Sunday Special: The 100 Best Books of the Century (So Far)

Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, was published this week. Today, Michael Barbaro talks with Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor of The Times Magazine, who oversaw the project, as well as Joe Coscarelli and Jody Rosen, two members of the cadre of critics assigned with compiling the final list. They discuss the list-making process, what defines a great songwriter and why Billy Joel didn’t make the final cut. We also hear from some of the songwriters featured on the list, including Taylor Swift, Nile Rodgers and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.

The conservative media commentator split with the administration over the war in Iran. Will the breakup last?

Congress questioned Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, over the war in Iran, an accusation of antisemitic remarks and women in combat.

The court struck down Louisiana’s voting map, a decision that could make it harder for lawmakers to create majority-minority districts.

The measure calls for placing a one-time 5 percent tax on the assets of California residents with at least $1.1 billion.