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.
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is home to some of the oldest trees in the country. For decades, they were felled indiscriminately for lumber. Will the remaining trees be protected?
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Old-growth trees are at the heart of a political debate on logging and climate change. That’s because they hold a disproportionate amount of carbon in their trunks. If they’re cut down, most of that carbon escapes into the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming. But they’re also worth thousands of dollars as lumber.
Post climate editor Juliet Eilperin traveled to Alaska to learn about the forests firsthand, and to speak with some of the people who have built their lives around logging.
A farewell to 2021 from us here at Post Reports and the photojournalists who witnessed the year’s biggest stories.
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The Washington Post photography editors combed through thousands of images to find the most memorable from 2021. Accompanying the photos this year ...
Today on Post Reports, we talk to Hasan Minhaj about how he uses comedy to “make people’s world bigger.”
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Hasan Minhaj has worked as a comedian for 17 years. You might know him from “The Daily Show,” the 2017 White House correspondents’ dinner, or his Netflix show, “Patriot Act.”
On today’s episode of Post Reports, producer Linah Mohammad talks to Minhaj about representation in film and television, their relationship to Islam and what it means to be a diasporic voice in the comedy world.
Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to one of the people who brought us joy during a dark year: the actor J. Smith-Cameron. We cover her role as Gerri on “Succession” and how it feels to become a sex symbol in her 60s.
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J. Smith-Cameron is having a moment.
“Succession” Season 3 wrapped up recently – and one of the highlights for us was her character, Gerri Kellman, the calculating interim CEO of Waystar Royco. We talked to the actor about the show and what makes her character so fun to watch.
Right now you can get the best deal we’ve ever offered on a subscription to The Washington Post – a year for just $9.99. Go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe.
Amazon's use of Alexa as a wake word for its voice assistant turned the name into a command, impacting daily interactions for people with the name – including The Washington Post’s own Alexa Juliana Ard.
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Nearly 130,000 people in the United States have the name A...
The holidays are weird — this year especially. Today, Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax joins Martine Powers to answer your questions about navigating this tricky time of year.
Right now you can get the best deal we’ve ever offered on a subscription to The Washington Post – a year for just $9.99. Go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe.
Omicron is now the most prevalent variant of the coronavirus in the country. But public health expert and emergency physician Leana Wen says that with a three-pronged approach — testing, vaccines and masks — we can still celebrate the holidays.
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Once again, Ameri...
How the approval of anti-covid pills from drug companies Pfizer and Merck could impact the course of the pandemic. And the life and legacy of feminist author bell hooks.
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On Tuesday, President Biden urged calm as coronavirus cases rise, and the omicron variant be...
Seemingly overnight, the pandemic has changed — again. On today’s Post Reports, everything you need to know about the omicron variant — and whether you should still plan to travel for the holidays.
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Over the weekend, health reporter Dan Diamond wrote a Facebook post that changed the way we’re thinking about the omicron variant.
“Every expert I’ve interviewed, including some of the nation’s top health officials, has adjusted his or her mindset and now is mentally bracing to test positive after spending two years dodging this virus,” Dan wrote.
A record number of Americans quit their jobs this year. Today for our special series “Quitters,” economist Darrick Hamilton examines why that is — and why he thinks it might be a good thing.
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Many Americans have reconsidered their relationship with work this year...
What happens when an entire fast-food restaurant staff quits? Today for our special series on “Quitters,” the story of a McDonald’s walkout, and what it can tell us about the labor market right now.
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In September, the entire staff of a McDonald’s in Bradfor...
2021 was a big year for quitting. Millions of Americans resigned. For the first episode in our series on “quitters,” we go to a restaurant in Arkansas where nearly every employee – and the owners – found themselves reassessing their work, and their lives.
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This y...
How the fight in Chicago over a proposed scrap metal facility became a test case for the Biden administration’s approach to environmental justice.
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General Iron Industries is a Chicago-based scrap metal recycling company with a bad track record of pollution...
On the ground in Mayfield, Ky., after a string of tornadoes devastated the town, flattening buildings and leaving streets unrecognizable. The tornadoes tore through a 200-mile swath of land, and may be the sign of a lengthening tornado season.
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Late ...
How the tight-knit community of Oxford, Mich., is healing after a mass shooting. Plus, remembering Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt.
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A 15-year-old opened fire at his Michigan high school on Nov. 30, killing four students and wounding seven others, police say. This is the deadliest episode of on-campus violence in almost three years. Reporter Kim Bellware and producer Rennie Svirnovskiy examine what it looks like for a town to start healing.
The Post remembers Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt, who died this week after a sudden cardiac arrest. A beloved colleague and friend, Hiatt worked for The Post’s editorial pages for 21 years. He is survived by his wife of 37 years and his three children.
What self-defense means in a country deeply divided over gun rights and race. And a story that shows the stakes of disappearing local news – about an Alaska community where climate change is costing them their school.
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After the high-profile trials of Kyle ...
Earlier this year, Joe Biden ended the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy — but a court has now reinstated it. Today, what that means for asylum seekers, who are forced to wait in Mexico for their immigration proceedings.
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Today on Post Reports, we revisit Nancy, a woman we followed as she fled gang violence in El Salvador and ended up stuck in a border camp in Matamoros, Mexico. Nancy’s story shows how this program affects asylum seekers left in limbo on the U.S. southern border.
The trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder and CEO.
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Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of the medical technology start-up Theranos, is on trial for 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Tech reporter Rachel Lerman has been...
Why dozens of students at Howard University spent part of their fall semester living in tents. And, omicron comes to the United States.
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Mold, mice, water damage and no WiFi. Those have been some of the conditions in Howard University’s housing units in Washingto...
What Jack Dorsey’s departure from Twitter means for Silicon Valley, the platform and its dedicated users. And how the new CEO, Parag Agrawal, could change the direction of the company.
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In a casually written tweet Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced t...
Today on Post Reports, a deep examination of the sheriffs involved in the controversial 287(g) program. Plus, how the new republic of Barbados signals a changing tide for the British crown.
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Investigative reporter Debbie Cenziper has been looking into the expansi...
It’s a critical week for abortion rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could roll back the protections of Roe v. Wade. But the arguments to gut Roe are coming from the surprising lens of women’s empowerment.
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Dobbs v....
Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus, could be the next big hurdle in beating the pandemic. Today on Post Reports, what we know so far, and why you shouldn’t panic just yet.
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Last week, a new coronavirus variant was detected in southern Africa. Since then, p...
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the “first Thanksgiving” between English pilgrims and Wampanoags in Massachusetts. But historians say the true story of what happened bears little resemblance to the myth that many Americans learn in grade school.
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In 1621, some pilgrims and some Wampanoags shared a feast. It wasn't the first meeting between the two groups and it wouldn't be the last, but for many reasons — including the American Civil War — the anniversary of that meal took on both an outsized importance and a whitewashed simplicity.
In the final installment of our series Teens in America, what it sounds like for the family of one 17-year-old to confront White privilege and racism.
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With Thanksgiving coming up this week, a lot of us might be feeling anxious about seeing relatives we may not h...
Today on “Post Reports,” a conversation with Anthony S. Fauci: We cover why you should get a booster, how you can gather safely with family over the holidays, and how Fauci feels about having his job — and science — politicized.
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Anthony S. Fauci has become...
Today a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on all counts in last summer’s shootings in Kenosha, Wis. We talk about the verdict, what it means and why this trial captivated the nation.
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After three and a half days of deliberation, jurors in the trial of Kyle Ri...
How Belarus’s president is weaponizing a refugee crisis to get back at the European Union. And, what it means to “pass” as White.
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Thousands of refugees are currently stuck in limbo on the border between Poland and Belarus, invited by Belarusian Presid...
Sen. Joe Manchin gets all the attention. But Sen. Kyrsten Sinema could be an even bigger obstacle for Democrats’ spending plans. Today on “Post Reports,” we ask what she wants and how she got here.
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) has been throwing a wrench in the plans ...
