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How record migration is testing Biden Jan 03, 2024

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A record number of migrants have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, as war and poverty push people from their homes worldwide. The Post’s Nick Miroff reported from the border and saw how the Biden administration is grappling with migration as we enter a pivotal election year.

In recent weeks, a historic number of people have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s a rise happening as Democratic lawmakers push for aid to Ukraine and Israel, while Republican negotiators want a border crackdown tied to foreign funding.

The Post’s Nick Miroff recently spent time in southern Arizona, now one of the busiest places for unauthorized crossings. He saw how migrants hike along the border for miles, hoping to find U.S. officials to take them in. Often, they are brought to facilities that are already maxed out.

“The last six months have shown, as the numbers continue to rise higher and higher, that the administration's approach is really kind of nearing a point of exhaustion,” Miroff said.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson, mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Debbi Wilgoren.

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The recession that wasn't Jan 02, 2024

Show notes

It’s a new year and the economic forecast for 2024 is looking strong – but that doesn’t quite align with how many Americans feel. What does that mean for the president heading into an election year?

After years of historic inflation, price hikes are finally getting back under control and wages are catching up. Unemployment is low. The looming recession that was threatened hasn’t materialized, and the Fed has signaled it’s done raising interest rates — and it might even lower them.

But for many Americans, things still don’t feel great. Rent, groceries, and other basic necessities still haven’t fallen back to pre-pandemic prices, and consumer confidence doesn’t match the sunny economic outlook for 2024. Washington Post economics reporter Rachel Siegel breaks down how we got to this place of mismatched feelings and indicators, and what it could mean in this election year.

Today’s show was produced by Ariel Plotnick with help from Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Maggie Penman.

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‘Field Trip’: Gates of the Arctic National Park Dec 30, 2023

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Today we join Lillian Cunningham on a “Field Trip” to one of the most remote and least-visited national parks as she confronts the question facing its future: whether a portion of this untouched wilderness will soon include a path for industry.

Established in 1980, Gates of the Arctic marked a radically different way of thinking about what a national park should be. Compared to previously established parks, it’s hard for the public to access. This park is truly undeveloped — there are no roads or infrastructure. And it’s immense. You could fit Yosemite, Glacier, Everglades, White Sands, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon within its borders and still have room to spare.

But even here, in one of the most remote and least-visited of the national parks, the outside world is finding its way in.

Ten miles west of the park, mining companies are drilling for copper. The metal is necessary for a number of green technologies, including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines. The mines could support President Biden’s goals to reduce the use of fossil fuels and beef up domestic sources of critical minerals.

To access these mines, the state has proposed an access road that would cut through 211 miles of Arctic tundra. Twenty-six miles of the road would cross through Gates of the Arctic. Biden has pledged to conserve nearly a third of U.S. land and water by 2030, and his administration has stopped similar mining projects. Environmentalists and some Native American groups are also fighting to have the wilderness preserved.

Subscribe to “Field Trip” here or wherever you're listening to this podcast.

Can’t sleep? ‘Try This.’ Dec 29, 2023

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“Try This” from The Washington Post is a series of audio courses designed to jump-start the parts of life where we can all use a few pointers — with pithy, snackable solutions you can easily use. The first course is about how to get better sleep.

In the first class of our course on how to sleep better, learn why worrying about not falling asleep can make things worse. There are steps you can take during the day that can help lessen the anxiety at night.

To hear more, check out “Try This” wherever you listen to podcasts.

‘Throughline’: There Will Be Bananas Dec 28, 2023

Show notes

The banana is a staple of the American diet and has been for generations. But how did this exotic tropical fruit become so commonplace? Today on “Post Reports,” Martine Powers shares an episode of one of her favorite podcasts, “Throughline.”

Find “Throughline” here, or wherever you’re listening to this podcast.

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Applying for college after the end of affirmative action Dec 27, 2023

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The Supreme Court’s decision to end race-based affirmative action in college admissions sent counselors scrambling and students worrying about their chances. For two seniors, it made them totally rethink their applications – in very different ways.

When high school senior Demar Goodman found out that the Supreme Court had struck down race-based affirmative action, he immediately called his best friend.

“So,” Demar said. “Safe to say Harvard is out, right?”

Thousands of miles away in Tennessee, another high school senior, Cole Clemmons, was at an international summer program. When he heard the news, the opposite crossed his mind – that the decision may help his chances.

Education reporter Hannah Natanson followed both teens over the following months as they rethought where to apply and reworked their essays.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovsky. It was edited by Maggie Penman.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Ava DuVernay on making a film her way Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

Some people said Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste” was unadaptable. The subject matter was too heavy and too academic. But Ava DuVernay had a vision – and she pursued an unusual funding model to get her new film “Origin” made.

When filmmaker Ava DuVernay couldn’t get traditional financing to film “Origin,” the Ford Foundation, Melinda Gates and other philanthropists stepped in. National arts reporter Geoff Edgers says it might be cinema’s new business model.

Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Maggie Penman.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A murdered peace activist and a war in her name Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

Canadian Israeli activist Vivian Silver dedicated her life to peace. When she was killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, her sons faced an impossible question: Is peace still worth fighting for?

Vivian Silver grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, and moved to Israel in 1974 to start a new kibbutz and devote her life to peace. She arranged a solidarity bike ride on both sides of the Gaza border fence. Her friends from Gaza called her on Jewish holidays. Her politics had been unwavering.

But then, Silver was missing after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that left more than 1,200 people dead and nearly 250 kidnapped, and sparked a war that still rages more than two months later. More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far.

In the weeks that followed the attack, Silver’s sons, Yonatan and Chen Zeigen, tried to square their mother’s moral crusade with their desire for justice.

International investigative correspondent Kevin Sieff was there, too, following the brothers as they asked an impossible question: In the wake of their mother’s murder, is peace still worth fighting for?

What you don’t know about assisted living in America Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

Patients with memory problems walk away from assisted-living facilities just about every day in America; many die. The Post examines a pattern of neglect in America’s booming assisted-living industry.

Since 2018, more than 2,000 people have wandered away from assisted-living and memory-care facilities unattended or unsupervised. These are facilities that charge families thousands of dollars a month to care for families’ loved ones.

It’s a phenomenon known in the industry as an “elopement.” A team of Post reporters looked into why and how this happens, the dire consequences and who is responsible when something goes wrong.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Colorado kicked Trump off the ballot. What’s next for 2024? Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

In a momentous ruling that may shape U.S. political history, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former president Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is therefore disqualified from the presidency.

The decision by Colorado’s highest court, the first of its kind involving Trump, would keep him off the 2024primary ballot in the state over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

A state district court previously ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection but that the relevant section of the 14th Amendment did not apply to presidents. The state Supreme Court upheld the former finding and reversed the latter, in a 4-3 decision.

The Post’s Patrick Marley, who reports on voting rights and democracy, explains the historical roots of the ruling and how it may have a broader political impact for Trump.

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