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An historic global heist — and a rapper on trial Apr 03, 2023

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Former Fugees rapper Pras is on trial for conspiracy, money laundering and acting as a foreign agent. The case, involving celebrities and political figures, is a small part of a bigger scandal: the $4.5 billion theft from the Malaysian government.

Leonardo DiCaprio. Steve Bannon. Kim Kardashian. All of these people are somehow connected to a trial stemming from one of the biggest financial scams in history: the $4.5 billion theft from the 1MDB Malaysian government fund. Prakazrel “Pras” Michél, a Grammy-winning rapper formerly of the Fugees, is on trial for conspiracy, money laundering and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Michél has pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors allege Michél received money from Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, who has been charged with numerous federal crimes related to pilfering the development fund and himself is a fugitive from justice. Michél’s trial will focus on two alleged schemes: whether the former rapper funneled money from Low to the Obama campaign using straw donors, and whether he helped Low in a plot to influence the Trump White House in deporting a Chinese dissident, Guo Wengui.

Many people connected to this scandal have already pleaded guilty. Michél, who faces many years in prison, will be on trial for weeks. His lawyers have said the former rapper was an amateur diplomat and political novice unfamiliar with campaign donation rules who was only trying to help his country by brokering a deal involving Guo’s extradition.

“At its core, what this case is about and what all the offshoot cases are about, is the Justice Department trying to hold people accountable for what they describe as this massive theft from the Malaysian people,” says criminal justice editor Matt Zapotosky, who has followed this case for years.

Plus, check out Post Reports in person: best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld is in conversation with host Martine Powers in Washington, D.C. Join the discussion live at Sixth & I or take advantage of the virtual live stream.

Trump’s indicted. Now what? Mar 31, 2023

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Former president Donald Trump has been indicted. Today, how the case could test the limits of our political and legal systems.

A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former president Donald Trump, making him the first person in U.S. history to serve as commander in chief and then be charged with a crime, and setting the stage for a 2024 presidential contest unlike any other.

The indictment was sealed, which means the specific charge or charges are not publicly known. But the grand jury had been hearing evidence about money paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett says charging a former president with a crime will be the ultimate test of our legal and political systems. Today on the show, Barrett walks us through what we know about the indictment, and what could happen next as this landmark legal battle begins.

Finding love in an AI place Mar 30, 2023

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As loneliness rates spike, more people are getting romantically and emotionally attached to artificial intelligence bots. Today, we report on what it’s like to fall in love with software (and what happens when it breaks your heart).

T.J. Arriaga lost so many family members around the time when he downloaded Replika. The artificial intelligence company allows people to customize AI bots that they can chat with. In Arriaga’s case, he fell in love with his chat bot Phaedra. The 40-year-old musician is not alone. Innovations reporter Pranshu Verma talked with several people among the thousands who say they’ve developed emotional or romantic relationships with one of Replika’s AI bots, including engaging in erotic role play.

But, when the company updated its software to be more “sanitized,” users who were attached to their AI bots experienced heartbreak, among other conundrums.

On today’s Post Reports, why more and more people are falling in love with AI products. And, the ethics behind these relationships.

Can the pitch clock save baseball? Mar 29, 2023

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“America’s Pastime” is struggling to keep Americans interested. Today ahead of Opening Day, we talk about Major League Baseball’s introduction of a pitch clock to try to speed things up and appeal to younger audiences.

This season, baseball is trying something new to speed up the game: a pitch clock. The goal is to make baseball more exciting by requiring pitchers and batters to move more quickly (but will it actually bring in new fans?).

Reporter Chelsea Janes joins Post Reports just ahead of Opening Day to explain what the pitch clock is and how it will impact the game.

Read about what happened when the pitch clock debuted at spring training this year.

How the AR-15 became America’s gun Mar 28, 2023

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At a school in Nashville on Monday, a shooter used two AR-style weapons and a handgun to kill three children and three adults. Today on “Post Reports,” we look at the history of the AR-15 and how it became America’s gun.

The AR-15 wasn’t supposed to be a bestseller.

The rugged, powerful weapon was originally designed as a military rifle in the late 1950s. “An outstanding weapon with phenomenal lethality,” an internal Pentagon report raved. It soon became standard issue for U.S. troops in the Vietnam War, where the weapon earned a new name: the M16.

Few gunmakers saw a semiautomatic version of the rifle — with its shrouded barrel, pistol grip and jutting ammunition magazine — as a product for ordinary people. It didn’t seem suited for hunting. It seemed like overkill for home defense. Gun executives doubted many buyers would want to spend their money on one.

And yet, today, the AR-15 is the best-selling rifle in the United States, industry figures indicate. About 1 in 20 U.S. adults — or roughly 16 million people — own at least one AR-15, according to polling data from The Washington Post and Ipsos.

So, how did we get here? The Post’s Todd Frankel explains.

What damage can an AR-15 do to a human body? The Post examined autopsy and postmortem reports from nearly a hundred victims of previous mass shootings that involved AR-15-style rifles to show the impact of bullets from an AR-15 on the body.

High-capacity-magazine bans could save lives. Will they hold up in court? Legislative and legal battles flare over restrictions that experts say could reduce casualties in AR-15 attacks.

A turning point in Israel Mar 27, 2023

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Nationwide strikes and protests erupted in Israel as outrage grew over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s courts. Many saw the move as a threat to Israel’s democracy. And on Monday, Netanyahu announced he would put the plan on pause.

For months, Israelis have rallied against the country’s right-wing government as it tries to force a drastic overhaul of the Supreme Court. But protests intensified when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after Gallant criticized Netanyahu’s judiciary reform.

The country was at a standstill as Israeli universities, workers’ unions, hospitals, malls and Israel’s national air carrier, El Al, announced a general strike and the international airport terminated outgoing flights indefinitely.

And it seems the protests had an effect. On Monday, after a long day of protests, Netanyahu announced a delay to the judicial reform proposal.

The Washington Post’s Steve Hendrix in Jerusalem walks us through what happened, what this means for Israel and what might come.

Join Post Reports LIVE on April 13th! Martine Powers will host a live conversation in D.C. with best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld at Sixth and I, in partnership with Politics & Prose. Sittenfeld is the author of books like “Eligible” and “American Wife.” Her latest novel is “Romantic Comedy,” about a late-night comedy writer’s search for love. Listeners can purchase tickets here, and if you can’t make it to D.C., you can always join via a livestream.

The realities of being transgender in the U.S. Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Today, what a landmark poll of U.S. transgender adults reveals about what life is like for trans people in America.

In this atmosphere of intense polarization around transgender rights, The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation set out to hear what transgender Americans had to say on topics ranging from their experiences as children in school to navigating the workplace, the doctor’s office and family relationships as adults. The resulting Washington Post-KFF Trans Survey is the largest nongovernmental survey of U.S. trans adults to rely on random sampling methods.

Today on the show, health reporter Fenit Nirappil walks through the results of the poll and shares the stories of trans patients who face discrimination when trying to access health care.

Mr. TikTok goes to Washington Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

TikTok is on Capitol Hill today. Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of the popular social media app, testified in front of Congress about the company’s data security practices and its relationship with the Chinese government, as more lawmakers advocate for banning the app in the United States.

Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, testified in front of the House Energy Committee for five hours on Thursday. He was grilled by lawmakers on issues ranging from data privacy to national security.

For years, lawmakers have threatened to ban the social media app in the United States, and legislation is inching forward that might make it a reality. But there are sharp generational and political divisions on the subject, with TikTok users more likely to oppose a ban. Recent polling shows that more Americans back a TikTok ban than oppose one. And TikTok says there are 150 million active monthly users in the United States.

Business and tech policy reporter Cristiano Lima, who also writes the Technology 202 newsletter, joins us from the Hill to discuss the hearing and what this might mean for TikTok in the United States.

Putin and Xi want a new world order Mar 22, 2023

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Today, what Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit could mean for the balance of global power.

This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for the first time since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. Reporter Mary Ilyushina says, while the two leaders have met many times before, this meeting showed the two countries' commitment to creating a new world order, one where the U.S. is no longer the arbiter of everything that happens on the global stage.

What priests on Grindr can tell us about data privacy Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

A conservative Catholic group spent millions of dollars on app data that identified gay priests. A Washington Post investigation dives into how this secretive group got data from Grindr and other apps, and what this story can tell us about data privacy in the U.S.

In the summer of 2021, a prominent priest, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, was mysteriously outed for being a regular on Grindr, the gay dating and hookup app. The scandal sent shock waves through the Catholic church.

Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein spent the past year-and-a-half investigating this story and figuring out who was behind this effort, and how they got access to this data. She stumbled upon a secretive group of conservative Catholic philanthropists that poured millions of dollars into obtaining data that identified priests who were using dating and hookup apps.

As Michelle and tech reporter Heather Kelly explain, this story goes well beyond the Catholic church and raises red flags for all of us about the lack of data privacy laws and protection for people using mobile apps.

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