The Divisions Roiling Beneath the Democratic Party’s Joyful Exterior

Hosted by Lydia PolgreenJamelle Bouie and Michelle Goldberg Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio When Democrats coalesced around Kamala Harris this summer, they set their differences …

Hosted by Lydia PolgreenJamelle Bouie and Michelle Goldberg

Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio


When Democrats coalesced around Kamala Harris this summer, they set their differences aside in the interest of preventing a second Trump presidency. But at what cost?

On this episode of “Matter of Opinion,” Lydia Polgreen is joined by her fellow Opinion columnists Jamelle Bouie and Michelle Goldberg to discuss whether this temporary unity is good or bad for the future of the Democratic Party.

(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Credit…Photo Illustration by The New York Times. Photo:Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Recommended in this episode:

  • “Poll Finds Harris Rising as She Challenges Trump on Change” by Adam Nagourney, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker

  • “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz: More From Their ‘60 Minutes’ Interviews” by Brit McCandless Farmer

  • Vice President Kamala Harris’s interview on “The View”

  • “Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster” by Charles Duhigg in the New Yorker

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.nytimes.com/podcasts.

Thoughts? Email us at matterofopinion@nytimes.com.

“Matter of Opinion” is produced by Phoebe Lett, Sophia Alvarez Boyd and Andrea Betanzos. It is edited by Jordana Hochman. Mixing by Carole Sabouraud and Pat McCusker. Engineering by Maddy Masiello. Original music by Carole Sabouraud, Sonia Herrero, Efim Shapiro, Isaac Jones and Pat McCusker. Our fact-checking team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. Our executive producer is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and Threads.

How Taryn Delanie Smith, TikTok’s Heaven Receptionist, Spends Sundays

Taryn Delanie Smith, a former Miss New York, takes a long stroll with her husband and Great Dane and cues up her Sunday playlist with an Ina Garten-inspired dinner.

Before Taryn Delanie Smith was crowned Miss New York in 2022, she worked at a call center. At one point, she said, she was only pretending to take calls.

“I was actually making these little videos at my desk or on my way to work,” she said.

Ms. Smith, 28, is best known for her TikToks as Denise, a receptionist in heaven with a New York accent. Dressed in a robe and a towel head wrap, she welcomes newcomers and fields calls from heaven hopefuls through her headset microphone (a pink razor). In one video, Denise is drinking holy water at the Saints Lounge with Princess Diana and Whitney Houston. In another, she responds to viewers who want her to welcome their loved ones who have died.

She is a self-described “reigning chaos goblin” whose videos err on the side of comedy. Now with more than 1.4 million followers on TikTok, she creates videos full time and is a co-host of “Influenced,” a talk show on Amazon.

“I’ve never felt safer and more protected than by New Yorkers,” said Ms. Smith, who is from Seattle. “And so that is sort of what Denise embodies to me.”

Sundays, Ms. Smith said, are an anchor for her and her husband, Alec Castillo, whom she describes as a “big tatted-up dude who loves to cook.” They live with their “city cow,” a Great Dane named Bruce, in a two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ms. Smith with her 2-year-old Great Dane, Bruce.Credit…Mimi d’Autremont for The New York Times

Composting Bin Dos and Don’ts: Can Your Building Restrict Your Access?

Every building is different. What to do with internal trash and recycling storage are up to the residents and managers.

Q: The management company for my New York City co-op is restricting our access to the new composting bins, which the city provides, to one 24-hour period every week. These “brown bins” are part of the city’s mandatory composting program. The city says there are no special days or limited hours for composting, but the management company says it is limiting the collection time to minimize pests and odors. I have a galley kitchen and cannot keep a week’s worth of food waste. I can use the orange smart bins on the street, but it’s frustrating that the management company is disregarding the purpose of the program. What can we do?

A: Your management company is not breaking any laws, but this policy seems to be in conflict with the spirit of the city’s program, and you can push for greater access to the composting bin.

New York City’s new mandatory composting program is in place in all boroughs. The benefits of composting food scraps and yard waste include controlling the rat population, diverting compostable material out of landfills and incinerators, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.



Every building is different, and decisions regarding internal trash and recycling storage are up to the residents and managers, according to a spokesman for the city’s Department of Sanitation. Your situation is not expressly prohibited.

Try to enlist your neighbors to approach the management with your concerns, emphasizing that this is a mandatory program, and that composting is good for the building. Storing food waste in apartments is not ideal and can create unsanitary conditions. Separating it reduces garbage-chute cleaning and makes trash bags less heavy, said Clare Miflin, executive director of Center for Zero Waste Design.

The city has anticipated your landlord’s stated concerns, and has said that a bin with a secure lid and a clear plastic liner bag does not generate more odor than food waste in the trash. Newspapers placed on top of each resident’s food waste can also reduce odors in the bin.

It’s possible that your management is limiting access out of a concern that residents won’t know how to use the bin. The Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board has tips for educating residents and encouraging participation.

“It is a mandatory program, and access should be reasonable,” Ms. Miflin said. “The less convenient it is, the less people will participate.”

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel: ‘I Felt Lied To’

Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’ In his new book of essays, “The Message,” Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about a trip he took to Israel and the West Bank in May 2023. “I felt lied to,” he told me. “I felt lied to by my craft. I felt lied to by major media …

Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’

In his new book of essays, “The Message,” Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about a trip he took to Israel and the West Bank in May 2023. “I felt lied to,” he told me. “I felt lied to by my craft. I felt lied to by major media organizations.”

Coates’s essay is a searing portrait of Palestinian life under Israeli rule. It has also been criticized for leaving much out: Hamas is never mentioned. Nor is Oct. 7. Nor are any of the peace processes. So I asked him on the show to discuss what he saw when he was there and what he chose to leave outside the frame.

You can listen to our whole conversation by following “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. View a list of book recommendations from our guests here.

(A full transcript of this episode will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Credit…Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Michael Tyrone Delaney for The New York Times

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Elias Isquith. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Mixing by Efim Shapiro and Isaac Jones, with Aman Sahota. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and Threads.

İranlı yetkiliden Haniye yorumu: Küçük düşürüldük

 İsrail’in Hamas’ın Siyasi Ofis Şefi İsmail Haniye’yi Tahran’da füzeyle öldürmesi, İran’ı tartışılır hale getirdi. İran Cumhurbaşkanı Pezeşkiyan’ın kampanya lideri, The New York Times’a konuştu: “Bu hücum, İran’ın bölgedeki statüsüne atılan büyük bir tokattı. Ülkemizi küçük düşürdü, istihbaratta önemli boşluklarımız olduğunu gösterdi.”

Emre ERGÜL

Hamas’ın Siyasi Ofis Şe­fi İsmail Haniye’nin, İran’ın başşehri Tah­ran’da kaldığı konuta isabet eden füzeyle öldürülmesinin üzerin­den iki gün geçti. Haniye için dün İran’da cenaze merasimi düzenlenir­ken; dünya üç mevzuya odaklan­dı…

1) Gazze Savaşı, Ortadoğu’da çok ölçekli bir savaşa döner mi?

2) İran, başşehrinde düzenlenen ha­va saldırısına nasıl müdahale ede­medi?

3) İran’ın İsrail’e karşılığı na­sıl olacak?

Cenazeyle başlayalım… Haniye için dün Tahran’da bir merasim dü­zenlendi. Haniye’nin cenaze na­mazını İran’ın dini lideri Ayetul­lah Ali Hamaney kıldırdı. Naaş daha sonra, Haneyi’nin 2018 yı­lından bu yana sürgünde yaşadı­ğı Katar’a götürüldü. Bir merasim de başşehir Doha’da düzenlendi.

Filistin davasının değerli isim­lerinden Haniye’nin İran’ın baş­kentinde, üstelik İhtilal Muha­fızları’nın koruduğu bir konutta öldürülmesi, İran’ın güvenlik za­afiyetini ortaya koydu. Mevzuyu manşetine taşıyan önemli Ameri­kan gazetesi The New York Times, “Saldırı, İran hükümeti için küçük düşürücü bir güvenlik başarısızlı­ğıdır” yorumunu yaptı.

İran tarafındaki sessizliği de tanınmış siyasetçi Ali Ekber Beh­maneş ile bir STK lideri olan Ali Vaez bozdu. İran Cumhurbaşka­nı Mesud Pezeşkiyan’ın kampan­yasının lideri olan Behmaneş, ga­zeteye verdiği demeçte aşağılan­dıklarına dikkat çekti: “Bu atak, İran’ın bölgedeki statüsüne atı­lan büyük bir tokat oldu. Ülkemi­zi küçük düşürdü, tüm güvenlik aygıtlarımızı baltaladı, istihba­ratta önemli boşluk­larımız olduğunu gösterdi.”

Uluslararası Kriz Grubu’nun İran Proje­si Başkanı Va­ez de “Saldırı, İran’ın yeni cumhurbaşkanı için misyondaki birinci gününde büyük bir krize yol açıyor” diye konuştu.

Şimdi gözler Tahran’da…Çünkü Ayetullah Hamaney, Haniye’nin vefatından ötürü kendilerini so­rumlu hissettiklerini söyleyip, in­tikam yemini etti. The New York Times’a nazaran, “İran, İsrail’e direkt füze hücumları düzenleyebilir,” “İsrail’in kuzeyinde akınlar dü­zenlemesi için Hizbullah’ı saha­ya sürebilir” ve/veya “Yemen’de­ki Husilere verdikleri takviyesi ar­tırıp, Kızıldeniz’deki akınları artırabilir.” Mümkün senaryo­larda da savaş evvel Lüb­nan’a yayılır. Akabinde Kızıldeniz’de güven­liği sağlayan Ame­rikan deniz kuv­vetleri de sa­vaşın içine çekilir…

“İran Cumhurbaşkanı’na görevindeki 10’uncu saatinde bildiri verildi”

The New York Times’a konuşan Amerikalı bir yetkili, İsrail’in Hamas lideri İsmail Haniye’yi öldürmek için bilhassa İran’I seçtiğine dikkat çekti. İşte yetkilinin sıraladığı iki neden:

1-Haniye, Katar’da yaşıyordu. Lakin İsrail, Katar’la ilişkile­rinden ötürü suikastı hiçbir vakit bu ülkede düşün­medi. Haniye, öbür Hamas başkanlarının tersine öteki ülkelere ziyaretlerde bulunuyordu. İsrail, onca fırsat varken, İran’ı zora sokmak için 80 ülke­den temsicilerin katıldığı cumhurbaşkan­kanlığı yemin merasimi seçti.

2-Bir ileti da İran Cumhurbaşkanı Mesud Pezeşkiyan’a verildi. Daha cumhurbaşkanlığının 10’un­cu saatinde Pezeşkiyan’a ‘İstediğimize istediğimiz yerde ulaşırız’ iletisi verildi. Pezeşkiyan, misyonunun birinci gü­nünü güvenlik toplantıla­rıyla ge­çirdi.

Newsweek: Suikast Harris için makûs haber

Dünyaca ünlü Newsweek dergisi, İsmail Haniye sui­kastının Demokratlar’ın lider adayı Kamala Har­ris üzerindeki tesirini kaleme aldı. Dergiye nazaran, Harris bugüne kadar İsrail’e dayanak vermekle Filistinlilere sempati duymak ortasında ince bir siyaset yapıyordu. “Son 9 ayda Gaz­ze’de yaşananlar yıkıcı; meyyit çocukların ve güvenlik için kaçan, bazen ikinci, üçüncü yahut dördüncü kere yerle­rinden edilen çaresiz, aç insan­ların görüntüleri… Acılara sessiz kalmayacağım” diyen Harris’in suikast sonrası ABD’deki İsrail destekçile­rinden baskı göreceği dü­şünülü­yor.