The Sunday Read: ‘Online Dating After 50 Can Be Miserable. But It’s Also Liberating.’

Last Tuesday, voters across the country approved measures to protect abortion rights, while rejecting the presidential candidate who claimed to champion those same rights.Kate Zernike, who covers the issue for The Times, explains that gap and what it tells us about the new politics of abortion.Guest: Kate Zernike, a national reporter at The New York Times, writing most recently about abortion.Background reading: Abortion rights ballot measures succeeded in seven of the 10 states where they were proposed.President-elect Donald J. Trump has distanced himself from the idea of a federal abortion ban, but will face pressure to enact one. Here’s how it could happen.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 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.

Democrats, devastated by their sweeping losses in the election, are starting to sift through the wreckage of their defeat.Political leaders from all corners of the Democratic coalition are pointing fingers, arguing over the party’s direction and wrestling with what it stands for.Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The Times, discusses the reckoning inside the Democratic Party, and where it goes from here.Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a reporter covering politics for The New York Times.Background reading: In interviews, lawmakers and strategists tried to explain Kamala Harris’s defeat, pointing to misinformation, the Gaza war, a toxic Democratic brand and the party’s approach to transgender issues.Nancy Pelosi, the influential former House speaker, lamented Biden’s late exit and the lack of an “open primary.”For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 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.

When Maggie Jones’s marriage collapsed after 23 years, she was devastated and overwhelmed. She was in her 50s, with two jobs, two teenage daughters and one dog. She didn’t consider dating. She had no time, no emotional energy. But then a year passed. One daughter was off at college, the other increasingly independent. After several more months went by, she started to feel a sliver of curiosity about what kind of men were out there and how it would feel to date again.That meant online dating — the default mode not just for the young but also for people Ms. Jones’s age. Her only exposure had been watching her oldest daughter, home from college one summer, as she sat on her bed rapidly swiping through guy after guy — spending no more than a second or two on each.Ms. Jones tells her story of online dating in later adulthood, and what she learned. 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.

The former House Speaker reflects on Donald Trump’s victory, Kamala Harris’s candidacy and the future of the Democratic Party.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.

In the days since the election, Donald J. Trump has started preparing to retake the White House.Jonathan Swan, who covered Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign for The Times, and Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent, take us inside the campaign’s endgame.Guest: Jonathan Swan, a reporter covering politics and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The New York Times.Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: President-elect Donald J. Trump faces key personnel choices in the wake of his victory.Mr. Trump named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  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.