The Messy Reality of ‘Made in America’

In these final weeks of 2025, The Sunday Special is looking back at the year in culture. Today, we’re talking about the TV we watched this year — the best shows, the most popular ones and the ones that allowed us to just enjoyably veg out. Gilbert Cruz talks with the TV critic James Poniewozik and the culture reporter Alexis Soloski about the year in television. TV shows discussed in this episode: “Severance” “Common Side Effects” “Too Much” “Nobody Wants This” “Dying for Sex” “The Hunting Wives” “The White Lotus” “Dr. Odyssey” “Long Story Short” “Heated Rivalry” “Andor” “The Lowdown” “Platonic” “Pluribus” “The Pitt” “Adolescence”

The writer and lawyer has been documenting the occupation for decades. Somehow, he maintains hope.

With anxieties building over affordability, President Trump made a push to reassure Americans just as the government released long-awaited data that raised new questions about the economic health of the nation. Tony Romm, who covers economic policy for The New York Times, discusses how Mr. Trump is trying to take control of the issue, and Ben Cassleman, The Times’s chief economics correspondent, explains what the latest numbers tell us about why people are still so frustrated.

This week, despite a last-ditch effort by some House Republicans to strike a deal on health care, Congress remains deadlocked on whether to extend support for millions of Americans who get their health care through the Affordable Care Act. Margot Sanger-Katz, who covers health care policy, explains who will be most affected by the decision. Then, we hear directly from some of the Americans who will now face a decision: whether to keep paying for rising insurance costs or to risk going without it.

Rob Reiner, the classic film director, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were killed on Sunday at their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged the couple’s son, Nick, with first-degree murder. Julia Jacobs, an arts and culture reporter for The New York Times, explains what we have learned about the deaths, and Wesley Morris, a critic at The Times, discusses why many of Rob Reiner’s films are so beloved.