The New York Times’s podcast The Daily hits one billion downloads

The New York Tmes’s The Daily has hit one billion downloads, making it the most popular news podcast in the country.

On any given morning, the show is now downloaded two million times.

Since its creation in February of 2017, “The Daily” has featured 224 Times colleagues in at least 30 countries across 691 episodes. It has also featured 25 elected officials (4 openly disillusioned), 1 out-of-work coal miner, 1 former white nationalist, 1 former ISIS member, 1 current Russian troll, 1 fired F.B.I. director, 1 border sheriff, 2 undocumented immigrants, 3 White House interviews, 1 Times publisher, and 1 set of 10-year-old twins. To name a few.

On its website, the Times gave credit to its audio team, which has redefined what the news sounds like; to the newsroom of the Times, which has enthusiastically embraced the show and helped pioneer this new way of telling stories and doing journalism; and to the leadership of the Times, “which has nurtured the show at every turn.”

In the past few months, The Daily has told the story of nationalism’s rise in Europe in a five-part,  on-the-ground series with Katrin Bennhold; exposed the perils of China’s surveillance state with Paul Mozur; documented the operatic drama of Boris Johnson’s ascendance and political unraveling with Times colleagues in London; profiled two members of the most diverse class of House freshmen in a generation, Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Mikie Sherrill; revisited the downfall of Senator Al Franken with the first colleague to call for his resignation, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; and brought Nikole Hannah-Jones’s landmark 1619 project to life in its own powerful series, which was introduced on “The Daily.”

“The show doesn’t merely tell listeners what just happened. ‘The Daily’ aims to help people understand the world by framing the biggest stories of our time in accessible and urgent ways,” the Times writes on its website.

The announcement included several congratulatory e-mails:

“To all who put together ‘The Daily,’ thank you. I am consistently impressed with the intelligence, depth, storytelling and human connections you put into each episode. You have made me laugh, and you have made me cry. But most of all, you make me think. You have become a part of my daily ritual. And yes, because of you, I am a subscriber to The Times. Please continue to do what you do. We need you.”

“You’ve become an integral part of my morning routine. I listen while getting ready for the day, doing my hair and makeup. I love what you all do, and I love how diverse the topics are, and how nuanced, thoughtful, empathetic and fair the reporting is. I love the way you present things from all perspectives, and I regularly challenge my biases based on the stories you do centered around people who are not from my political ideology. We need more unbiased, empathetic reporting in these hyper-polarized times. I finally subscribed. I’m so sorry I didn’t do it sooner!”