Post Reports
1,462 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★ - 4.7K ratingsPost Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post, for your ears. Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi are your hosts, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Published weekdays around 5 p.m. Eastern time.
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Episodes
Why everything is so expensive right now
January 13, 2022 21:37Inflation has hit a 40-year high in the U.S., driving up the cost of everything from groceries to housing. As the Fed prepares to raise interest rates, here’s what to watch out for. Read more: In December, inflation hit a staggering 7 percent. That’s far above the Federal Reserve’s target, and Chair Jerome H. Powell says action is needed to keep the economy from sliding into a recession. Economics reporter Rachel Siegel breaks down the impact of record inflation and what the Fed plans to d...
Empty shelves, fewer babies: How the pandemic is leading to less
January 12, 2022 22:33Today on Post Reports: Why you’re seeing empty shelves at the grocery store — again. Plus, the sharp decline in the U.S. birthrate nine months after the pandemic began. Read more: A lot of people have been getting “March 2020 vibes” at the grocery store lately: Empty shelves, basic necessities missing and big price increases on certain foods. Reporter Laura Reiley explains there are several factors at play, including the omicron surge, supply chain woes and winter weather. “Uncertainty is...
Omicron is breaking records – and our health-care system
January 11, 2022 22:18Today the United States broke the record for covid hospitalizations. We talk about what overwhelmed hospitals mean for health-care workers and patients. Plus, a story about the power of reclaiming a name. Read more: The United States today broke a record with more than 145,000 people sick with covid-19 in hospitals. Health reporter Dan Diamond explains what that means for health-care workers on the front lines, and for those of us who depend upon them. Plus, editor Marian Chia-Ming Liu o...
The push to keep schools open
January 10, 2022 22:38Today, we look at the toll of remote learning on kids. We’ll dive into what’s happening in school systems across the country during the omicron variant surge — and how the scars of remote school linger, even for kids who are learning in person again. Read more: Reporter Laura Meckler talks with producer Bishop Sand about how a San Francisco school’s return to in-person learning revealed the toll virtual school took on students during the pandemic. Plus, an update on how schools across the...
Four Hours of Insurrection
January 08, 2022 23:24 - 53.4 MBAs we reflect on the anniversary of Jan. 6, we wanted to share an episode from last year. We reconstructed the riot inside the U.S. Capitol — hearing from the lawmakers, journalists and law enforcement officials who were there, and answering lingering questions about how things went so wrong.
Jamie Raskin’s year of grief and purpose
January 07, 2022 21:58On Jan. 5, 2021, Rep. Jamie Raskin buried his only son. The next day he witnessed firsthand the attack on the Capitol. As we mark a year since the insurrection, we look at how Raskin dealt with his son’s death while serving on democracy’s front lines. Read more: A warning to listeners: This episode deals with suicide. If you or someone you know needs help now, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. You can also reach a crisis counselor by texting HOME to 741...
The scars of January 6th
January 06, 2022 21:04A year out from the attempted insurrection of the Capitol, we consider the state of American democracy — what’s changed, what hasn’t changed and what will never be the same. Read more: One year ago today, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, set on overturning the results of the 2020 election. Since then, the basic facts of the insurrection have been in contention and democracy itself has remained under siege. On today’s episode of Post Reports, politics reporters Dan Balz, Roz Helderman ...
The pivotal and petty battle for QAnon’s future
January 05, 2022 22:19An update on what the Jan. 6 commission has learned so far. And how the pro-Trump Internet descended into infighting in the year since the attempted insurrection. Read more: Reporter Jacqueline Alemany has been following the Jan. 6 commission for the past six months. As we come up on the first anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, Alemany reports on what the commission has uncovered so far and what she’s watching out for next. Plus: The far-right firebrands and conspiracy theorists o...
A ‘pandemic on fast forward’
January 04, 2022 22:21Omicron has coronavirus cases surging across the country. What’s the outlook for this highly transmissible variant? Read more: The highly transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus has taken over as the dominant strain in the United States. Now, post-holidays, virus cases are surging, with about 500,000 per day in the United States. Americans are struggling with breakthrough infections, strained hospital systems and the uncertainty of what might come next. Reporter Dan Diamond disc...
What is a tree worth?
January 03, 2022 22:32The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is home to some of the oldest trees in the country. For decades, they were felled indiscriminately for lumber. Will the remaining trees be protected? Read more: Old-growth trees are at the heart of a political debate on logging and climate change. That’s because they hold a disproportionate amount of carbon in their trunks. If they’re cut down, most of that carbon escapes into the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming. But they’r...
One last look at 2021
December 30, 2021 17:00A farewell to 2021 from us here at Post Reports and the photojournalists who witnessed the year’s biggest stories. Read more: The Washington Post photography editors combed through thousands of images to find the most memorable from 2021. Accompanying the photos this year are interviews with the photojournalists who took them. The team at Post Reports felt inspired by the interviews and images to look back on the past year. The images of 2021 tell a complex yet dramatic story. It was a ye...
Hasan Minhaj’s diasporic comedy
December 29, 2021 17:00Today on Post Reports, we talk to Hasan Minhaj about how he uses comedy to “make people’s world bigger.” Read more: Hasan Minhaj has worked as a comedian for 17 years. You might know him from “The Daily Show,” the 2017 White House correspondents’ dinner, or his Netflix show, “Patriot Act.” On today’s episode of Post Reports, producer Linah Mohammad talks to Minhaj about representation in film and television, their relationship to Islam and what it means to be a diasporic voice in the co...
J. Smith-Cameron on ‘Succession’
December 28, 2021 17:40Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to one of the people who brought us joy during a dark year: the actor J. Smith-Cameron. We cover her role as Gerri on “Succession” and how it feels to become a sex symbol in her 60s. Read more: J. Smith-Cameron is having a moment. “Succession” Season 3 wrapped up recently – and one of the highlights for us was her character, Gerri Kellman, the calculating interim CEO of Waystar Royco. We talked to the actor about the show and what makes her character so ...
Amazon, can I have my name back?
December 27, 2021 17:00Amazon's use of Alexa as a wake word for its voice assistant turned the name into a command, impacting daily interactions for people with the name – including The Washington Post’s own Alexa Juliana Ard. Read more: Nearly 130,000 people in the United States have the name Alexa. It gained popularity after singer Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley named their daughter Alexa in 1985. In 2015, more than 6,000 baby girls in the United States were named Alexa, according to a Washington Post ...
Alexa, can I have my name back?
December 27, 2021 17:00Amazon's use of Alexa as a wake word for its voice assistant turned the name into a command, impacting daily interactions for people with the name – including The Washington Post’s own Alexa Juliana Ard. Read more: Nearly 130,000 people in the United States have the name Alexa. It gained popularity after singer Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley named their daughter Alexa in 1985. In 2015, more than 6,000 baby girls in the United States were named Alexa, according to a Washington Post ...
The holidays are weird. Carolyn Hax is here to help.
December 23, 2021 17:00The holidays are weird — this year especially. Today, Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax joins Martine Powers to answer your questions about navigating this tricky time of year. Read more: The holiday season can be complicated; throw in the spike in omicron cases, and this already stressful time of year just got even trickier. Enter: Carolyn Hax, The Post’s brilliant advice columnist. Today on Post Reports, she’s here to help our listeners and readers navigate the holidays. You can listen t...
Dr. Wen’s advice for the holidays
December 22, 2021 19:50Omicron is now the most prevalent variant of the coronavirus in the country. But public health expert and emergency physician Leana Wen says that with a three-pronged approach — testing, vaccines and masks — we can still celebrate the holidays. Read more: Once again, America is looking down the barrel of a winter surge of the coronavirus, thanks to the highly transmissible omicron variant. Houston Methodist Hospital, which has been sequencing genomes since the beginning of the pandemic, sa...
The promise of anti-covid pills
December 21, 2021 21:53How the approval of anti-covid pills from drug companies Pfizer and Merck could impact the course of the pandemic. And the life and legacy of feminist author bell hooks. Read more: On Tuesday, President Biden urged calm as coronavirus cases rise, and the omicron variant becomes dominant in the United States. He touted a plan for more readily available testing and more resources for strained hospitals nationwide. But on the horizon is another treatment against covid-19: antiviral pills. T...
Omicron is everywhere. Here’s what to do.
December 20, 2021 23:11Seemingly overnight, the pandemic has changed — again. On today’s Post Reports, everything you need to know about the omicron variant — and whether you should still plan to travel for the holidays. Read more: Over the weekend, health reporter Dan Diamond wrote a Facebook post that changed the way we’re thinking about the omicron variant. “Every expert I’ve interviewed, including some of the nation’s top health officials, has adjusted his or her mindset and now is mentally bracing to test...
Quitters, part 3
December 17, 2021 22:20A record number of Americans quit their jobs this year. Today for our special series “Quitters,” economist Darrick Hamilton examines why that is — and why he thinks it might be a good thing. Read more: Many Americans have reconsidered their relationship with work this year. There’s lots of reasons for that — an ongoing pandemic, stagnant wages and a severe labor shortage all made work harder. But Darrick Hamilton, a professor of economics and urban policy at the New School, says that wor...
Quitters, part 2
December 16, 2021 22:59What happens when an entire fast-food restaurant staff quits? Today for our special series on “Quitters,” the story of a McDonald’s walkout, and what it can tell us about the labor market right now. Read more: In September, the entire staff of a McDonald’s in Bradford, Pa., walked out and quit their jobs. One of the staff members left a parting note for the customers, written in blue highlighter because he couldn’t find a pen: “Due to lack of pay, we all quit.” “The signs are…kind of lik...
Quitters, part 1
December 15, 2021 21:412021 was a big year for quitting. Millions of Americans resigned. For the first episode in our series on “quitters,” we go to a restaurant in Arkansas where nearly every employee – and the owners – found themselves reassessing their work, and their lives. Read more: This year, millions of Americans quit their jobs in the “Great Resignation.” Over the next three days on “Post Reports,” we’re talking to some of the “quitters” and exploring why so many people are reassessing the role of wor...
In Chicago, a test case for Biden’s EPA
December 14, 2021 22:12How the fight in Chicago over a proposed scrap metal facility became a test case for the Biden administration’s approach to environmental justice. Read more: General Iron Industries is a Chicago-based scrap metal recycling company with a bad track record of pollution. When the company announced its intention to move from a wealthy, White neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side to a working-class, Latino neighborhood on the city’s Southeast Side last year, the plan set off alarm bells. This...
The new ‘tornado alley’
December 13, 2021 22:19On the ground in Mayfield, Ky., after a string of tornadoes devastated the town, flattening buildings and leaving streets unrecognizable. The tornadoes tore through a 200-mile swath of land, and may be the sign of a lengthening tornado season. Read more: Late last week, a string of tornadoes ripped through the South and Midwest regions of the United States. Dozens have died, and thousands of structures have been destroyed. National breaking news reporter Kim Bellware takes us on the gro...
After a school shooting
December 10, 2021 21:28How the tight-knit community of Oxford, Mich., is healing after a mass shooting. Plus, remembering Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt. Read more: A 15-year-old opened fire at his Michigan high school on Nov. 30, killing four students and wounding seven others, police say. This is the deadliest episode of on-campus violence in almost three years. Reporter Kim Bellware and producer Rennie Svirnovskiy examine what it looks like for a town to start healing. The Post remembers Editorial Pa...
When is it self-defense?
December 09, 2021 22:36What self-defense means in a country deeply divided over gun rights and race. And a story that shows the stakes of disappearing local news – about an Alaska community where climate change is costing them their school. Read more: After the high-profile trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery – we wanted to unpack the legal questions with Post columnist and Georgetown law professor Paul Butler and talk about what self-defense looks like in a country with gun rights, ...
Biden ended “Remain in Mexico.” Now it’s back.
December 08, 2021 21:38Earlier this year, Joe Biden ended the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy — but a court has now reinstated it. Today, what that means for asylum seekers, who are forced to wait in Mexico for their immigration proceedings. Read more: Today on Post Reports, we revisit Nancy, a woman we followed as she fled gang violence in El Salvador and ended up stuck in a border camp in Matamoros, Mexico. Nancy’s story shows how this program affects asylum seekers left in limbo on the U.S. souther...
Russian troops on Ukraine's border
December 07, 2021 21:36The limitations of American diplomacy — at the border between Russia and Ukraine, and at the Olympics in Beijing. Read more: According to U.S. intelligence and The Post’s reporting, Russia is planning to move up to 175,000 troops to its border with Ukraine — plans that have the international community concerned. On a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, President Biden threatened economic sanctions and other measures if the Kremlin were to escalate the situation and invad...
The trial of Elizabeth Holmes
December 06, 2021 22:10The trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder and CEO. Read more: Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of the medical technology start-up Theranos, is on trial for 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tech reporter Rachel Lerman has been covering Holmes’s trial for about three months now. Lerman dives into what we’ve learned about the Theranos founder from her extraordinary moments on the stand – and what that tells us about the “fake it ‘til you make it” culture ...
Mold at Howard U., and an omicron update
December 03, 2021 21:48Why dozens of students at Howard University spent part of their fall semester living in tents. And, omicron comes to the United States. Read more: Mold, mice, water damage and no WiFi. Those have been some of the conditions in Howard University’s housing units in Washington. This fall, the conditions led to protests that lasted more than 30 days. Some students even slept in tents on the historically Black university’s campus. But such conditions aren’t new. For years, students and graduate...
Twitter verifies a new CEO
December 02, 2021 22:09What Jack Dorsey’s departure from Twitter means for Silicon Valley, the platform and its dedicated users. And how the new CEO, Parag Agrawal, could change the direction of the company. Read more: In a casually written tweet Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he would be stepping down from his position. As the company’s co-founder, he’s been a Silicon Valley icon for 15 years, and he leaves behind a complicated legacy. Tech reporter Will Oremus says that his departure is shroud...
ICE’s deportation ‘force-multiplier’: Local sheriffs
December 01, 2021 21:51Today on Post Reports, a deep examination of the sheriffs involved in the controversial 287(g) program. Plus, how the new republic of Barbados signals a changing tide for the British crown. Read more: Investigative reporter Debbie Cenziper has been looking into the expansion of a controversial program called 287(g) that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to recruit sheriffs as partners to question and detain undocumented immigrants. “What I found most surprising is that some ...
A new vision to overturn Roe v. Wade
November 30, 2021 21:50It’s a critical week for abortion rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could roll back the protections of Roe v. Wade. But the arguments to gut Roe are coming from the surprising lens of women’s empowerment. Read more: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization goes before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The caseputs Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions to the test, and it could be the case that defines abortion rights for generations. Wh...
*Omicron has entered the chat.*
November 29, 2021 21:04Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus, could be the next big hurdle in beating the pandemic. Today on Post Reports, what we know so far, and why you shouldn’t panic just yet. Read more: Last week, a new coronavirus variant was detected in southern Africa. Since then, public health officials and government leaders have been trying to figure out what’s next. Some countries have reinstated travel bans, while others are urging people not to panic. While as of Monday there were no known ca...
The myth of Thanksgiving
November 24, 2021 14:00This year marks the 400th anniversary of the “first Thanksgiving” between English pilgrims and Wampanoags in Massachusetts. But historians say the true story of what happened bears little resemblance to the myth that many Americans learn in grade school. Read more: In 1621, some pilgrims and some Wampanoags shared a feast. It wasn't the first meeting between the two groups and it wouldn't be the last, but for many reasons — including the American Civil War — the anniversary of that meal to...
A family confronts White privilege
November 23, 2021 17:01In the final installment of our series Teens in America, what it sounds like for the family of one 17-year-old to confront White privilege and racism. Read more: With Thanksgiving coming up this week, a lot of us might be feeling anxious about seeing relatives we may not have seen in a while, especially if we don’t always see eye to eye with them. We might be bracing for some awkward conversations or even some intense debates around politics or what we’ve been seeing on the news. Iris San...
Fauci’s advice for America
November 22, 2021 15:20Today on “Post Reports,” a conversation with Anthony S. Fauci: We cover why you should get a booster, how you can gather safely with family over the holidays, and how Fauci feels about having his job — and science — politicized. Read more: Anthony S. Fauci has become a familiar voice for many Americans during the pandemic. As a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus task force and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he led the country through...
Why a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse
November 19, 2021 21:32Today a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on all counts in last summer’s shootings in Kenosha, Wis. We talk about the verdict, what it means and why this trial captivated the nation. Read more: After three and a half days of deliberation, jurors in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse have found the 18 year-old not guilty on all charges — including homicide and reckless endangerment. Rittenhouse fatally shot two people and shot and wounded a third during a protest against police conduct in Kenos...
How ‘Europe’s last dictator’ is weaponizing refugees
November 18, 2021 22:24How Belarus’s president is weaponizing a refugee crisis to get back at the European Union. And, what it means to “pass” as White. Read more: Thousands of refugees are currently stuck in limbo on the border between Poland and Belarus, invited by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko when he announced that his state would no longer secure Belarus’s border with the European Union. The invitation was his way of retaliating against sanctions that the E.U. has enacted against Belarus for ...
What Sinema wants
November 17, 2021 22:07Sen. Joe Manchin gets all the attention. But Sen. Kyrsten Sinema could be an even bigger obstacle for Democrats’ spending plans. Today on “Post Reports,” we ask what she wants and how she got here. Read more: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) has been throwing a wrench in the plans of her own party. The Arizona lawmaker has stalled her votes on major legislative plans including raising the minimum wage and increasing drug prices. But her agenda isn’t explicitly clear, and she’s doing deals behind cl...
3G is ending. Who will be left behind?
November 16, 2021 22:14Why America’s digital divide could soon get worse. And, what happens when extremist beliefs move from the fringe to the mainstream. Read more: When they were rolled out nearly two decades ago, 3G wireless networks served as the bedrock of an explosion in cell phones and connected devices. Now, they’re being phased out by telecommunications companies that want to focus their money on their 4G and 5G networks. Cat Zakrzewski reports on the vulnerable Americans that could be left behind if t...
McConnell & Trump: It’s complicated.
November 15, 2021 21:19The intertwined legacies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Donald Trump. And, what happens to a country when its borders are eroded by climate change. Read more: Mitch McConnell is the most powerful elected Republican in the country. But the most influential member of the GOP is arguably still former president Donald Trump. That dynamic has become the basis for a tense, awkward, sometimes pugilistic alliance between the two men -- one that could define the fu...
The environmental cost of online shopping
November 12, 2021 22:10During the pandemic, online shopping has become more popular than ever. That’s especially true as we head into the holidays. Today, we look at one community that says it’s seeing the costs of that growth in its air quality. Read more: To meet the increased online shopping demand, companies like Target, Walmart and Amazon use big distribution centers — warehouses that store products and ship things to customers as fast as possible. (We should say here that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns Th...
Pandemic math: Retiring without Social Security
November 11, 2021 22:41The Americans who are retiring — but delaying claiming Social Security benefits. Plus, the next installment in our Teens in America series: a story about students taking on the job of educating their peers about race. Read more: For better-off Americans, the pandemic economy created some of the strongest incentives to retire in modern history, with generous federal stimulus, incredible market gains, skyrocketing home values and health concerns drawing many Americans into early retirement. ...
A post-presidency like no other
November 10, 2021 21:20Today, we’re taking a closer look at the state of Donald Trump post-presidency — his businesses, his finances, the ongoing criminal investigations into his actions and how all of those things could affect a potential political comeback. Read more: The Post’s David Fahrenthold has spent half a decade reporting on former president Donald Trump’s family and its business interests — first when Trump was a candidate, then when he was president and now that he’s a private citizen again. There ...
Kyle Rittenhouse on trial
November 09, 2021 22:20The homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse pits claims of self-defense against accusations of vigilantism. Plus, in the next installment in our series on teens in America: Why it can be especially hard for Black immigrant families to talk about racism. Read more: The homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse – the teenager who killed two people and injured a third during a protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. – continues this week. Kim Bellware reports on the evidence br...
How a crowd can become deadly
November 08, 2021 23:06After eight people were killed at a Travis Scott concert in Houston late Friday, many of us were left wondering: How did this happen? An expert on crowds explains how too many people packed closely together can become deadly. Read more: An estimated 50,000 people attended the sold-out 2021 Astroworld Festival at NRG Park to see Travis Scott, whose concerts have a reputation for being raucous. The Washington Post reviewed dozens of videos from the night to understand how the concert became...
The zebra files
November 05, 2021 18:36When you hear hoofbeats, think zebras — especially if you’re in the D.C. suburbs, where fugitive zebras have been on the run from a local farm for many weeks. Buckle up for a wild ride as we delve into this suburban safari. Read more: For more than two months, fugitive zebras in the Maryland suburbs have captured the imaginations of children, neighbors and members of Congress alike. Post Reports producer and amateur zoologist Emma Talkoff started looking into what she thought was a cute lo...
Listening in as teens talk about race
November 04, 2021 19:00When the pandemic triggered a wave of anti-Asian violence, 18-year-old Miranda Zanca found herself wondering about her own identity and how she fit into the moment. This is the first in a new series in The Post’s Teens in America project. Read more: Miranda Zanca hasn’t always seen herself as particularly Asian, even if others did. That’s because she’s mixed race — her mom is Chinese and Puerto Rican and her dad is White. And earlier this year, when the pandemic triggered a wave of anti-As...
Big GOP energy
November 03, 2021 20:33In a major upset for Democrats Tuesday, Republican Glenn Youngkin eked out a victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Today, we look at the results of that election, and others, to understand the nation one year after the divisive 2020 elections. Read more: On Tuesday, Glenn Youngkin became the first Republican to be elected governor of Virginia since 2009. For Democrats, the race took on new national significance, with many seeing the results as a reflection of where the country stands n...