Cultural Discussions During Podcast Intermission

Ronan Farrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and contributing writer to The New Yorker, joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss the impact of rulings made this week by Judge Juan Merchan in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, where he faces thirty-four felony counts for falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels around the time of the 2016 election. Farrow explains why two other hush-money payments, made to former Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, are central to the Manhattan District Attorney’s case. As Farrow explains, “the coverup is ultimately a much, much bigger story than any of the underlying things being covered up would have been.”

This week’s reading:

• Inside the Hush-Money Payments That May Decide Trump’s Legal Fate, by Ronan Farrow
• The National Enquirer, a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence, by Ronan Farrow
• Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity, by Ronan Farrow

To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send feedback on this episode, write to themail@newyorker.com.