A War Within the War: Israel’s Bombardment of Lebanon

The Daily

03/16/26

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25m

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With the world’s attention on the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, a second front in the conflict has opened in Lebanon.

Israel has pummeled an area in the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway, as well as southern Lebanon, with airstrikes, displacing almost one million people. Israel has also expanded its assault into other parts of Beirut, the capital.

Christina Goldbaum, The New York Times’s bureau chief in Beirut, explains how the crisis in Lebanon connects to the broader war, what Israel hopes to achieve and what people in Lebanon fear might come next.

Guest: Christina Goldbaum, The New York Times’s bureau chief in Beirut.

Background reading:

Strikes are haunting displaced families in Lebanon.
Displaced people in the country are facing cold streets and an uncertain future.

Photo: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times

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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Previous Episode

To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite

March 15

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37m

For 12 years, Pete Wells had his dream job: working as the chief restaurant critic for The New York Times. The job’s journalistic mission required Wells to eat out most nights and taste nearly everything on any given restaurant’s menu. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the excessive eating had taken a toll on his body.

Then came a health crisis, followed by his doctor’s advice to “stop doing what you’re doing right now.”

In 2024, Wells gave up his post as restaurant critic and set out to remake his entire relationship with food.

On today’s episode, Michael Barbaro speaks with Wells about the realities of life as a restaurant critic, and what he’s learning about the joys of home cooking, mindful eating and grocery shopping for the diet he intends to follow.

On Today’s Episode:

Pete Wells is a reporter covering food for The New York Times. He was formerly The Times’s restaurant critic.

Background Reading:

After 12 Years of Reviewing Restaurants, I’m Leaving the Table

Our Former Restaurant Critic Changed His Eating Habits. You Can, Too.

To Eat Healthier, Our Critic Went to the Source: His Kitchen

To Tune Out Food Noise, Our Critic Listened to His Hunger

To Improve How He Ate, Our Critic Looked at What He Drank

Photo Credit: Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.

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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Next Episode

Chosen by War: The Rise of Iran’s New Supreme Leader

March 17

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33m

At the heart of the Iranian regime’s defiant stance toward the United States and Israel in the war is Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader and a son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime’s longtime ruler.

Farnaz Fassihi, who covers Iran for The New York Times, discusses the extraordinary jockeying that led to his selection and whether the United States and Israel helped motivate Iran to replace one hard-line leader with another.

Guest: Farnaz Fassihi, the United Nations bureau chief for The New York Times. She also covers Iran and how countries around the world deal with conflicts in the Middle East.

Background reading: