Apple News In Conversation

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, nearly half of states in the U.S. have banned or heavily restricted abortion, leaving millions of people without access to this procedure. Caroline Kitchener covers abortion for the Washington Post and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting in 2023. Kitchener talks to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about the impact of abortion bans on people’s lives and the role this issue is playing in the 2024 election.

On November 19, 2005, a group of U.S. Marines killed 24 men, women, and children in Haditha, Iraq. It would become known as the Haditha massacre and set off one of the largest war-crimes investigations in American history. But, ultimately, no one was convicted of these killings. The latest season of the New Yorker’s podcast In the Dark explores what happened in Haditha and how the U.S. military justice system often fails to hold its members to account. Host Madeleine Baran spoke with Apple News In Conversation’s Shumita Basu about this expansive investigative reporting.

When it comes to QAnon and other conspiracy theories, there’s no one type of person who is most vulnerable. And those who get sucked in can quickly become unrecognizable to their loved ones. Jesselyn Cook, the author of The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family, talks to Apple News In Conversationhost Shumita Basu about how QAnon has shattered lives across the political spectrum and the tools that can work to pull family and friends back out of the rabbit hole.

Every day, 10,000 people turn 65 in America. With unpaid family members bearing the brunt of the work and an already-stressed care workforce, the U.S. faces huge challenges to support the elderly. Labor organizer and author Ai-jen Poo talks to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about how America can give everyone a chance to have the aging experience they deserve.

This is an episode from our archives.Growing up, Jennifer Senior thought her mom was an only child. But when she was 12 years old, she learned her mom had a sister, named Adele, who was institutionalized as a baby. Adele had spent almost her entire life separated from her family. Decades later, in 2021, Senior reconnected with her aunt and uncovered the dark history of institutionalizing children with intellectual disabilities. Senior wrote about her aunt’s story in The Atlantic and spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about her experience.

This week, Democrats rallied around their new ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. It was a remarkable sign of unity for a party that settled on their new nominee just four weeks ago and has been riding a wave of voter enthusiasm. But can this energy last? And what will it take to win the White House in November? Apple News editor Gideon Resnick attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and talked to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about where the race with Trump stands now and what the Harris campaign sees as its path to victory.

The Darién Gap is one of the most dangerous migrant routes in the world and the only way to get to the U.S. from South America by land. But despite the risks, more and more people — including children — are braving the 70-mile stretch of harsh terrain. Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Dickerson and photographer Lynsey Addario recently made the trek with several families to show just how treacherous it is on the ground. Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu spoke with Dickerson about what she saw — and how U.S. immigration policy has created more risks for people every step of the way.

Nancy Pelosi is one of the most powerful people in U.S. history. She was first elected to Congress in 1987 at the age of 47 and went on to become the first woman speaker of the House in 2007. She is known as a shrewd politician with an outsize influence over the Democratic Party and the country. Her new book, The Art of Power, details some of the biggest moments in her career. Pelosi sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about the 2024 race for the White House, American politics today, and her legacy.

The United States’ food system is fundamentally broken. We produce food that is optimized for profits, not quality. A lot of it is also detrimental to our health. And the way we produce it does huge harm to the planet. Best-selling author Mark Bittman has been a leading voice in food and policy for decades. He talks to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about the serious problems with how our food is made and sold — and offers solutions to improve the system.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are finally here, with two weeks of jaw-dropping, mind-blowing athleticism by some of the world’s GOATs. NBC’s Rebecca Lowe is covering the Olympics — and talks with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about the athletes on Team USA, what they’re up against, and the most exciting storylines of this summer’s Games.

Following the Republican National Convention, the GOP has never been more confident about the chances of Donald Trump winning in November. Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta, who has spent months talking to Trump insiders, breaks down his campaign’s strategy and why so much could change between now and the election.

The U.S. surgeon general recently recommended that all social-media platforms come with a warning label alerting parents and young people of their risks. Meanwhile, some schools are moving to ban phones altogether. Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu talks to psychologist Mitch Prinstein, an expert in adolescent development, about what we actually know about the effects of social media on kids’ brains — and his compassionate advice for navigating smartphone use in your family.

This is an episode from our archives that was originally published in July 2023.Millions of people in the U.S. are living in areas with dangerous levels of heat — and a growing death toll. In a new book, The Heat Will Kill You First, reporter Jeff Goodell warns that heat is pushing us into a new climate era, with dire implications for individuals, society, and our planet. Goodell spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about the changes we need to make today and the reasons he still has hope for the future.

Guest-hosted by Sam Sanders: Reality shows — like Survivor, The Bachelor, and Love Is Blind — are some of the most-watched TV series in the U.S. But how much “reality” is actually being shown? In her new book, Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV, New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum reveals how this industry came to be and takes people behind the scenes of some of the top reality series. Nussbaum speaks with guest host Sam Sanders about the most surprising aspects of this divisive genre.

Guest-hosted by Sam Sanders: Social media, constantly seeing ourselves on Zoom, and other modern technologies are inspiring people to change their faces and bodies at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, we have more access than ever before to medical procedures to modify our appearances. That combination is resulting in a plastic-surgery frenzy. To understand the science behind how our brains process beauty, guest host Sam Sanders talks to Neelam Vashi, an associate professor of dermatology at Boston University’s medical school who has studied the connection between social media and cosmetic surgery. Then, Elise Hu, the author of Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture From the K-Beauty Capital, offers tips on how to navigate a world of ever-fleeting beauty trends.

A year after two historic Hollywood strikes, America’s entertainment industry is in crisis. Box-office numbers are way down, there are roughly 20% fewer jobs than before the pandemic, and just a handful of companies now control virtually everything we watch. Franklin Leonard, the founder of the Black List, is a Hollywood insider and an industry disrupter. He talks to guest host Sam Sanders about how TV and filmmaking need to change.

An explosive lawsuit against hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, filed by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, has prompted an avalanche of accusations and eyewitness accounts of his violent behavior. A new, deeply reported feature from Rolling Stone is one of the most extensive accounts yet of allegations against Combs — detailing decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse from his days in college to the heyday of his label, Bad Boy Records, and beyond. Guest host Sam Sanders talks with reporters Cheyenne Roundtree and Nancy Dillon about what they learned from witnesses — and how Combs’s accusers are seeking justice.

Guest-hosted by Sam Sanders: The new Apple TV+ series Dark Matter tells the story of Jason Dessen, a man who is abducted into an alternative version of his own life. The show is based on a book by best-selling science-fiction writer Blake Crouch. Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders spoke to Crouch and two stars of the show, Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, about regret, the existence of the multiverse, and how the internet has all of us leading multiple lives.

This is an episode from our archives.Anderson Cooper is now the only living member of the family he grew up with. When he was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack. His brother died by suicide about a decade later. And in 2019, his mother died at the age of 95. It’s only recently that Cooper has been able to talk about and process these deaths. For Apple News In Conversation’s Think Again series, he spoke with host Shumita Basu about what he’s learned by talking to people about death and grief on his podcast, All There Is — and the advice he has for those who are struggling with loss.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Whether you’re 30 or 50 years old, it can be difficult to know what your life in retirement is going to look like and how to best prepare for it. Wall Street Journal reporters Anne Tergesen and Veronica Dagher spoke to people with a wide variety of retirement experiences — from those retiring on almost nothing but Social Security to those with $5 million — about how they are each making it work regardless of the number in their bank accounts.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: More and more people are becoming self-employed in the U.S. And when it comes to being your own boss, everything from your finances to your attitude can shape whether your business is a success. Paco de Leon is a personal-finance expert and host of the podcast Weird Finance. She sits down with Apple News In Conversationguest host Julia Carpenter to share some of the best advice she’s learned from her own experience, and from guiding clients to create their own businesses.

This is an episode from our archives.Around 2013, author and cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar started noticing some worrying changes in his father. He would forget the code to their safe; he couldn’t remember what he did the day before and would get lost driving home. Eventually, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In his new book, My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, Jauhar chronicles the challenges of caring for a sick parent and explains where medicine is today when it comes to treatment for this incurable illness.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But when it comes to support for parents and families, we lag behind many of our peers. We have relatively high infant- and maternal-mortality rates and no national parental-leave policy. We spend far less on early-childhood care than other wealthy countries do. Economist and parenting expert Emily Oster argues that it doesn’t have to be this way. She sat down with Apple News In Conversation guest host Julia Carpenter to talk about some concrete ways we could make this country a better place to start a family.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Losing your job. Being evicted. Hearing your parents fight about money. These can all be forms of financial trauma. Megan McCoy, a marriage and family psychologist specializing in financial therapy, explains how these traumas can have a long-standing effect on your relationship with money and how to break the cycle.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Charlotte Cowles never thought she’d fall for a scam. She’s savvy about money and even writes a financial-advice column for The Cut. But last fall, scammers persuaded her to put $50,000 in cash in a shoebox and hand it over, wiping out her life savings. Cowles tells her story to Apple News In Conversation guest host Julia Carpenter and offers tips on how to prevent this from happening to you.

This is an episode from our archives.Tom Hanks has learned a thing or two about moviemaking during his decades-long career. Ultimately, he says, it’s not about one person’s vision or direction; it’s about the countless people behind the camera — and a few in front of it — who make a movie possible. That’s the foundational idea behind his debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. Hanks spoke to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu before SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors, decided to strike. But his book and their conversation are a reminder of all that goes into creating the entertainment many of us take for granted.

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: The United States is one of the greatest democracies in the world. But, for a lot of people in this country, it doesn’t feel that way. A recent Pew Research survey found that about 7 in 10 Americans feel that our political system is not working well. Ezra Klein is one of the top thinkers and writers on U.S. politics. He’s also an opinion columnist for the New York Times and host of the podcast The Ezra Klein Show. Klein sat down with Apple News In Conversation guest host Brian Stelter to talk about some concrete ways we could make our system better.

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Many Americans say the economy is their top issue this election year, with roughly two-thirds of voters saying they don’t feel it’s working for them. That’s despite a variety of indicators that show the economy is healthy and thriving. Guest host Brian Stelter talked with Megan Leonhardt, a senior writer for Barron’s, and Betsey Stevenson, a labor economist and professor at the University of Michigan, about the disconnect between the data and voter sentiment, as well as Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s first-term track records.

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Between the upcoming presidential election, rapidly improving artificial intelligence, and weakened social-media safeguards, disinformation is becoming an increasingly urgent issue in the U.S. In her new book, Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, legal analyst and former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade argues that American democracy will suffer if we don’t distinguish truth from lies. McQuade spoke with Apple News In Conversation guest host Brian Stelter about America’s disinformation problem and how to address it.

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Donald Trump is the first president — current or former — to face criminal charges. The first of his four criminal trials is set to begin at the end of March, with at least one other expected to take place before the presidential election. Guest host Brian Stelter spoke with Scott Detrow, host of NPR’s Trump’s Trials podcast, and Karen Tumulty, political columnist for the Washington Post, about the charges against Trump and how he’ll split his time between the courtroom and campaign trail.

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: This year’s presidential election is unprecedented for many reasons. Republican front-runner and former president Donald Trump is facing 91 criminal charges in four separate trials. President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, is facing serious criticisms over his age. Guest host Brian Stelter sat down with New Yorker staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos, who also cohost The Political Scene podcast. He asks whether backup plans exist for either candidate, what the rules are around electing someone convicted of a crime, and why this campaign cycle is sure to be unlike any other.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: Sheryl Swoopes, often called the “female Michael Jordan,” was the first player signed to the WNBA. Her story is featured in the new documentary Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story, which takes a look at how far the league has come since Swoopes’s early days — and what today’s pro athletes say they still need from the league. Guest host David Greene spoke with Swoopes and the film’s director, Andrea Buccilla.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: Maggie Nichols was the first athlete on the national team to report former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse to the organization in June 2015. A year later, she was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team. She spoke with guest host David Greene about her new memoir, Unstoppable! Warning: This episode includes descriptions of sexual violence and restrictive eating.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: The NFL accounted for 93 of the top 100 U.S. broadcasts in 2023, according to Nielsen ratings. But not that long ago, the league was reeling from controversies around head injuries, allegations of racism in its hiring practices, and players protesting police brutality. To better understand the NFL’s staying power, Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene spoke with sports journalist Pablo Torre, host of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out. They dig into the league’s ups and downs, America’s obsession with football, and the Taylor Swift effect.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: College football and basketball are multibillion-dollar industries. But while some Division 1 coaches and athletic directors make millions of dollars each year, the players themselves are not paid by the schools they compete for. That may soon change. The NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits that could lead to student athletes being treated and compensated as university employees. ESPN panelist and Washington Post columnist Kevin Blackistone spoke with Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene about the case against the NCAA — and the role that race plays in this debate.

Roz Chast started at the New Yorker in 1978, when there was only one other woman cartoonist at the magazine. Decades later, she is a celebrated figure in the cartoon world and has become well-known for her distinctive style and humor. Her latest book, I Must Be Dreaming, is an illustrated guide to Chast’s dreams and the inner workings of her mind. Chast spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about following her artistic intuition, the popularity of New Yorker cartoons, and her collection of canned goods.

Have we been visited by extraterrestrial life? And how much does the government really know when it comes to UFOs? Garrett Graff’s latest book, UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There, investigates these questions and more. The national-security reporter recently sat down with Apple News In Conversationhost Shumita Basu to share his findings.

Journalist Tim Alberta was raised in the evangelical church and is a practicing Christian. But he’s grown increasingly concerned about how entrenched politics has become in the evangelical movement. In his latest book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Alberta lays out the state of the evangelical church today and its shift toward the cultural and political fringes. Below are excerpts from Alberta’s interview with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu.

Esther Perel is the relationship expert many couples dream of scheduling a session with. Her podcast, Where Should We Begin? With Esther Perel, offers the next best thing. In it, she helps real couples work through their issues, often providing insights that are relevant to other relationships. Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu spoke with Perel about how she approaches her work, the challenges of modern love, and how to resolve conflict.

This is an episode from our archives. Transitions can feel intimidating and destabilizing. But these moments can also be opportunities for growth, reflection, and self-discovery — especially when you have the right tools. In this episode of Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to Hidden Brain’s Shankar Vedantam about why pivot points can feel so challenging and how to embrace them as opportunities, rather than obstacles.

This is an episode from our archives. Rainn Wilson understands why so many people are rejecting religion today. But he argues that the core aspects of faith still have something important to offer us. Spirituality has brought him community, purpose, and joy — even as he’s struggled with depression, anxiety, and addiction. The actor explores these themes and shares what he’s learned in his book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution and docuseries, Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss.

Elizabeth Keating didn’t realize how little she knew about her mother’s life until after she had died. A trained anthropologist, Keating decided to develop a guide for interviewing and recording loved ones’ histories before it’s too late. Her book, The Essential Questions: Interview Your Family to Uncover Stories and Bridge Generations, offers a blueprint for these conversations along with thought-provoking questions. On Apple News In Conversation, Keating shares what this process can teach us about ourselves and our families with host Shumita Basu.

Holiday spending is expected to reach record levels this year. That makes for a lot of packages — and a lot of returns, donations, and junk. On Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu speaks with The Atlantic’s Amanda Mull, who reveals the strategies retailers use to get you to buy more stuff, and what you can do to have a more sustainable holiday.

Rachel Maddow is best known for her show on MSNBC. But she’s also a serious history buff. In her latest book, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, Maddow lays out the rise of a dangerous antidemocratic movement in the United States in the 1930s and ’40s and how Americans stopped that campaign from flourishing. Maddow spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about this forgotten piece of history and what it can teach us about responding to threats to democracy today.

In this episode from our archives, Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu talks with Kate Mangino, a gender expert and the author of the book Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home. Mangino points to research that shows women still take on the majority of household responsibilities in different-sex relationships — and she argues there’s a better way for partners to balance the mental and physical labor of running a home.

What if the United States had lost the space race — and the Soviet Union had been the first to land a man on the moon? These are the driving questions behind the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind. The show explores the ripple effects of what coming in second could have meant for American culture, the feminist movement, geopolitics, and technology over several decades. And while fiction, it offers warnings about the future of space travel. On this week’s episode of Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to the show’s technical adviser and former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman about how he helps ground the series in science.

David Remnick has reported on Israel and the Palestinian territories for many years. But his most recent trip to Israel was like nothing he’d seen before. In an article for the New Yorker, Remnick writes about visiting with survivors of the Hamas massacre, Israel’s assaults on Gaza, and what comes next. Below are excerpts from his interview with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu.

Big tech companies first started working on artificial facial recognition more than a decade ago. But they chose not to release it, worried about who might use it and how. Then, in 2017, the small startup Clearview AI debuted its facial-recognition app and began marketing its tool to law-enforcement agencies. This week on Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to Kashmir Hill, a New York Times tech reporter and author of the new book Your Face Belongs to Us, about what this technology is capable of, what guardrails exist, and what the future of privacy might look like.

After striking oil on their reservation, members of the Osage Nation became some of the richest people in the world in the 1920s. Then white Oklahomans began killing them for their wealth in a sinister and elaborate plot. These events are detailed by David Grann in his book Killers of the Flower Moon, which has recently adapted into a Martin Scorsese–directed movie for Apple TV+. Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu spoke with Grann and Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, a consultant on the film, about bringing this history to the big screen.

Warning: This episode describes graphic content, including the death of children.The following interview is about the experiences of Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and mostly focuses on events that took place before the latest escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza. It looks at one particular perspective and does not aim to capture all of the complexities of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.If you’d like to hear more of our coverage on the Israel-Hamas war, check out our daily news podcast, Apple News Today, and last week’s episode of Apple News In Conversation.A winding drive along the tall separation wall. An agonizing wait at the checkpoint. An identification card that only allows access to some hospitals. These are the obstacles that kept Abed Salama from reaching his 5-year-old son after a bus accident in 2012. On this week’s episode of Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to Nathan Thrall, author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, about what life is like for Palestinians in the West Bank. Listen to the full interview on Apple Podcasts.