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 cost of racism for Asian businesses
March 26, 2021 20:50The economic cost of racism for Asian businesses. And Tunisia a decade after the Arab Spring. Read more: There’s an economic cost to racism as Asian business owners reduce hours and shell out for security in the wake of the Atlanta shootings, says business reporter Tracy Jan. Tunisia is often considered the biggest “success” of the Arab Spring. A decade later, Claire Parker reports on the people still fighting for democracy in a Tunisia battered by crises.
Biden’s first news conference
March 25, 2021 22:15Biden gives his first news conference as president. The NCAA’s problem with women’s basketball. And how a movie studio gave new life to a box office flop. Read more: On Thursday, President Biden fielded questions from the press about the immigration surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, whether he wants to kill the filibuster and what he plans to do about the war in Afghanistan. Power Up newsletter author Jacqueline Alemany reports on the president’s first formal grilling from reporters. The N...
Biden’s uphill climb on gun control
March 24, 2021 20:46President Biden is pushing for new gun-control measures after the mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder. Plus, what relaxed rules for art sales mean for the future of museums. Read more: Biden is urging Congress to immediately pass stronger gun laws after two mass shootings in less than a week. Reporter Sean Sullivan lays out Biden’s agenda on guns and discusses the challenge he faces in seeing that agenda through. Museums have begun using the money from art sales to help them survive t...
Gun violence in a pandemic
March 23, 2021 21:00Though mass shootings have happened less often during the pandemic, gun deaths remain high in the U.S. And, an independent panel says the AstraZeneca vaccine trial data is misleading. Read more: On Monday afternoon, a man walked into a Boulder, Colo., grocery store and started shooting. Ten people were killed, including a responding police officer. Reporter John Woodrow Cox lays out what we know about the second mass shooting in a week and addresses the misconception that gun violence has ...
Another vaccine on the horizon?
March 22, 2021 20:45What we know about the AstraZeneca vaccine. And, the fractured relationship between Google and historically Black colleges and universities. Read more: Science reporter Carolyn Y. Johnson breaks down the results of the U.S. trial for the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine — and its challenges. Google’s failing approach to recruiting historically Black schools helps explain why there are few Black engineers in Big Tech. Reporter Nitasha Tiku says the pipeline for recruiting Black technical tale...
The case against the filibuster
March 19, 2021 20:45The fate of the Senate filibuster will decide the future of the Biden presidency. Today, we dive deep into the filibuster’s origins and myths — and we talk to people who say that killing this arcane procedural roadblock is the only way to save the Senate. Read more: President Biden and Senate Democrats are faced with the question of whether to reform the rules of the filibuster — or even to terminate it altogether. In the view of many Democrats, it’s the only thing holding Biden back from ...
A specific kind of racism
March 18, 2021 20:54A look at the unique vulnerability of spa workers in the wake of the deadly shootings in Atlanta. And how to handle your Zoom fatigue. Read more: Eight people have died after a gunman opened fire in Asian-run spas in and around Atlanta. Six of the victims were Asian women. Anne Branigin, a staff writer for The Lily, looks at the unique vulnerability of spa workers through the lens of race, class and gender. Zoom fatigue is real. Paulina Firozi reports on what you can do about it.
The shootings in Atlanta
March 17, 2021 21:26What we know about the shootings Tuesday night at three Atlanta-area spas. Plus, a closer look at the AstraZeneca vaccine controversy. Read more: Shootings at three Atlanta-area spas on Tuesday have left eight people dead, including six Asian women, prompting widespread concern that the killings could be the latest in a surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans. Paulina Firozi reports. In Europe, several countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Berlin bureau chief...
Will Cuomo step down?
March 16, 2021 21:30Calls for Andrew Cuomo to step down grow as the New York governor faces allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women. The billionaires whose wealth ballooned during the pandemic. And, what the fencing around the Capitol means for our democracy. Read more: White House reporter Josh Dawsey discusses the controversy surrounding Cuomo and his refusal to resign. A handful of tech titans made more than $360 billion during the pandemic. Tech culture reporter Nitasha Tiku discusses how th...
Biden’s border crisis
March 15, 2021 21:00The influx of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border. And, medical professionals taking on covid-19 — and misinformation. Read more: President Biden plans to send FEMA to help with the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Immigration enforcement reporter Nick Miroff explains who is arriving at the border and why. Meet the doctors and nurses who fight covid all day at work. Then, they go online and fight misinformation. Wellness reporter Allyson Chiu reports.
A pandemic year
March 12, 2021 21:42Reflecting on the anniversary of the pandemic, from the eyes of a nurse on New York’s front lines. Read more: Jessica Montanaro thrives in a high-stakes, high-pressure world. As a nurse at an intensive care unit in New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Montanaro is accustomed to leaping into action when patients’ lives are at stake. And when the coronavirus hit the U.S., Montanaro, like so many health-care workers, found herself at the center of the chaos. One year after the WHO declare...
The pandemic’s lost students
March 11, 2021 21:40The search for the students who have gone missing during the pandemic. And, listeners share what has brought them joy this year. Read more: Many students have failed to show up for online school since classrooms closed one year ago. Even before the pandemic, districts had to track down children who had stopped showing up or failed to return for a new school year. But this year, such cases are happening in unprecedented numbers, forcing districts to employ extraordinary efforts to track do...
A jury of Derek Chauvin’s peers
March 10, 2021 21:45Jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin begins. And, tips for hunting vaccine appointments online. Read more: Proceedings have begun for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the killing of George Floyd. National reporter Mark Berman talks about what to expect at the beginning of what will be a lengthy and highly contentious trial. Outside the Hennepin County courthouse, Joshua Lott describes what it’s like to photograph a city on edge. Check ...
Vaccinated? Here’s what’s safe.
March 09, 2021 21:30The CDC guidelines on what fully vaccinated people can — and can’t — do. What we can learn from Israel’s mass vaccination program. And, the risk of plummeting birth rates in France. Read more: New guidelines have emerged for fully vaccinated people in the United States. The Post’s Lena H. Sun walks us through what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday about what fully vaccinated people can now do safely. Israel has inoculated over half of the population. Jerusale...
What’s in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill
March 08, 2021 22:20What’s in the coronavirus relief bill — and what’s not. The story of a Syrian spy. And the royal fallout from that Oprah interview. Read more: Economic policy reporter Rachel Siegel lays out what made it into the Senate’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, what didn’t, and how soon Americans could be receiving financial relief. Joby Warrick covers national security and weapons proliferation for The Post. In his latest book, “Red Line,” he looks at how a spy working for Syria’s chemical weapons...
A turning point for voting rights
March 05, 2021 21:45The future of voting rights — in state legislatures across the country and before the Supreme Court. Read more: In recent weeks, Republican state legislators across the country have been proposing and voting on a variety of voting restrictions. Politics reporter Amy Gardner examines the onslaught of legislation intended to limit mail-in ballots, early-voting periods and ballot boxes — and the motivations behind the proposals. On Tuesday, a key part of the Voting Rights Act was stress-tes...
The legacy of a conspiracy theory
March 04, 2021 21:45How the conspiracy theories that fueled “Pizzagate” were a harbinger of QAnon. Texas in the aftermath of the devastating winter storms. And, a remembrance of Vernon Jordan. Read more: The “Pizzagate” gunman has been released from prison. After Edgar Maddison Welch entered a popular D.C. pizzeria and fired shots in December 2016, he told law enforcement that he had gone there to investigate a conspiracy theory. Reporter Mike Miller explains how Pizzagate signaled the deepening of violence l...
Don’t mask with Texas
March 03, 2021 22:20Texas lifts its coronavirus measures requiring masks and allows businesses to reopen. President Biden’s first failed Cabinet nomination. And the building that reminds people of … the poop emoji. Read more: Politics reporter Philip Bump breaks down Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s decision to reopen the state’s businesses and lift its mask mandate — and why it’s not an opportune time to do it. White House reporter Seung Min Kim explains why Neera Tanden, President Biden’s controversial pick to l...
Gen Z leads LGBT shift
March 02, 2021 22:00Generation Z is breaking with binary notions of gender and sexuality. And, how the first season of “The Bachelor” to feature a Black man has only highlighted the show’s racism problem. Read more: Recent surveys show that a growing percentage of the U.S. population identifies as LGBT. What’s less clear is why. Is it because of a real shift in sexual orientation and gender identity? Or is it because of a greater willingness among young people to identify as LGBT? Samantha Schmidt reports...
Biden’s Middle East woes
March 01, 2021 22:07The U.S. intelligence report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is finally released. And, how Donald Trump took a wrecking ball to U.S. relations in the Mideast, and whether President Biden will be able to recalibrate foreign policy in the region. Read more: The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved the operation that led to the death of Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. National security reporter Karen DeYoung explains what we know from the long-awaited intelligence re...
The violence rattling Asian Americans
February 26, 2021 22:00Asian American communities are bracing themselves against an increase of violent assaults, leaving the marginalized group feeling under attack and isolated. Read more: Attacks against Asian Americans are surging. While data is scant, the numbers in New York City and San Francisco — cities with large, long established Asian American communities — are up. Racially motivated attacks are chronically underreported, reporter Marian Liu says. “On top of that, there's a high threshold to provin...
A balancing act in Honduras
February 25, 2021 20:35As President Biden seeks to reset immigration policy, uncertainty surrounds the U.S. relationship with Honduras and its president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who is implicated in drug trafficking. Read more: For four years, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández built his governing program around the demands of the Trump administration, which in turn stayed out of Honduras’s domestic affairs. Now, that arrangement is ending, and Hernández is finding himself in a precarious position as t...
Will a minimum-wage hike save the economy?
February 24, 2021 22:30Behind the fight over raising the minimum wage — and why the Senate parliamentarian is at the center of it. Plus, boomers embrace online shopping. Read more: President Biden’s push to increase the federal minimum wage is facing significant hurdles in Congress, opposed by skeptical Republicans, centrist Democrats and many business owners. Labor reporter Eli Rosenberg lays out the cases for and against the policy as a tool of financial relief during the pandemic. Obscure Senate procedures ...
An apolitical Justice Department?
February 23, 2021 21:00Merrick Garland’s plans for the Department of Justice. And, another push to provide pandemic loans to small businesses. Read more: President Biden has vowed to remake the Department of Justice, placing a greater emphasis on promoting racial justice, criminal justice reform, and investigating and rooting out domestic terrorism. His nominee for U.S. attorney general, Merrick Garland, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. Matt Zapotosky reports. Business reporter Aaron ...
Pregnancy, coronavirus vaccines and a difficult choice
February 22, 2021 21:44Pregnant people and their babies face severe risks if they get infected with the coronavirus. Newly available vaccines could be a source of hope. But without good data, many pregnant people are agonizing over whether the shots are right for them. Read more: As vaccines become more widely available, many pregnant people are being asked to decide whether they’re ready to trust and receive a shot. For some, that decision could be the difference between life and death. False claims tying vac...
Why so many Texans still don't have water
February 19, 2021 21:44Most Texans are finally getting their power back, but millions of people are still without water as the crisis escalates in the storm-ravaged state. And why coronavirus cases are finally dropping in the United States. Read more: Although most Texans have finally had their power restored, millions of people are now facing a water crisis because of cracked pipes and knocked out water-treatment plants. Arelis Hernández reports from San Antonio. The rate of newly recorded coronavirus infectio...
The rise and fall of Philly’s mass vaccination clinic
February 18, 2021 21:53Philadelphia’s first mass vaccination site looked like a model of 21st-century efficiency — until the city abruptly shut it down after losing trust in the group that ran it. Plus, how the pandemic has led some men to realize they need deeper friendships. Read more: A mass vaccination clinic in Philadelphia opened with fanfare but closed amid rifts of trust. Frances Stead Sellers explains the swift rise and fall of Philly Fighting Covid. No game days. No bars. Samantha Schmidt reports on...
The lone grid state
February 17, 2021 22:05 - 20.5 MBUnderstanding the freezing weather sweeping across the United States — and why Texas’s independent power grid was doomed to fail in its wake. Plus, NASA tries to land a car on Mars. Read more: At least 14 people are dead in four states after a record-breaking cold snap swept through parts of the United States. Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci explains the science behind the freezing temperatures — and why the country might be bracing for more. Will Englund reports on how the Texas power ...
How many extremists are in the military?
February 16, 2021 21:20Why it won’t be easy to root out far-right extremism in the military. Why Indian farmers are protesting. And who pours the kibble for the first dogs? Read more: In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Pentagon is struggling to answer a basic question: How many extremists work among its ranks? Missy Ryan reports. In Delhi, tens of thousands of Indian farmers have formed a protest encampment several miles long. Joanna Slater traces the origins of the revolt. Graphics reporter Bonnie...
‘Presidential’: Andrew Johnson
February 15, 2021 19:00In honor of Presidents’ Day, the story of a president who was impeached during a time of great division: Andrew Johnson. This story is from The Post’s podcast “Presidential” with Lillian Cunningham. Read more: The Post’s podcast “Presidential” is a historical journey through the personality and legacy of each of the American presidents. Listen to the whole archive here. If you’re hearing this episode on Presidents’ Day, check out the “Presidential” trivia event! It's free, virtual and wi...
Liz Cheney’s ‘vote of conscience’
February 12, 2021 22:15There’s one big question hanging over the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump: How many Republicans will be willing to break with the former president and vote to convict? Today, a story about the potential cost of a vote of “conscience” and what that can tell us about the future of the GOP. Read more: Rep. Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump prompted a voter rebellion in the Republican’s home state— and the backlash shows that loyalty to the former president runs deep in the GOP. Post...
A split screen of two presidents
February 11, 2021 22:05As the impeachment trial continues, the former and the current president are pursuing very different strategies: One is watching the trial closely, while the other is doing everything he can to demonstrate that he is not watching at all. Read more: Former president Donald Trump has been watching his second impeachment trial closely, while President Biden messages that he has better things to do. Ashley Parker, The Post’s White House bureau chief, and reporter Anne Gearan paint a sharp juxt...
The mob that Trump built?
February 10, 2021 23:30House managers make the case that Donald Trump spent months laying the groundwork for January’s riot at the Capitol. Plus, how the states that are pulling ahead in vaccinations are getting it done. Read more: On Wednesday, arguments began in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Politics reporter Aaron Blake unpacks House Democrats’ strategies. This week, the United States passed an encouraging milestone: 10 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the coronavi...
‘The framers’ worst nightmare come to life’
February 09, 2021 22:50The impeachment trial begins with an argument about whether it is constitutional in the first place. And, how the Keystone XL pipeline became a political shorthand for climate policy. Read more: On the first day of former president Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, his attorneys are asking: Can a president even be impeached after he has left office? Reporter Ann E. Marimow explains the constitutional questions at play. President Biden has said that addressing climate change is one...
Trump’s rhetoric on trial
February 08, 2021 22:05On the cusp of another impeachment trial, court documents point to how former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric allegedly fueled the rioters who attacked the Capitol. And, whether double-masking makes sense. Read more: Reporter Rosalind S. Helderman shares the latest in the impending impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump. Health reporter Fenit Nirappil explains whether people should start wearing surgical masks beneath their fabric masks — especially as coronavirus variants s...
Democrats prepare to go it alone on covid relief
February 05, 2021 22:00What you need to know about the economic relief package, and how Democrats are pushing it through Congress without any Republican support. And America’s chicken wing crisis. Read more: In an early morning vote Friday, the Senate passed a budget bill that paves the way for President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic relief plan. Reporter Jeff Stein reports on why Democrats soured on bipartisan efforts and ultimately decided to move forward without GOP support. Meanwhile, America is facing a...
Putin’s latest gamble
February 04, 2021 21:30The Kremlin cracks down on opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s supporters all over Russia. And, how Pfizer is making the most of its available vaccine doses. Read more: President Vladimir Putin has continued efforts to quash massive protests in Russia, spurred by the arrest and sentencing of recently returned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Robyn Dixon reports from Moscow. Health business reporter Christopher Rowland explains how the Pfizer drug company is squeezing extra doses from ove...
The GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene problem
February 03, 2021 22:10How Republicans helped prop up the controversial congresswoman from Georgia. Why nursing home workers keep turning down vaccines. And, a tale of two ski resorts. Read more: Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t get to Congress on her own. Michael Kranish explores how prominent Republicans promoted the follower of extremist QAnon ideology, helping to usher her to power and ultimately deepening rifts in the party. Reporter Rachel Chason explains the skepticism amongst nursing home workers to get t...
What happens after Myanmar’s coup?
February 02, 2021 22:00Monday’s military coup in Myanmar was a long time coming. But what happens next? And, Canada vaccinates its homeless population. Read more: Reporters Shibani Mahtani and Anne Gearan contextualize the overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in Myanmar. Foreign correspondent Amanda Coletta reports on Canada’s efforts to vaccinate people experiencing homelessness. Join the “Presidential” virtual trivia night, hosted by Lillian Cunningham. It takes place at 8 p.m. Eastern on Mon...
The ex-president’s defense
February 01, 2021 22:00Former president Donald Trump plans his impeachment defense. Why a new vaccine could be a game-changer. And, the owl pellet economy. Read more: Trump’s legal team unravels as the former president sticks to his script on his false claims of having won the 2020 presidential election. Reporter Josh Dawsey reports on what this means for the impeachment trial. Carolyn Y. Johnson breaks down the single-shot coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. Christopher Ingraham’s kids loved dissectin...
The Man in the Middle
January 29, 2021 19:23How a moderate West Virginia Democrat could decide what Biden can do on climate change. Plus, the story of a snowstorm, six expiring vaccines and a group of dedicated health-care workers. Read more: One coal state senator holds the key to Biden’s ambitious climate agenda — and it’s not Mitch McConnell. Climate and science writer Sarah Kaplan reports. When Oregon health-care workers got stuck in a snowstorm with expiring vaccines, they got creative. Andrea Salcedo reports. If you value ...
Gaming Wall Street
January 28, 2021 22:15How ordinary investors, spurred on by a Reddit message board, took on the big Wall Street funds and sent GameStop share prices soaring. Plus, how President Biden is using the pandemic to try to expand access to health coverage. Read more: Business reporter Hamza Shaban explains what you need to know about GameStop’s stock price chaos. On Thursday, President Biden signed two executive actions, one of which was designed to expand access to health insurance through the Affordable Care A...
All the (former) president’s men
January 27, 2021 21:50Why President Biden may not be able to fire some federal employees appointed during the Trump administration. The first Latino senator from California. And, what the new federal mask mandate means for you. Read more: Lisa Rein reports that while Biden is firing some top Trump holdovers, in some cases, his hands may be tied. California Gov. Newsom selects Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris in the Senate. How do Biden’s new mask orders work? Health reporter William Wan explains. If y...
The battle over reopening schools
January 26, 2021 22:15The growing tensions between school systems and teachers unions. Plus, Biden's Cabinet may be “the most diverse in history,” but his pick for agriculture secretary has reignited criticism over the USDA’s treatment of Black farmers. Read more: Chicago teachers are deadlocked with the school district over their reopening plans, but Chicago is far from alone. Education reporter Perry Stein explains the growing tensions between teachers unions and school systems. On Tuesday, CDC researchers ...
Whose Senate is it anyway?
January 25, 2021 21:30A standoff in the Senate. How essential workers are faring almost a year into the coronavirus pandemic. And, why vaccine rollout has been so slow in France. Read more: When President Biden took office last week, he promised sweeping, bipartisan legislation to solve the pandemic, fix the economy and overhaul immigration. Just days later, the Senate ground to a halt, its members unable to agree on rules for how the evenly divided body should operate. Reporter Mike DeBonis unpacks the standst...
400,000 people are dead. Can Biden change course?
January 22, 2021 21:27How President Biden plans to combat the pandemic in his first 100 days. Where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention went wrong with testing, and what it cost us. And what the U.K. coronavirus variant means for you. Read more: Just ahead of President Biden’s inauguration, the United States reached a grim milestone — 400,000 people have died of the coronavirus, a quarter of them in the past month. Health policy reporter Amy Goldstein lays out the new administration’s plan for wrangl...
All-American terrorism
January 21, 2021 21:15A wake-up call for federal law enforcement on domestic terrorism. How journalists who cover the White House are recalibrating post-Trump. And dogs return to the White House. Read more: National security reporter Shane Harris explains the soul-searching happening in federal law enforcement after Jan. 6, and how domestic terrorism might be handled in the United States. A conversation with Allison Michaels, host of the Post politics podcast “Can He Do That?” on the show’s pivot to the new a...
The 46th president
January 20, 2021 22:40An inauguration like no other. And how the White House residence staff say goodbye to one first family and hello to another. Read more: Joe Biden has been inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States, calling for unity in a speech to a divided nation. White House reporter Sean Sullivan reports. Kamala D. Harris is the first woman, and the first woman of color, to become vice president. Producer Jordan-Marie Smith talks to Harris's Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters about how t...
Biden’s first days
January 19, 2021 08:30Why the nation’s capital feels like a ghost town. What President-elect Joe Biden wants to get done on his first day in office. And why the Secret Service has been paying $3,000 a month for a bathroom. Read more: President-elect Joe Biden has long been eager to undo and reshape policies advanced by the Trump administration over the past four years. Come Wednesday, he’ll make liberal use of his executive powers to do it, Matt Viser reports. Peter Jamison was reporting on Ivanka Trump and J...
Tulsa, 100 years later
January 18, 2021 21:30The plight of black entrepreneurs in Tulsa, nearly a century after one of the nation’s worst acts of racial violence. Read more: In 1921, a White mob descended on the Greenwood district of Tulsa, killing scores of African Americans, and looting and burning their businesses to the ground. The Tulsa massacre decimated Greenwood, a commercial hub once hailed as the height of Black enterprise. But as Tracy Jan reports, Black erasure in Tulsa is hardly a remnant of the past. Today, Black ent...