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What’s the deal with Ginni Thomas? Mar 25, 2022

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On today’s Post Reports, what we can learn from texts between President Donald Trump’s top aide and the wife of a Supreme Court justice. Plus, why protesters in the Caribbean have not been charmed by William and Kate’s royal “charm offensive.”

In text messages obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News, Virginia Thomas — a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — repeatedly pressed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to keep up the relentless effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, calling Joe Biden’s victory “the greatest Heist of our History.”

The messages, 29 in all, reveal an extraordinary pipeline between Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, and President Donald Trump’s top aide at a time when Trump and his allies were vowing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to negate the election’s results.

Despite these ties, Justice Thomas chose not to recuse himself in a case deciding whether the former president could block the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol from obtaining certain records, including these text messages between Ginni Thomas and Meadows.

On today’s episode of Post Reports, CBS’s Robert Costa tells us about the process of reporting out this story with The Post’s Bob Woodward and shares the questions he’ll be asking next.

Critics say Ginni Thomas’s activism is a Supreme Court conflict. Under court rules, only her husband can decide whether that’s true. Michael Kranish reports on the criticism that Justice Thomas has exploited a hole in the court’s rules to ignore the conflict of interest created by his wife’s activism.

Plus, Karla Adam explains why Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Catherine, have been met with anti-colonial protests and demands for reparations on their first official overseas visit together since the start of the pandemic.

Mariupol, war crimes, and NATO’s limits Mar 24, 2022

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The United States and the E.U. announced new sanctions on Russia on Thursday as President Biden held emergency talks with NATO leaders in Brussels. Today we talk about the geopolitical moment, and hear from the families of people trapped in Mariupol.

President Biden said on Thursday that the United States will take in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and will commit more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance for those affected by Russia’s continued invasion in Ukraine. As the war reached the one-month mark, Biden joined leaders from the European Union in projecting a unified front against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while announcing additional measures to isolate the Kremlin.

We talk to Missy Ryan about how the geopolitical dynamics have changed over the past month, and how significant it is that the United States has accused members of Russia’s military of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that assessment is based in part on U.S. intelligence and pointed to the suffering of civilians in Mariupol, a key port city that Russian forces cut off early in their invasion and then bombarded.

Russian forces have also cut off communications and electricity in the city. Reporters Siobhán O'Grady and Kostiantyn Khudov speak to Ukrainians who are desperately searching for their relatives trapped in Mariupol.

Fauci on the BA.2 variant Mar 23, 2022

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Today, what we know about the BA.2 coronavirus variant and whether the United States is prepared for a possible rise in cases. Plus, why the war in Ukraine has had an unexpected impact on sushi prices in Japan.

The BA.2 variant is now the most common variant among new coronavirus cases in the United States. And while experts say it’s unlikely to lead to a big surge, dropped mask mandates across the country could lead to more spread. Meanwhile, the federal government is running out of money for booster shots and other covid responses. Health policy reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb brings us the latest from Anthony S. Fauci on the new variant and the government response.

Thousands of miles away from Ukraine, people in Japan are experiencing a trickle down effect of the war: a spike in sushi prices. That’s because a lot of the cheap fish eaten in Japan actually comes from Russia. The Japanese government had imposed sanctions on that fish – but the effects on local markets are looking too severe to bear. Tokyo bureau chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee explains how these seemingly distant markets are actually closely intertwined.

The Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings Mar 22, 2022

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Today on Post Reports, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, and how Republicans are weighing the costs and benefits of opposing Jackson’s nomination.

The Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have begun. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first African American woman to be seated on the Supreme Court bench.

While Jackson’s confirmation hearing is expected to be less contentious than those for other recent Supreme Court nominees, such as Amy Coney Barrett and Brett M. Kavanaugh, her path to the highest court still faces challenges. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake explains the political calculus Republicans are making in the Senate, held by a razor-thin Democratic majority, and how Jackson’s seat on the bench could affect future Supreme Court cases.

Death in the rainforest Mar 21, 2022

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Today on Post Reports, a journey deep into the Amazon to uncover how the planned redevelopment of a highway could go hand in hand with deforestation and violence.

Highway BR-319 slices through the heart of the Amazon. Built in the 1970s, it has slowly deteriorated, giving way to muck and mud. Many people who rely on the road are calling for its repair. But scientists warn that easier access to the rainforest will inevitably lead to illegal deforestation, which will soon tip the forest past a point of no return.

Washington Post Rio de Janeiro bureau chief Terry McCoy and photographer Raphael Alves traveled the length of the broken highway to observe the destruction. They also looked at how criminal groups operate in the region, seizing land, razing trees and defending the seized territory with violence.

Daylight Saving Time … forever? Mar 18, 2022

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This week, a sleepy Senate voted unanimously to end “spring forward” and “fall back” and make daylight saving time permanent.

The Senate surprised everyone in Washington this week by voting unanimously to end clock-switching in the United States and make daylight saving time permanent. Our health policy and politics reporter Dan Diamond got to take a break from covering the coronavirus to talk about the bipartisan legislation, which would need to get through the House and be signed by President Biden to become law. While there’s broad agreement among sleep experts that the country should abandon its twice yearly, seasonal-time changes, many sleep experts think standard time is better for our circadian rhythms.

Check out how permanent daylight saving time would change sunrise and sunset times across the United States. Brighter winter evenings would come at the expense of darker mornings.

Why Jason Rezaian is scared for Brittney Griner Mar 17, 2022

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Today on Post Reports, we talk to our colleague Jason Rezaian about WNBA star Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia. Rezaian, who was unjustly held in Iran for 544 days, fears that Griner is being held as a geopolitical bargaining chip.

Post opinions writer Jason Rezaian is very concerned about Brittney Griner.

When he heard of her arrest, he says, his first thought was, “This sounds a lot like what happened to me.”

Rezaian was arrested in 2014, and his case became a bargaining chip in nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran.

Given the timing of Griner’s arrest, Rezaian says it could be tied to sanctions from the United States in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His opinions, he says, are informed by a new reality: More Americans are being wrongfully detained abroad, especially in moments of tension or conflict.

Watch The Post’s short documentary “Bring Them Home,” an intimate look at one family in this situation.

Gas prices are the new war bonds Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

On today’s show, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeal to Congress. Why U.S. sanctions on Russian oil aren’t the only thing raising gas prices. Plus, how the White House is enlisting TikTok influencers in the information war with Russia.

On Wednesday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Congress, calling on the United States to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

While President Biden has resisted calls to create a no-fly zone, he and other world leaders have been moved by Zelensky’s appeals and the plight of Ukrainians. Biden this week pledged billions of dollars in aid to the war-torn country, and announced on Wednesday afternoon that the United States would be sending drones, anti-aircraft systems and other weapons to Ukraine.

Western countries have also taken other drastic steps to punish and isolate Russia – including steps to wean the west off Russian oil and gas. Former energy reporter and Moscow Correspondent Will Englund reports on what sanctions on Russian oil could mean for Russia, for Europe, and for gas prices in the United States.

The White House recently briefed TikTok creators and influencers on the war in Ukraine, as a way to combat disinformation from Russian propagandists on the popular platform. Taylor Lorenz is a tech columnist at The Post. She got a scoop on the Zoom call and explains what happened, if this is the right move, and what Russian disinformation about the war looks like.

How Hong Kong’s ‘zero covid’ policy backfired Mar 15, 2022

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Since the omicron outbreak began a few months ago, 10 times as many people have died in Hong Kong as in the previous two years. Today on Post Reports, how Hong Kong’s “zero covid” policy led to a devastating surge.

Body bags, overflowing morgues and chaotic hospitals. Hong Kong — a wealthy financial center — now has the highest covid-19 death rate in the developed world. More than 4,000 people have died since the start of the city’s most recent outbreak, compared with just 213 in the two years prior. Those dying are overwhelmingly elderly, unvaccinated residents, but they also include toddlers and children too young to be immunized.

Shibani Mahtani reports from Hong Kong on how the city has gone from “zero covid” to a catastrophe.

Is Russia losing the war? Mar 14, 2022

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Many experts predicted that Russia would take Ukraine in a matter of days –– but fighting is now in its third week. Today on Post Reports, the failures of Russia’s military strategy, the surprising strength of Ukrainian forces, and how this could end.

Almost three weeks into the Russian assault on Ukraine, Kyiv remains under Ukrainian control, to the surprise of many onlookers.

“I think, broadly, there are two big reasons,” says national security reporter Shane Harris. “First, the Ukrainian people’s will to fight is, I think, greater than a lot of people had anticipated –– particularly Vladimir Putin. The second is that this ferocious, feared Russian military has turned out to be a lot less, maybe, than people had thought it was.”

On today’s episode of Post Reports, Shane and Martine discuss the mistakes of the Russian military apparatus and the strength of the underestimated Ukrainian forces and game out scenarios for the end of the war.

Plus, we hear from reporter Sudarsan Raghavan in Kyiv about the local orchestra playing in the city’s Independence Square. “Fortunately, it was extremely quiet during the performance,” Sudarsan says. “We didn't hear any shells landing. A few moments afterwards, air raid sirens went off and people moved away from the square.”

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