The New York Times today announced The Daily, a new daily audio show hosted by Michael Barbaro, that will debut on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The show, a 15-20 minute audio briefing, will publish each weekday around 6:00 a.m. E.T. Listeners will hear about what’s going on in the world as they begin the day.

The Daily, a reimagining of a daily audio report for a digital audience, will feature 2-4 segments per episode highlighting culturally relevant news of the day. It will also go beyond hard news and cover the breadth of topics covered by The Times. Michael will guide listeners through the most important stories of the day.

The Daily experience will also include a daily text-messaging component. Michael will share context, analysis and thoughts on some of the day's pivotal moments with Times readers via SMS. He’ll act as a personal guide to what's driving the day. To text with Michael, readers and listeners can sign up here.

“Our readers have always turned to us first thing in the morning to help them understand the world. Now, with our new audio report, we're able to explain the news in a whole new way,” said Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times. “I expect Michael's show will demonstrate the best of the modern New York Times: journalism that is smart, approachable, reliable and on-the-ground.”

Michael Barbaro, who joined The Times in 2005, most recently served as a national politics reporter covering the presidential campaign before joining the audio team. He also hosted The Run-Up, the politics show that The Times launched in August. Theo Balcomb, the show’s senior producer, joined The Times in January. Previously she was the supervising producer of NPR’s All Things Considered.

Listeners will be able to tune in to The Daily on nytimes.com and Times mobile apps starting Feb. 1, or can subscribe now on Apple’s free Podcasts app or the podcast app of their choice.

In a first for The Times, The Daily will also be available as a Flash Briefing on Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Tap, and on Google Home, powered by the Google Assistant.

BMW is the official launch sponsor of The Daily.

The Daily joins a growing slate of New York Times podcasts. The Times launched four new podcasts in 2016: Modern Love (in collaboration with WBUR), The Run-Up, Still Processing and Tell Me Something I Don't Know (in collaboration with Dubner Productions).

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