Nationwide, just over a million children, mostly girls, participate in cheer each year (some estimates are even higher), more than the number who play softball or lacrosse. And almost every part of that world is dominated by a single company: Varsity Spirit.

It’s hard to cheer at the youth, high school or collegiate level without putting money in the company’s pocket. Varsity operates summer camps where children learn to do stunts and perform; it hosts events where they compete; it sells pompoms they shake and uniforms they wear on the sidelines of high school and college football games.

Varsity’s market power has made the cheer world a paranoid place. In the reporting for this article, dozens of people spoke about the company in conspiratorial tones better suited to a spy thriller.

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Dr. Ellen Wiebe has performed hundreds of medical aid in dying (or MAID) procedures and is one of Canada’s most prominent advocates for the practice. David Marchese had questions — medical, legal and philosophical — about when it makes sense for doctors to help people to die, and also about how MAID might shape our thinking on what, exactly, constitutes a good death.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Democratic Party is sifting through the rubble of its sweeping election loss and trying to work out what went wrong.

In an interview, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont discusses his diagnosis and how to chart a path back to power.

Guest: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Background reading: 

• Democrats reeling from the election failure have begunkamala-harris.html"> playing the blame game.
• Who areparty-next-leaders.html"> the next leaders of the Democratic Party?

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Warning: this episode contains strong language.

In his first week as president-elect, Donald J. Trump moved at breakneck speed to fill out his cabinet with a set of loyalists who were both conventional and deeply unconventional, the U.S. Senate chose a leader who could complicate Trump’s agenda, and President Joe Biden welcomed Trump back to the White House.

Times Journalists Michael Barbaro, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, sat down to make sense of it all.

Guest: 

• Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who covers politics for The New York Times.
• Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.
• Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Matt Gaetz isgaetz-trump-attorney-general.html"> Mr. Trump’s pick for attorney general.
• John Thune is set to becometune-senate-republican-leader.html"> the next Senate majority leader.
• Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump’sbiden-white-house.html"> brief public display of civility was followed by a two-hour meeting behind closed doors.

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After single-handedly remaking the auto industry, social media and the global space race, Elon Musk is now turning his attention, and personal fortune, to politics.

Over the past few months, he became one of the most influential figures in the race for president, and on Tuesday Donald J. Trump tapped him to help lead what the president-elect called the Department of Government Efficiency,

Kirsten Grind and Eric Lipton, investigative reporters for The Times, explain what exactly Musk wants from the new president, and why he is so well placed to get it.

Guest: 

• Kirsten Grind, an investigative business reporter at The New York Times.
• Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter at The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Mr. Trumpmusk-vivek-ramaswamy-trump.html"> tapped Mr. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
• Mr. Musk helped elect Mr. Trump.musk-trump-benefits.html"> What does he expect in return?

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Last Tuesday, voters across the country approved measures to protect abortion rights, while rejecting the presidential candidate who claimed to champion those same rights.

Kate Zernike, who covers the issue for The Times, explains that gap and what it tells us about the new politics of abortion.

Guest: Kate Zernike, a national reporter at The New York Times, writing most recently about abortion.

Background reading: 

• ballot-measures.html">Abortion rights ballot measures succeeded in seven of the 10 states where they were proposed.
• President-elect Donald J. Trump has distanced himself from the idea of a federal abortion ban, but will face pressure to enact one.federal-abortion-ban.html"> Here’s how it could happen.

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Democrats, devastated by their sweeping losses in the election, are starting to sift through the wreckage of their defeat.

Political leaders from all corners of the Democratic coalition are pointing fingers, arguing over the party’s direction and wrestling with what it stands for.

Reid J. Epstein, who covers politics for The Times, discusses the reckoning inside the Democratic Party, and where it goes from here.

Guest: Reid J. Epstein, a reporter covering politics for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• In interviews, lawmakers and strategistskamala-harris.html"> tried to explain Kamala Harris’s defeat, pointing to misinformation, the Gaza war, a toxic Democratic brand and the party’s approach to transgender issues.
• Nancy Pelosi, the influential former House speaker,harris-biden-open-primary.html"> lamented Biden’s late exit and the lack of an “open primary.”

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When Maggie Jones’s marriage collapsed after 23 years, she was devastated and overwhelmed. She was in her 50s, with two jobs, two teenage daughters and one dog. She didn’t consider dating. She had no time, no emotional energy. But then a year passed. One daughter was off at college, the other increasingly independent. After several more months went by, she started to feel a sliver of curiosity about what kind of men were out there and how it would feel to date again.

That meant online dating — the default mode not just for the young but also for people Ms. Jones’s age. Her only exposure had been watching her oldest daughter, home from college one summer, as she sat on her bed rapidly swiping through guy after guy — spending no more than a second or two on each.

Ms. Jones tells her story of online dating in later adulthood, and what she learned.

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The former House Speaker reflects on Donald Trump’s victory, Kamala Harris’s candidacy and the future of the Democratic Party.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In the days since the election, Donald J. Trump has started preparing to retake the White House.

Jonathan Swan, who covered Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign for The Times, and Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent, take us inside the campaign’s endgame.

Guest: 

• Jonathan Swan, a reporter covering politics and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The New York Times.
• Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• President-elect Donald J. Trump facestransition.html"> key personnel choices in the wake of his victory.
• Mr. Trumpwiles-trump-white-house-chief-of-staff.html"> named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

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

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