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
Life in the pink motel, a year after Hurricane Ian
October 02, 2023 22:00El Rancho Motel in North Fort Myers, Fla., has become a lifeline for survivors of the storm. But one year later, its residents are desperate to move on. Read more: It’s been just over a year since Hurricane Ian wrought havoc on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The storm killed at least 150 people directly or indirectly and caused $112 billion in damage — the costliest storm in the state’s history. There has been major progress — billions spent on rebuilding. But an unknown number of people are ...
Dianne Feinstein’s big legacy – and empty Senate seat
September 29, 2023 21:39Senate stalwart Dianne Feinstein died Thursday at the age of 90. Today, we talk about her legacy — and the existential crisis for Democrats that comes with her vacant Senate seat. Read more: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, centrist stalwart of the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. At age 90, she was the chamber’s oldest sitting member and its longest-serving woman. Although the question of her fitness to serve received increasing scrutiny after she was hospitalized in February, Feinstein worked in poli...
The saga of Sen. Bob Menendez
September 28, 2023 21:03Stacks of cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and arms sales to Egypt – they’re all in the details of the federal indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez. This week, the New Jersey Democrat pleaded not guilty. So what’s next for the embattled senator? Read more: The indictments against Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are stunning, with investigators finding envelopes filled with cash and gold bars in the senator’s home. It is considered one of the more serious political corruption cases involvi...
What a government shutdown could mean for you
September 27, 2023 21:50As the U.S. government moves closer to a shutdown, we hear what that means for the economy, federal workers and families across the country. Read more: Congress must agree to a short-term funding bill before an Oct. 1 shutdown, which could interrupt paychecks for many federal workers and military service members. Basic government services could also hang in the balance, from food safety inspections and child-care funds to aid for long-term disaster recovery. Already, FEMA has delayed bil...
A son reported his dad for Jan 6. Can the family heal?
September 26, 2023 23:10Their dad is in prison for his actions on Jan. 6. Their brother was the one who turned him in. Their mom moved to D.C. to support “political prisoners” in the D.C. jail. Sarah and Peyton Reffitt are caught in the middle. Can this family reconcile? Read more: On Christmas Eve 2020, Guy Reffitt sent a text to his family group chat. He was furious about the outcome of the 2020 election — which he believed was stolen from former President Donald Trump. “Too many lines have been crossed,” he wr...
The child-care crisis is about to get worse
September 25, 2023 19:54A record $24 billion in pandemic investments has been propping up the nation’s child-care industry. Now, as that money runs out, parents and day-care centers are bracing for disruptions — and the economy is bracing for the ripple effects. Read more: Even in the best of times, juggling work and child care can be a struggle. But as pandemic-era funding for child care dries up, an estimated 70,000 child-care centers are expected to close, leaving parents with even fewer — and less-affordable...
Deep Reads: A young mother’s disappearance
September 23, 2023 21:00 - 28.7 MBThe jury had been brought in for a murder trial. It was a homicide with no body, a case that had been first classified as a missing person instead of a death. There had been no confession. No blood. No weapon. No witnesses. The alleged murder had gone unsolved for more than a decade, and onlookers had wondered, not unreasonably, whether it was simply unsolvable. The question at hand was whether, 13 years ago, a man named Isaac Moye had murdered a woman named Unique Harris. The trial was an ...
What the Hollywood strikes mean for fall TV
September 22, 2023 18:42Strikes by Hollywood actors and entertainment writers are in full-swing, making this an unusual fall, television-wise. We’re looking at the impact on the coming season of television and the future of the industry. Read more: A Hollywood strike marches on, but that has not stopped the production of new shows altogether. The Post’s television critic Lili Loofbourow discusses some of the most hotly anticipated shows, including new series such as “The Other Black Girl,” “The Changeling” and “...
The climate factor in Libya’s deadly floods
September 21, 2023 20:12Catastrophic flooding in Libya last week left an estimated 10,000 people dead or missing. Today, we report from the ground and explain how warming oceans and a hotter planet contributed to the scale of the disaster. Read more: At the end of what has already been a summer of extremes, floods have spanned the globe with remarkable intensity in recent weeks. Countries from Spain to Brazil to Japan have been inundated. Libya was hit the hardest last week, with catastrophic flooding in coastal ...
A year of protests and repression in Iran
September 20, 2023 21:14Today on “Post Reports,” a look at what has happened to Iranians in the year since massive protests swept the country. We hear from family members impacted by the government’s harsh crackdown and how Iran’s repression playbook works. One year ago, the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked what analysts have described as the longest-running, anti-government protest in Iran’s recent history. In the months since, Iranian security...
A killing in Canada, a ripple in geopolitics
September 19, 2023 21:23How a killing in Canada has caused a geopolitical crisis that is sending shock waves through India, the United States and beyond. Read more: On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in a speech to Parliament that agents of the Indian government killed a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil. Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader, was killed in June in British Columbia.. Trudeau’s announcement led to the Canadian government expelling an Indian diplomat. Indi...
What's at stake in a historic autoworkers strike
September 18, 2023 22:00First it was Hollywood, and now another big union strike is underway. For the first time ever, thousands of United Auto Workers members are striking against Detroit’s Big Three auto companies. Read more: An historic autoworkers fight is now on, with thousands of UAW members walking off the factory floors at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler. Workers are asking for pay increases and more equal benefits for temporary workers, particularly as compan...
Healing through surfing on Maui
September 15, 2023 21:21Today on “Post Reports,” residents in Lahaina are healing after the deadly Maui wildfires with the help of a Hawaiian tradition: surfing. Read more: The Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii – the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century – took the lives of at least 115 people, with the number of missing still unknown. With lives and homes devastated, residents are searching for a sense of normalcy. Surfing offers a reprieve for many of those affected by the tragic event. “It can be ...
Reported by her own students for a lesson on race
September 14, 2023 20:38Last spring, South Carolina English teacher Mary Wood was horrified when her students reported her to the local school board for teaching about race. As she starts a new school year, we ask what it’s like for her to step back into the classroom. Read more: Last spring in Chapin, S.C., two students in high school English teacher Mary Wood‘s class reported her to the local school board for teaching about race. Wood had assigned her all-White AP English Language and Composition class reading...
McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry against Biden
September 13, 2023 21:13House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has directed House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden – a move that appears to appease hard-right lawmakers. The investigations center on whether Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings. Claiming there are “allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption,” McCarthy has directed House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Yet House Republicans have not put forth evidence directly showing th...
Waiting for aid in Morocco
September 12, 2023 20:59Today on “Post Reports,” why an earthquake in Morocco was so deadly, the anger over the government response, and what survivors say they need now. Read more: The massive earthquake in central Morocco that killed at least 2,900 people was unusual for that part of the country — and that’s part of what made it so deadly. Claire Parker has been on the ground reporting from the remote villages that were hit the hardest. “It's quite different from, for example, the earthquake in Syria and T...
Being a journalist in Modi’s India
September 11, 2023 19:58India has fallen down the ranks of the World Press Freedom Index, sitting at 161 out of 180 countries. Journalists have been harassed, arrested and even killed. Today, what it’s like to be a journalist in India under the Modi government. Read more: Over the weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Biden at the G-20 summit in New Delhi. But there were some people noticeably absent from the leaders’ big meeting: the press. Growing restrictions on the press in India have bec...
Deep Reads: A stranger bought the home where her family fled slavery
September 09, 2023 21:00 - 28.1 MBStephanie Gilbert wrote a letter to Jungsun Kim, the new owner of Richland Farm in Clarksville, Md. In the letter, Gilbert laid out centuries of her family’s remarkable history: the five generations of her enslaved ancestors who had labored at Richland Farm and a neighboring plantation for one of Maryland’s most prominent families. Gilbert explained in the letter that she’d established a relationship with the White descendant who had inherited Richland — the woman who had just sold the es...
A deadly risk factor in extreme heat: Schizophrenia
September 08, 2023 21:19Last year, 425 people died of extreme heat in Phoenix. Stephan Goodwin was one of them. Today, why people who suffer from schizophrenia are more vulnerable to a hotter climate. And, what can be done to better protect them. Read more: Climate change is warming the planet and breaking heat index records across the globe. For people with mental illness, scorching temperatures can be especially deadly. That was true for Stephan Goodwin, a 33-year-old man who spent his last moments of life in t...
The hidden toll of electric cars, Part 3
September 07, 2023 21:26The world is moving toward electric vehicles. In Part 3 of our series on the hidden toll of this historic transition, business reporter Evan Halper breaks down this industrial shift and the concerns it brings over human and environmental costs. Read more: States such as California and New York are moving to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. Meanwhile, President Biden wants at least half of new car sales to be electric by 2030. But the race to reduce our carbon foo...
The hidden toll of electric cars, Part 2
September 06, 2023 22:21In today’s installment of our series on the hidden toll of electric vehicles, reporter Gerry Shih ventures into the mountains of Afghanistan to find out what happens when loads of untapped lithium – a key part of electric vehicles – trigger a cross-border “gold rush.” Read more: “Waste kunzite” is what Afghan miners call the white rock that is all around them. It’s “waste” to them because they don’t have the capacity to extract it or sell it now. But around the world, this rock is extreme...
The hidden toll of electric cars, Part 1
September 05, 2023 21:41As the demand for electric vehicles soars and more minerals are needed for production, manganese mine workers in South Africa are experiencing mysterious health problems. Read more: While you may not have heard about manganese, it’s a key ingredient in making electric cars move. Minerals such as cobalt, lithium and manganese are used to manufacture electric and gas-powered vehicles. But electric cars typically require six times the mineral input of conventional vehicles. The demand for ...
A message from 'Post Reports'
August 28, 2023 20:02 - 528 KB‘Post Reports’ is taking this week off! We’ll be back with more news from The Washington Post after the Labor Day holiday. Read more: Our podcast is taking a week off and coming back next Tuesday, Sept. 5. If you want to catch up on news, make sure to check out ‘The 7’ podcast, the morning news briefing from the Washington Post hosted by Jeff Pierre.
The unfinished work of the March on Washington
August 25, 2023 20:33Sixty years ago, some 250,000 Americans arrived by bus, by train and on foot to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Now, marchers and organizers reflect on the goals of that day — and the work that still needs to be done. Read more: In 1963, the fight for civil rights reached a pivotal stage. Activist Medgar Evers was murdered, Alabama Gov. George Wallace called for “segregation forever,” and riots in Cambridge, Md., erupted into violence. A few years earlier, th...
What to know about covid-19 this fall
August 24, 2023 21:14Today, what to know about covid boosters, the new variant and how to protect those most at risk this fall. As summer comes to a close, many people have started to see a bump in covid-19 cases among their family and friends. A new variant causing an uptick in hospitalizations and other illnesses like the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are on the horizon. Health reporter Fenit Nirappil discusses the latest on vaccine recommendations and how to protect ourselves and those most at ...
What a month of disasters tells us about climate change
August 23, 2023 21:57A tropical storm in Southern California. Wildfires in Maui. Record-breaking heat in the Midwest. Climate reporter Brianna Sacks unpacks this summer of extreme weather, and what public officials can do to better prepare for future disasters. She explains why preparedness is key in vulnerable areas, and why places like California can sometimes get it right while others are still learning. Michelle Boorstein guest hosts.
A GOP debate without Trump
August 22, 2023 21:33The first Republican primary debate for the 2024 election cycle is tomorrow night. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has indicated he will not be attending, leaving open the possibility for another candidate to take advantage of his absence. Read more: To make it onto the debate stage, Republican candidates needed to meet strict polling requirements and have at least 40,000 individual donors. National polling puts former president Donald Trump in first place among his Republican opponen...
A life-and-death fight to ban ‘forever chemicals’
August 21, 2023 21:21The kids at her school called it “cancer water.” There was even a group of them called the “cancer kids.” But when Amara developed a rare form of cancer at 15, the water — and the company contaminating it with chemicals — took center stage in the little time she had left. Read more: Amara Strande lived in Minnesota, where her city’s water had been tainted with forever chemicals. After she developed a rare form of cancer at 15, Amara told lawmakers at the state capitol that she believed tho...
A road trip with Sinéad O’Connor
August 18, 2023 19:03When legendary musician Sinéad O’Connor died, arts reporter Geoff Edgers was crushed. He’d spent time with her in 2020 as she relaunched her career. Today on the show, we share moments from that time and Geoff’s reflections on her legacy. Read more: Read Geoff’s essay about his road trip with Sinéad O’Connor and his profile from 2020. A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated the year Sinéad O’Connor’s son Shane died. It was 2022, not 2020. The audio has been corrected. If y...
Where does Maui go from here?
August 17, 2023 20:48Last week, the worst wildfire in Hawaii’s history left blocks of charred wreckage and more than a hundred people dead. Now, while locals wait for news of loved ones, they’re also fighting to keep historic Lahaina in the hands of the Hawaiian people. Read more: Hawaii has one of the most intense housing crunches in the country, with sky-high property values, soaring costs of living and a colonial history that is still felt across the islands. Nowhere was that crunch more visible than histo...
What Georgia's racketeering charges could mean for Trump
August 16, 2023 22:53In the fourth indictment of former president Donald Trump, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis alleges that Trump and 18 others participated in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. To do so, Willis is hoping to use the same legal tactic federal prosecutors have traditionally used to prosecute mafia bosses. “She's using a statute in Georgia called the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which mirrors a federal law that was originall...
'Brain desirable,' Part 2
August 15, 2023 20:04Who is Mary Sara, the Sami woman whose brain was taken for the Smithsonian’s “racial brain collection”? Today, we find her descendants. And we find out how the Smithsonian is addressing the dark legacy of its “bone doctor,” Ales Hrdlicka. Read more: The brain of a Sami woman who died at a Seattle sanitarium in 1933. The cerebellum of an Indigenous Filipino who died at the 1904 World’s Fair. These are just two of the brains collected, seemingly without consent, by the Smithsonian’s first ...
'Brain desirable,' Part 1
August 14, 2023 20:07When Mary died in 1933, her brain was sent to a man named Ales Hrdlicka, the Smithsonian’s ‘bone doctor.’ Post reporters couldn’t find any records that Mary or her family consented to this. So what happened to Mary’s brain? And what is the extent of the Smithsonian’s “racial brain collection”? Read more: The brain of a Sami woman who died at a Seattle sanitarium in 1933. The cerebellum of an indigenous Filipino who died at the 1904 World’s Fair. These are just two of the brains collected o...
It was all a dream: Hip-hop turns 50
August 11, 2023 19:39Two turntables and a microphone. That was all DJ Kool Herc had 50 years ago when he planted the seeds of what would become hip-hop. Today, we’ll hear directly from some of the genre’s biggest stars about how hip-hop took over the world. “Post Reports” audio engineer Sean Carter joins us today to share his reporting on hip-hop’s evolution over the past 50 years. Carter takes us backstage with some of hip-hop’s biggest names, like Rakim and the Lady of Rage, and speaks with the people who wer...
Meet the hackers trying to make AI go rogue
August 10, 2023 20:42Chatbots can be biased, deceptive or even dangerous. Today on “Post Reports,” we meet the hackers who are competing to figure out exactly how AI can go awry. Read more: Will Oremus reports on technology for The Post, and recently that has meant writing a lot about AI and all the ways it could go wrong. “Even the people who make this stuff, the creators of these technologies, are also out there warning, hey, this could be really bad,” Will says. “This could go wrong in very disturbing wa...
Avoiding the news? You’re not alone.
August 09, 2023 20:41A new survey shows that more people are avoiding the news. Today on “Post Reports,” our media reporter Paul Farhi talks with Elahe Izadi about “news avoiders” – and how the media could respond to this growing trend. Read more: Bad news seems to be constant these days. Thanks to our hand-held devices, that bad news can follow us everywhere. More and more, people who used to follow the news regularly are tuning it out. This is bad news for an already struggling news industry. How can news ...
RFK Jr.’s politics of conspiracy
August 08, 2023 16:00Today on “Post Reports,” the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the impact his candidacy could have on the 2024 election — even if he doesn’t come close to winning. Read more: Back in April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his candidacy for president of the United States. While he comes from a long line of famous politicians — including his father, onetime U.S. attorney general Bobby Kennedy, and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated — he has...
The fading invincibility of U.S. women’s soccer
August 07, 2023 21:01The USWNT is out of the World Cup at the earliest stage in the program’s history. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to soccer reporter Steve Goff about what happened – and what it signals about the global evolution of women's soccer. Read more: The U.S. women’s national soccer team went into the World Cup favored to win it all. Instead, they were knocked out before even making it to the quarterfinals. But as The Post’s Emily Giambalvo wrote, “the team’s waning dominance says less about th...
Friendship: It’s good for your health
August 04, 2023 18:43On this encore episode of “Post Reports,” we rethink our friendships. Research shows that strong friendships are essential to a healthy life. Read more: Have you ever neglected your friendships for romantic love? It may be time to rethink your priorities. A growing body of research shows that friends are essential to a healthy life. Cultivating strong friendships may be just as important for our well-being as healthy eating habits or a good night’s sleep. Platonic love may even be more i...
The problem for NFL running backs
August 03, 2023 23:53Running backs used to be among the most famous — and best-paid — players in football. But the game has changed and so has their status. Today on “Post Reports,” what that means for the sport and these players — and how they might be able to change it. Read more: The traditional running back has moved to the margins. The position is dangerous and injury-prone, but increasingly NFL teams are finding it makes business sense not to commit to these players long-term. Feeling underappreciate...
United States v. Donald Trump. Again.
August 02, 2023 21:18A grand jury has indicted former president Donald Trump for alleged crimes stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Today, what the third indictment of Trump means for the 2024 Republican front-runner. Read more: The four-count, 45-page indictment alleges that former president Donald Trump conspired to defraud the United States, conspired to obstruct an official proceeding and conspired against people’s rights. Trump, who is seeking to return to the Whi...
Two years ago, an abortion ban made them teen parents
August 01, 2023 22:01Today on “Post Reports,” we follow up with Brooke and Billy High, two teenagers compelled into parenthood by the Texas abortion ban. Now, they’re caring for their twin daughters in a new city — and trying their best to hold it all together. Read more: Last summer, The Post’s abortion reporter Caroline Kitchener told the story of a teenager who wanted an abortion and ended up having twins because of the Texas abortion ban. The story — which “Post Reports” also covered — went viral. “The f...
How Jason Aldean’s 'Small Town' became a right-wing anthem
July 31, 2023 21:36Today on “Post Reports,” we explore the controversy around Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” – and how the song landed near the top of the charts. Critics say its new music video is full of coded threats against Black people. Read more: Country music star Jason Aldean is facing immense backlash over “Try That in a Small Town,” which soared in popularity even as the music video was pulled from Country Music Television amid the controversy. While Aldean is defending the video onstage...
Deep Reads: After Mississippi banned his hormone shots, an 8-hour journey
July 29, 2023 21:00This year, Mississippi banned transgender young people, such as Ray, from accessing hormones or other gender-transition treatments. Nearly half the country has since passed similar bills, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Across the country, families are doing everything they can to protect their trans children. Some uprooted their lives in red states for the promise of protections in blue ones. Others filed lawsuits. Katie, Ray’s mother, couldn’t afford to move, and she needed...
Parents are using AirTags to track kids
July 28, 2023 19:28Some parents are using tracking devices meant for keys to keep tabs on kids too young for smartphones. Read more: Apple AirTags are not meant to track your kids. But that’s exactly how some parents are using them. In backpacks, on wristbands, they are making it so parents worried about introducing their children to a smartphone can access their child’s location in case something goes wrong. And AirTags aren’t the only tech marketed toward the fear of parents. There are flip phones, watc...
The doctors prescribing misinformation
July 27, 2023 20:21What happens when doctors push misinformation, jeopardizing patients’ lives? Today we dig into a months-long Post investigation into a system that appears ill-equipped to respond, and what that means for patients who suffered the health consequences. Read more: When Margret Murphy’s long-time doctor’s office told her to stop wearing a mask at her appointments during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting masking could be the cause of her high blood pressure, she left the practi...
Who’s driving Israel’s political crisis?
July 26, 2023 21:10A political crisis has swept Israel. Amid massive protests, lawmakers in parliament voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government actions, weakening the judiciary. Who’s driving it? Read more: On Monday, Israel’s lawmakers voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to block government actions. Tens of thousands of people marched in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv after the vote, with protesters worrying about the step back from democracy after the important check on executive...
The 'parental rights' group igniting the GOP
July 25, 2023 22:10Moms for Liberty is a conservative parental rights organization that is increasingly influencing the policies of the Republican Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called it an extremist group. Read more: A few weeks ago, conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty held a summit in Philadelphia. At the summit, the group rallied against sexual education, critical race theory and public health mandates — all topics its members believe public schools are teaching to “indoctrina...
Wait, so is the economy…good?
July 24, 2023 19:12Today on “Post Reports,” why experts are suddenly feeling a bit more optimistic about the economy. And whether we can finally stop worrying about a recession … or not. Read more: For the past few years, the U.S. economy has been in a period of chaos. The coronavirus pandemic caused supply chains to go haywire, and inflation shot up. Many people were laid off early in the pandemic – followed by historic job growth and hiring struggles. But now, it seems as if the economy might be settling i...
Field Trip: White Sands National Park
July 21, 2023 18:37 - 56 MBThe much-anticipated movie “Oppenheimer” opens today – about the scientist who led the development of the atomic bomb. On “Post Reports,” we’re joining The Post’s Lillian Cunningham on a journey to the site of the bomb’s first test. Read more: White Sands National Park contains a geological rarity: the largest field of gypsum sand dunes anywhere on Earth. The blinding white dunes stretch for miles in every direction, dazzling tourists, inviting selfies and sled rides. But there’s much mor...