The Sunday Read: ‘The Cryptocurrency Scam That Turned a Small Town Against Itself’

In a dramatic act of protest on Sunday, Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives began to flee the state. It is a last-ditch attempt to stop President Trump and Texas Republicans from adopting an aggressively redrawn congressional map that would eliminate Democratic seats — and could help lock in a Republican majority in next year’s elections. Shane Goldmacher, a Times political correspondent, explains this new chapter in the era of unvarnished partisan warfare.

“Am I in trouble?” “Am I secretly bad?” These are questions Meg Josephson, a therapist and author, grew up asking herself. She was constantly trying to anticipate other people’s needs, worried that she was letting other people down. And it wasn’t until she found herself standing in the aisle of a Bed Bath & Beyond, trying to remember her favorite color, that she realized her desire to please everyone was eroding her sense of self. On this episode of Modern Love, Josephson talks about how that realization led her to confront her tumultuous childhood, and what it took to stop “people pleasing.” She then reads the Modern Love essay “My Three Years as a Beloved Daughter” by Erin Brown, about a woman who found a type of love in her best friend’s parents that she had never experienced before, and what that taught her about her own parents. Josephson’s book, “Are You Mad At Me?,” is available Aug. 5, 2025. For more Modern Love, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday.

As the images of starving Palestinian children continue to come out of Gaza and aid groups have confirmed a rising number of deaths from malnutrition, there has been a new round of international outrage, including from Israel’s own allies. Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, an independent Israeli journalist, discusses whether any of the outcry is resonating with Israeli society.

After rolling back a slew of regulations aimed at reversing climate change, and pulling funding for the scientists who monitor it, the Trump administration is now taking its boldest action yet. It’s eliminating the scientific finding at the heart of the government’s ability to fight climate change in the first place. Lisa Friedman, who covers climate policy, discusses the history of the finding, what it did and what happens once it’s gone.

A major investigation from The Times has found that government pressure to perform more organ transplants is creating greater risk for donors and threatening the overall fairness of the system. Brian M. Rosenthal, an investigative reporter at The Times, explains what he’s uncovered.