The New York Times Book Review recently released its list of the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century.

To put it together, the team asked almost 300 authors and other experts to vote for the best heart-thumping, page-turning, white knuckle reads published since 2000.

In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times thrillers columnist, Sarah Lyall, about how the list came together. Then, Natalie speaks with one of the greatest thriller writers of this century — with four books featured on the list — the author Tana French.

On Today’s Episode:

Sarah Lyall writes a monthly thrillers column for The New York Times.

Tana French is the author of many best-selling books, including “In the Woods,” “The Searcher,” “The Likeness” and “The Witch Elm.”

Background Reading:

The 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century

Photo credit: Naila Ruechel

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The “Widow’s Bay” star on his two Emmy nominations, his penchant for going dark and his wobbly self-esteem.

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Ukraine is running desperately low on interceptor missiles, leaving its cities and people nearly defenseless against Russian missile and drone attacks. How Russia has been able to sustain those attacks has been a mystery — until now.

Today, Jane Bradley, a Britain-based investigative reporter for The New York Times, explains her investigation into the spy network that has allowed the Kremlin to keep this war going.

Guest: Jane Bradley, a Britain-based investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A Russian spy who used the Aeroflot office in Tokyo to smuggle high-tech weapon components into Russia has left Japan after a Times report.
• Operating out of a Tokyo high-rise, a military intelligence unit takes advantage of Japan’s weak espionage laws to find the high-tech equipment that Russia needs to wage war.

Photo: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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This week, Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist running for governor in Wisconsin, suffered an upset after a double-digit lead in the polls. Last week, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, pulled off a stunning victory in Michigan against his well-funded opponent.

Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, makes sense of what happened in Wisconsin and Michigan, and what it might tell us about the future of the Democratic Party.

Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Dr. El-Sayed’s triumph against an establishment-backed candidate in Michigan was a big win for the left.
• Ms. Hong’s defeat in Wisconsin defied expectations and may have shown that the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.

Photo: Nick Hagen for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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When President Trump left Turkey, the White House said publicly that he was boarding the old Air Force One — but that plane was a decoy. In a highly elaborate escape plan prompted by a credible Iranian threat, Trump was secretly moved through a catering cart to a military aircraft, leaving passengers unknowingly flying on the decoy plane.

Today, Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, details the operation’s risks and what it reveals about how seriously the administration views the danger to the president.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• President Trump hid in an airport catering container and was transported to a military jet for a secret flight out of country.

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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“Traditional” French parenting is built on a foundation of firm boundaries, strictness and punishment for misbehavior. Within these rules, children are also allowed freedom and autonomy, which some say results in both well-behaved children and stress-free parents.

In recent years, though, American-style “gentle” or “positive” parenting has gained a toehold in the country, unsettling decades of orthodoxy about the best way to raise a French child. It has prompted a fierce debate, with both sides accusing the other of being harmful.

In today’s episode, Madeleine Schwartz, a journalist who lives in Paris, talks with Michael Barbaro about the dispute over parenting styles in France and what it says about the eternal search for the “right” way to raise children.

On Today’s Episode:

Madeleine Schwartz is a journalist and editor in Paris.

Background Reading:

Did American-Style ‘Gentle Parenting’ Spoil French Children?

Art Credit: Illustration by Kimberly Elliott

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The genre-straddling musician could have been lost to addiction and trauma. Instead he’s filling arenas.

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• Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast
• For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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For decades, the kitchen was the centerpiece of Yewande Komolafe’s life. She spent long hours there, first as a restaurant cook and later as a recipe developer. But though she loved the often-intense culinary world, she had to navigate it with certain limitations: She was born with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder, which required her to carefully manage her working life. She did so successfully, becoming a celebrated cookbook author and food writer for The Times.

A medical crisis in December 2023 changed all of that. Komolafe ended up in a coma for six weeks, and after emerging learned that both her legs and her fingers would need to be amputated. In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Komolafe tells Rachel Abrams about what happened and how, after everything, she made her way back into the kitchen.

On Today’s Episode:

Yewande Komolafe is a cooking columnist for The New York Times.

Background Reading:

How Losing My Limbs Turned Me Into a Different Kind of Cook

The Chef Imagining a More Accessible World, One Meal at a Time

Photo credit: Lanna Apisukh.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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When the Times reporter Ellen Barry’s father developed dementia after a fall, her family spent years trying to manage his erratic behavior and confusion. They struggled to convince him that he was home, he was safe, and he shouldn’t try to leave. The experience was exasperating and impossible to understand.

Today, Ellen tells the story of those years, and of how she discovered scientific research that helped explain everything her family had lived through — research that could potentially help to save precious memories from being lost forever.

On Today’s Episode

Ellen Barry, a mental health reporter for The New York Times

Background Reading

When My Father’s Canary Flew Away

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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After a month of competition across North America and 103 matches, the 2026 World Cup is down to its final game. Spain and Argentina will meet this afternoon in a match expected to draw over one billion viewers around the world. 

Spain is hoping its well-oiled machine and young star can bring it its second World Cup win. Argentina is looking to Lionel Messi, its longtime star, to secure victory in what could be his last game at the World Cup.

On today’s episode, Tariq Panja traces the road to this historic final and explains what to know before kickoff.

Tariq Panja, a global sports correspondent for The New York Times.

Background Reading

Why Everyone Cares About This World Cup

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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This Friday, “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan, hits theaters. Even before the movie’s release, though, it’s proving to be a cultural event. Spirited discussions of Nolan’s cinematic interpretation of the epic poem already abound online, and they are likely to intensify after the public sees the film.

Why does a 12,000-line poem that is nearly 3,000 years old still feel resonant today? In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks about the “Odyssey” with two writers who have produced some critically acclaimed and widely read modern interpretations of Greek classics: Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate the “Odyssey” from ancient Greek, and Madeline Miller, the author of the best-selling novels “Circe” and “Song of Achilles.”

On Today’s Episode:

Emily Wilson, a professor, classicist, author and translator of the “Odyssey”

Madeline Miller, the author of “Circe,” “Song of Achilles” and other books

Background Reading:

We’ll Help You Find Your Next Great Book. (Spoiler: It’s the ‘Odyssey.’)

The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ Into English

Book Review: Turning Circe Into a Good Witch

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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