The Daily

Elon Musk and his team have taken a hacksaw to the federal bureaucracy one agency at a time, and the question has become whether he’s on a crusade that will leave the government paralyzed or deliver a shake-up it has needed for years. Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times, takes us inside this hostile takeover of Washington. Guests: Jonathan Swan [https://www.nytimes.com/by/jonathan-swan], a White House reporter for The New York Times. Background reading:  * Inside Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursion [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/musk-federal-government.html] into the federal government. 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.  Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

North America came within hours of a multibillion dollar trade war that was poised to hobble the economies of Mexico and Canada. The Times journalists Ana Swanson, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Simon Romero discuss the last-minute negotiations that headed off the crisis — for now. Guests: Ana Swanson [https://www.nytimes.com/by/ana-swanson], who covers trade and international economics for The New York Times; Matina Stevis-Gridneff [https://www.nytimes.com/by/matina-stevis-gridneff], the Canada bureau chief for The New York Times; and Simon Romero [https://www.nytimes.com/by/simon-romero], an international correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City. Background reading:  * President Trump agreed to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/business/canada-mexico-tariffs-trump.html] after both countries pledged to do more to block drugs and migrants. * What does Mr. Trump really want [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/trump-canada-mexico.html] from Canada and Mexico? 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.  Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Financial markets went into a panic last week over an obscure Chinese tech start-up called DeepSeek. The company now threatens to upend the world of artificial intelligence and the race for who will dominate it. Kevin Roose, a tech columnist at The Times, discusses how DeepSeek caught us all off guard. Guests: Kevin Roose [https://www.nytimes.com/by/kevin-roose], a technology columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the Times tech podcast, “Hard Fork [https://www.nytimes.com/column/hard-fork].” Background reading:  * DeepSeek’s model has rocked Silicon Valley [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/technology/china-deepseek-ai-silicon-valley.html] and upended several fundamental assumptions about A.I. progress. * Listen to “Hard Fork”: Your guide to the DeepSeek freakout [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/podcasts/your-guide-to-the-deepseek-freakout-an-emergency-pod.html]. 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.  Photo: Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Here’s a strange story: One day two summers ago, Jennifer Kahn woke up because her arms — both of them — hurt. Not the way they do when you’ve slept in a funny position, but as if the tendons in her forearms and hands were moving through mud. What felt like sharp electric shocks kept sparking in her fingers and sometimes up the inside of her biceps and across her chest. Holding anything was excruciating: a cup, a toothbrush, her phone. Even doing nothing was miserable. It hurt when she sat with her hands in her lap, when she stood, when she lay flat on the bed or on her side. The slightest pressure — a bedsheet, a watch band, a bra strap — was intolerable. Our understanding of pain, and especially chronic pain, is far behind where it should be. We don’t know what causes a person with an injury to develop chronic pain, or why it happens in some people and not others, or why it happens more often in women. At a genetic and cellular level, we don’t know which systems get out of whack, or why, or how to fix them. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The psychiatrist and author of “Dopamine Nation” wants us to find balance in a world of temptation and abundance.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.