Post Reports

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Making hearing more accessible Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

Today, hearing aids are finally available over the counter. What this means for accessibility and first-time buyers. Plus, a test of the Earth’s planetary defense.

For the hard of hearing, it feels like the Food and Drug Administration is finally listening. On Monday, the FDA is allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. This means you no longer need a prescription or custom fitting to get a hearing aid. Experts have called it a game changer that is expected to make hearing aids more affordable and accessible for millions of people.

Disability reporter Amanda Morris walks us through different types of hearing loss, the range of hearing aids available for consumers, and what this might mean for accessibility for the hard of hearing.

Plus, some good news about our planetary defense system: NASA successfully altered the course of an asteroid, a technique that might someday stop an asteroid from crashing into Earth.

Investigating families of trans kids gets personal Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered child abuse investigations of the parents of transgender children, Morgan Davis – a trans man with Child Protective Services in Austin – was assigned two cases. They didn’t go as planned.

Morgan Davis used to believe that his workplace – the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services – had a noble mission: to remove children from abusive situations.

But when he was asked to comply with a new mandate from Gov. Greg Abbott – one that required his office to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation” of families with transgender children – that changed.

As a trans man with the support of his small team, he thought he could comfort the flagged families and close investigations quickly. “I was told that I would go into the home, I would assess it, I would come out, and we would be done.”

But that’s not what happened. Casey Parks reports.

The billionaire Starbucks CEO and his ‘Venti’ union fight Oct 13, 2022

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This spring, Howard Schultz returned as Starbucks CEO to stop a rapidly growing unionizing effort. Today, what happens when an anti-union leader comes up against one of the fastest growing union efforts in the country.

With more than 225 stores voting to unionize since last fall, the Starbucks unionization effort has been seen as a beacon of hope for the labor movement. But despite his track record of providing workers with substantial benefits, Starbucks's founder and current CEO, Howard Schultz, sees the movement as a personal threat to his life's work. Reporter Greg Jaffe spent time with Schultz to try to understand his beliefs on unionizing, and what the future of the labor movement could be now that it has such a powerful adversary in Schultz.

What happens in Vegas … could control Washington Oct 12, 2022

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The balance of power in Washington could come down to one or two states. In recent weeks, Republicans have set their sights on Nevada as their Senate candidates in other states, such as New Hampshire and Georgia, have stumbled.

It’s an uphill climb for Republicans, who haven’t won a Senate race in Nevada in a decade. They see inroads with Latino voters and workers in the tourism and hospitality industries who were hurt by Democratic policies during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. But Democrats say they’re holding the line with a brigade of union workers and Nevadans who are frustrated with skyrocketing housing prices.

National politics reporter Hannah Knowles spent some time in Las Vegas tracking the race between the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and hard-line conservative Adam Laxalt. She joined us on today’s “Post Reports” to tell us about what she learned from talking to voters in the Silver State.

Why Kanye’s posts could be the future of social media Oct 11, 2022

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Over the weekend, the rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) had antisemitic posts quickly taken down by Twitter and Instagram. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about how content moderation could change if Elon Musk and GOP leaders have their way.

Over the weekend, the rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) posted antisemitic messages on Twitter and Instagram. They were quickly taken down, and his accounts were restricted. But as Will Oremus reports, there’s a conservative-led movement that could change how companies approach such decisions. Between a growing field of state laws that seek to restrict content moderation and Elon Musk’s determination to loosen Twitter’s policies, posts such as Ye’s could soon become more prevalent online.

The war is back in Kyiv Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

A wave of Russian airstrikes rocked Kyiv on Monday morning, shattering months of calm and thrusting the city back into the center of the war. Today on “Post Reports,” we hear from our reporter on the ground in Ukraine’s capital.

On Monday morning, Russian forces fired a series of airstrikes on major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. At least 11 people were killed and more than 80 were injured nationwide according to Ukraine’s national police department. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attacks as punishment after Ukraine bombed the Crimean Bridge this past Saturday.

Russia’s strikes come after a relatively quiet summer in the Ukrainian capital. Missy Ryan, reporting on the ground in Kyiv, says the attack “brings home the fact that [the war] remains an incredibly volatile situation…and puts Kyiv back at the center of this escalating conflict.”

The supremely conservative Supreme Court Oct 07, 2022

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The Supreme Court of the United States reopened its doors to the public this week for the first time since March 2020. This new term brings new cases, a new justice and renewed questions about its legitimacy.

Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes runs down the slate of cases that will be heard this term and offers his insights about how Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the associate justices handled public disapproval during the summer recess.

Supreme Court debates Alabama’s refusal of second Black voting district

Supreme Court will allow public at arguments, continue live audio

In Truss the U.K. doesn't trust Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

A tax policy by the new administration in Britain sent the price of the pound plummeting and the global economy spiraling. Today on “Post Reports,” we explain why it caused such turmoil, and what else to expect from Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Prime Minister Liz Truss has been in office for only about a month, but already her proposals have weakened the struggling British economy and worsened her party’s support. Most notably, her administration proposed removing income tax for the most wealthy earners in Britain— a move that she quickly reversed after it was met with anger from the public and politicians alike. London correspondent Karla Adam explains Truss’s political ideologies and how these decisions could lead to a political power shake-up in the U.K.

The escalating crackdowns in Iran Oct 05, 2022

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Iranian authorities are cracking down on protests inspired by the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman arrested for improperly wearing the hijab. But that hasn’t stopped demonstrators. Reporter Miram Berger explains what’s different about this moment.

Read about how a viral song became an anthem for protesters in Iran.

Tactics of repression: How Iran is trying to stop Mahsa Amini protests

How U.S. Soccer failed its players Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about a damning new report on systemic abuse in women’s soccer.

Sports columnist Sally Jenkins said that abuse within women’s sports has been a long-standing problem, but it’s only recently that there’s been a public reckoning about it.

“These are some of our top athletes in the country, and nobody did anything. They treated the women like they were the problem,” Jenkins said. “The systemic issue is men in suits at the top of these organizations who do not take complaints from athletes seriously.”

Jenkins joined “Post Reports” to explain how deep and far-reaching abuse is within not just soccer, but many other Olympic sports as well, and why the culture of abuse has gone on for so long.

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