Here’s how to watch the State of the Union address

President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address Thursday evening at 9 p.m. ahead of a joint session of Congress, laying out his agenda ahead of November’s presidential election.

Mr. Biden will try to reassure Americans with strong performances as he weathers wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a public reluctant to view the economy favorably and voters concerned about his age.

Here’s what you need to know.

Where can I look?

The New York Times will stream the address on nytimes.com with live analysis from reporters. The speech will also be broadcast on major television networks and cable.

The White House will also stream the speech, accompanied by interpretation in American Sign Language wh.gov/sotu. Mr Biden is expected to speak for just over an hour.

Who provides answers?

Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, will give the answer to the Republicans and set an agenda opposite to that of the Democratic president. Ms. Britt, 42, is the former chief of staff to her predecessor, Senator Richard Shelby. She was sworn in last January as Alabama’s first elected female senator and endorsed former President Donald J. Trump in December.

Monica De La Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas, will deliver the Spanish-language speech on behalf of her party, which has tried to make border security a central issue. Ms. De La Cruz is the first Republican and the first woman to represent her district, which includes a stretch of border with Mexico along the Rio Grande Valley.

Progressive Democrats will also respond to Biden’s speech, delivered this year by Nicolas O’Rourke, a pastor and Philadelphia City Council member. Mr O’Rourke’s speech will be the Working Families Party’s seventh response.

Who will be present?

Traditionally, the first lady and members of Congress invite guests to the address.

Jill Biden has invited 20 guests to highlight the president’s domestic and foreign policy positions and achievements, including the prime minister of Sweden, which joined NATO earlier Thursday; a Texas mother whose request for an abortion was denied by state courts; and a woman whose in vitro fertilization treatments were halted by the Alabama Supreme Court decision last month.

With access to abortion and women’s reproductive health being national issues that continue to mobilize Democrats, the party’s lawmakers have invited a number of reproductive health care providers and advocates. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia invited the first person born in the United States as a result of in vitro fertilization, and Representative Judy Chu of California invited the Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim in 2022 .

House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has been held in Russia for about a year on espionage charges that his newspaper and the U.S. government strongly deny.

More than a dozen family members of current and former American hostages held in Gaza after Israel’s Oct. 7 invasion will also attend as guests of lawmakers from both parties.