The Restaurant Industry Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?

If you dine out regularly, you might have noticed some changes in restaurants over the past few years. Perhaps you’ve found yourself ordering at a counter, scanning a QR code to see the menu, or eating … a lot more soft serve.These changes aren’t just trends. Brett Anderson, a New York Times food reporter, says they are restaurant owners’ desperate attempts to stay afloat in an industry in crisis. According to a report from the National Restaurant Association, 42 percent of restaurant owners said they weren’t profitable in 2025. Many of them were at serious risk of closing.In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Brett talks with our host Michael Barbaro about the economic realities that are forcing businesses to rethink the entire concept of a restaurant, including a radical experiment at one Minneapolis diner that stopped charging for food entirely.On Today’s Episode:Brett Anderson, a reporter for the Food section of The New York Times.Background Reading:This Restaurant Stopped Charging for Food. And Profits Are Up.The Restaurant List 2026Photo credit: Caroline Yang for The New York Times.  For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

The comedian and filmmaker on what real friendship looks like, what keeps him up at night and his new movie, "Misty Green."Thoughts? Email us at [email protected] our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcastFor transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

An alleged campus sexual assault at Cornell University has gripped the country and ignited a national debate over consent.Debra Kamin, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, explains what we know about what happened.Guest: Debra Kamin, an investigative reporter for the The New York Times.Background reading: Documents reviewed by The Times reveal how a Cornell student went from shame to action.A Cornell police report omitted the student’s claim that she was raped.Photo: Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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 the five years since student athletes have been allowed to earn money, college sports have become a chaotic and murky marketplace where players can move from team to team chasing a payday.Stewart Mandel of The Athletic explains why, this week, Washington decided to step in.Guest: Stewart Mandel, the editor in chief of college football for The Athletic and a host of its college football podcast “The Audible.”Background reading: The Protect College Sports Act wants to fix college sports. Here’s what it actually targets.Does your college football roster cost $8 million or $50 million? Read The Athletic’s report on 68 teams.Here’s how the football programs blow past limits on what they can pay players.Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

A little over a decade ago, after hackers broke into the U.S. government and stole the personnel records of millions of federal workers, officials vowed that it would never happen again. Something similar recently did — to the F.B.I.Dustin Volz, who covers cybersecurity for The New York Times, tells the story of the attack, the group behind it and what could happen to the stolen data.Guest: Dustin Volz, a cybersecurity and intelligence reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: The hackers said they had stolen thousands of sensitive F.B.I. personnel records.The embarrassing breach at the F.B.I. has fueled fears of harm to its employees.Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket have gained huge popularity over the past year. These marketplaces allow you to wager on just about anything — whether it’s who will win a football game or the weather in New York City.David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times, discusses the legal challenge these platforms now face and how it could determine their future.Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times.Background reading: A clash between prediction markets and states has set off a furious political battle.Donald Trump Jr.’s firm led a $1 billion funding round for Polymarket.Photo: Eric Helgas for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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 its efforts to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible, the Trump administration has increasingly relied on a highly controversial strategy: deporting people to countries they have no connection to.Last week, a federal court ruled the practice to be illegal because it violated people’s right to due process. The administration challenged that ruling, and now it is in front of the Supreme Court.Nicholas Casey tells the story of Roberto Mosquera, who moved to the United States from Cuba as a child. He has been held in the small country of Eswatini since July 2025.Guest: Nicholas Casey, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine who writes about geopolitics.Background reading: He was deported to a country he’d never heard of. He may never go free.How do you interview a deportee being held inside a maximum-security prison?Photo: Moises Saman/Magnum, for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

The turn of the century was the beginning of a new era in television: prestige TV for the masses. Today, television is where big stars and innovative creators go to marshal sizable budgets and tell meaningful stories.Over recent months, our colleagues at The New York Times ran a survey, asking industry insiders — on-screen talent, writers, directors, producers, executives and others — to pick their top 10 television series of the last 26 years. We compiled their responses into a list, published this week, of the best TV of the 21st century.In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” The Times’s canon editor, Gilbert Cruz, and our chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, talk with our host Natalie Kitroeff about what made the list, and what didn’t. On Today’s EpisodeJames Poniewozik is The New York Times’s chief TV critic.Gilbert Cruz is the canon editor at The New York Times. Background ReadingThe 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st CenturyThe 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century: Cast Your VoteThe 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century: How Stars, Creators and Other TV Lovers Voted Photo: The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

The legendary actor on his disturbing childhood, his Hollywood missteps and the pain he caused to his loved ones, his body and himself.Thoughts? Email us at [email protected] our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcastFor transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.

For 50 years, the Kennedy Center was a sprawling public home for opera, theater, jazz and free programs. Last week, it closed its doors for the time being.Elizabeth Williamson traces how President Trump decided to take over and now shut down Washington’s biggest and most celebrated home for the arts.Guest: Elizabeth Williamson, a feature writer for The New York Times.Background reading: Internal emails and documents demonstrate how President Trump broke the Kennedy Center.The center removed a sculpture called “Blue” that had been a gift from the artist.Photo: Salwan Georges for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.