Great Listens: Melania Trump, Birthright Citizenship, Kim Kardashian

May 16, 2025

This week, we tried to solve the mystery of Melania Trump’s absence, glimpsed the A.I. apocalypse and learned to love online dating.

Plus, did a jeweler really scam Kim Kardashian?

Great Listens

Melania Trump wears a wide-brimmed hat while looking through a window of a vehicle.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

’THE LIGHTS ARE NEVER ON’

Where Is Melania?

The first lady’s absence is one of the most sensitive subjects in the White House.

The New York Times

OMG

An Interview With the Herald of the A.I. Apocalypse

Losing your job may be the best-case scenario. A shocker from “Interesting Times” with Ross Douthat.

Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

SWIPE RIGHT

Can the Founder of Bumble Make Us Love Dating Apps Again?

Whitney Wolfe Herd has a plan.

News and Ideas

A baby waves an American flag while being held by a parent.

Drew Angerer/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“The Daily” explores the birthright citizenship case before the Supreme Court.
Corruption at 30,000 feet? The controversy over Qatar’s gifting President Trump a lavish new jet.

The end of fast fashion? Trump has closed a loophole that enabled $2 shirts and $3 bikinis.
Fox News star, Attorney General Pam Bondi. Our reporter tells her story.
Professors are using ChatGPT. Some students aren’t happy about it.
Is Trump losing? Ezra Klein debates.
A star of “The Office” joined “Hard Fork” to answer your tech questions.

Unwind

Image: NYT Wirecutter; source photo by iStock/DrPAS

WIRECUTTER

Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse.

Here’s how to reduce the misery.

A blue squeeze-style tube with a stylized sun symbol on the front of it, inside of a bubble on a blue background.

NYT Wirecutter; source photo by iStock/Nadezhda Nazarova

WIRECUTTER

Sunscreen Demystified!

Mineral vs. chemical, proper application and why many “reef-safe” sunscreens still harm marine life.

Inset covers: via Penguin Random House ; via HarperCollins (Katabasis)

IT’S GONNA BE LIT

The Summer Books We’re Looking Forward To

Dive into the season’s most anticipated titles.

FOR NYT AUDIO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Great magazines beyond The Times

Ceramics by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica

ProPublica

The Price of Remission

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I set out to understand why a single pill of Revlimid cost the same as a new iPhone. I’ve covered high drug prices as a reporter for years. What I discovered shocked even me.

48 MIN LISTEN

Photo illustration by Cristiana Couceiro; Source photographs from The Washington Post/Getty; Samir Hussein/Getty

The New Yorker

All the Billionaire's Men

Is Jeff Bezos selling out the Washington Post?

1 HR 5 MIN LISTEN

Lily Qian

The Atavist Magazine

All That Glitters

His alleged victims say he bribed New York Police Department officials, stole millions in diamonds, and persuaded Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Kim Kardashian to shill for a scam cryptocurrency. So why is Jona Rechnitz still free?

58 MIN LISTEN

For more audio journalism and storytelling, visit the Listen Tab in our News app (available for iOS).

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