Post Reports

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One woman’s failed abortions led another to motherhood Apr 25, 2024

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A young woman in Texas desperately tried to terminate her pregnancy before ultimately choosing adoption. Today on "Post Reports," how abortion restrictions and fate collided to entwine two women’s lives.

Read Amber Ferguson's story and watch the video here.

Today’s show was produced by Charla Freeland. It was edited by Maggie Penman and mixed by Sean Carter.

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The mounting antiwar protests on college campuses Apr 24, 2024

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Today, a look inside the pro-Palestinian protests taking root on college campuses and why universities have been struggling to respond to them.

Over the past week, protests over the Israel-Gaza war have spread and intensified on college campuses across the country.

Pro-Palestinian student demonstrators across the country, including at Yale and Columbia University, have been arrested and removed from tent encampments on their campuses. Other encampments have been set up at many schools, including the University of California at Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The demonstrations have put pressure on university leaders — coming from lawmakers, faculty, alumni and families concerned about antisemitism on campus, and from those who say some institutions have been too aggressive and are shutting down students’ rights to free expression.

Today on “Post Reports,” education reporter Susan Svrluga takes us through the students’ demands, the universities’ responses, the reactions of pro-Israel counterprotesters, and the future of this building movement.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson and Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter. Special thanks to Hannah Natanson, April Bethea and Angelica Ang.

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TikTok might get banned. For real this time. Apr 23, 2024

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The Senate is expected to pass a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a national ban. How did Congress finally achieve consensus on this?

The Senate spent the day debating a bill that would provide billions of dollars in aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. But something else is also tucked into the bill: an ultimatum to TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the popular app or see it effectively banned in the United States.

Tech policy reporter Cristiano Lima-Strong says this is the latest attempt by Congress to force a sale of TikTok, which some lawmakers say poses a national security threat by putting the data of roughly 170 million Americans in the hands of the Chinese government. While a previous version of this bill had stalled in the Senate, this time the legislation is on the path to becoming law.

Cristiano joins Post Reports to break down the latest developments surrounding this bill as well as its potential consequences.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Monica Campbell.

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Can cities fine unhoused people for sleeping outside? Apr 22, 2024

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Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the most significant legal challenge to the rights of unhoused people in decades. On “Post Reports,” we hear from a correspondent who visited the city at the center of the debate.

In the small city of Grants Pass, Ore., hundreds of people are living outside, with many camping in the public parks. The anti-camping laws in Grants Pass allow the city to fine those living in public spaces. But unhoused people in the city say that the fines are a violation of the Eighth Amendment and amount to cruel and unusual punishment, since the city has no homeless shelters and they have nowhere else to go.

“The more I've been out here, the more angry I get, because I've noticed that they're trying to push us out altogether,” said Laura Gutowski, who has been unhoused since 2021. “They're just trying to push, push, push until we give up and say, ‘Fine, I'll leave town.’”

Reis Thebault is The Post’s West Coast correspondent and traveled to Grants Pass to talk with unhoused people at the center of the case.

“If the Supreme Court were to agree with the 9th Circuit, then cities across the country would find their hands tied as they work to address the urgent homelessness crisis,” argues Theane Evangelis, the lead attorney for Grants Pass.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Ann Marimow.

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Deep Reads: Riding the baddest bulls made him a legend. Then one broke his neck. Apr 20, 2024

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Arguably the greatest bull rider who has ever lived, J.B. Mauney was thrown from a bull in September 2023 and forced to retire. Mauney lives on his ranch in Stephenville, Tex., with his family and the bull that ended his career. The former bull rider has led an uncompromising life. Now, not only has he accepted his fate, but he’s made friends with it.

This story is part of our Deep Reads series, which showcases narrative journalism at The Washington Post. It was written and read by Sally Jenkins. Audio production and original music composition by Bishop Sand.

The Campaign Moment: Trump jurors and Biden on Israel Apr 19, 2024

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Elahe Izadi talks with Aaron Blake and Liz Goodwin about Week 1 of Trump’s first criminal trial, how Israel is dividing Democrats in Congress, and whether GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy to approve aid to Ukraine could cost him his job.

In Friday’s episode of “The Campaign Moment,” we look back at the political news of the week and dive into how it could shape the 2024 election. This week, senior political reporter Aaron Blake – who also writes The Post’s newsletter of the same name – talks about former president Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York with Elahe Izadi and congressional reporter Liz Goodwin.

They also chat about how foreign policy is dividing both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. President Biden’s approach on Israel continues to be top of mind for many Democrats following Israel’s strike inside Iran on Thursday. And far-right Republicans are threatening to remove GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson after he put forward a plan to send aid to Ukraine this week.

Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Lucy Perkins.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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

America’s toxic tap water problem Apr 18, 2024

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Despite being the world’s wealthiest nation, the U.S. has communities that are still exposed to toxic tap water. Today, we hear how a city in New Mexico has struggled with high levels of arsenic in its water — and how its residents are fighting back.

Fifty years after the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is supposed to limit toxins in Americans’ water, many people around the country cannot safely drink from the tap.

Drinking water samples tested in Sunland Park, a small New Mexico city, found illegally high levels of arsenic in each of the past 16 years. In 2016, levels reached five times the legal limit.

The city also reflects parts of the United States — low-income areas and Latino communities — that are particularly exposed to arsenic in their drinking water at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group, even when controlling for socioeconomic factors.

In Sunland Park, residents’ complaints have mounted in recent months, and some are taking the first steps toward filing a lawsuit.

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to investigative reporter Silvia Foster-Frau about her reporting from New Mexico and why problems with toxic water there — and elsewhere in the country — persist.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

How a narco revolt pushed a peaceful nation to the brink Apr 17, 2024

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A high-profile prison escape. A TV station takeover. An assault on police. Today on “Post Reports,” how powerful gangs in Ecuador pushed this historically peaceful nation to the brink and led its new president to declare war.

Ecuador has long been an ecotourism hub and a safe haven, mostly immune from the guerilla violence endured for decades in neighboring Colombia and Peru. But the country has experienced a shift in recent years, becoming a center for drug trafficking and organized crime, as global demand for cocaine surges to new levels.

On Jan. 9, this new reality came into full focus through coordinated attacks that shook the country to its core, culminating on live TV for all of Ecuador and the world to witness. The Post’s Bogotá bureau chief, Samantha Schmidt, and Ecuadorian journalist Arturo Torres have spent months reconstructing what exactly happened that day: how the chaos unfolded, the extent to which gangs infiltrated institutions, and President Daniel Noboa’s controversial response, giving unprecedented power to the military.

Piecing together the details through exclusive interviews and footage revealed a deeper truth, Schmidt tells “Post Reports,” which is that the crisis in Ecuador isn’t an outlier. What happened that day and the complicated aftermath represent “a canary in the coal mine” moment and a warning for all of Latin America.

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Maggie Penman, Arturo Torres and Peter Finn.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Will Israel “take the win”? Apr 16, 2024

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On Saturday, Iran directly attacked Israel. Now, Israel’s war cabinet is weighing possible responses as the U.S. and others have called for restraint.

Ninety-nine percent of the more than 300 missiles and armed drones Iran launched against Israel were intercepted by Israel and its allies, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

But the direct attack has also raised concerns about a broader war between Iran and Israel, and whether Israel would be able to fight two wars at once, against both Hamas and Iran. Israeli officials say that while they don’t want to, they have the capability to do so.

Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix joins Post Reports to discuss what led to the attack and what could be coming next in the region.

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Lucy Perkins.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Day 1 of Trump's first criminal trial Apr 15, 2024

Show notes

Today on Post Reports, we’re on the scene at the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump is facing trial in the first ever criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.

Jury selection began today in the trial to determine whether Trump broke state law in New York by falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment in 2016 to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet about their alleged affair. Isaac Arnsdorf and Shayna Jacobs are at the courthouse and tell Martine Powers what they’ve seen so far.

Today’s episode was produced by Peter Bresnan and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Lucy Perkins.

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