The Daily The New York Times

During his childhood, Nicholas Casey, Madrid bureau chief for The New York Times, received visits from his father. He would arrive from some faraway place where the ships on which he worked had taken him, regaling his son with endless stories. He had black curly hair like Nicholas’s and the beard he would one day grow.

But then after Nicholas’s seventh birthday, he vanished.

The familial riddle that plagued him would remain unsolved until his 33rd birthday with a gift from his mother: an ancestry test.

We meet Franco A., an officer in the German military who lived a double life as a Syrian refugee and stands accused of plotting an act of terrorism to bring down the German government.

In 2019, it seemed to many that Gov. Ralph Northam’s career was over.

That year, the Democratic governor of Virginia became embroiled in a highly publicized blackface scandal centered on a racist picture in his medical-school yearbook. There were widespread calls for his resignation.

Two years later, Mr. Northam has emerged as the most racially progressive leader in the state’s history. How did it happen?

Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence.

Just a few years ago, Ethiopia’s leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, the nation is in the grips of a civil war, with widespread reports of massacres and human rights abuses, and a looming famine that could strike millions in the northern region of Tigray.

How did Ethiopia get here?

Guest: Declan Walsh, the chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times.

Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Elon Musk and George Soros are household names. They are among the wealthiest people in the United States.

But a recent report by ProPublica has found another thing that separates them from regular Americans citizens: They have paid almost nothing in taxes.

Why does the U.S. tax system let that happen?

Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Apple built the world’s most valuable business by figuring out how to make China work for Apple.

A New York Times investigation has found that the dynamic has now changed. China has figured out how to make Apple work for China.

Guest: Jack Nicas, who covers technology from San Francisco for The New York Times. He is one of the reporters behind the investigation into Apple’s compromises in China.