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      Stephen Bannon Plans to Record His Podcast and Then Report to Prison

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      The recording will be his last for four months, but the longtime adviser to Donald J. Trump has no intention of surrendering his influence.Immediately before reporting for a four-month sentence in federal prison on Monday, Stephen K. Bannon, the longtime adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, will host the two final hours of his podcast from just outside the low-security facility in Danbury, Conn.“We’ll be as close to the prison as we can possibly get,” said Mr. Bannon in a high-spirited interview over the weekend. And when the taping, which he cast as an unsubtle troll pointed at the Justice Department, is concluded, “I’ll walk across the street and surrender.”Mr. Bannon on Friday lost his last-ditch bid to avoid incarceration, after the Supreme Court denied a request to postpone the sentence while he appealed a jury verdict that found him guilty of contempt for ignoring a congressional subpoena. As a result, the very public figure will remain out of view — and off the air — until just a few days before the Nov. 5 election.But the right wing firebrand insists that swapping his studio mic for a prison job, and his trademark double-collared shirts for government khakis, will have little impact on his influential “War Room” podcast. In fact, he claims, it will “only get bigger and more powerful” while he’s in custody.He has prepared for this moment for months, Mr. Bannon said, enlisting a team of nearly 20 guest hosts to continue pumping out the show, which streams its distinctive stew of unvaryingly pro-Trump political patter for four hours a day, Monday through Friday, plus two additional hours on Saturdays.That group includes Andrew Giuliani, the son of Mr. Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani; Mr. Bannon’s daughter, Maureen; Noor bin Laden, the niece of Osama bin Laden, who is known for her belief in conspiracy theories; and Jeffrey Clark, who served in the Justice Department under Mr. Trump and faces criminal charges in Georgia in connection with efforts to overturn Mr. Trump’s 2020 election loss there. They’ll be responsible for managing the stream of Republican politicians, consultants, media figures, pollsters, policy wonks, donors, intellectuals and economists who use “War Room” as a bullhorn aimed directly at what is arguably Mr. Trump’s most loyal and engaged base of support.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Science of Dogs

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      We explore a boom in research into our furry friends. My career as a science journalist began with a story on canine genetics. It was the summer of 2004, and a female boxer named Tasha had just become the first dog in the world to have her complete genome sequenced. It was a major advance for an animal that, though beloved by humans, had been overlooked by many scientists.Over the two decades since, I have seen dogs transform from an academic afterthought to the new “it” animal for scientific research. In the United States alone, tens of thousands of dogs are now enrolled in large, ongoing studies. Canine scientists are investigating topics as varied as cancer, communication, longevity, emotion, retrieving behavior, the gut microbiome, the health effects of pollution and “doggy dementia.”The research has the potential to give dogs happier, healthier and longer lives — and improve human well-being, too, as I report in a story published this morning. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain why dogs have become such popular scientific subjects.Big dog dataFirst, an important clarification: Dogs have long been the subject of invasive medical experiments, similar to lab rats and monkeys. That’s not the research I’m discussing here. The studies that have exploded in popularity involve pets. They require the enthusiastic participation of owners, who are collecting canine saliva samples, submitting veterinary records and answering survey questions about their furry friends.One reason these studies have become more common: Scientists realized that dogs were interesting and unique subjects. Our canine companions have social skills that even great apes lack, for instance, and they happen to be the most physically diverse mammal species on the planet. (Consider the difference between a Chihuahua and a Great Dane.) Dogs also share our homes and get many of the same diseases that people do, making them good models for human health.“Most of the questions that we have in science are not questions about what happens to animals living in sterile environments,” said Evan MacLean, the director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center at the University of Arizona. “They’re questions about real organisms in the real world shared with humans. And dogs are a really, really good proxy for that in ways that other animals aren’t.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Costs of Caring for Pets

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      We explain the changing world of pet health care. Pets these days are just like us. They get birthday cakes, day care and rubber boots to wear in the snow. Their health care is becoming more human, too — for better and for worse.Decades ago, animal care was relatively rudimentary. Veterinarians usually owned their own clinics, and the options to treat a sick or injured pet were limited. Today, animal hospitals are equipped with expensive magnetic resonance imaging machines, round-the-clock critical care units and teams of specialists in cancer, cardiology and neurology. For pets and the people who love them, the advances are welcome.But as animals’ health care has changed to more closely resemble our own, it has also taken on some of the problems of the human system, including the biggest one: cost. The price of veterinary care has soared more than 60 percent over the past decade, outpacing inflation. Private equity firms have snapped up hundreds of independent clinics, in a trend reminiscent of corporate roll-ups of doctors’ offices. Veterinarians around the country told me that they worry this is changing the way that they practice, as they face growing pressure to push costly treatments and order more tests.The changed landscape means that even as veterinarians can do more for dogs and cats than ever before, pet owners face sometimes heartbreaking decisions about whether they can afford the care. (Read more in our story on the topic.)Changes in the industryAbout one-quarter of primary care clinics and three-quarters of specialty clinics are owned by corporations, according to Brakke Consulting, which focuses on the animal health industry. Sometimes, the corporate ownership is not obvious: Many private equity firms do not change the name of the vet clinic when they take it over.Most veterinarians are paid, at least in part, based on how much money they bring into a practice, whether that is by ordering tests, selling prescription dog food or performing procedures. One veterinarian said she quit her job after she was told her “cost per client” was too low; another said she was told she needed to see 21 animals a day, about a half-dozen more than her current workload.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Broadway’s Pop Era

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      The Tonys are tonight. Many of the shows have a new sound.Tonight is the one night of the year when millions of Americans are focused on Broadway. That’s because it’s the annual Tony Awards, which, by virtue of being televised, are often the first way that many people learn about what’s new onstage.I write full time about theater, so I’m always thinking about what’s changing in that world, and this year I’ve been struck by the notion that the source of Broadway’s sound is shifting. More and more musicals are being written by artists who built their careers in pop music, and fewer by people trained in theater.I did the math, and here’s what I found: Just over half of the 15 new musicals that opened on Broadway during the 2023-24 season featured scores credited to artists whose primary credentials are in the music business. They include Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow and Britney Spears; Huey Lewis, Sufjan Stevens and David Byrne; Jamestown Revival and Ingrid Michaelson (whose song “My Days,” from “The Notebook,” is taking off on social media).Pop musicians are even helping to make plays. The leading contender for best play tonight is “Stereophonic,” a behind-the-music drama with bespoke song fragments by Will Butler, a former member of Arcade Fire, and this fall a Broadway production of “Romeo and Juliet” will feature music by Jack Antonoff, a frequent collaborator of Taylor Swift.“Stereophonic,” features songs by a former member of Arcade Fire.Sara Krulwich/The New York Times“We haven’t had this since Tin Pan Alley — folks who are trained at creating an entire world in four minutes, now creating pieces that are two and a half hours long,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton.” “I find it exciting,” he added. “I always think musical theater is more interesting when it’s in conversation with the world.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Your Driving, Tracked

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      We explore the apps that are quietly tracking drivers’ habits. You know you have a credit score. Did you know that you might also have a driving score?Driving scores are based on how often you slam on the brakes, speed, look at your phone or drive late at night — information that, likely without your knowing, can be collected by your car or by apps on your smartphone. That data is sold to brokers, who work with auto insurers.These scores can help determine how much drivers pay for insurance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: Experts say that basing premiums on how we actually drive — rather than on our credit scores and whether we’re married or went to college — could be a fairer system, and ultimately improve road safety.But this tracking will only lead to safer driving if people know that it is happening.How it happensThe smartphone apps collecting driver data might not be obvious at first glance. One, Life360, is popular with parents who want to keep track of their families. MyRadar offers weather forecasts. GasBuddy can help you find cheap fuel on a road trip.But all of these apps also have opt-in driving analysis features that offer insights into things like safety and fuel usage. Those insights are provided by Arity, a data broker founded by Allstate.Arity uses the data to create driving scores for tens of millions of people, and then markets the scores to auto insurance companies.“No one who realizes what they’re doing would consent,” said Kathleen Lomax, a New Jersey mother who recently canceled her subscription to Life360 when she found out this was happening.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Stuck at the Start

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      In the last few years, many Americans have gotten stuck in their starter house.Buying your first home has long been a milestone of adulthood. So has selling your first home and moving into something bigger. But in the last few years, many Americans have gotten stuck in their starter house.That’s because the U.S. housing economy is being hammered by three forces: the highest interest rates in around two decades, record home prices and near rock-bottom inventory. “Home affordability is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, told me.Many of those who bought their homes in recent years are unable to trade up, hampering the ability of the group behind them to purchase its own starter homes. In today’s newsletter, we’ll look at how the housing market trapped both groups.Twice as expensiveIn the past, the starter home served as a bridge: Families just starting out would squeeze into a smaller home and build equity. With time, as their careers grew and their incomes increased, they cashed in the equity and moved to something bigger.But now that process has hit a wall. “The trade-up buyer has just disappeared,” Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac, said.A majority of homeowners — six out of 10 — have mortgages with interest rates that are locked at 4 percent or lower. With rates now hovering around 7 percent, most people who buy a home today will pay much more interest on their new mortgage.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      No Ordinary Music Gig

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      The appeal — and challenges — of being a military musician. Picture the brass section of a symphony orchestra.Now, instead of formal attire and a brightly lit concert hall, imagine the principal horn player wearing camouflage fatigues, crouching over a loaded rifle at a firing range. For the thousands of classical musicians employed by the U.S. military, this seemingly incongruous image is a reality.The military calls itself the nation’s largest employer of musicians, and its ranks include some of the country’s most coveted musical performance jobs. Seats in premier military bands are often as competitive as those in the top symphonies in the country, in part because of their stability, pay and benefits.There are aspects of the job that might require adjustment for a civilian musician, though. Band members must adhere to strict military standards — such as passing physical fitness tests, wearing a uniform during rehearsal and, most daunting of all, completing 10 to 12 weeks of boot camp with no access to their instruments.My latest story, which published this morning, explores how some musicians become service members. I spent more than eight months following the journey of one euphonium player, Ada Brooks, from her audition for the West Point Band through a freezing stint at boot camp in the Ozarks, to her first concert.In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain the unique role that military bands play in the classical music world and the intense demands that come with the job.Shipping outMusic and the military have long been intertwined. Drums were used to set the pace of marches, and fifes served as battlefield communication before there were radios. The country’s first military band, the United States Marine Band — known as “The President’s Own” — was formed by an act of Congress in 1798.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Summer Begins

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      Memorial Day is the starting gun of a new season. Here’s a guide on how to spend the summer months. Memorial Day is a starting gun. While other holidays can be like a finish line — the culmination of so much energy — Memorial Day marks the beginning. The whole summer stretches out in front of us, a track shimmering in the sun.If you’re not yet sure how to spend the long weekend, or the next few months, don’t worry. The Morning has compiled the best ideas and recommendations from The Times to get you ready for the summer. Starting now.For your time outdoorsHere’s motivation to get you back in your garden, or to start a new one.Make your outdoor space work for you with these design ideas.A friend of mine recently lamented not having summer break as an adult. Here are ideas to relax even if you work full-time, like her.Outdoor activities — in the mountains or in your backyard — mean a greater chance of injury. Know your first aid basics.Pools are open and families are hitting the beach this Memorial Day. Try these workouts in the water.More people are building ponds in their backyard for swimming. See some examples.The joy of gardening.Ike Edeani for The New York TimesFor your travelsIf you’re flying this weekend with some time to kill, test your airport I.Q. with this quiz.If you want some entertainment for a long road trip, here’s a collection of great audiobooks, organized by length.Europe is anticipating yet another season of heat waves. Read how locals, and tourists, are preparing.Here are the best beaches in the U.S. and Mexico for each activity, like swimming, surfing or sand-castle building.Fifty years after working at a Massachusetts hotel, a writer examines what’s changed.Stay at one of these five waterside hotels.For your leisureRead the best fiction and nonfiction of the year (so far).Watch these films this weekend — whether in a movie theater or on your couch.Play these video games if you don’t want to leave your house.Laugh with these new stand-up specials.THE LATEST NEWSIsrael-Hamas WarThe Israeli military continued its operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, despite an International Court of Justice order to immediately suspend its campaign there.Some in Rafah have chosen not to evacuate, while others have fled and then returned after being unable to find safety elsewhere.In an Israeli prison infirmary, a Jewish dentist aided a seriously ill Yahya Sinwar. Years later, Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, was an author of the Oct. 7 attack.War in UkraineVladimir Putin, likely feeling confident about the war and his hold on power, has overhauled his Defense Ministry.Russia is carrying out arson attacks on sites in Europe in a low-level sabotage campaign to undermine support for Ukraine.Some American precision-guided weapons have proved ineffective against Russian electronic warfare, classified Ukrainian reports show.A military branch of professional musicians travels Ukraine’s front lines and taps into a tradition of music as resistance, The Washington Post reports.More International NewsIn Papua New Guinea.Andrew Ruing, via ReutersAt least 670 people are thought to have died after a landslide in Papua New Guinea, a local U.N. official said.“They knew that’s where they were supposed to be”: A family member of a missionary couple who were killed in gang violence in Haiti spoke with The Wall Street Journal. Read about why aid groups stay in the country.In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi uses wide-reaching welfare programs to create loyal voters.PoliticsJohn FettermanKenny Holston/The New York TimesSenator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is picking fights with the progressives he once courted on issues including Israel and immigration.Rates of violent crime in most U.S. cities are down from pandemic-era highs. But rising property crime has made lawlessness an election issue.In Montana, the voting intentions of an influx of wealthy out-of-state newcomers hang over this year’s Senate race.President Biden told West Point’s graduating class that they owed an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not to their commander in chief. See a video.Other Big StoriesSevere storms are likely across portions of the U.S., while summer heat settles in across the South.At least five people have died and three others have gone missing on Mount Everest since the beginning of the climbing season.THE SUNDAY DEBATEShould Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack?Yes. The flags in support of rioters on Jan. 6, waved on Alito’s properties, add to the Supreme Court’s crisis of confidence. This incident “is a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a clear separation between personal beliefs and judicial responsibilities,” Aron Solomon writes for The Hill.No. Justices have expressed political opinions publicly before, such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about Donald Trump. “In all matters of public interest, justices have opinions — and they are appointed to some extent due to their opinions,” Michael Broyde writes for CNN.FROM OPINIONThe Fresh Air Fund in New York City teaches children about nature — and invites them to dream big, the editorial board writes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More