''The Daily'' is a daily news

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

produced by the American newspaper ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', hosted by

Michael Barbaro Michael Barbaro (born October 12, 1979) is an American journalist and host of ''The New York Times'' news podcast, '' The Daily'', one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. Early life Barbaro grew up in North Haven, Connecticut. H ...

and

Sabrina Tavernise Sabrina Tavernise (born February 24, 1971) is an American journalist who writes for ''The New York Times'', and is a co-host of the ''Times'' podcast '' The Daily''. She has been a war correspondent for the ''Times'' from Iraq, Lebanon, and Russi ...

. Its weekday episodes are based on the ''Times'' reporting of the day, with interviews of journalists from ''The New York Times''. Episodes typically last 20 to 30 minutes.

Background

''The Daily'' launched in January 2017, hosted by the ''Times'' political journalist Michael Barbaro, as an extension of ''The New York Times''' 2016 election-focused podcast, ''The Run-Up''. ''The Daily'' is based on interviews with ''Times'' journalists, in which they summarize and comment on their story, and is complemented by recordings related to the topic, or original reporting such as interviews with persons involved in the story, and letting them speak uninterrupted. A summary of headlines concludes the podcast. ''The Daily'' is free to listen and financed by advertising; it is profitable according to the ''Times''. The ''Times'' said it intended to build a news podcast franchise around it, beginning with a spin-off podcast, ''The New Washington'', in summer 2017. ''The New Washington'' ran from July 2017 until December of the same year. A children's edition of ''The Daily'' was also planned. In January 2019, ''The Daily'' launched a weekly newsletter. In March 2022, Barbaro was joined by the second host Sabrina Tavernise, following her guest hosting and reports including the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Opening theme

The opening theme for ''The Daily'' is composed by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of the band Wonderly. It has been inspired by Barbaro suggesting the composers the theme for the series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'', and the siren element has been to act as "the audio DNA of the show and metaphor for the show itself." A slight variation entitled "Daily Theme" was featured on Wonderly's 2018 self-released digital album ''Homefront''.

Spinoff TV series

The success of the podcast led to a weekly documentary series ''The Weekly'' on FX, with its first episode airing on June 2, 2019. Initially, ''The Weekly'' was a narrative investigative journalism docuseries covering recent topical news and cultural stories, which later lead into longer documentaries, as ''

The New York Times Presents ''The New York Times Presents'' (previously ''The Weekly'') is an American narrative investigative journalism docuseries produced by ''The New York Times'' for FX and Hulu. The program has aired in two distinct formats. The first format, ''Th ...

''.

Reception

Started in January 2017, ''The Daily'' became a noted success for the ''Times''; ''

TheStreet ''TheStreet'' is a financial news and financial literacy website. It is a subsidiary of The Arena Group. The company provides both free content and subscription services such as Action Alerts Plus a stock recommendation portfolio co-managed by B ...

'' described it as "a phenomenon, an out-of-the-blue hit." It had 3.8 million individual listeners by August 2017, and was regularly in the top ten most-listened podcasts by autumn 2017. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' attributed this success, in part, to the podcast's "conversational and intimate" tone, which made news more accessible, and to Barbaro's "

idiosyncratic An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk". Etymology The term "idiosyncr ...

intonation" (he is known to say "hmm" after interesting commentary from guests, a habit that has generated much online commentary from listeners). The podcast began being syndicated to radio by

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...

in 2018. As of June 2018, the podcast receives 1.1 million downloads every weekday, and 2 millions in January 2020. It was recognized as the Webby Voice of the Year, a Special Achievement award at the 2020 Webby Awards.

References

External links