This is an episode from our archives. Anderson Cooper is now the only living member of the family he grew up with. When he was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack. His brother died by suicide about a decade later. And in 2019, his mother died at the age of 95. It’s only recently that Cooper has been able to talk about and process these deaths. For Apple News In Conversation’s Think Again series, he spoke with host Shumita Basu about what he’s learned by talking to people about...

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Whether you’re 30 or 50 years old, it can be difficult to know what your life in retirement is going to look like and how to best prepare for it. Wall Street Journal reporters Anne Tergesen and Veronica Dagher spoke to people with a wide variety of retirement experiences — from those retiring on almost nothing but Social Security to those with $5 million — about how they are each making it work regardless of the number in their bank accounts.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: More and more people are becoming self-employed in the U.S. And when it comes to being your own boss, everything from your finances to your attitude can shape whether your business is a success. Paco de Leon is a personal-finance expert and host of the podcast Weird Finance. She sits down with Apple News In Conversationguest host Julia Carpenter to share some of the best advice she’s learned from her own experience, and from guiding clients to create their own...

This is an episode from our archives. Around 2013, author and cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar started noticing some worrying changes in his father. He would forget the code to their safe; he couldn’t remember what he did the day before and would get lost driving home. Eventually, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In his new book, My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, Jauhar chronicles the challenges of caring for a sick parent and explains where medicine is today...

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But when it comes to support for parents and families, we lag behind many of our peers. We have relatively high infant- and maternal-mortality rates and no national parental-leave policy. We spend far less on early-childhood care than other wealthy countries do. Economist and parenting expert Emily Oster argues that it doesn’t have to be this way. She sat down with Apple News In Conversation...

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Losing your job. Being evicted. Hearing your parents fight about money. These can all be forms of financial trauma. Megan McCoy, a marriage and family psychologist specializing in financial therapy, explains how these traumas can have a long-standing effect on your relationship with money and how to break the cycle.

Guest-hosted by Julia Carpenter: Charlotte Cowles never thought she’d fall for a scam. She’s savvy about money and even writes a financial-advice column for The Cut. But last fall, scammers persuaded her to put $50,000 in cash in a shoebox and hand it over, wiping out her life savings. Cowles tells her story to Apple News In Conversation guest host Julia Carpenter and offers tips on how to prevent this from happening to you.

This is an episode from our archives. Tom Hanks has learned a thing or two about moviemaking during his decades-long career. Ultimately, he says, it’s not about one person’s vision or direction; it’s about the countless people behind the camera — and a few in front of it — who make a movie possible. That’s the foundational idea behind his debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. Hanks spoke to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu before SAG-AFTRA, the...

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: The United States is one of the greatest democracies in the world. But, for a lot of people in this country, it doesn’t feel that way. A recent Pew Research survey found that about 7 in 10 Americans feel that our political system is not working well. Ezra Klein is one of the top thinkers and writers on U.S. politics. He’s also an opinion columnist for the New York Times and host of the podcast The Ezra Klein Show. Klein sat down with Apple News In Conversation...

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Many Americans say the economy is their top issue this election year, with roughly two-thirds of voters saying they don’t feel it’s working for them. That’s despite a variety of indicators that show the economy is healthy and thriving. Guest host Brian Stelter talked with Megan Leonhardt, a senior writer for Barron’s, and Betsey Stevenson, a labor economist and professor at the University of Michigan, about the disconnect between the data and voter sentiment, as...

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Between the upcoming presidential election, rapidly improving artificial intelligence, and weakened social-media safeguards, disinformation is becoming an increasingly urgent issue in the U.S. In her new book, Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, legal analyst and former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade argues that American democracy will suffer if we don’t distinguish truth from lies. McQuade spoke with Apple News In Conversation guest...

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: Donald Trump is the first president — current or former — to face criminal charges. The first of his four criminal trials is set to begin at the end of March, with at least one other expected to take place before the presidential election. Guest host Brian Stelter spoke with Scott Detrow, host of NPR’s Trump’s Trials podcast, and Karen Tumulty, political columnist for the Washington Post, about the charges against Trump and how he’ll split his time between the...

Guest-hosted by Brian Stelter: This year’s presidential election is unprecedented for many reasons. Republican front-runner and former president Donald Trump is facing 91 criminal charges in four separate trials. President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, is facing serious criticisms over his age. Guest host Brian Stelter sat down with New Yorker staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos, who also cohost The Political Scene podcast. He asks whether backup plans...

Guest-hosted by David Greene: Sheryl Swoopes, often called the “female Michael Jordan,” was the first player signed to the WNBA. Her story is featured in the new documentary Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story, which takes a look at how far the league has come since Swoopes’s early days — and what today’s pro athletes say they still need from the league. Guest host David Greene spoke with Swoopes and the film’s director, Andrea Buccilla.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: Maggie Nichols was the first athlete on the national team to report former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse to the organization in June 2015. A year later, she was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team. She spoke with guest host David Greene about her new memoir, Unstoppable! Warning: This episode includes descriptions of sexual violence and restrictive eating.

Guest-hosted by David Greene: The NFL accounted for 93 of the top 100 U.S. broadcasts in 2023, according to Nielsen ratings. But not that long ago, the league was reeling from controversies around head injuries, allegations of racism in its hiring practices, and players protesting police brutality. To better understand the NFL’s staying power, Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene spoke with sports journalist Pablo Torre, host of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out. They dig into...

Guest-hosted by David Greene: College football and basketball are multibillion-dollar industries. But while some Division 1 coaches and athletic directors make millions of dollars each year, the players themselves are not paid by the schools they compete for. That may soon change. The NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits that could lead to student athletes being treated and compensated as university employees. ESPN panelist and Washington Post columnist Kevin Blackistone spoke with Apple News In...

Roz Chast started at the New Yorker in 1978, when there was only one other woman cartoonist at the magazine. Decades later, she is a celebrated figure in the cartoon world and has become well-known for her distinctive style and humor. Her latest book, I Must Be Dreaming, is an illustrated guide to Chast’s dreams and the inner workings of her mind. Chast spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about following her artistic intuition, the popularity of New Yorker cartoons, and...

Have we been visited by extraterrestrial life? And how much does the government really know when it comes to UFOs? Garrett Graff’s latest book, UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There, investigates these questions and more. The national-security reporter recently sat down with Apple News In Conversationhost Shumita Basu to share his findings.

Journalist Tim Alberta was raised in the evangelical church and is a practicing Christian. But he’s grown increasingly concerned about how entrenched politics has become in the evangelical movement. In his latest book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Alberta lays out the state of the evangelical church today and its shift toward the cultural and political fringes. Below are excerpts from Alberta’s interview with Apple News In Conversation...

Esther Perel is the relationship expert many couples dream of scheduling a session with. Her podcast, Where Should We Begin? With Esther Perel, offers the next best thing. In it, she helps real couples work through their issues, often providing insights that are relevant to other relationships. Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu spoke with Perel about how she approaches her work, the challenges of modern love, and how to resolve conflict.

This is an episode from our archives. Transitions can feel intimidating and destabilizing. But these moments can also be opportunities for growth, reflection, and self-discovery — especially when you have the right tools. In this episode of Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu talks to Hidden Brain’s Shankar Vedantam about why pivot points can feel so challenging and how to embrace them as opportunities, rather than obstacles.

This is an episode from our archives. Rainn Wilson understands why so many people are rejecting religion today. But he argues that the core aspects of faith still have something important to offer us. Spirituality has brought him community, purpose, and joy — even as he’s struggled with depression, anxiety, and addiction. The actor explores these themes and shares what he’s learned in his book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution and docuseries, Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss.

Elizabeth Keating didn’t realize how little she knew about her mother’s life until after she had died. A trained anthropologist, Keating decided to develop a guide for interviewing and recording loved ones’ histories before it’s too late. Her book, The Essential Questions: Interview Your Family to Uncover Stories and Bridge Generations, offers a blueprint for these conversations along with thought-provoking questions. On Apple News In Conversation, Keating shares what this process can teach...

Holiday spending is expected to reach record levels this year. That makes for a lot of packages — and a lot of returns, donations, and junk. On Apple News In Conversation, host Shumita Basu speaks with The Atlantic’s Amanda Mull, who reveals the strategies retailers use to get you to buy more stuff, and what you can do to have a more sustainable holiday.