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The Washington Post

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Channel • 13 Shows

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Self-Improvement

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Series
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Politics

Updated weekly
History

History

Updated 23/10/2024
Daily News

Daily News

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News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated weekly
Daily News

Daily News

Updated daily

01/12/2025

Anyone can be an altruist

What’s really going on inside the brain of an altruist? Why do altruists care so much more for a stranger who needs help? Why are they so willing to give away a kidney? In this episode, host Cristina Quinn explores what it means to be an altruist with Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University. Together, they break down how altruists view their own actions and how others can become more altruistic too. Marsh offers insight into what scientists know about altruists and shares surprising findings from her own research. She also tells us how you can build the muscle of giving more in simple steps that fit your lifestyle. Read more about Marsh’s work on altruism here. Also, read Washington Post Brain Matters columnist Richard Sima’s story on how doing good is good for you. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

01/12/2025

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20 min
TRAILER

Introducing “Try This”

Meet The Washington Post’s Cristina Quinn, who is always game to try something new. She is your guide in “Try This” — a new series of audio courses from The Post that will provide quick, fresh and practical approaches to tackling the kind of hurdles we all face: how to sleep better, get the most out of our relationships, get out of our own way and more. Follow “Try This” now so you catch the first course when it drops Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Trailer

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2 min
12/07/2023

White Sands National Park

White Sands National Park contains a geological rarity: the largest field of gypsum sand dunes anywhere on earth. The blinding white dunes stretch for miles in every direction, dazzling tourists, inviting selfies and sled rides. But there’s much more to this park than meets the eye. White Sands National Park, one of the newest in the system, is embedded within White Sands Missile Range, the largest military installation in the country. Today the missile range is a testing ground for cutting-edge weapons. It’s also home to the Trinity site, where the first test of an atomic bomb was conducted in 1945. In that instant, the sand beneath the bomb fused into greenish glass. And life changed forever for people living in communities nearby. That same sand also holds evidence of humanity’s origins on this continent. One observant park ranger at White Sands National Park has spent years uncovering footprints delicately preserved in the shifting sand. Those tracks have painted a picture of prehistoric families living alongside mammoths and giant ground sloths. They’ve also raised new questions about just how long ago the first people might have crossed into North America. In this episode of “Field Trip,” Washington post reporter Lillian Cunningham visits these two very different sites in the New Mexico desert and asks why this landscape has been both safeguarded and sacrificed. We have incredible photos for this series. You can see them and find more on the National Parks here. “Field Trip” would not have been possible without the support of Washington Post subscribers. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can unlock a special deal as a listener to this series. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

12/07/2023

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1 hr
24/06/2025

Ceasefire

On the final episode of Sidebar, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and JM Rieger breakdown the shaky ceasefire between Iran and Israel – and whether it will hold. And having decided to enter the conflict, President Trump is now trying to play peacemaker. Then, the crew breaks down Trump's stunning turn of fortune since Sidebar began – from being found guilty in his New York hush money and election interference trial, to winning the presidency for a second time and seeing his federal charges dismissed. Later, the crew reflects on their time hosting Sidebar and other Washington Post coverage.

24/06/2025

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50 min
05/07/2023

Everglades National Park

Many people mistake the landscape of Everglades National Park for a swamp, full of mosquitos and razor-sharp sawgrass. Technically it’s a wetland, home to a stunning array of wildlife and beloved by visitors and conservationists alike. But that view of the Everglades as a treacherous and hostile place informed more than a century of efforts to tame and transform the landscape in ways that are still playing out today. In this episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham tells the story of how the water flow through South Florida was radically altered to make the region more habitable for people. Then, how that unintentionally disrupted one of the country’s most important ecosystems. And finally, why we’re racing to unravel those mistakes today. We’ll meet Jerry Lorenz, an Audubon Society scientist who’s spent more than three decades trying to protect his beloved roseate spoonbills and other species of birds. We’ll journey by fan boat across the marshes with Houston Cypress, a member of the Otter Clan in the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and an advocate for Everglades restoration, and Durante Blais-Billie, an environmental and Indigenous rights advocate from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. We’ll learn about the legacy of environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas and how groups like the National Parks Conservation Association and the Captains for Clean Water are following in her footsteps today. And we’ll hear from Eva Velez of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about what went wrong originally and what it now means to approach engineering “with nature.” We have incredible photos for this series. You can see them and find more on the National Parks here. “Field Trip” would not have been possible without the support of Washington Post subscribers. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can unlock a special deal as a listener to this series. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

05/07/2023

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1h 4m
28/06/2023

Glacier National Park

This episode has been updated. All 63 national parks sit on Indigenous ancestral lands. They’re places Native people 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 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 in order 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 person 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 The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

28/06/2023

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57 min
28/06/2023

Yosemite National Park

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 now 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 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 The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

28/06/2023

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56 min
12/06/2025

It's Trump's military, from parade to protests

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down just how much President Trump wants to remind you that he's Commander-in-Chief – from deploying the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, to Saturday's military parade in D.C. Plus, Democrats accuse Trump of intentionally provoking protests in an attempt to justify escalating use of military force. And later, video journalist Anna Liss-Roy joins the show to discuss what it's like along Saturday's parade route near the White House, where tanks will drive down Constitution Avenue.

12/06/2025

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29 min
17/06/2025

Is the U.S. on the brink of war with Iran?

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down the evolving news on Iran – from trading strikes with Israel to President Trump's increasing involvement. The crew breaks down what Trump says he might do, what his endgame is – and whether Israel is luring the United States into a war of its choosing. Then, Trump's 2024 financial disclosures have been released – and the President made money from all kinds of ventures, from his golf courses to crypto to signed guitars. Which ones earned him the most money?

17/06/2025

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29 min
29/05/2025

Hegseth's drama, Trump's pardoning spree, and Elon Musk is out

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by Pentagon reporter Dan Lamothe to delve inside the ongoing drama in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's inner circle: Who is at odds with whom, and what does it mean for Hegseth's job security. Then, President Trump has been on a spree of issuing pardons and commutations for convicted felons – many of whom are his supporters. The crew breaks down who got pardons, and why. Finally, Elon Musk is out of government; did he accomplish what he set out to do, and was it a success?

29/05/2025

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30 min

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