Apple News In Conversation

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most influential — and controversial — figures in American public health. And some of the changes he’s pushing, especially around vaccines, have drawn sharp criticism and resistance from many scientific experts. In a recent Atlantic profile, staff writer Michael Scherer examined how Kennedy’s background, including immense privilege and trauma, has shaped the perspective he now brings to his role at HHS. Scherer interviewed and traveled with Kennedy to report his piece. He sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to discuss Kennedy’s worldview and what it could mean for federal public-health policy.

At a time when interest in history is surging, millions of listeners are tuning in to hear historians Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland dive into the past on their hit podcast The Rest Is History. Known for sharp banter, vivid details, and engaging narratives, the show has become the world’s most popular history podcast and was named Apple Podcasts’s Podcast of the Year. Sandbrook and Holland join Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to reflect on their favorite moments in American history — from Abraham Lincoln’s presidency to the upheavals of 1968.

This is an episode from our archives.Even before the divisive presidential election, family estrangement was on the rise. Now, as holiday gatherings approach, many people are grappling with difficult family dynamics. Psychologist Joshua Coleman, the author of Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties & How to Heal the Conflict, talks to Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about how to navigate strained relationships and what steps you can take to bridge divides.

With the release of her James Beard Award–winning cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Samin Nosrat catapulted to international fame. But amid big life changes and loss in the years that followed, she struggled to redefine her connection to cooking. With her second book, Good Things, Nosrat is back with a fresh approach to preparing food — one that’s centered on spending precious time with loved ones. She sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about what makes a good recipe, her weekly dinner-party group, and how to alleviate the stress of cooking a high-stakes holiday meal.

Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has spent the past two decades on the front lines of many of the world’s defining conflicts and humanitarian crises — from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Arab Spring, the Libyan civil war, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A new documentary from National Geographic, Love+War, explores not only her extraordinary career in conflict zones but also her life at home in London with her husband and their two young sons. Addario sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about her high-risk work, motherhood, and what the film reveals about the complexity of both.