On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case that could hand parents with religious objections a lot more control over what their kids learn in the classroom.Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, explains how a case about children’s picture books with titles like “Pride Puppy” and “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” has broad implications for schools across the country.Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments, for The New York Times.Background reading: In a lively and sometimes heated argument, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared set to allow opt-outs from L.G.B.T.Q. stories in schools.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images 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 increasingly bitter trade war between the United States and China, perhaps nobody has more at stake than America’s soybean farmers, whose crop has become the country’s single biggest export to China.Michael Barbaro speaks to an Iowa farmer who helped build that $13 billion market, and asks her what President Trump’s sky-high tariffs mean for her and for tens of thousands of other American farmers.Guest: April Hemmes, a soybean farmer in Iowa.Background reading: Soybean producers warned that farms could go under after the Trump administration hit China with tariffs of 145 percent.China has long relied on the U.S. for soybeans. But with new steep tariffs, it is likely to look even more to Brazil and Argentina.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Kathryn Gamble for The New York Times 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.

Church bells rang out across the world on Monday to mark the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88.Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief at The New York Times, discusses the pope’s push to change the church, his bitter clashes with traditionalists, and what his papacy meant to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.Guest: Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief of The New York Times.Background reading: For Jason Horowitz, Pope Francis was always a surprise.Francis’ death silences a voice for the voiceless.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Andrew Medichini/Associated Press 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.

One day at Wrigley Field in Chicago last May, Paul Skenes was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, carving out a small piece of baseball history in his second big-league game. He struck out the first seven batters he faced. By the end of the fifth inning, he had increased his strikeout total to 10. More impressive, he hadn’t allowed a hit.Over the past two decades, analysts have identified a treasure trove of competitive advantages for teams willing to question baseball’s established practices.Perhaps the most significant of competitive advantages was hidden in plain sight, at the center of the diamond. Starting pitchers were traditionally taught to conserve strength so they could last deep into games. Throwing 300 innings in a season was once commonplace; in 1969 alone, nine pitchers did it. But at some definable point in each game, the data came to reveal, a relief pitcher becomes a more effective option than the starter, even if that starter is Sandy Koufax or Tom Seaver — or Paul Skenes. 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 self-deprecating stand-up comic discusses having a magician for a father, the challenge of mainstream comedy and his aspirations to build the next Disneyland. 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.

Testimonies began this week in one of the most aggressive cases the government has ever brought against a big tech company. Over the next eight weeks, the Federal Trade Commission will argue that Meta, the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg, should be broken up.Cecilia Kang, who covers technology and regulatory policy, discusses the strange and contentious relationship between Mr. Zuckerberg and President Trump that has led to this moment, and what the case means for them.Guest: Cecilia Kang, a reporter covering technology and regulatory policy for The New York Times.Background reading: At trial, Mark Zuckerberg defended buying Instagram and WhatsApp.Tech C.E.O.s have spent millions courting the president. It has yet to pay off.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Tom Brenner for The New York Times 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.

For years, President Trump has mocked the Obama administration for the nuclear agreement that it reached with Iran — a plan he disliked so much that he revoked it.Now, as he embarks on talks with Iran to reach a nuclear agreement of his own, the question is whether his administration can achieve a better deal.David E. Sanger, who covers the White House and national security, takes us inside the negotiations.Guest: David E. Sanger, the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: President Trump wants a nuclear deal with Iran, but it must be better than President Barack Obama’s.Mr. Trump gives conflicting signals and mixed messages on Iran nuclear talks.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Eric Lee/The New York Times 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 President Trump met with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, at the White House, the fate of one man was hanging in the balance.Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, discusses the Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador, and what his case means for the limits of presidential power and the rule of law.Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments, for The New York Times.Background reading: The Supreme Court sided with the wrongly deported man.El Salvador’s leader said on Monday that he would not return the man.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press 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 President Trump raised tariffs against China to an astonishing 145 percent last week, he radically changed the cost of doing business for thousands of American companies.Michael Barbaro speaks to Beth Benike, a small-business owner who fears her business will not survive the tariffs.Guest: Beth Benike, the founder and C.E.O. of Busy BabyBackground reading: Small-business owners say tariffs will squeeze them, and their customers.Trump’s tariffs leave no safe harbor for American importers.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times 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 Daniel and Victoria Van Beuningen first toured their future home, a quiet villa in the Polish city of Wroclaw, it had been abandoned for years, its windows sealed up with bricks. But something about its overgrown garden spoke to them. They could imagine raising chickens there, planting tomatoes and cucumbers. They could make something beautiful out of it, they thought — a place where their children could run and play.They moved in knowing very little about what happened at the villa before World War II, when Wroclaw, formerly Breslau, was still part of Germany.The couple wanted to know more, and their inquiries eventually led to the Meinecke family in Heidelberg, Germany, elderly siblings who said they were born in the home. Over a long afternoon, they showed the couple pictures of the place from happier times before the war, but they also offered the Van Beuningens a surprising warning: The couple might find the remains of some German soldiers buried in the garden. 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.

This week, we interviewed two people with leading roles in the rapidly escalating conflict between the Trump administration and American higher education.Today, we speak with Christopher Rufo, who led the conservative critique of, and assault on, critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Mr. Rufo’s vision and campaigning have helped inspire Trump’s wide-ranging crackdown on higher education.Earlier, we talked with Christopher L. Eisgruber, the president of Princeton University, about the institution’s path forward in the face of drastic funding cuts, and his vow to protect academic freedom at all costs. You can listen to that conversation here.Guest: Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and writer.Background reading: Mr. Rufo helped make critical race theory a conservative rallying cry.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Chona Kasinger for The New York Times 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.

After promising that tariffs against dozens of countries were here to stay, no matter how much they hurt businesses or the stock market, President Trump has abruptly reversed course.But there’s an exception: his levies on China, which he said he would raise to 125 percent.Jonathan Swan, who covers the White House, explains why the president changed his mind, and David Pierson, who covers China, discusses why Beijing won’t back down.Guest:Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times.David Pierson, a foreign correspondent for The New York Times covering China.Background reading: Inside President Trump’s reversal on tariffs.The United States and China are engaged in a risky game of chicken with no off-ramp in sight.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Eric Lee/The New York Times 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.