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
The Afghanistan war blame game
August 17, 2021 22:20Almost as soon as Kabul fell, the political blame game began in Washington. But why weren’t we more prepared? Plus, an interview with Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States on her fears for women and girls in her country. Read more: As quickly as Kabul fell, the finger-pointing commenced. Reporter Shane Harris on the political fallout of a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — and how it could have gone better. Roya Rahmani was Afghanistan’s first female ambassador...
A disastrous American exit
August 16, 2021 22:40As the United States left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, the Taliban seized control of the country in a matter of weeks. President Biden defended the withdrawal Monday afternoon while Americans and vulnerable allies remained in limbo in Kabul. Read more: The Taliban seized the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday morning, restoring the insurgent group’s grip over Afghanistan after they were removed from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001, and kept at bay for about two decades during Americ...
Interview with the TikTok Guy
August 13, 2021 20:17Today on Post Reports, an interview with Dave Jorgenson, The Washington Post’s “TikTok Guy.” Throughout the pandemic, he’s been uploading two newsy, funny TikToks a day for The Post’s nearly 1 million TikTok followers. Read more: Dave also has a book: “Make a TikTok Every Day: 365 Prompts for Attention-Grabbing TikToks.” You can check out all of his TikToks here. A few of Martine’s favorite Tiktoks from Dave: During the primary for the 2020 election, Dave made TikToks with a bunch of ...
The town lost to the Dixie Fire
August 12, 2021 21:50How some states are trying to make students and staffers feel safe in school. Why more moms may leave the workforce as the delta variant spreads. And what it’s like to lose your town to a wildfire and to have to start again. Read more: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Wednesday that the state will require all teachers and school staffers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or to submit to weekly testing. It’s the first state to impose such a rule. The governor is citing the...
How Mitch learned to stop worrying and love a bill
August 11, 2021 21:18What’s behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans embracing a big Biden agenda item? Infrastructure. Plus, a delightful story about a man, his hobby and his dog. Read more: The big bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this week is being hailed as a moment of unity, with politicians from both sides of the aisle finding common ground in building roads, repairing bridges and expanding broadband technology. But the reality is a bit more complicated. M...
The fall of Andrew Cuomo
August 10, 2021 22:00The resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And, as American troops withdraw, the U.S. response to a surge of Taliban control in Afghanistan. Read more: Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation after a state investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women and oversaw an unlawful attempt to exact retribution against one of his accusers. Reporter Michael Scherer on what this means for New York politics and the women at the center of the accusations. The Taliban is gaining m...
‘A code red for humanity’
August 09, 2021 21:55A landmark United Nations report finds that humans have pushed the climate into ‘unprecedented’ territory. Plus, what we can learn from the Tokyo Olympics with the Winter Games in Beijing just around the corner. Read more: On Monday, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest and most dire report about the state of the planet. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said that results are “a code red for humanity” and is calling on countries to embrace the drast...
The people left out of the infrastructure deal
August 06, 2021 20:35The infrastructure bill making its way through the Senate doesn’t include money for caregivers. Today, we dive into what it’s like to take care of a partner who has a disability and to often not get compensated for that labor. Read more: Earlier this week, the much anticipated infrastructure bill started moving through the Senate with bipartisan support. What’s left out of the bill, though, is what’s being called “human infrastructure” — money for things like quality child care and care fo...
Back-to-school struggles
August 05, 2021 22:52 - 17.9 MBFlorida school districts defy the governor’s ban on mask mandates. An elementary school that welcomed its students back in the spring is still struggling to make a full return to normal. Plus, why you should rid your vocabulary of “corporate-isms.” Read more: At least four school districts in Florida have announced that they will either keep or issue new mask mandates in light of the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the state. Their announcements directly challenge an order by Gov. Ron DeSant...
The brothers Cuomo
August 04, 2021 21:23As New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faces an impeachment effort and calls for his resignation, his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, avoids mentioning the scandal on his show. Plus, your questions on the delta variant — and is NBC ruining the Olympics? Read more: Will New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resign? The pressure continues to mount after a damning report was released yesterday by the state’s attorney general. It concludes that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. That report also included th...
‘Broke again’
August 03, 2021 20:25The Biden administration is expected to announce a new action to limit evictions as a federal eviction moratorium expires. But it’s unclear how many people that will help. And, why the expanded child tax credit may not be a silver bullet against poverty. Read more: Nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, 28 percent of households are struggling to cover basic expenses. More than 11 million renters are behind on payments. One in seven parents are struggling to feed their families. This i...
The art of the infrastructure deal
August 02, 2021 21:05Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have come to rare agreement, crafting a trillion dollar-plan to fix infrastructure across the country. Read more: After weeks of negotiation, a bipartisan group of senators have put forth a plan to restore America’s infrastructure. The more than $1 trillion plan to improve roads, bridges, pipes, ports and lines of communication could be a centerpiece of Joe Biden’s presidency — unless he has his own deal in the works. Congressional reporter Tony Romm...
The dream of a Black utopia
July 30, 2021 20:26In 1983, the U.S. invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada. Forty years later, many Americans have no idea why — or that it happened at all. Today, in collaboration with “Throughline,” we tell a story of revolution, conquest, and dreams of a Black utopia. Read more: For host Martine Powers, this historical deep-dive has a personal connection. Growing up in a Caribbean American family offered a different perspective on the 1983 invasion — a moment that isn’t just about President Ronald...
‘We don’t even think about race.’
July 29, 2021 20:30Debates over critical race theory take over a town in Michigan. Plus, why breakthrough coronavirus infections do not mean that our vaccines aren’t working. Read more: Traverse City, Mich., is a microcosm of the critical race theory debates taking over school systems across the country. The debates in the town came after the school board decided to fast-track an equity resolution, after students held a fake slave auction over Snapchat. Reporter Hannah Natanson went to Traverse City to under...
Return of the Mask
July 28, 2021 20:49Why employers are getting bolder with vaccine mandates. How the pandemic worsened the opioid crisis. And the aftermath of the floods in Germany. Read more: On Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors in certain circumstances because of the highly transmissible delta variant. At the same time, many employers — including the federal government — are considering coronavirus vaccine mandates. Dan Diamond reports on the chan...
The price of being the GOAT
July 27, 2021 21:19Why the U.S. women’s gymnastics team settled for a silver medal. And, the search for separated parents in rural Guatemala. Read more: The U.S. women’s gymnastics team took home a silver medal in Tuesday’s team final, after star gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the event. Sports reporter Liz Clarke discusses the unexpected upset, and the course of the Russian Olympic team’s winning trajectory. The United States lost track of parents after separating them from their children at the bord...
Investigating the insurrection
July 26, 2021 20:59The political debate — and theater — surrounding a new House committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. And, why wildland firefighters in the West are burning out. Read more: A bipartisan select House committee begins its probe of the Jan. 6 insurrection this week. But as national security reporter Karoun Demirjian explains, the investigation kicks off under a cloud of political debate and theater. On the heels of one of the worst wildfire years on rec...
Marooned in Matamoros, Part 2
July 22, 2021 16:05In February 2020, Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández walked across the bridge from Brownsville, Tex., to Matamoros, Mexico, two sister cities along the international border with the glistening green Rio Grande snaking between them. Up on the levee, a breathtaking sight unfolded before her: a makeshift migrant camp full of thousands of asylum seekers from all over Latin America forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico while they plead their cases. There in the camp, H...
Marooned in Matamoros, Part 1
July 22, 2021 16:00In February 2020, Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández walked across the bridge from Brownsville, Tex., to Matamoros, Mexico, two sister cities along the international border with the glistening green Rio Grande snaking between them. Up on the levee, a breathtaking sight unfolded before her: a makeshift migrant camp full of thousands of asylum seekers from all over Latin America forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico while they plead their cases. There in the camp, H...
Can the Olympics be covid-safe?
July 21, 2021 21:33The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin Friday, after dozens of people in the Olympic bubble have tested positive for the coronavirus. How soaring rent prices are becoming the new norm across the U.S. And, Anthony Bourdain and the ethics of audio deepfakes. Read more: After a year’s delay, Tokyo 2020 will kick off this Friday despite concerns over the coronavirus: At least 67 people in the Olympic bubble have tested positive. Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports on the precautions that the Internation...
The release of Abdul Latif Nasir
July 20, 2021 20:46The Biden administration has resumed repatriation of Guantánamo Bay detainees — a practice largely halted under former president Donald Trump. Plus, why some states are considering reinstating mask mandates. Read more: The Biden administration on Monday repatriated a detainee from Guantánamo Bay to Morocco, the first transfer of an inmate from the high-security prison since President Donald Trump mostly halted resettlements when he took office in 2017. We hear from The Post’s Missy Ryan a...
The spyware secretly hacking smartphones
July 19, 2021 20:55The military-grade spyware that’s being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and business executives. Plus, a long overdue trip to space. Read more: Military-grade spyware leased by the Israeli firm NSO Group to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals was used to hack smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives and the two women closest to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to an investigation by The Washington...
Crying in H Mart with Michelle Zauner
July 16, 2021 20:15Michelle Zauner, author of “Crying in H Mart,” on grief, food and embracing her Korean heritage. Plus, what happens when a head of state gets a really bad case of the hiccups. Read more: Michelle Zauner is the lead singer of the band Japanese Breakfast and also the author of the best selling memoir “Crying in H Mart.” The book chronicles Zauner’s journey through grief when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Food and trips to the Asian grocery store H Mart, become a central vehicle for ex...
America’s collective amnesia in Haiti
July 15, 2021 20:59How the killing of Haiti’s former president has sparked a constitutional crisis — and how years of U.S. intervention in the Caribbean country contributed to the chaos we’re seeing now. Read more: The assasination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse last week has plunged the country into turmoil, with many unanswered questions left surrounding the attack. The Post’s Widlore Merancourt and Ishaan Tharoor report on what’s known so far about the investigation into killing and what a vacuum of p...
Texas Democrats’ exodus
July 14, 2021 20:44Why Texas Democrats are camping out in D.C. And how to stay safe in extreme heat. Read more: This week, Texas Democrats left the state and flew to Washington, D.C., to prevent Texas Republicans from passing restrictive voting legislation. Eugene Scott reports on why Democrats made this extreme move and what it means for the future of voting rights and lawmaker relationships in the state. A series of heat waves across the Pacific Northwest may have killed hundreds over the past month. Olli...
To boost or not to boost?
July 13, 2021 21:14The latest on coronavirus booster shots. What to expect from the Olympic Games with no spectators. And for better or worse: how to survive this summer’s wedding fatigue. Read more: Concerns over booster shots are growing as new coronavirus variants become more pervasive. Yasmeen Abutaleb shares the latest developments on these extra shots domestically and abroad. Last week, the Japanese government announced all spectators would be banned from Olympic venues in and around Tokyo. Simon Den...
How to not get scammed
July 12, 2021 20:58How to keep yourself and your employer safe from ransomware attacks. And, what to do if you get a scam call. Read more: Major ransomware attacks are becoming more frequent and their demands more extreme. Tatum Hunter explains how to identify and avoid these attacks. Social Security-related telephone scams routinely trick people out of their money — which is what almost happened to personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary’s sister. Michelle shares the tactics the scammer used and ho...
Curating Black history
July 09, 2021 18:46As museums open up, we wanted to talk to the new director of the National African American Museum of History and Culture about what it means to interact directly with history. Plus, why air travel feels worse than ever. Read more: Archivist and poet Kevin Young became the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C. this year. As museums open back up, he’s reflecting on the role he and the museum play in reassessing our national history and preserving Bl...
Leaving Afghanistan
July 08, 2021 18:55The future of Afghanistan as U.S. troops withdraw after a 20-year war. Plus, the future of autonomous weapons. Read more: The slow process of withdrawing the U.S. military presence from Afghanistan reached a milestone: American forces handed over control of Bagram air base to Afghan leaders. Foreign affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor on Afghanistan after America leaves. Military weapons powered by AI are becoming easier to build. Tech reporter Gerrit De Vynck explains how these weapons are...
An assassination, and the future of Haiti
July 07, 2021 20:42The assasination of Haiti’s president. And, a controversy over drug policies and Olympic athletes. Read more: Last night, Jovenel Moïse, the president of Haiti, was assassinated in his private residence by a group of gunmen. Anthony Faiola reports on the Caribbean country’s political instability, growing gang violence, and what Moïse’s assassination means. Track star Sha’Carri Richardson has been suspended from competition for one month and won’t be able to compete in the Olympics after ...
What the delta variant means for you
July 06, 2021 21:04How the highly contagious delta variant is affecting the fight against the coronavirus. Plus, Nikole Hannah-Jones's fight for tenure and what it's like to be Black in higher education. Read more: A mutated, more transmissible form of the coronavirus called the delta variant is forcing countries to go back into lockdown and areas of the United States to reinstate mask mandates. Fenit Nirappil reports on what’s known so far about this new variant and how it could affect the United States. O...
Post-vax advice, with Carolyn Hax
July 02, 2021 17:00With more and more Americans vaccinated and cities reopening again, we’re having some joyous reunions — and a lot of social anxiety. Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax answers your questions about how to navigate a post-vaccine America. Read more: As excited as we are about being vaccinated and emerging into the world again, there are some awkward conversations and social anxiety mixed in there, too. On this special episode, one of The Post’s beloved advice columnists, Carolyn Hax, takes qu...
Another blow to the Voting Rights Act
July 01, 2021 20:03Where voting rights stand after a new court decision. An assessment of a shifting Supreme Court. And the latest legal challenges for Trump’s family business. Read more: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Arizona’s voting restrictions. Reporter Amy Gardner discusses what this means for the Voting Rights Act. And Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes shares how the latest rulings show ideological shifts on the bench. Reporter David A. Fahrenthold discusses new criminal charges against the ...
Why was Bill Cosby released from prison?
June 30, 2021 16:25Why Bill Cosby was released from prison. And why some states are banning lessons on systemic racism. Read more: On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of entertainer Bill Cosby, allowing for his immediate release. Manuel Roig-Franzia reports on this decision and how some victims are responding. Several states have banned teaching about systemic racism and gender discrimination, with dozens more proposing similar legislation. Valerie Strauss r...
Surviving the heat dome
June 29, 2021 20:14What the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest has to do with climate change. A doctor trying to close the racial vaccine gap in Philadelphia. And tips to combat burnout. Read more: A climate-change-fueled heat wave blanketed the Pacific Northwest. In some areas, temperatures passed 110 degrees. Sarah Kaplan reports on how people in cities such as Portland and Seattle grapple with extreme heat. While at least 70 percent of Philadelphians have received at least one coronavirus vaccination,...
The ‘nightmare scenario’ response to the pandemic
June 28, 2021 20:47Two Post journalists, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta, spent months reporting on the chaos inside the White House during the Trump administration’s pandemic response. Revelations include details about how sick President Trump really was and his proposal to send infected Americans to Guantánamo. All of this reporting is in their new book “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” out Tuesday. Read more: Over the past few month...
The search for voices in the rubble
June 25, 2021 20:00Dozens are still unaccounted for after a sudden building collapse in the Miami area. And introducing The Washington Post’s new executive editor, Sally Buzbee. Read more: In the early hours of Thursday, a 12-story condominium building in Miami-Dade County collapsed. Half of the 40-year-old beachfront structure crumbled and over 150 people are missing. The cause of the collapse is unknown, but investigations are underway. Marc Fisher shares what happened. This month, The Washington Post’s n...
Free Britney?
June 24, 2021 20:13Britney Spears’s fight to end her conservatorship. An experimental brain surgery that could treat substance use disorders. And the forced closure of a Hong Kong newspaper. Read more: On Wednesday, Britney Spears made a rare statement on her own behalf to a Los Angeles court requesting that the conservatorship that has taken her finances and lifestyle out of her own control for more than a decade be terminated. Ashley Fetters on Spears’s fight for freedom. Can an experimental brain surger...
A test case for vaccine mandates
June 23, 2021 21:00Houston Methodist was one of the nation’s first health systems to impose a coronavirus vaccine mandate. Now, 153 people have either resigned or been fired for refusing it. Plus, ethical questions in the Biden administration. And coming out in the NFL. Read more: More than 150 health-care workers who did not comply with a Houston-based hospital system’s vaccine mandate have been fired or resigned, more than a week after a federal judge upheld the policy. Health reporter Dan Diamond on what...
The legacy of a bombing
June 22, 2021 21:00In Oklahoma City, the 1995 bombing offers lessons — and warnings — for today’s fight against extremism. Plus, what a Supreme Court ruling means for the NCAA. Read more: Reporter Hannah Allam was in high school in Oklahoma City when Timothy McVeigh altered the skyline of her city for good. She remembers her classmates speculating about what could possibly have rattled their school building so intensely — maybe an accident in the chemistry lab? A sonic boom? Twenty-six years later, Hannah fo...
Biden’s Catholicism
June 21, 2021 11:53President Biden is a lifelong Catholic, but because he supports abortion access, some U.S. bishops believe he shouldn't take Communion. A grim discovery is spurring a reckoning in Canada. Plus, how donating breast milk can help grieving mothers heal. Read more: U.S. Catholic bishops voted last week to back a measure that would limit Communion for Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including President Biden. Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein explains the significance of th...
The joys and struggle of Juneteenth
June 18, 2021 19:47Historian Annette Gordon-Reed discusses the meaning and history behind Juneteenth, the holiday that has come to symbolize the end of slavery in the United States. Read more: Juneteenth is officially a national holiday. This week, Congress rushed to pass a bill officially recognizing June 19, commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally informed that they had been freed two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed grew up ...
Inflation, inflation, inflation
June 17, 2021 19:52The Fed says inflation could climb higher than projected — but many of the price hikes could be short-lived. How to navigate the many new spending opportunities the end of the pandemic has brought. Plus, the power of this year’s graduation speeches. Read more: New projections from the Federal Reserve suggest that prices will keep climbing this year. But what does that tell us about economic recovery from the pandemic moving forward? Rachel Siegel explains the Fed’s current approach: Wait a...
The Biden-Putin summit
June 16, 2021 21:31What Biden’s summit with Putin can tell us about the future of U.S.-Russia relations. And, what could happen to struggling tenants when the rent comes due in July. Read more: President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded their Wednesday summit as “positive” and “constructive” — but politics reporter Eugene Scott says their back-to-back news conferences made clear that the two leaders remain at odds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium is up...
How to fix a labor shortage
June 15, 2021 21:22Some businesses ask whether higher wages could be the answer to the labor shortage. Members of Congress return to the Capitol, and all its security concerns. And a new era of space travel dawns — for those who can afford it. Read more: Across the country, businesses have a problem: Workers aren’t taking low-wage jobs. Economics reporter Eli Rosenberg talked to employers who think they have found a solution: paying people more. Before returning to their home states last month, some lawmake...
A reckoning for People of Praise
June 14, 2021 20:02An insular Christian group faces a reckoning over sexual misconduct. And, the extraordinary effort from educators to get kids back to school. Read more: Last fall, the Christian group People of Praise garnered national attention after a prominent member, Amy Coney Barrett, was nominated to the Supreme Court. Soon after, former members began a Facebook group called “PoP Survivors.” Investigative journalist Beth Reinhard reports on some of those former members who say they were sexually abus...
Introducing ‘Please, Go On’
June 11, 2021 20:00An introduction to The Post’s new opinion podcast: “Please, Go On,” with columnist James Hohmann and his first guest, Vice President Harris. And, cartoonist Alison Bechdel shares the secret to superhuman strength. Read more: The Post’s new opinion podcast launches today: “Please, Go On,” with host James Hohmann. In the first episode, James talks to Vice President Harris about the exodus of women from the workforce during the pandemic. This week we’re kicking off our Summer Fridays series...
Washington’s X-Files
June 10, 2021 20:50The serious government search for UFOs. What the death of Keystone XL could mean for Big Oil. And, what we know about how covid affects the brain. Read more: Are we alone in the universe? The U.S. government has been investigating that question for years. Reporter Jacqueline Alemany on the serious search for UFOs. The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline is shutting down the project after years of lawsuits and public blowback. Juliet Eilperin reports. Scientists are still trying to ...
‘Do not come.’
June 09, 2021 20:54Vice President Harris delivers a blunt warning against crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. How the tax returns of the richest Americans are spurring talk of a wealth tax. And, the renewed popularity of Crocs during the pandemic. Read more: In her first international trip as vice president, Kamala D. Harris attempted to thread a delicate needle on immigration: remaining stern on border crossings while offering incentives to would-be migrants to remain in Central America. Reporter Nick Miroff...
Reclaiming stolen bitcoin
June 08, 2021 21:14The Justice Department strikes back against hackers who carried out a lucrative ransomware attack last month. And what President Biden hopes to get out of his meeting with the Group of Seven. Read more: In May, hackers extorted millions of dollars in bitcoin from Colonial Pipeline through a ransomware attack. Now, the Justice Department has broken into the hackers’ virtual wallet, effectively wiping out their profits from the scheme. Cybersecurity reporter Joseph Marks takes us through the...