Apple News In Conversation

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The hidden agenda behind “no tax on tips” Aug 14, 2025

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“No tax on tips” is a provision in President Trump’s new tax-and-spending bill that promises a tax break for tipped workers. But nearly 40% of these workers don’t earn enough to pay federal income tax and won’t directly benefit from the policy. In his latest piece for the New Yorker, contributing writer Eyal Press explains how the “no tax on tips” proposal originally came from the National Restaurant Association — known to some labor advocates as “the other NRA” — a powerful industry lobby that has long fought against raising wages. Press spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about how the association has shaped labor laws behind the scenes, and why a policy that looks like a win for workers might actually serve their bosses instead.

How one state became a blueprint for Trump’s immigration crackdown Aug 07, 2025

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The immigration landscape in the U.S. has shifted dramatically since President Trump began his second term. ICE raids and arrests have surged — including among migrants without criminal records — leaving detention facilities overflowing and families in crisis. NPR senior immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd has been reporting from Florida, a state that has taken the lead in advancing Trump’s agenda. She sat down withApple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to share what she’s seeing on the ground — and why Florida offers clues of what’s to come for the rest of country.

She wanted to be a mother. She was forced to put her son up for adoption. Jul 31, 2025

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Maternity homes are resurging in the post-Roe era. These facilities are meant to provide temporary housing and other services to pregnant people in need. But many are rooted in restrictive Christian ideology — and some former residents say they were coerced into placing their babies for adoption. In the new Wondery podcast Liberty Lost, journalist T.J. Raphael investigates this system through the story of one teenager, Abbi Johnson. Raphael joins Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to share what she uncovered and what Johnson’s experience reveals about adoption and reproductive choice in America.

“There’s no good way to kill somebody”: what the death penalty looks like in America Jul 24, 2025

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Public support for the death penalty has been slowly declining in America. But under President Trump, executions have spiked. In her recent piece, “Inside America’s Death Chambers,” Atlantic staff writer Elizabeth Bruenig describes witnessing five executions — including two failed attempts — and what those experiences taught her about justice, mercy, and redemption. Bruenig spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about her reporting and her own experience as the relative of a murder victim.

How tech is transforming parenthood (for better or worse) Jul 17, 2025

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New York Times critic Amanda Hess has spent years writing about the internet, technology, and culture. But when she became pregnant, and then a new parent, she was surprised by how much tech infiltrated — and tried to optimize — every aspect of her life. In her book Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, Hess chronicles that experience. She sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about the promises and pitfalls of parenting technology, and the tools that actually helped her family.

“We are living in a new Gilded Age”: how the billionaire class came to power Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Americans have a long history of obsession with the ultrarich, from Carnegie and Rockefeller to Bezos and Musk. And today, the gap between the rich and the poor is bigger than ever as the billionaire class has ascended to new heights. In his new book, The Haves and Have-Yachts, New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos explores the extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy and their outsize influence on politics. He sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about this unique moment — when billionaires are both resented and envied by the public — and what it means for the rest of us.

Rebroadcast: “There is a government cover-up around UFOs. It’s just not the one that you think.” Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

This is an episode from our archives. Since we published this episode, the Wall Street Journal released a report that the Pentagon purposely spread disinformation about UFOs, at times to protect secret military operations.

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 Conversation host Shumita Basu to share his findings.

What happens when private equity takes over your hospital, your house, and your job Jun 26, 2025

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Private equity has become one of the most powerful — and least understood — forces in the American economy. In recent decades, firms have taken over everything from retail chains to hospitals to housing — often with little risk to themselves and with real consequences for workers and communities. In her new book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, journalist Megan Greenwell breaks down how this industry is quietly reshaping American life. Greenwell sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to share the stories of people pushing back against these entities to protect their jobs, their families, and their homes.

Inside the high-speed production of ‘F1 The Movie’ Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

Formula 1 is the highest level of motorsport, with cars hitting speeds of over 200 miles per hour and teams making split-second, high-stakes decisions behind the scenes. Now the drama of this sport is coming to the big screen, with the new Apple Original film F1 The Movie, starring actors Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, in theaters June 27. Director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer wanted to make it the most authentic car-racing movie possible, and they shot real F1 races, incorporating those scenes into the film. They sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about bringing the world of F1 to life.

An FBI agent went undercover in America’s extremist groups. Here’s what he learned. Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

In his 22-year career in the FBI, undercover agent Scott Payne infiltrated some of the most dangerous criminal and extremist groups in America, from a motorcycle gang called the Outlaws to a white-supremacist group known as the Base. Payne shares his firsthand case accounts of gathering intelligence and stopping illegal activity in his memoir, Code Name: Pale Horse; How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis. His story is also featured on the latest season of the Slate podcast White Hot Hate. Payne sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about some of his most harrowing moments on the job and the growing threat of extremism in the U.S.

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