The Sunday Read: ‘What if A.I. Is Actually Good for Hollywood?’
15 December - 33 mins“You couldn’t have made this movie three years ago,” said Robert Zemeckis, the director of “Here.”
The film stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and is based on a 2014 graphic novel that takes place in a single spot in the world over several centuries. The story mostly takes place in a suburban New Jersey living room. It skips back and forth through time, but focuses on a baby-boomer couple — played by Hanks and Wright — at various stages of their lives, from age 18 into their 80s.
Before A.I. software, Zemeckis could have had multiple actors play each character, but the audience might have gotten lost trying to keep track. Conventional makeup could have taken a decade off Hanks, who is now 6...
Series Episodes
The Sunday Read: ‘The Alienation of Jaime Cachua’
His wife was spiraling into insomnia, and his children were afraid to go to school, so Jaime Cachua sought out the person he trusted most in a crisis. He sat at his kitchen table in rural Georgia across from his father-in-law, Sky Atkins, the family patriarch. Jaime, 33, hadn’t seen his own father since he was 10 months old, when he left Mexico in a car seat bound for the United States. “We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” Jaime told him. “There’s a chance we could lose everything.” Jaime muted the football game on TV and began to explain his new reality as an undocumented immigrant after the election of Donald Trump, who had won the presidency in part by promising to deport more than 11 million people living in the country illegally. “I’m going to be straight with you,” Sky told Jaime. “I voted for Trump. I believe in a lot of what he says.” “I figured as much,” Jaime said. “You and just about everyone else around here.” “It’s about protecting our rights as a sovereign country,” Sky said. “We need to shut down the infiltration on the border. It’s not about you.” “It is about me,” Jaime said. “That’s the thing I don’t understand.”
29 mins
22 December Finished
'The Interview': Jonathan Roumie Plays Jesus to Millions. It Can Get Intense.
The star of “The Chosen” discusses his early struggles in Hollywood, fans who conflate him with his character and how his own faith informs his work.
42 mins
21 December Finished
Ring-Kissing, Lawsuits and a Looming Shutdown
Weeks before his inauguration, President-elect Donald J. Trump is pushing the federal government toward a shutdown, corporate titans are flocking to Mar-a-Lago to gain his favor and a major media company has capitulated to Trump’s legal strategy of suing those who cross him. The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, Catie Edmondson and Andrew Ross Sorkin try to make sense of it all. Guest: Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times. Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Andrew Ross Sorkin, a columnist and the founder and editor-at-large of DealBook.
33 mins
20 December Finished
Crypto’s Big Bet Is Paying Off
Since Donald J. Trump won the 2024 election, cryptocurrency has surged to its highest level ever. David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The Times, explains how a small, renegade industry that began as a challenge to the financial system ended up on top of it. Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, a technology reporter for The New York Times.
33 mins
19 December Finished
France’s Horrifying Rape Trial Has a Feminist Hero
explicitWarning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. After months of testimony, verdicts are expected as soon as this week in a rape trial that has both horrified and captivated the people of France. Catherine Porter, who has covered the trial, discusses the woman at the center of the case and how, with a single decision, she has turned the power dynamics of the #MeToo era on their head. Guest: Catherine Porter, an international correspondent for The New York Times based in Paris.
29 mins
18 December Finished
Syria Unearths Years of Atrocities
explicitWarning: This episode contains descriptions of torture and death. It also contains audio of death and grief. Under Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government set up a vast network of prisons and torture chambers that swallowed up tens of thousands of people. For years, those perceived as enemies of the regime would disappear into the system, and their families would have no idea what happened to them. Christina Goldbaum, who has covered the events in Syria, takes us inside one of those prisons and tells the story of one man who survived to tell the tale. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The New York Times.
30 mins
17 December Finished
