When Book Bans Came to Small Town New Jersey

President Trump’s trade war against China has so far proved harder to win than his administration ever let on. And it reached new levels of tension this month when China said it would further restrict exports of rare-earth minerals to the United States and Europe. Keith Bradsher, the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, discusses a potential turning point in the standoff as Mr. Trump meets this week with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in what will be their first talks since the trade war began.

As wildfire seasons grow longer and deadlier, states are increasingly relying on private companies to provide thousands of firefighters to the front lines. Hannah Dreier, who has been covering the story, explains how lax rules and regulatory loopholes have left many of these firefighters sick, in debt and on their own.

A federal investigation into illegal gambling has rocked the N.B.A. On Thursday, more than 30 people were indicted in the case, which involves the Mafia, high-profile players and the manipulation of professional basketball games to rig bets. Jonah E. Bromwich and Jenny Vrentas, who have been covering the story, discuss the shocking facts and the growing concern that online betting might be compromising the integrity of the sport.

The only thing Gilbert Cruz loves more than celebrating Halloween is watching scary movies. And between the classic horror franchises that span decades and the prestige original films of the current moment, he has seen hundreds of them. On today’s episode, Gilbert puts his knowledge to use in conversation with his fellow horror aficionados Jason Zinoman and Erik Piepenburg. They comb through a century of spooks, frights and screams to crown the Top 10 franchises in cinema history. Horror franchises discussed on this episode: “A Nightmare on Elm Street” “A Quiet Place” “Alien” “The Amityville Horror” “Candyman” “Child’s Play” “The Conjuring” “The Exorcist” “The Evil Dead” “Final Destination” “Friday the 13th” “Halloween” The Hannibal Lecter films “Hellraiser” “The Hills Have Eyes” “Insidious” “Jaws” “Night of the Living Dead” “The Omen” “Paranormal Activity” “Phantasm” “Poltergeist” “Psycho” “The Purge” “The Ring” “Saw” “Scream” “Terrifier” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” The Universal monster films “V/H/S”

In a special, subscriber-only episode of “The Daily,” we go behind the scenes of the production process. Dan Powell and Marion Lozano, who compose the music for the show, discuss the D.N.A. of the “Daily” music and walk us through the process.