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Apple News In Conversation

Apple News

Apple News In Conversation with Shumita Basu brings you interviews with some of the world’s best journalists and experts about the stories that impact our lives. Join us every week as we go behind the headlines.

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Episodes to Learn English 242

Are political insiders looking for a Biden backup plan?

Jun 11, 2022 28 min

Though he has yet to officially announce, President Biden has made it clear he’ll seek reelection in 2024. But given his age and approval ratings, a lot of Democrats are asking, “What’s the backup plan?” National correspondent for <a href="https://apple.news/A1p_jOFvNQqy3GMxoaZw15g">New York</a> magazine Gabriel Debenedetti spoke with Washington insiders about the lead-up to the next presidential election. <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Shumita Basu spoke with Debenedetti about his reporting.
Why child suicide is on the rise

Jun 4, 2022 31 min

In April 2021, twelve-year-old Trevor Matthews took his own life. Andrew Solomon, a writer and clinical medical psychology professor, knew Matthews as the friend and former classmate of Solomon’s son, George. For the <a href="https://apple.news/AtqbzzXpiSJuCNHiUTMZ-qA">New Yorker</a>, Solomon writes about the alarmingly high rate of youth suicide, why it's on the rise, and why it’s so difficult to prevent. <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Shumita Basu spoke with Solomon about this issue.   This episode is about suicide — and includes references to sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-talk (8255) or text talk to 741741.
The school shooting generation

May 28, 2022 20 min

In light of the recent shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, we’re bringing you an episode from our archives. In 1998, a student opened fire at a middle-school dance, killing one teacher and wounding another teacher and two students. Journalist Marin Cogan was a sixth grader there, and she recalls the shock and horror she and her classmates felt. Back then, school shootings were far more rare; kids and educators didn’t have the language or the tools to talk about — much less process — their trauma. For <a href="https://apple.news/ABOM0tG6MQqOWwwQxylcytg”>Vox</a>, Cogan connected with survivors of other school shootings that took place in the 1990s. She spoke with former <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw”>Apple News In Conversation</a> host Duarte Geraldino about coming of age in a world wholly unprepared to deal with the aftermath of mass school shootings.
The anatomy of Trump’s Big Lie

May 21, 2022 23 min

In November 2020, a group of Trump allies gathered together to try to prove the election had been stolen. The only problem: there was no evidence to support any of their claims. <a href="https://apple.news/Ap1vkEbYWQo-8hgNlzNNLYA">ProPublica</a>’s Doug Bock Clark reviewed internal documents and interviewed key participants in this effort to reveal how small untruths snowballed into Trump’s Big Lie. <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Shumita Basu spoke with Clark about his findings.
What Queen Elizabeth is really like

May 14, 2022 30 min

This year’s Platinum Jubilee marks Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year anniversary on the throne. Journalist Tina Brown has been covering the Crown for decades, and in her latest book, <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-palace-papers/id1587270718">The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — Truth and Turmoil</a>, she chronicles the British royal family’s struggle to reinvent itself after the Diana years. Below are excerpts from <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Shumita Basu’s interview with Brown.
How the abortion news threatens the Supreme Court’s credibility

May 7, 2022 30 min

A leaked draft opinion on a Mississippi abortion law suggests that the Supreme Court is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade, a nearly 50-year precedent that protects abortion as a federally guaranteed right. This comes at a time when the Supreme Court is already facing a lot of scrutiny. <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Shumita Basu talks with <a href="https://apple.news/A1dovQr2LRzCwfWd5_NcyJA">Slate</a> writer and veteran court watcher Dahlia Lithwick about what this leaked opinion means for the future of abortion — and the future of the court itself.
The people who got rich off the pandemic

Apr 30, 2022 21 min

When COVID-19 hit the United States, some saw it as an opportunity to make a fortune. Individuals and companies with no experience in the production of personal protective equipment made wild claims about what they could provide — and were awarded lucrative government contracts. They never delivered on their promises. ProPublica reporter David McSwane dives into this world of fraudsters and opportunists who profited off of COVID-19 in his new book, <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/pandemic-inc/id1583587166">Pandemic, Inc.</a>
The network of activists preparing for a post-Roe future

Apr 23, 2022 22 min

The Supreme Court will soon announce a decision that could substantially weaken or even overturn Roe v. Wade. Jessica Bruder recently wrote for the <a href="https://apple.news/A8tch7BXORZu_mk7SH7BIYw">Atlantic</a> about the many groups of activists helping women get access to abortion, even if they have to work around the law. Bruder spoke with <a href="https://apple.news/T9rjlxm95TtTn3RWUl4SFiw">Apple News In Conversation</a> host Duarte Geraldino about how this network first formed and the ways activists are laying the groundwork for a country without Roe.
She thought she knew her family — until she took a DNA test

Apr 16, 2022 27 min

When Amber van Moessner was growing up, she never questioned whether the man who raised her was her biological father. But when she was in her late 20s, she took a 23andMe genetic test and discovered that she was conceived via a sperm donor. Van Moessner’s story kicks off the podcast series <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biohacked-family-secrets/id1607121653">BioHacked: Family Secrets</a>, hosted by T.J. Raphael. Hear Shumita Basu’s interview with Raphael and van Moessner about the donor-conception industry.
The transgender swimmer whose success made her a target

Apr 9, 2022 17 min

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas is the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA swimming championship, and the honor has put her at the center of the discussion about trans competitors. Sports writer Louisa Thomas (no relation) tells the swimmer’s story in the <a href="https://apple.news/AlZ-xOZc5SfC9r93F4gQadQ">New Yorker</a>. She spoke with Shumita Basu for the latest episode of Apple News In Conversation about the difficulty of creating fairness in sports when no two athletes’ bodies will ever be perfectly matched.
Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty. What about her COO?

Apr 2, 2022 22 min

When it came to light that the blood-testing technology behind the biotech startup Theranos didn’t work, the enigmatic founder, Elizabeth Holmes, became the subject of intense scrutiny. While Holmes has been in the spotlight, there’s another person at the center of this story: Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. Balwani and Holmes dated in secret for more than a decade, and he eventually became COO of Theranos. Balwani’s trial is now underway. Apple News In Conversation’s Shumita Basu spoke with Rebecca Jarvis, host of ABC Audio’s podcast on Theranos, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dropout/id1449500734">The Dropout</a>, about what to expect in this latest court case.
What happened when a man made a chatbot of his dead fiancée

Mar 26, 2022 1h 36m

Joshua Barbeau lost his fiancée, Jessica, nearly a decade ago. For Joshua, getting over her death felt impossible. He was still grieving when he came across a website that allowed him to feel like he was communicating with Jessica again — by creating a customized, A.I.-powered chatbot. <a href="https://apple.news/AcQSVTR39So6scwwYJxmDJA">San Francisco Chronicle</a> journalist Jason Fagone spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about how the Jessica bot helped Joshua process his grief.
Jon Stewart can’t fix America. But he knows people who can.

Mar 19, 2022 27 min

What’s the problem with America today? A lot of things, according to Jon Stewart. From the media to the way politics function to the fragility of democracy, Stewart is on a mission to look for solutions. That’s the premise of his show on Apple TV+, ‘<a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-problem-with-jon-stewart/umc.cmc.4fcexvzqezr25p9weks6sxpob">The Problem With Jon Stewart</a>.’ Stewart spoke with Shumita Basu for the latest episode of Apple News In Conversation.
Apple News In Conversation

Mar 14, 2022 1 min

Shumita Basu sits down with some of the most influential journalists, celebrities, and thought leaders about the stories shaping our culture, politics, and lives.
Uncovering slave-ship wrecks, a diver puts lost souls to rest

Mar 12, 2022 18 min

During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 12.5 million people who were enslaved traveled from Africa to the Americas, on 36,000 voyages. Roughly a thousand of these vessels sank, but only a few have ever been found. National Geographic explorer and diver Tara Roberts spoke with “Apple News Today” host Duarte Geraldino about her experience identifying and documenting the remains of slave-ship wrecks — and how she’s hoping to honor the lives of these people who have been all but forgotten by history.
How real is the threat of nuclear war?

Mar 5, 2022 26 min

NATO member states have been clear they will not directly intervene in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But many Ukrainians are calling on the West to do more. Apple News Today host Duarte Geraldino talks with Ukrainian activist Daria Kaleniuk, who is urging NATO allies to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine. In response, cohost Shumita Basu speaks with Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp, who says any type of military intervention by the West would be catastrophic and could trigger a nuclear attack from Russia.
David Remnick on Putin’s endgame

Feb 26, 2022 23 min

This week, Russia launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine — beginning what could be the largest war in Europe in decades. Apple News Today host Shumita Basu spoke with <a href="https://apple.news/AL2th8IiwTVief248yjdZSw">New Yorker</a> editor David Remnick, a longtime expert on Russia, about how we got here and what this war means for the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Did a Texas man confess to a murder he didn’t commit?

Feb 19, 2022 23 min

When 52-year-old Larry Driskill was questioned by Texas Ranger James Holland in 2015, he thought he was helping police solve a cold case. But within 24 hours, Driskill confessed to a murder he says he didn’t commit. He’s now in prison. Maurice Chammah spent a year looking into this case and others like it for the <a href="https://apple.news/AHAW1Ge0nSHOw5YfKxTQOXA">Marshall Project</a>. He spoke to Apple News Today host Duarte Geraldino about the techniques used by law enforcement that can result in false confessions.
Are we in the golden age of ‘Jeopardy’?

Feb 12, 2022 20 min

When host Alex Trebek died in 2020, Jeopardy’s future was unclear. Could the game show continue to be successful without him? So far, the answer is yes. Claire McNear, a reporter at The Ringer and the author of <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/answers-in-the-form-of-questions/id1502060518">Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider’s Guide to Jeopardy!</a>, spoke with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about all things Jeopardy — from superfan online message boards to game strategy to Trebek’s legacy.
They survived school shootings. How are they 20 years later?

Feb 5, 2022 19 min

In 1998, a student opened fire at a middle-school dance, killing one teacher and wounding another teacher and two students. Journalist Marin Cogan was a sixth grader at the time, and she recalls the shock and horror she and her classmates felt. Back then, school shootings were far more rare; kids and educators didn’t have the language or the tools to talk about — much less process — their trauma. For <a href="https://apple.news/ABOM0tG6MQqOWwwQxylcytg">Vox</a>, Cogan recently connected with survivors of other school shootings that took place in the 1990s. She spoke with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about coming of age in a world wholly unprepared to deal with the aftermath of mass school shootings.
Nikole Hannah-Jones on the 1619 Project and reframing U.S. history

Jan 22, 2022 25 min

Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for The New York Times Magazine and the creator of the 1619 Project. The project reframes American history around an important date that isn’t mentioned in many history books: 1619, the beginning of American slavery. Hannah-Jones has expanded on the idea and turned it into a book called <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-1619-project/id1556566008">The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story</a>. Hannah-Jones spoke with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about the project.
How one journalist helped her dad die

Jan 15, 2022 28 min

If you’re suffering from a terminal illness and have only a few months to live, should you be allowed to choose how and when to end your life? Ten states in the country allow patients to do just that — a practice referred to as medical aid in dying — under highly regulated laws. In April 2020, <a href="https://apple.news/AWSuCVwB2R7etDK9z9DDBVQ">Bloomberg</a> journalist Esmé Deprez’s father became the second person to end his life under the Maine Death with Dignity Act. Deprez speaks with Apple News Today host Duarte Geraldino about that experience and <a href="https://apple.news/AUV-eGUsTRPSPI20M8Yfofg">a California case</a> making its way through the courts now that could expand the scope of the law.
Feeling burned out? Here’s how to rethink work.

Jan 8, 2022 25 min

How’s your relationship to your job? Does it feel healthy? Sustainable? For a lot of people, it got worse during the pandemic. One survey in 2021 found that more than a third of the men and nearly half of the women feel burned out. So what’s going wrong here? Apple News Today host Shumita Basu speaks with Anne Helen Petersen about her new book, <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/out-of-office/id1542798259">Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working From Home</a>, coauthored with Charlie Warzel. It’s all about how we can adjust the role our jobs play in our lives and focus more time and energy on the things we care about the most.
Inside the secret prisons where migrants are tortured and beaten

Dec 11, 2021 25 min

For the <a href="https://apple.news/A8A5W26CARauEzftK84qb-w">New Yorker</a>, journalist Ian Urbina traveled to Libya to report on an EU-funded shadow immigration system that holds migrants in brutal detention centers. While reporting this story, Urbina was kidnapped, beaten, and detained himself. Now safely back home, he spoke with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about how this shadow system works and the horrific conditions inside the detention centers.
Jelani Cobb on the backlash to critical race theory

Nov 20, 2021 22 min

The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb says conservatives weaponizing critical race theory aren’t acting in good faith. He speaks with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about his recent piece for the <a href="https://apple.news/AqOnqIwHvSZS1XWSjwBAkig">New Yorker</a> about the founder of the concept, Derrick Bell. Cobb says that Bell could have predicted today’s backlash and that real critical race theory can help us understand today’s debate over false depictions of this term.
Kids were jailed for a crime that doesn’t exist. How could that happen?

Oct 30, 2021 27 min

Nashville Public Radio’s Meribah Knight speaks with Shumita Basu about her reporting for <a href="https://apple.news/ASGVG-243QVuJK_lQ6YaGZA">ProPublica</a> on the juvenile-justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Knight reveals a disturbing pattern in which hundreds of kids — some as young as 7 years old — were being locked up every year. In many of these cases, the adults responsible acted illegally and faced no consequences.
Think the stock market is rigged? You may be right.

Oct 23, 2021 15 min

Data shows high-level execs often get unusually good returns trading their own companies’ stocks. But regulators say insider trading is hard to prove under current law. For <a href="https://apple.news/AijUGHJk0QeK7vx1EUYf0yw">Bloomberg Businessweek</a>, Liam Vaughan explains why insider trading is more widespread than you might think — and why some experts argue the system is fundamentally unfair.
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa on the final months of Trump’s presidency

Oct 2, 2021 26 min

What was it like inside the White House when Donald Trump lost — then denied losing — the election? Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, authors of the new book Peril, sat down with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu to discuss the chaotic period, which they consider one of the most dangerous in American history. <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/peril/id1575255441">Peril</a> is available now on Apple Books.
The story of Jane Roe, her baby, and abortion in America

Sep 18, 2021 24 min

Many people may not know that the woman at the center of Roe v. Wade — whose real name is Norma McCorvey — never got the abortion to which she won the right. Journalist and author Joshua Prager set out to find the daughter whom McCorvey ultimately gave up for adoption. In his new book, <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-family-roe-an-american-story/id1573959030">The Family Roe: An American Story</a>, Prager details the lives of these women and explores how the issue of abortion became so divisive in the U.S.
E. Alex Jung on who writer Anthony Veasna So might’ve been

Aug 14, 2021 22 min

Anthony Veasna So was a burgeoning literary star when he died of a drug overdose at 28 last year. For <a href="https://apple.news/AKklvxRn3ReWH-6u3sW5sfQ">New York Magazine</a>, Jung spoke with So’s friends, family, and partner about who he was. They all have different ideas.