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Post 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.
Post Reports
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“America’s Pastime” is struggling to keep Americans interested. Today ahead of Opening Day, we talk about Major League Baseball’s introduction of a pitch clock to try to speed things up and appeal to younger audiences.
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This season, baseball is trying something new to speed up the game: a pitch clock. The goal is to make baseball more exciting by requiring pitchers and batters to move more quickly (but will it actually bring in new fans?).
Reporter Chelsea Janes joins Post Reports just ahead of Opening Day to explain what the pitch clock is and how it will impact the game.
Read about what happened when the pitch clock debuted at spring training this year.
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Today, what a landmark poll of U.S. transgender adults reveals about what life is like for trans people in America.
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In this atmosphere of intense polarization around transgender rights, The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation set out to hear what transgender Americans had to say on topics ranging from their experiences as children in school to navigating the workplace, the doctor’s office and family relationships as adults. The resulting Washington Post-KFF Trans Survey is the largest nongovernmental survey of U.S. trans adults to rely on random sampling methods.
Today on the show, health reporter Fenit Nirappil walks through the results of the poll and shares the stories of trans patients who face discrimination when trying to access health care.
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Today, what Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit could mean for the balance of global power.
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This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for the first time since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. Reporter Mary Ilyushina says, while the two leaders have met many times before, this meeting showed the two countries' commitment to creating a new world order, one where the U.S. is no longer the arbiter of everything that happens on the global stage.
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Are we in the middle of a financial crisis? Today’s show breaks down the latest bank crises — from Credit Suisse to First Republic.
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Another week, another banking calamity.
On Sunday, Swiss banking giant UBS came to the rescue of its rival, Credit Suisse. It was the first near-collapse of a European bank on the heels of three regional bank implosions in the United States.
Economics reporter Abha Bhattarai helps us decipher all the bank failures over the past couple of weeks. And as the Federal Reserve meets this week, Abha explains how its interest rate hikes have contributed to the instability of the financial sector.
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Today on Post Reports, we take you to an abortion hearing in Amarillo, Tex., that the judge didn’t want you to know was coming.
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In a four-hour hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard arguments in a lawsuit that could restrict access nationwide to the abortion medication mifepristone. The lawsuit alleges that the medication is unsafe, despite being approved and highly regulated by the FDA for decades. However, many antiabortion activists are hopeful that Kacsmaryk will rule against the FDA, because of his strong religious beliefs and previous support of antiabortion organizations.
National political reporter Caroline Kitchener was inside the courtroom for the hearing and explains what she heard and what the implications of the ruling could be.
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The AI behind ChatGPT just got an upgrade. But it might not have all of the bells and whistles that some were expecting.
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GPT-4 might sound like gibberish, but it could change what you expect from your apps (not to mention what happens when you try out ChatGPT). If you need a recipe and are low on groceries, you could soon take a picture of your open fridge for the system to “look” at, identify your ingredients, and whip up a recipe for the night.
That being said, there are limits to what this new AI language model can do. For instance, even though GPT-4 is better at logic than its predecessor, it can still give answers containing false information.
Tech reporter Drew Harwell breaks down the other ethics issues GPT-4 has raised.
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Silicon Valley Bank is dead. The institution that was a major financier for venture capitalists, tech start-ups and other Silicon Valley outfits has collapsed. Enter: the federal government.
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When depositors who belonged to Silicon Valley Bank started quickly withdrawing their money recently, it caused a “bank run.” This led to the ruin of the tech-focused bank, the largest bank failure since the Great Recession. Now the federal government is stepping in to ensure customers are still able to access their money and company payrolls are distributed.
Silicon Valley Bank catered to start-ups, venture capitalist groups, and even companies like Pinterest and Airbnb. Reporter Jeff Stein talks about why the government is taking such drastic measures to make sure all deposits will be available this week.
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If you’re gearing up to clean out your closet this spring, you might be wondering: Where can I donate all these clothes? And: What actually happens to these clothes when I do donate? The Washington Post’s climate solutions team has some answers.
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From Goodwill to disaster-relief efforts to those big metal donation boxes on street corners, there are a lot of options for where to give those clothes you just don’t wear anymore. But whether those old t-shirts ever find new, good homes is a more complicated story.
Allyson Chiu, a climate solutions reporter for The Post, breaks down where donated clothes end up and offers some advice about what to watch out for as you consolidate your closet.
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In the wake of the 2020 election, Fox News aired false claims about election fraud promoted by Trump allies. A lawsuit, however, reveals that top executives and hosts privately doubted the legitimacy of those claims. Reporter Jeremy Barr joins us to explain.
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Today from "Post Reports," a quick message from Martine about what she’s working on and why she won’t be in your ears as much for the next few months. (We promise, it’s good news!)
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It’s been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Post’s Ukraine Bureau Chief reflects on the war, its impacts and what the future might look like for these countries.
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Europe’s biggest land war since World War II just entered its second year, with no clear end in sight.
The losses are unimaginable – estimates suggest there have been hundreds of thousands of casualties, as well as mass evacuations and family separations. According to the United Nations, the war has forced one third of Ukrainians out of their homes and nearly 8 million Ukrainian refugees have sought shelter in other European countries. And the fighting continues.
Isabelle Khurshudyan, the Post’s Ukraine Bureau Chief, guides us through the first days of the invasion and describes what we’re seeing now.
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Today, we look at how former Donald Trump voters are feeling about his 2024 presidential run, and whether Trump’s grip on the Republican base is slipping.
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Over the past several months, a team of reporters at The Washington Post traveled to five swing states to ask former Trump voters about their feelings toward the former president ahead of the 2024 election. After more than 150 interviews, they found tension within the Republican base, and a growing range of Trump supporters who aren’t sure they want him as the party’s next nominee.
Washington Post reporter Isaac Arnsdorf breaks down why Trump might be losing voters, how they feel about the other “Florida guy” who might run for president, and what this could all mean for the future of the Republican Party.
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For months, economists warned that the U.S. economy may enter a recession. Instead, the economy appears to be growing. Rachel Siegel joins us to explain why economists were worried, and what led this economy to defy predictions.
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“Post Reports” looks at why students were asked to leave Yale University while they were having mental health crises.
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Nicolette Mántica was having a tough time at Yale. At the end of her freshman year, she started struggling with her mental health. She eventually was taken to a hospital for help. While there, college officials gave her no other choice but to withdraw, she said, and she went back to her home in rural Georgia.
Reporter William Wan talked to Nicolette and other students about their similar experiences with the prestigious university after they sought help for suicidal ideation or other mental health crises.
Wan also looked into how Yale’s policies changed recently and what students – both current and former – think of the changes.
