The New Co-Hosts of 'The Daily'

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Daily – "The New Co-Hosts of 'The Daily'"

Episode Information:

• Title: The New Co-Hosts of 'The Daily'
• Host/Author: The New York Times
• Release Date: June 3, 2025

Introduction In this special episode of The Daily, host Michael Barbaro announces a significant evolution in the show's dynamic: the introduction of two distinguished journalists, Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff, as co-hosts alongside himself. This transition marks a new chapter for the podcast, promising fresh perspectives and enriched storytelling.

Announcement of New Co-Hosts Michael Barbaro opens the episode by warmly welcoming Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff as the new co-hosts. He reflects on their journey with the show, noting, “You have been distinguished guests over the past eight years of the show and then you were guest hosts. And now I'm extremely excited to announce you are both becoming my co-hosts” (00:52).

Natalie Kitroeff’s Background and Motivation Natalie Kitroeff shares her inspiration for pursuing journalism, attributing much of it to her mother, a professor of Latin American politics. From a young age, Natalie accompanied her mother to Guatemala, witnessing firsthand the complexities of conflict through interviews with genocide survivors, guerrilla fighters, and ex-army commanders. Natalie recounts, “I was going in and out of these often tense conversations and just getting all sides of this very complicated story” (02:01). This early exposure instilled in her a passion for uncovering multifaceted truths, a principle she has carried throughout her career.

Transitioning to The Daily, Natalie explains her decision to leave print journalism, stating, “I love the Daily... it feels like it's been a home away from home for me for a long time now. And so I'm excited to make it permanent” (06:35). Her recent investigative work on the Sinaloa cartel and the fentanyl crisis exemplifies the depth and courage she brings to her reporting.

Rachel Abrams’s Background and Motivation Rachel Abrams discusses her path to journalism, inspired by her father, a screenwriter who loved comic books. She likens her journalistic aspirations to that of a superhero, emphasizing the role of reporters in “speaking truth, to power and reveal things and uncover things” (03:04). Rachel shares a pivotal moment in her career while covering General Motors' car malfunctions, where her dedication led to providing closure for a victim's family. “If I didn't do that, they would have never known, and that would have been that,” she reflects (04:09).

Rachel also highlights her transition to The Daily, sparked by her involvement in the paper's MeToo coverage. After connecting with a key source who believed her story belonged on The Daily, Rachel found that the audio medium could uniquely enhance the narrative. “It was incredible to listen to her. And that's what brought me to the show first” (07:08).

Role and Vision as Co-Hosts Michael Barbaro elaborates on the responsibilities of hosting The Daily, emphasizing the importance of empathizing with listeners who may be multitasking while tuning in. “The job is to fiercely advocate for the listener in every conversation... and the real challenge is standing in for the listener while also yourself being really present in the conversation” (07:55). This dual role underscores the commitment to delivering clear, meaningful journalism that resonates with a diverse audience.

Closing Remarks As the conversation draws to a close, all three hosts express their excitement and optimism about their collaborative future. Natalie Kitroeff confidently states, “I'm really excited” (09:18), while Rachel Abrams adds, “Me too” (09:19). The trio shares a heartfelt moment of mutual gratitude and anticipation for the journey ahead, solidifying the foundation for the show's next phase.

Conclusion This episode of The Daily not only marks the welcoming of Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff as co-hosts but also celebrates their rich backgrounds and unwavering dedication to impactful journalism. As the trio embarks on this new venture together, listeners can anticipate a continued commitment to in-depth storytelling and insightful analysis, embodying the essence of what The Daily represents.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Barbaro: “You have been distinguished guests over the past eight years of the show and then you were guest hosts. And now I'm extremely excited to announce you are both becoming my co-hosts” (00:52).
• Natalie Kitroeff: “I was going in and out of these often tense conversations and just getting all sides of this very complicated story” (02:01).
• Rachel Abrams: “I want to be that. And I don't think there was any more thought. It was just, that is how you can. The coolest way to do good in the world” (03:04).
• Michael Barbaro: “The job is to fiercely advocate for the listener in every conversation... and the real challenge is standing in for the listener while also yourself being really present in the conversation” (07:55).
• Natalie Kitroeff: “I'm really excited” (09:18).

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This summary encapsulates the pivotal discussions and heartfelt introductions of the new co-hosts, providing listeners with an insightful overview of the episode’s key elements.

Transcript

[Michael Barbaro]

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[Host]

Come on in.

[Rachel Abrams]

I'm gonna sit in the middle.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Okay. I'm taking the flank.

[Host]

Well, Rachel. Hello, Natalie.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Hi.

[Host]

Welcome to the next chapter of the Daily. I know, hosted by you.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Well, and you. It's the three of us.

[Rachel Abrams]

Yeah, the three of us. Yep.

[Host]

And of course, our listeners know who you are first because you have been distinguished guests over the past eight years of the show and then you were guest hosts. And now I'm extremely excited to announce you are both becoming my co hosts. There are going to be three of us. Michael Barbaro, Natalie Kitroeff, Rachel Abrams, and Natalie, you start today. Officially. Rachel, listeners will know you already started. You've been at it for a couple of months. And we wanted to take a moment outside of the regular rigors of the show to mark this moment and officially share this news with our listeners and honestly take a few minutes to talk about who you both are, what you did before this, why you wanted to be co hosts of the Daily. So I'm gonna start, Natalie, with you. What made you ever want to be a journalist?

[Natalie Kitroeff]

I think that I gotta give my mom credit on this one. She is a professor of Latin American politics. She was always, from when I was really young, doing research in Guatemala. And when I turned 12, she started taking me there. And her research was doing interviews with victims and survivors of the genocide in Guatemala. And I would go and do these interviews with her. I mean, she wasn't just talking with the survivors. She also talked to the guerrilla fighters who were part of the conflict. She talked to the ex army commanders who were involved in some of these massacres. And so I was going in and out of these often tense conversations and just getting all sides of this very complicated story. And I took that with me, you know, right out of college when I was looking for a job. I realized you could get paid to do this. And it's basically what I've done ever since.

[Host]

And what about you, Rachel?

[Natalie Kitroeff]

I have to follow that God, I'm sorry. I know.

[Rachel Abrams]

That's such a good answer. No, no, no. My dad was a screenwriter in LA that read comic books, which I read. And I was like, lois Lane's the coolest person. Like, a reporter is the cool you could be. They had to give the man superpowers. But she is saving the world because she's smart and dogged and tenacious to speak truth, to power and reveal things and uncover things. I just, like. I want to be that. And I don't think there was any more thought. It was just, that is how you can. The coolest way to do good in the world.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Mm.

[Host]

And once you actually became a journalist, when did you feel you were realizing that goal?

[Rachel Abrams]

Really early in my career at the Times, there was a story I worked on that I think it'll probably stay with me forever. General Motors was having this issue where their cars were just suddenly shutting off while people were driving them. And obviously, people were crashing. There were a lot of deaths. Every reporter was trying to figure out who had died. Piecing together various federal crash data to find the earliest victims, to notify them or to notify their survivors, their families, to let them know you didn't just have an accident. Your car malfunctioned.

[Host]

You didn't do anything wrong.

[Rachel Abrams]

You didn't do anything wrong. And reporters around the country, including a team I was on, we had basically identified all these people. But there was one person in one of the earliest, if not the earliest, crash, and nobody could find her name. And everybody was looking for it. And I was like, I will find this person. And I probably made 100 phone calls to everybody that might know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. And eventually I found someone. It was a woman whose car had driven off the road, and she had crashed into a tree, and she had died.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Wow.

[Rachel Abrams]

And I tracked down her family, and up until then, they had no idea. They thought maybe she had a heart attack. It was this lingering mystery, and they finally got some sort of closure. And I know that there was a compensation fund that existed, and by telling them, they actually had a chance to apply for it. So, anyway, that was the thing where I was like, if I didn't do that, they would have never known, and that would have been that.

[Michael Barbaro]

Right?

[Host]

I mean, that's public service.

[Rachel Abrams]

I was really proud of it.

[Host]

Natalie, as we've already hinted at, you take the lessons that you drew from your mom's work, and you become one of the greatest correspondents I can recall in Mexico City.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

All right. I don't know about that.

[Host]

And I wonder when all those lessons apply clearly in your work.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

I think really the most recent stories that I did are the clearest example of how those lessons I learned early on began to apply because I spent, as you know, because we talked about on the show several months investigating the Sinaloa cartel as a way of understanding the fentanyl crisis that was killing tens of thousands of Americans. We really tried to get inside the cartel by going to Sinaloa, visiting a fentanyl lab where they were cooking and producing the drug, talking to chemists. We talked to people who were tested on by the cartels as they were looking to perfect their formulas for these drugs. It was risky, it was dangerous, but it was the only way that I knew to try to understand how this billion doll behind this incredibly lethal drug actually worked. And, yeah, I was reminded of all of those hours in a car, going up to the mountains, sitting and just listening with my mom.

[Host]

So then why both of you? But start with you, Natalie, why leave print and come here on the Daily full time?

[Natalie Kitroeff]

I mean, I love the Daily. I remember when the show first started and it oriented me as a reporter covering this world. I needed to listen to what was on the Daily because it helped me think about coverage. And then I got to be a guest on the show. As we said, I worked with some of the very same editors and producers who are still running this show. So it feels like it's been a home away from home for me for a long time now. And so I'm excited to make it permanent.

[Host]

And you, Rachel?

[Rachel Abrams]

Well, another line of reporting that I did years after the General Motors stuff was I was involved in the paper's coverage of the MeToo movement. One of the stories involved a woman who lost her law license because she was a source to us. But eventually she reached out to me and said, I kind of want to talk about why I leaked. And we had lunch, and I listened to her, and I eventually said, the Daily is where I think your story belongs. I just feel like audio can just do something for the story.

[Host]

And you were right.

[Rachel Abrams]

Yeah. And it was incredible to listen to her. And that's what brought me to the show first. After that, I started guest hosting with you guys.

[Host]

So there it is.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Can we start talking about you? Yeah.

[Rachel Abrams]

Can we start talking about you?

[Host]

Do you have any ques. Do you have any questions?

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Yes, yes. We have so many questions, but the basic one, how do you think about this job, about hosting the show?

[Host]

I think the job is to imagine that someone is at home, maybe doing their dishes or on the subway listening to the show. And they're plugged in. But there's also, like, passing trains and kids running behind them and.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Right. A million things going on.

[Host]

There's things going on. And the job is to ensure that I'm standing in for them. Are they about to be confused by something? It's my job to clarify it.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Right.

[Host]

Is there some deeper meaning behind something that I can get at on their behalf? That's my job. So the job is to fiercely advocate for the listener in every conversation, whether it's with a farmer in Iowa or the president of Princeton University, like you just did, Rachel, or Natalie with the whistleblower from Boeing or any of our 1500 colleagues who are the beating heart of this show. And the real challenge is standing in for the listener while also yourself being really present in the conversation. And it's kind of like those two jobs at once. That is the challenge.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Right?

[Rachel Abrams]

Yeah.

[Host]

Okay, we are reaching the end of our conversation here and I just want to tell you both how much I am looking forward to working with you as my co host. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and I think we're going to do great things.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Me, too.

[Rachel Abrams]

Me three.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

I'm really excited.

[Host]

Or I'm going to say thank you in that kind of like, classic way.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

No. Can I. I'm going to do the honors, please. Is that okay? Okay. Michael, Rachel, thank you so much.

[Host]

You're very welcome.

[Rachel Abrams]

You're welcome.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

Okay, Rachel, you wanna.

[Rachel Abrams]

Yeah, yeah, I'll do it. I'll do it.

[Host]

Okay, so we're all gonna. We're all gonna do it.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

We're gonna go around the room.

[Rachel Abrams]

Yeah, we're go around the. Yeah, I'm gonna go see who's best.

[Host]

Go for it.

[Rachel Abrams]

Michael, Natalie, thank you both so much.

[Host]

Thank you.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

You're welcome. You're welcome.

[Host]

All right, now my turn. This is it.

[Natalie Kitroeff]

This is it. Okay. All right.

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