The Daily Folgen

Across the United States, parents and school districts have been wrestling with the question of whether the country’s most popular and profitable sport is too dangerous for children. Today, we explore how that dispute is playing out in one Texas town. Guests: Ken Belson, who covers the N.F.L. for The New York Times, spoke with Jim Harris and Spencer Taylor in Marshall, Texas. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: Repeated blows to the head while playing football have been linked to a degenerative brain disease called C.T.E.Football is a powerful, cultural force in Marshall, a city of about 24,000 people in East Texas. But residents, coaches and educators have questioned the safety of a sport they cannot imagine living without. Subscribe today at 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. 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.

Three Rust Belt swing states are critical to winning the presidency this year — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, there is one issue that could be decisive: fracking natural gas.Opposition to fracking could be fatal for a candidate in the state, yet front-runners for the Democratic nomination have committed to banning fracking nationwide if elected. We went to western Pennsylvania, where fracking affects residents daily, to see whether electability in the state could really be reduced to this single issue.Guests: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times, traveled to Pennsylvania with Andy Mills and Monika Evstatieva, producers for “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: Our investigative team revealed how immense amounts of methane, the primary gas acquired by fracking, are escaping from oil and gas sites nationwide, worsening global warming.What is fracking? And why is it so harmful to the communities that come in contact with the toxins it leaves behind? Subscribe today at 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. 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.

In a moment of national insecurity, with the future of the United Kingdom seemingly hanging in the balance, a new royal couple offered the vision of a unified, progressive future. But the same forces that pushed for Britain to leave the European Union have now pushed Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to leave the country.Guest: Mark Landler, the London bureau chief of The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: A wish to carve out more “progressive” roles has led to the loss of perks, privileges and titles — a more thorough break than the Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem to have expected.The couple’s push for greater independence has resurfaced the same questions that animated the Brexit debate.Black Britons expressed support for Harry and Meghan. “Thank God they are free,” one Londoner said. “All of this is about her race. I know it because as a Caribbean woman who did not grow up here, I have experienced it myself.” Subscribe today at 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. 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.