New Era For ‘The Daily’ As Natalie Kitroeff And Rachel Abrams To Host With Michael Barbaro.

One of podcasting’s most listened-to shows is getting a host makeover. Michael Barbaro, host of the New York Times morning news podcast “The Daily,” is getting not one, but two new co-hosts. Times veterans Natalie Kitroeff and Rachel Abrams will be joining Barbaro as co-hosts of the podcast, filling an opening created when Sabrina Tavernise returned to newspaper reporting duties at the end of last year. Both Kitroeff and Abrams are already familiar to many listeners, having done stints as fill-in hosts during the past year.

In a staff note announcing the moves, the audio management team says it has found that having multiple hosts has allowed “The Daily” to “experiment and innovate in ways that will make the show even stronger.” They point out that when Tavernise joined new as co-host in 2022, the podcast “became even more vibrant” with the addition of a second anchor.

Deputy Managing Editor Sam Dolnick, Director of Audio Paula Szuchman, Executive Producer Ben Calhoun and Editor Paige Cowett write in a joint email to staff that they were looking for a journalist who could represent the newsroom, was quick on their feet, could summon both steeliness and empathy, and was comfortable discussing every topic under the sun. “We found two,” they say.

Kitroeff has spent the past five years as an international correspondent and Mexico City bureau chief, where she led courageous reporting on the cartels’ drug trade and corruption at the highest levels of power. Before Mexico, Kitroeff covered the U.S. economy.

Abrams was part of the 2018 reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for the New York Times for its reporting that exposed sexual harassment and misconduct. She first crossed paths with “The Daily” team when the show made an episode about one of her MeToo reporting sources.

“Rachel and Natalie are both sharp, creative journalists who run toward big stories and who have shined during their recent stints guest-hosting the show,” the announcement says. “We’re confident that Natalie and Rachel will each bring deep and varied experiences that will add new dimensions to the show.

Abrams will begin immediately at “The Daily.” Kitroeff will join the team in June after transitioning out of her role as bureau chief in Mexico City.

For Barbaro, the addition of two new co-hosts marks a third iteration of the podcast that he began in 2017 as a solo host.

“Each stage in The Daily’s’ history has been a lesson in how much better and more creative the show can be when we expand our roster of hosts,” Barbaro says in a statement. “Natalie and Rachel are the perfect journalists to take us into this new chapter. Both are fearless reporters and passionate believers in the power of audio storytelling. I can’t wait to see what the three of us can do together.”

“The Daily deepens people’s understanding of the most important stories we cover and produces original journalism that is best in class in the audio world,” Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn says. “Having Natalie and Rachel join Michael as hosts will strengthen the team that makes the show so compelling to listeners.”