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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.
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A group in D.C. ditched their smartphones for a month. Washington Post reporter Brittany Shammas joined them. Here’s what she learned.
If you want to learn more about Brittany’s story, you can read it here.
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Today’s show was produced by Maggie Penman and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show.
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The last five pennies were minted in Philadelphia last week. Over the 232 years of its existence, the penny became culturally significant through music, fashion and movies. But recently, many have argued for it to be discontinued because of how much the coin costs to produce.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with White House economic policy correspondent Jacob Bogage about how prices could be affected by this change and what this could mean for other forms of U.S. currency.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and Peter Bresnan, and mixed by Sam Bair.
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When the conservative organization Blexit announced it was going to visit HBCU campuses this fall, it received backlash from students, administrators and alumni. But when it made a stop at Howard University – during the university’s celebratory homecoming weekend – the reception felt mixed.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Features reporter Samantha Chery about Blexit’s strategy and how people reacted to its visit to Howard. Then, national politics reporter Sabrina Rodriguez speaks with Itkowitz about where the Black vote stands nationally.
Today’s show was produced by Zoe Cummings, Sabby Robinson and Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and Laura Benshoff. It was mixed by Sean Carter.
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Friendship is vital for our health and happiness, but we don’t always prioritize it. The Optimist’s Maggie Penman goes on a journey to make new friends and learn why so many of us are craving connection.
Today’s show was produced by Maggie Penman, with help from Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Allison Klein.
For more stories from The Optimist, subscribe to our newsletter. If you want to hear more stories like this on the weekend, send Maggie an email at maggie.penman@washpost.com.
If you want to check out Billy Baker's book, it's called We Need to Hang Out: A Memoir of Making Friends.
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The House Oversight Committee released a tranche of emails from the estate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that give us more information about his relationship to President Donald Trump. Today on the politics roundtable, we’ll unpack what these emails say and how the White House has responded.
And, after 43 days, the federal government is back open for business. As the dust settles on the longest shutdown in history, we’ll talk about what lawmakers learned – and whether another shutdown could be right around the corner.
Colby speaks with Dan Merica and Matthew Choi, who are co-anchors of our politics newsletter The Early Brief.
Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and mixed by Sean Carter.
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For months, the relationship between the United States and Latin America has been fraught. President Donald Trump has targeted enemies in the region and propped up MAGA-friendly allies. We’ve now reached an inflection point, and the world is watching for what’s next.
Today, two of The Post’s experts on the region, national security correspondent
Karen DeYoung and Mexico City bureau chief Samantha Schmidt, join host Colby Itkowitz to unpack the latest developments in Latin America, and the throughline of the Trump administration’s ultimate policy objectives.
Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick. Special thanks to Ben Pauker.
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Jordie Poncy was about to start a job counseling cancer patients when he learned he had cancer himself. Three years later, his health is stable — and he’s finding meaning by helping others fight.
If you want to hear more from The Optimist, follow our newsletter.
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This year, taxpayers will spend about $193 billion to compensate almost 7 million disabled veterans. Some of the conditions prevent veterans from working or doing everyday tasks – but a Post investigation found that many are receiving money for easily manageable ailments like acne, eczema and sleep apnea. Others are filing fraudulent claims to get money for conditions they either don’t have or from which they’ve already recovered.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with investigative reporter Craig Whitlock about the antiquated rules that have left the system vulnerable to abuse and the failed attempts to enact reform..
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and mixed by Sam Bair.
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These days, just about any food you could possibly imagine now has “added” protein. There’s protein popcorn, protein muffins and even protein water. But where did this obsession with protein begin? And how much should we really be eating on a daily basis? Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Washington Post health columnist Anahad O’Connor about this latest nutrition craze and best practices for eating a balanced diet.
Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff. It was mixed by Sam Bair, and edited by Ariel Plotnick. Thanks to editor Emily Codik.
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An estimated 42 million Americans use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – also known as food stamps – to feed themselves and their families. The program ran out of funding over the weekend amid the government shutdown.
While the Trump administration agreed to release enough funds to pay for half of November's SNAP benefits, many SNAP users are worried about what the rest of the month – and beyond – might look like.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks to technology reporter Heather Kelly about the current state of SNAP and how people are looking to online content creators for practical advice about how to stretch their food budgets.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Mariana Alfaro, Jen Liberto and Yun-Hee Kim.
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On this weekend’s edition of The Optimist, reporter and self-proclaimed cynic Kyle Melnick goes on a journey with a dog. We’ll talk about what he learns, and the science of how dogs make us calmer, happier – and maybe even more trusting.
If you want more optimistic content on the weekends, let us know at podcasts@washpost.com and maggie.penman@washpost.com – and check out our newsletter.
Today’s show was produced and hosted by Maggie Penman and reported by Kyle Melnick. It was edited by Allison Klein and mixed by Ted Muldoon.
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Since we launched “Post Reports” almost seven years ago, our production team has had an inside joke every time we reach this time of year. We start calling the show “Ghost Reports,” in honor of Halloween. We look for the spookiest and most thematic stories happening around our newsroom.
Today, we’re bringing you just such an episode. It’s a personal ghost story from Washington Post reporter Clarence Williams, who went to Foxcroft boarding school in Loudon Country, Virginia. Where, every Halloween, they tell the legend of Mrs. Kyle, a pre-Revolutionary spirit with unfinished business.
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As consumers are doing more shopping online, and as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been driving the price of goods up, many toy and mall brands have been struggling. But Build-a-Bear Workshop is thriving – the company’s stock has grown by nearly 1,200% over the past five years, outpacing growth by tech giants like Microsoft and Apple.
Host Elahe Izadi speaks with retail reporter Jackie Peiser about how this toy company has managed to thrive in a challenging economic moment.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and mixed by Sean Carter and Sam Bair.
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Today on “Post Reports,” Optimist reporter Maggie Penman shares the new science of aging, and a hopeful research finding that getting stronger and healthier in old age is possible for many of us – even after a health setback.
If you want to hear more stories like this, please let us know. You can reach the whole team at podcasts@washpost.com or email Maggie at maggie.penman@washpost.com.
Today’s episode was reported and produced by Maggie Penman. It was edited by Allison Klein and Ted Muldoon who also mixed the show.
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This week, construction crews knocked down the East Wing of the White House to make way for the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. This demolition surprised many in D.C., as President Donald Trump had previously said his proposed addition would not significantly alter the existing structure.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with White House reporter Dan Diamond and Dan Merica, the co-anchor of the Early Brief newsletter, about why this construction is unlikely to be derailed and what we know about the ballroom plans. And, they discuss how past comments by Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner and onetime Trump nominee Paul Ingrassia have come back to haunt them.
Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter.
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Can the Oklahoma City Thunder defend its championship? How will all the player injuries affect the dynamics in the Eastern Conference? And if fewer people are watching the games … how does the NBA grow?
“Post Reports” tackles the important questions at the heart of this year’s NBA season, which began Tuesday.
And we’re bringing in the experts: The Sports Moment writer Ava Wallace joins NBA reporter Ben Golliver in a special sports takeover of the show.
Today’s episode was produced by Lucas Trevor. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter.
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Post Reports
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