Hi everyone, phew, we made it to Friday. There was some heaviness in our coverage this week — including some of the neurological symptoms of long-Covid and the King Soopers shooting in Colorado. In between, we tried to splice in some brightness: the prospect of widespread vaccination and a nursing home’s first day out of lockdown. To keep the optimism going, we’d love to hear what you’re most looking forward to in a post-vaccination future. Shoot us an email and we might share your update in a future newsletter. (And if you’re still questioning whether a vaccine is for you, take a look at this guide answering your questions about vaccine safety and access.) In this week’s newsletter, we talk to our California restaurant critic, and Tuesday’s guest, Tejal Rao about what she’s cooking now that she has her sense of smell back. Then we introduce you more formally to our fabulous politics producer, Rachel Quester.
Willing your sense of smell back into existence
On Tuesday’s episode we heard from Tejal Rao, a food critic for The Times, who embarked on a journey to regain her sense of smell after contracting the coronavirus. In the episode, you heard about smell training — a long and tedious process few knew existed before the coronavirus stole the sense from millions of people. We wanted to ask Tejal a little bit more about that journey and what helped her along the way. Based on your experience with smell training, what scents would you recommend trying to our readers who might have also lost their sense of smell?
The original studies of smell training were done with four specific essential oils, but all the researchers I spoke to when I was reporting encouraged me to use scents that were meaningful to me, whatever those might be. So I worked with spices from my kitchen — cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. I sniffed everything I could — snuffed matches, my dogs’ breath. I even ran outside to get a whiff of the garbage truck on trash days. I tried absolutely anything that might give my nose and brain more information as I healed, whether it was a “good” smell or not. What was it like to keep doing your job with a limited sense of smell? I didn’t work in those few weeks, mostly because I was too exhausted by my other symptoms. When I came back to work, I still had a fragmented sense of smell, so I focused on stories I’d started reporting before I got sick, and relied on our team of recipe testers and editors for their notes on anything cooking related. It took about two months to totally regain my sense of smell — that’s when I finished up a story about the West Coast bagel boom, which I’d started reporting before the pandemic. What have you been cooking lately that you’d recommend? Food is glorious and nuanced and delicious again now that my sense of smell and taste are back, and I’m so grateful for it. I’ve been making Yewande Komolafe’s delicious, crispy bean cakes with harissa, and right now I’ve got my eye on Von Diaz’s pollo en fricasé with garlic and olives and capers. The second I get strawberries from the farmer’s market, I’m making Clare de Boer’s strawberry and sesame swirl soft serve. Talk to Tejal on Twitter: @tejalrao.
Meet Rachel Quester: senior producer and politics powerhouse
For this month’s producer profile, we’re talking to Rachel Quester, a senior audio producer. The Florida native has been with The Daily since its earliest days and is one of the politics experts on the team. What were you doing before you came to The Times? I was a producer for the NPR Politics podcast, which I joined at the beginning of 2017 as the Trump administration was getting underway. I spent a few months there before I turned on The Daily for the first time and fell in love with the show’s approach to the news. Before NPR, I spent three years at the Scripps Washington Bureau producing a weekly podcast called DecodeDC. You were one of the first few hires on The Daily in 2017. What can you tell us about those early days? Any memorable moments? Where to begin? It was exhilarating! We were such a small team trying to tackle nonstop breaking news in a format that was new to the institution. We were like a pack of nomads, finding whatever open space in the glass conference rooms of The New York Times that we could cram into to make the show each day. I’ll never forget one moment in May of 2017. Our small crew was sitting in our studio on the 16th floor, which was a converted storage closet. Suddenly, our executive producer Theo Balcomb gasped and read aloud the breaking news: President Trump had just fired James Comey, the F.B.I. director. It feels as if we’ve lived decades since this moment in May 2017, but at the time this was huge news. We knew we had to throw out the show that was almost done and start the next day’s episode from scratch — something that has happened several times in the history of The Daily. We’ve heard you’ve started teaching a graduate course. What’s that been like? Teaching has long been a goal of mine, and I’m loving every minute of it! I’m an adjunct professor for a class in Columbia’s graduate journalism program. I find that teaching is helping me to become a better producer, because it makes me think intentionally about what I do day in and day out. It’s so easy to get lost in the making of the show, but teaching helps me take a step back and articulate the intention behind our work. Do you have a favorite political story you’ve worked on for The Daily? The reason I love politics is because at its core, it’s human driven — a lot of what happens in our country and in our world is because of decisions made by people in power. And so I’ve especially loved working on episodes that dive into the human experience of politics, whether it be a leader grappling with their decisions or someone being directly impacted by those decisions. I’ve been part of The Daily for every major political story the past four years — like the Mueller investigation, both impeachments and the 2020 election. But I think the moment that will stick with me most is the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6 and watching it unfold in real time. It felt like a culmination of all those other stories colliding at once. Have you picked up any hobbies during quarantine? I’ve come to love and rely on taking long walks in the morning. I’ve relocated to Florida for the time being, and the crystal-blue skies, warm weather and palm trees definitely make walking a great way to start my day. Do you have any recommendations for our newsletter readers? If you’re looking for a quick, easy and delicious snack, I recommend this salsa recipe. I’ve made it several times over the past year, in part because I miss going out to restaurants and eating chips and salsa. In terms of fun things to do, I’ve spent many nights with my family playing Euchre, which is a card game full of strategy and risk-taking. It’s a great way to pass the time! Talk to Rachel on Twitter: @rquester. On The Daily this weekMonday: We hear from Ivan Agerton, a 50-year old former marine, who started experiencing psychosis last fall after falling ill with the coronavirus. Tuesday: Tejal Rao’s journey to regain her sense of smell after losing it because of the coronavirus. Wednesday: After two mass shootings in under a week, Joe Biden has called on Congress to ban assault weapons. We chart his three-decade effort to put gun control in effect. Thursday: A check-in on the latest in the United States’ vaccination effort and a look ahead to life after the vaccine. Friday: After being separated for months during the lockdown, the now-vaccinated residents of a West Virginian nursing home are reunited. Here’s what the first day out of lockdown sounded like. That’s it for The Daily newsletter. See you next week.Have thoughts about the show? Tell us what you think at thedaily@nytimes.com. Were you forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox. Love podcasts? Join The New York Times Podcast Club on Facebook.
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