Post Reports

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Microplastics are everywhere. What can we do about it? Jun 17, 2024

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With every breath you take, you could be inhaling microplastics. Today, we talk about where they come from, how they impact our health and what we can do to avoid them in our daily lives.

For years, scientists on the hunt for microplastics have found them almost everywhere. First, they spotted tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean, in the bodies of fish and mussels. Then they found them in soft drinks, in tap water, in vegetables and fruits, in burgers.

Now researchers are discovering that microplastics are floating around us, suspended in the air on city streets and inside homes. One study found that people inhale or ingest on average 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles per year through breathing, eating and drinking.

Today on “Post Reports,” climate reporter Shannon Osaka answers host Elahe Izadi’s questions about these plastic particles that humans are taking in in much larger quantities than previously thought. And she gives some advice on how to get microplastics out of our lives as much as possible.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter.

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The Campaign Moment: Hunter Biden, Ohio lessons and low-info voters Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

It’s Friday, so it’s time for The Campaign Moment — our weekly roundtable conversation to help you keep track of the biggest developments of the 2024 campaign.

In a district that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2020, Ohio voters almost elected a Democratic congressman this week. But are such special election results representative? Senior political reporter Aaron Blake, who writes The Washington Post's new Campaign Moment newsletter, and Toluse Olorunnipa, White House bureau chief for The Post, sit down with host Elahe Izadi. They also discuss Hunter Biden’s conviction on felony gun charges, how family matters impact presidential campaigns, and polling that shows voters are checked out when it comes to major campaign stories.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and Mary Jo Murphy.

Subscribe to Aaron’s newsletter, The Campaign Moment, here.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Americans love supplements. Here's what you should know. Jun 13, 2024

Show notes

Dietary supplements are enormously popular in the United States. A new federal survey found that a majority of Americans are taking them, with many consuming multiple kinds on a regular basis.

And yet, supplements are shrouded in misconceptions. Supplements have less oversight than pharmaceutical drugs and are regulated differently. While people may take them to be healthier, we often don’t think about possible side effects or interactions. We also assume we know what we’re getting.

Today, host Martine Powers talks with the Post’s Well+Being columnist, Anahad O’Connor, about how to be smarter about the supplements we take to improve our health.

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

FTC Chair Lina Khan vs. Big Tech Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

Since Lina Khan was appointed chair of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021, the FTC has become more ambitious in its efforts to curb alleged unfair business practices. The agency has banned most non-compete agreements, has begun to scrutinize the proliferation of AI and has initiated lawsuits against massive tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Amazon. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post).The FTC under Khan’s leadership has drawn bipartisan support in Congress, but also the ire of some pundits and business leaders.

Elahe Izadi sat down with Khan in The Washington Post studio this week for a wide-ranging conversation about Khan’s tenure at the FTC, how the government should be regulating AI, why the FTC is going up against Amazon and what it means to be doing this work in an election year.

Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan. It was edited by Allison Michaels and mixed by Sean Carter.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A farm on the edge of Gaza Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

Today on “Post Reports,” the story of Ashraf Omar Alakhras and his family farm and an exclusive investigation into the destruction of food and agriculture in Gaza.

Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza more than seven months ago, Gaza’s food and agricultural system is on the brink of collapse. Airstrikes and bulldozers have razed farms and orchards across the region, according to a Washington Post investigation comparing satellite imagery before and after the start of the war. Experts say that it could take decades to reconstruct what had already been a vulnerable but dynamic food system.

But beyond those satellite images is the story of Ashraf Omar Alakhras and his family’s farm. For months, the Post’s visual forensics reporter, Nilo Tabrizy, has been corresponding with Alakhras about what has happened and what it will take to rebuild.

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Reem Akkad, Peter Finn, Leila Barghouty and Elyse Samuels. Additional reporting from Imogen Piper and Miriam Berger, with help from He Yin of Kent State University.

Find The Post’s latest coverage of the Israel-Gaza War here.

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Could housing be the sleeper issue of 2024? Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

Housing has become increasingly expensive around the country. And while it’s traditionally seen as a local issue, housing could be a major factor in the 2024 presidential election.

In polls, voters often say the economy is one of the top issues they’ll consider when voting in the 2024 presidential election.

But what exactly does that mean? For a lot of people, the cost of housing — rent or a mortgage payment — is the main way they feel fluctuations in the economy. That cost can also be the most stressful.

Today, host Elahe Izadi speaks with politics reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell about why housing has gotten so expensive in Nevada and other swing states— and how that could sway the presidential election.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sam Bair.

Two projects from the Post Reports team were just honored with Peabody awards. You can listen to “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” here; and Part One of “Surviving to Graduation” here.

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The Campaign Moment: Swing voters on Trump's verdict plus Biden's border order Jun 07, 2024

Show notes

It’s Friday, so it’s time for The Campaign Moment — our weekly roundtable conversation to help you keep track of the biggest developments of the 2024 campaign.

This week, we hear directly from some undecided voters about how Donald Trump’s criminal conviction lands with them. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake, who writes The Washington Post's new Campaign Moment newsletter, and Isaac Arnsdorf, who covers Trump and the MAGA movement for The Post, sit down with co-host Martine Powers. They also discuss Stephen K. Bannon’s upcoming stint in prison, as well as President Biden’s executive order curtailing asylum and its implications for the campaign.

Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon.

It was edited by Renita Jablonski and Mary Jo Murphy.

Subscribe to Aaron’s newsletter, The Campaign Moment, here.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Why Netanyahu is facing an ultimatum Jun 06, 2024

Show notes

Eight months into Israel’s war in Gaza, a string of standoffs, schisms and ultimatums have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet to the brink of collapse and raised the prospect that his own coalition could follow, possibly leading to new elections.

Externally, the embattled prime minister is under growing pressure from the public to bring home Israel’s remaining hostages and from the Biden administration to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. Within his unity government, formed less than a week after the deadly militant attacks on Oct. 7, he is contending with rebellions by allies and opponents alike.

Today, “Post Reports” host Martine Powers speaks with Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix about the external and internal pressures Netanyahu faces during is facing amidst a critical moment in the war in Gaza.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Ariel Plotnick. It was edited by Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Lior Soroka.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A gun, a memoir and the trial of Biden’s son Jun 05, 2024

Show notes

In Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” he writes: “I’ve bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, DC, and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles. I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig.”

Federal prosecutors this week used these words and other excerpts from Biden’s memoir against him, as they attempted to convince a jury that he lied about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in Delaware in 2018.

The president’s son faces three felony charges related to the gun purchase.

Today on “Post Reports,” Justice Department reporter Perry Stein and host Martine Powers break down the charges Biden faces in his federal trial, why the prosecution is using his memoir as evidence and what impact the case could have on his father’s reelection campaign.

Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan, with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The battle over Fauci's legacy Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

On Monday, Anthony Fauci – a former health adviser in the Trump and Biden administrations – testified in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, a panel devoted to investigating the federal response to covid-19. The contentious hearing came amid a battle between the panel’s Republican and Democratic leaders over how to understand Fauci’s legacy in shaping the U.S. response to the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the popular understanding of the virus’s origin.

Host Martine Powers speaks with health reporter Dan Diamond about why this hearing catapulted a retired Fauci back into the headlines.

Today’s show was produced by Ariel Plotnick and Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and mixed by Sean Carter.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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