Post Reports

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Saudi Arabia’s quest to take over pro golf Jul 11, 2023

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It was a deal that stunned the world: The PGA will merge with LIV Golf, a rival league funded by the Saudi Arabian government. But many are unhappy, including members of Congress investigating it.

For decades, the PGA Tour was the dominant organization in professional golf. Then the government of Saudi Arabia funded the creation of a new league, LIV Golf. Backed by millions in Saudi funding, LIV managed to attract several high-profile players, despite concerns about partnering with a country infamous for numerous human rights violations.

Initially, the PGA retaliated by banning golfers from participating in both leagues, and its commissioner even admonished those who would work with the Saudi government. That’s why many were stunned in early June when the PGA announced plans to go into business and partner with LIV Golf.

Since the announcement, golfers and fans have expressed shock and outrage over the surprise deal — and now a congressional committee is investigating the deal.

Sports columnist Sally Jenkins joins us to explain why the PGA is joining forces with the Saudi government.

Nikki Haley and the Confederate flag Jul 10, 2023

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GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley often depicts her removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s State House as her key move to take on the history of enslavement. Today on “Post Reports,” we hear how that chapter is more complex than portrayed.

As she runs for the GOP presidential nomination, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley often portrays her decision to remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds as the culmination of her work to move South Carolina beyond its history of succession and enslavement.

Today on “Post Reports,” political investigative reporter Michael Kranish tells us about Haley’s meetings with Confederate heritage groups while she was governor and how she let the flag fly until a massacre forced her hand.

Deep Reads: Bitter rivals. Beloved friends. Survivors. Jul 08, 2023

Show notes

This is the first bonus installment of "Deep Reads," the best of The Post's narrative journalism. It's a story about two tennis stars, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who turned a rivalry into an enduring friendship – and cancer support system.

Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova became friends as teenagers but then split apart as each rose to No. 1 in the world. But they grew back together as they forged one of the greatest rivalries in sports and embarked on ambitious lives in retirement. After 50 years, they understood each other like no one else could. So when cancer came, they turned to each other.

This story is the first in a collection of new, occasional bonus episodes you’ll be hearing from “Post Reports.” We’re calling these stories “Deep Reads” and they’re part of The Post’s commitment to immersive and narrative journalism.

Today’s story was written by Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles.

A mind-bending discovery about our universe Jul 07, 2023

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Compared to the chaos of Earth, outer space can seem serene. But, thanks to a recent discovery, we now know that the very fabric of the cosmos is being pushed and pulled by gravitational waves — waves powerful enough to distort space-time.

Victoria Jaggard is a deputy health and science editor at The Post. She reported on the breakthrough research proving the existence of a gravitational wave background.

Now, we know that low-frequency gravitational waves from objects such as supermassive black holes can alter space-time. It won’t change your daily lives. You’ll still have to go to work on Monday. But scientists believe this discovery could rewrite our understanding of the universe.

Field Trip: Glacier National Park Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

Today on “Post Reports,” we join The Post’s Lillian Cunningham on her journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s most awe-inspiring places: the national parks. Next stop? Glacier.

All 63 national parks sit on Indigenous ancestral lands. They’re places Native Americans called home for thousands of years. But for more than 100 years, these places have also been public lands, intended to benefit all Americans. Sometimes that puts Native American tribes and the National Park Service into conflict.

That’s particularly true in Glacier National Park, where members of the Blackfeet have fought to preserve their deep connection to the land in the nearly 130 years since the tribe ceded it to the U.S. government.

In this episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners on an immersive journey, as she drives off the park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road and onto the Blackfeet reservation. Because to get inside the heart of Glacier today, you have to go outside it.

We’ll hear the story of how Ed DesRosier challenged park officials for the right to tell his people’s story inside Glacier; meet two women, Rosalyn LaPier and Theda New Breast, who practice their families’ traditions on both sides of the park border; and talk to Ervin Carlson about a plan, years in the making, to return free-roaming buffalo to the park.

We’ll also take a detour to Washington, D.C., where we’ll hear from Charles Sams III, the first Native American to helm the National Park Service, about what the future of collaboration between parks and tribes could look like.

You can see incredible photos of Glacier and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to Field Trip here or wherever you're listening to this podcast.

Field Trip: Yosemite National Park Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

California’s Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.

But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.

In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America’s oldest and most-visited national parks.

We’ll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he’s taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native American fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.

We’ll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.

The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like.

You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to Field Trip here or wherever you're listening to this podcast.

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The future of college without affirmative action Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

On Thursday, the Supreme Court restricted race-based affirmative action policies, changing the landscape of higher education in the United States. Today, we look at what this decision means for college admissions and beyond.

A decision this summer on the future of affirmative action was one of the most anticipated cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. In a 6-3 decision Thursday, the court overturned decades of precedent by restricting affirmative action policies. They declared that considering race in college admissions violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

The decision has sparked outcry and celebration across the nation. We sit down with higher education reporter Nick Anderson to understand how this decision will affect the future of college admissions in the United States.

Your summer movie bucket list Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

“Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” “Mission Impossible 7” – the list goes on. Today we’re reviewing the movies you shouldn’t miss this summer. Plus, a closer look at Hollywood and the state of the movie industry.

Summer movie season is upon us. The Washington Post’s movie critic Ann Hornaday and pop culture reporter Sonia Rao sit down with us to make sense of which movies to watch in theaters this summer. They break down which action movies are poised to be blockbusters, which under-the-radar movies you should go see, and their favorite movies this season.

Plus, we look at the state of moviegoing in a world increasingly dominated by direct-to-streaming movie models, how Hollywood celebrities are trying to save the traditional movie theater experience, and if the writer’s strike will affect movies coming out this fall.

A president, his son, and his political woes Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

President Biden’s son Hunter pleaded guilty to two minor tax crimes, and though President Biden wasn’t implicated, it could pose a problem for him as he ramps up his reelection campaign.

Last week, President Biden’s son Hunter Biden reached an agreement to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes as part of a deal struck with federal prosecutors. It’s just the latest in a series of scandals surrounding Hunter and his relationship with his father.

For years, critics of President Biden have scrutinized his son and accused Hunter of improperly leveraging his relationship with his father to enrich himself. Some have even accused President Biden himself of being aware of these arrangements.

Though no clear evidence has surfaced that President Biden engaged in any wrongdoing, the charges against Hunter could become a thorny political problem for the president, especially as he ramps up his bid for a second term in office.

White House reporter Matt Viser joins us today to explain those charges, whether they will impact President Biden’s reelection campaign, and how the president’s 2024 strategy is developing.

Plus, journey with Lillian Cunningham through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s most awe-inspiring places: the national parks. The “Field Trip” podcast’s first two episodes are out now.

The conservative doctors upending trans rights Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

The American College of Pediatricians has promoted views on abortion and transgender care that have been rejected by the medical establishment. But their views are still shaping conservative laws restricting abortion and trans rights across the country.

How does a small group such as the American College of Pediatricians gain such an outsized influence in conservative statehouses?

Lauren Weber is The Washington Post’s health and science accountability reporter focused on the forces behind medical disinformation. On today’s episode, Weber explains the discoveries from ACP’s internal documents and how it has become a go-to organization for right-wing lawmakers.

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