

The writer Tom Junod has spent a career crafting profiles for men’s magazines like GQ and Esquire, often of famously complicated men like Norman Mailer, Kevin Spacey and Tony Curtis. But another man loomed behind Junod’s interest in these figures, informing his own sense of masculinity and manhood: his father, Lou. Lou Junod was handsome, charismatic — a man who seemed like a celebrity, even though he wasn’t famous. He was also mysterious, a keeper of secrets that have continued to reverberate through his son’s life. On today’s episode, Michael Barbaro talks with Junod about his new book, “In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man, [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/books/review/in-the-days-of-my-youth-i-was-told-what-it-means-to-be-a-man-tom-junod.html]” which is part memoir and part detective story, as well as a powerful meditation on fatherhood. On Today’s Episode: Tom Junod is the author of “In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man.” [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/89092/in-the-days-of-my-youth-i-was-told-what-it-means-to-be-a-man-by-tom-junod/] Background Reading: Tom Junod Would Like to Tell You About His Father [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/style/tom-junod-would-like-to-tell-you-about-his-father.html] Art: Lou Junod with baby Tom in 1958. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Danny McBride Thinks Men Learned All the Wrong Lessons From Movies

The writer and actor, known for his profane comedic antiheroes, likes to find universal truths in human flaws. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Did Iran Come Out on Top in the Peace Deal?

After three months of war, Iran and the United States have agreed to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The news, which was first met with joy and relief, drew a wave of criticism when the actual terms of the agreement became public this week. David Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times, explains how the Trump administration has defended the deal, which seems to favor Iran. Guest: David E. Sanger [https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-e-sanger], a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading:  * The U.S.-Iran deal, which left many of the toughest issues to future negotiations, came after a last-minute scramble. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/us/politics/us-iran-deal-trump.html] * President Trump lashed out at critics of the agreement [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/world/middleeast/trump-iran-deal-obama.html] and threatened to bomb Iran again if it violated the deal. Photo: Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily [http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily]. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death

Warning: This episode discusses suicide. Hours after Jeffrey Epstein arrived at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, an employee expressed concern over his distraught state, saying in an email to the jail staff, “just to be on the safe side and prevent any suicidal thoughts can someone from Psychology come and talk with him.” The reporter Charles Homans details The New York Times’s major new investigation, which tries to answer the question: Did the world’s most powerful and well-connected sex offender die by his own hand or by somebody else’s? If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources [http://speakingofsuicide.com/resources] for a list of additional resources. Guest: Charles Homans [https://www.nytimes.com/by/charles-homans], a reporter covering national politics for The New York Times and The Times Magazine. Background reading: Congressional action made possible the fullest examination of Epstein’s death, and The New York Times set out [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-death-final-days.html] to do it. Photo: The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily [http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily]. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.