'The Interview': Marlon Wayans Lost Nearly 60 Loved Ones. Comedy Saved Him.

Ever since the discovery of whale songs almost 60 years ago, scientists have been trying to decipher the lyrics.But sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales, sounds that became a sensation in the 1960s. Instead, sperm whales rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door.Carl Zimmer, a science reporter, explains the possibility why it’s possible that the whales are communicating in a complex language.Guest: Carl Zimmer, a science reporter for The New York Times who also writes the Origins column.Background readingScientists find an “alphabet” in whale songs.These whales still use their vocal cords. But how?For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

This week, Karim Khan, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant.Patrick Kingsley, the Times’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, explains why this may set up a possible showdown between the court and Israel with its biggest ally, the United States.Guest: Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: Why did a prosecutor go public with the arrest warrant requests?The warrant request appeared to shore up domestic support for Mr. Netanyahu.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

The Biden administration is trying to crack down on sneaky fees charged by hotels, rental cars, internet providers and more.Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent, explains why the effort is doubling as a war against something else that Biden is finding much harder to defeat.Guest: Jim Tankersley, who covers economic policy at the White House for The New York Times.Background reading: This month, a judge temporarily blocked a new rule limiting credit-card late fees.Hotels and airlines struggling to recoup their losses from the pandemic have been including more hidden charges. Don’t fall for them.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

This month, customers of FTX — Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, which collapsed in 2022 — were told that they would get their money back, with interest.David Yaffe-Bellany, our technology reporter, explains what was behind this change in fortune and what it says about the improbable resurgence of crypto. Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times, covering the crypto industry from San Francisco. Background reading: Is crypto back? Here’s a guide.And here’s a guide to the risks of Bitcoin E.T.F.s.This is how The Times covered Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

 The first generation to be fully reliant on 401(k) plans is now starting to retire. As that happens, it is becoming clear just how broken the system is.Michael Steinberger, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains.Guest: Michael Steinberger, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine who writes periodically about the economy and the markets.Background reading: How an obscure, 45-year-old tax change transformed retirement.What to do when your 401(k) leaves something to be desired.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Have you heard the song “Brett Martin, You a Nice Man, Yes”?Probably not. On Spotify, “Brett Martin, You a Nice Man, Yes” has not yet accumulated enough streams to even register a tally. Even Brett Martin, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the titular Nice Man, didn’t hear the 1 minute 14 second song until last summer, a full 11 years after it was uploaded by an artist credited as Papa Razzi and the Photogs.When Martin stumbled on “Brett Martin, You a Nice Man, Yes,” he naturally assumed it was about a different, more famous Brett Martin: perhaps Brett Martin, the left-handed reliever who until recently played for the Texas Rangers; or Brett Martin, the legendary Australian squash player; or even Clara Brett Martin, the Canadian who in 1897 became the British Empire’s first female lawyer. Only when the singer began referencing details of stories that he made for public radio’s “This American Life” almost 20 years ago did he realize the song was actually about him. The song ended, “I really like you/Will you be my friend?/Will you call me on the phone?” Then it gave a phone number, with a New Hampshire area code.So, he called.

The scientist talks to David Marchese about how to overcome the “soft” climate denial that keeps us buying junk.

This episode contains explicit language.Over recent months, protests over the war in Gaza have rocked college campuses across the United States.As students graduate and go home for the summer, three joined “The Daily” to discuss why they got involved, what they wanted to say and how they ended up facing off against each other.Guests: Mustafa Yowell, a student at the University of Texas at AustinElisha Baker, a student at Columbia UniversityJasmine Jolly, a student at Cal Poly HumboldtBackground reading: Pro-Palestinian student activists say their movement is anti-Zionist but not antisemitic. It is not a distinction that everyone accepts.The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University passed a resolution of no confidence in the university’s president, Nemat Shafik.  For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

This episode contains explicit language.Michael Cohen, Donald J. Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, took the stand in the former president’s hush-money trial. Jonah E. Bromwich, a criminal justice reporter, discusses how Mr. Cohen could cause problems for Mr. Trump himself. Guest: Jonah E. Bromwich, one of the lead reporters covering the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald J. Trump for The New York Times.Background reading: Michael Cohen is the central witness in the first criminal trial of an American president.Mr. Cohen’s account of an arrangement struck in the White House was the only personal testimony tying Donald J. Trump to falsified documents.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Across the United States, more frequent extreme weather is starting to cause the home insurance market to buckle, even for those who have paid their premiums dutifully year after year.Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter, discusses a Times investigation into one of the most consequential effects of the changes.Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate change reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: As American insurers bleed cash from climate shocks, homeowners lose.See how the home insurance crunch affects the market in each state.Here are four takeaways from The Times’s investigation.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.