I'll leave the "how" to any of the many resources out there that describe how HTTPS works. As to why, there's probably low likelihood that someone is tampering

I'll leave the "how" to any of the many resources out there that describe how HTTPS works. As to why, there's probably low likelihood that someone is tampering with your connection to the NYT. It's good practice, however, and is (largely) transparent to the user. My house may not have ever been broken into before, and likely not going to be broken into in the future, though I still lock my door.