In recent weeks, the Trump administration has put the American university system on notice.

It has pressed for changes, opened investigations ? and in some cases withheld critical funds.

Alan Blinder, who covers education in America, explains how schools are responding to the pressure and what it might mean for the future of higher education.

Guest: Alan Blinder, a national correspondent for The New York Times, writing about education in America.

Background reading: 

For more information on today?s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

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Sometime in the 1850s or ?60s, at a terrible moment in U.S. history, a strange man seemed to sprout, out of nowhere, into the rocky landscape between New York City and Hartford, Conn. The word ?strange? hardly captures his strangeness. He was rough and hairy, and he wandered around on back roads, sleeping in caves. Above all, he refused to explain himself. As one newspaper put it: ?He is a mystery, and a very greasy and ill-odored one.? Other papers referred to him as ?the animal? or (just throwing up their hands) ?this uncouth and unkempt ?What is it???

But the strangest thing about the stranger was his suit.

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As President Trump has rolled out his economic agenda, the assumption has been that he would quickly scale back his most aggressive policies once they began to scare consumers and the financial markets. But that assumption turned out to be wrong.

Ben Casselman, who covers economics, and Maggie Haberman, who covers the White House, explain why Mr. Trump?s economic plan may be backfiring and why he doesn?t seem to mind.

Guest: 

Background reading: 

For more information on today?s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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Jeanna Smialek, who covers the U.S. economy for The Times, will be 33 in a few weeks; she is part of a cohort born in 1990 and 1991 that makes up the peak of America?s population.

At every life stage, that microgeneration has stretched a system that was often too small to accommodate it, leaving its members ? so-called peak millennials ? with outsize economic power but also a fight to get ahead.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a U.S. economy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today?s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.