Gail Collins and Bret Stephens: A Last Conversation
The Conversation has been a staple of The Times's Opinion pages since 2017. But after eight years, the weekly dialogue between the liberal columnist Gail Collins and her conservative colleague Bret Stephens has come to an end. The editor Aaron Retica joins Gail and Bret to answer reader questions and discuss how they've managed years of civil conversations — for the first and last time in audio.
Below is a transcript of an episode of 'The Opinions.' We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Aaron Retica: I'm Aaron Retica, an editor at large in the Opinion section of The New York Times.
In this job I work a lot with a number of our columnists and one of the great joys, really delights, of my life here is that I get to work on something we called The Conversation, which is a weekly dialogue between two of our columnists — Gail Collins, who is standing in for liberal America, and Bret Stephens, who is standing in for conservative America.
It has appeared every Monday morning and is a crucial part of the agenda-setting and thought world of the Opinion section.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
23 minutes ago
- The Hill
Cuomo says he shouldn't have resigned as NY governor
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who is now running for New York City mayor, says he regrets resigning as the state's top executive in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations. 'If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have resigned,' Cuomo told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday. 'At the time, I thought that I would be a distraction to government functionality, that they would all be involved in impeachment proceedings, blah, blah, blah,' he continued. 'Looking back, what has really been done in the past four years anyway, right?' Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here Cuomo resigned days after state Attorney General Letitia James (D) issued a report that found he 'sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees' and ran an office 'filled with fear and intimidation.' The then-governor had voiced his regret for making women 'feel uncomfortable' but denied the allegations against him. He remained defiant when resigning, arguing his move was motivated not by the merits of the claims but to avoid being a distraction to the state's work. Cuomo, 67, has held a significant lead in polling ahead of the June 24 mayoral contest after launching his campaign in March. He faces State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (D) and embattled Mayor Eric Adams (D), among other candidates. 'I was done. I was in the private sector, just enjoying life,' Cuomo told The Times on Monday. 'But then I was looking at what was happening in New York City. You saw Mayor Adams getting into trouble; you saw (President) Trump coming; so, I'm worried about New York City.' Cuomo's work in the private sector after leaving the governor's office has included consulting. He disclosed in campaign finance reports that he earned at least $500,000 in 2024 from consulting work, but he has not revealed his clients. 'A lawyer can't disclose,' he told The Times, alluding to his 1982 degree from Albany Law School. He said he worked in the early stages on a real estate developer and friend's proposal to build a luxury marina on a decommissioned military base in Puerto Rico, but wasn't paid after the project stalled. 'It sounded like a very cool project, and I looked into it a little bit,' Cuomo said. 'But it didn't go anywhere.' The former longtime governor filed a lawsuit against James last year seeking more details about her sexual harassment report's findings and made an ethics complaint against his fellow New York Democrat in 2022. In addition to the numerous harassment allegations, Cuomo also drew broad backlash over his handling of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite playing a prominent role in recovery efforts. The Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation in April over Cuomo's past testimony before Congress about his administration's pandemic-era nursing home policies.
Axios
35 minutes ago
- Axios
What to know about tariffs: Key deadlines and rules
A series of milestone events in coming days will determine the course of the trade war. Why it matters: That in turn will decide the fate of not only the U.S. economy, but the world's. This is what you need to know about the days ahead. What are the major tariff deadlines? What to watch: There are key legal and diplomatic deadlines in coming weeks. June 4: The U.S. expects best and final offers from trade partners, reports say. June 5: The plaintiffs in the case that led to tariffs being struck down by the Court of International Trade have to file their papers with a federal appellate court, explaining why they oppose a motion to stay the trade court's ruling. June 9: The government has to file a reply to those papers, after which time the appellate court could rule on issuing a stay or not. End of June: President Trump has flagged the end of this month as possible timing for new tariffs that would affect cell phone makers like Apple and Samsung. July 8: For most nations, this is the end of the 90-day pause on the sweeping global reciprocal tariffs that Trump imposed in early April, and then froze a week later. July 9: The end of that pause for the European Union. July 14: The EU will impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods "if negotiations are not satisfactory," the bloc's top official said. August 12: The end of a 90-day pause on retaliatory tariffs against China. August 31: The end of an extension on long-standing exclusions for certain products from China tariffs. What tariffs are in place now? Zoom out: For now, all of the tariffs Trump previously imposed are still in effect, including a 10% global baseline tariff and additional levies on certain countries and sectors. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit temporarily stayed the Court of International Trade's ruling throwing out the tariffs Trump imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. That ruling did not affect tariffs previously imposed on sectors like steel and aluminum, which were implemented under a different authority. Can Trump impose tariffs in other ways? Zoom in: If the trade court's ruling striking down the IEEPA tariffs ends up standing, the administration has a variety of other levers it can pull to impose tariffs, though some are more time-consuming than what Trump has done thus far. Section 232 tariffs are sectoral levies imposed in the interests of national security; they require studies first to determine impacts. Section 301 tariffs are designed to respond to the unfair practices of foreign governments that put burdens on U.S. commerce. These also require an assessment process. Section 338 tariffs date to 1930s-era trade law and give the president wide latitude to impose levies on other countries, with fewer restrictions or preliminary requirements. What they're saying: " We're very, very confident that Plan A is all we're ever going to need," National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told ABC last weekend, referring to the IEEPA tariffs. But failing that, he said administration officials have been working on alternatives since 2017.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Photo Essay: A transgender high school athlete navigates a fight she never asked for
On the morning the Trump administration threw its weight behind a local lawsuit challenging California rules that allowed her to compete on her high school track and field team, Abi had more pressing concerns. The 17-year-old transgender athlete was graduating that evening from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside. Her competing in girls' hurdles had kicked up protests, and she was nervously planning one last act of high school rebellion. "The [school administration] was not allowing students to bring anything except their phones, and they were searching us before," she said, referring to the graduation ceremony. "So I had to smuggle contraband into a high-profile event with the risk of losing my diploma that I worked so hard to get this year." Hours later, Abi whipped out a small transgender flag. As she walked across the graduation stage in her cap and gown, she waved it above her head despite being terrified that doing so would land her in trouble. "I have always loved running, I've been doing it as long as I can remember." She also knew from months of fighting for her right to compete that many people in the crowd disagreed with her on transgender rights, and some were outwardly hostile. But she didn't flinch. It was a milestone moment for a transgender teen who dealt with — and survived — a modern American political gantlet because she "didn't have much of a choice." "No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day," Abi said. "I just figured everything out on the go.' Since writing about and photographing Abi for a February story, The Times has followed her closely to capture what life is like for a teenager caught in the middle of that debate. In February, she asked to remain anonymous given the threats to transgender athletes. But now, along with her mother, Abi agreed to have the resulting photographs, and her name, published here. Even though just days have passed since another transgender athlete — AB Hernandez — drew protests at California's high school track and field championships. Abi did not qualify to compete. Transgender activism "was never something I was planning on doing," Abi said, "but I'm a fighter." "My experience on the track team was actually pretty good. I was friends with all the girls on my team." "No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day, I just figured everything out on the go.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
