Apple News In Conversation

The Supreme Court will soon announce a decision that could substantially weaken or even overturn Roe v. Wade. Jessica Bruder recently wrote for the Atlantic about the many groups of activists helping women get access to abortion, even if they have to work around the law. Bruder spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Duarte Geraldino about how this network first formed and the ways activists are laying the groundwork for a country without Roe.

When Amber van Moessner was growing up, she never questioned whether the man who raised her was her biological father. But when she was in her late 20s, she took a 23andMe genetic test and discovered that she was conceived via a sperm donor. Van Moessner’s story kicks off the podcast series BioHacked: Family Secrets, hosted by T.J. Raphael. Hear Shumita Basu’s interview with Raphael and van Moessner about the donor-conception industry. 

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas is the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA swimming championship, and the honor has put her at the center of the discussion about trans competitors. Sports writer Louisa Thomas (no relation) tells the swimmer’s story in the New Yorker. She spoke with Shumita Basu for the latest episode of Apple News In Conversation about the difficulty of creating fairness in sports when no two athletes’ bodies will ever be perfectly matched.

When it came to light that the blood-testing technology behind the biotech startup Theranos didn’t work, the enigmatic founder, Elizabeth Holmes, became the subject of intense scrutiny. While Holmes has been in the spotlight, there’s another person at the center of this story: Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. Balwani and Holmes dated in secret for more than a decade, and he eventually became COO of Theranos. Balwani’s trial is now underway. Apple News In Conversation’s Shumita Basu spoke with Rebecca Jarvis, host of ABC Audio’s podcast on Theranos, The Dropout, about what to expect in this latest court case.

Joshua Barbeau lost his fiancée, Jessica, nearly a decade ago. For Joshua, getting over her death felt impossible. He was still grieving when he came across a website that allowed him to feel like he was communicating with Jessica again — by creating a customized, A.I.-powered chatbot. San Francisco Chronicle journalist Jason Fagone spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about how the Jessica bot helped Joshua process his grief.

What’s the problem with America today? A lot of things, according to Jon Stewart. From the media to the way politics function to the fragility of democracy, Stewart is on a mission to look for solutions. That’s the premise of his show on Apple TV+, ‘The Problem With Jon Stewart.’ Stewart spoke with Shumita Basu for the latest episode of Apple News In Conversation.

Shumita Basu sits down with some of the most influential journalists, celebrities, and thought leaders about the stories shaping our culture, politics, and lives.

During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 12.5 million people who were enslaved traveled from Africa to the Americas, on 36,000 voyages. Roughly a thousand of these vessels sank, but only a few have ever been found. National Geographic explorer and diver Tara Roberts spoke with “Apple News Today” host Duarte Geraldino about her experience identifying and documenting the remains of slave-ship wrecks — and how she’s hoping to honor the lives of these people who have been all but forgotten by history.

NATO member states have been clear they will not directly intervene in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But many Ukrainians are calling on the West to do more. Apple News Today host Duarte Geraldino talks with Ukrainian activist Daria Kaleniuk, who is urging NATO allies to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine. In response, cohost Shumita Basu speaks with Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp, who says any type of military intervention by the West would be catastrophic and could trigger a nuclear attack from Russia.

This week, Russia launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine — beginning what could be the largest war in Europe in decades. Apple News Today host Shumita Basu spoke with New Yorker editor David Remnick, a longtime expert on Russia, about how we got here and what this war means for the U.S. and the rest of the world.