A few weeks into this year’s monsoon season in Pakistan, it became clear that the rains were unlike anything the country had experienced in a long time.

The resulting once-in-a-generation flood has marooned entire villages and killed 1,500 people, leaving a trail of destruction, starvation and disease.

Guest: Christina Goldbaum, an Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The flooding has crippled Pakistan’s agricultural sector, threatening a food crisis and dealing another critical blow to a country already in the economic doldrums.
• Farm laborers are scrambling to salvage whatever they can from the battered remains of their cotton and rice harvests. It is desperate work.
• More than 33 million people have been displaced, with vast areas of Pakistan likely to take months to dry out.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.