Post Reports

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DAILY NEWS
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Post Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post, for your ears. Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi are your hosts, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Published weekdays around 5 p.m. Eastern time.

3 HR AGO

Why smaller houses can make us happier

Houses in the United States keep getting bigger, but the people in bigger houses aren’t necessarily happier. Bigger homes often come with higher costs and more maintenance and can pull people further away from the places and relationships that matter. For some, choosing a smaller home can actually make life feel easier, more connected and more satisfying. Elahe Izadi speaks with climate coach Michael Coren about the joys that come with living in a smaller house and what to prioritize when deciding where to live. Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Dennis Funk with help from Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

21 min
21 HR AGO

How Kristi Noem transformed immigration enforcement

After both Renée Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by Department of Homeland Security officers in Minneapolis this month, the story from the agency’s secretary, Kristi L. Noem, was that these individuals’ intentions represented acts of domestic terrorism. Confirmed as DHS secretary a year ago under President Trump, Noem has been one of the most visible defenders of Trump’s immigration agenda, executing a sprawling deportation campaign and backing the increasingly aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Customs and Border Patrol agents, which fall under her purview. Over several months, ICE and CBP officers have been fanning out across Democratic-run cities — entering neighborhoods and homes to make arrests, aggressively spraying protesters with tear gas, and even detaining U.S. citizens. Federal officers have been involved in 16 shootings since July and have killed three people, including two U.S. citizens. Yet this sweeping immigration agenda and the consequent actions by federal officers were not part of the original mission of DHS. Today, immigration reporter Marianne Levine discusses how former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has transformed DHS and what that could mean for its future. Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sam Bair. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

25 min
1 DAY AGO

After Alex Pretti's killing, a battle of narratives

The killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday morning marks a dramatic escalation of what was already a very tense moment for Minneapolis. Just a day before, thousands of residents marched in a citywide strike organized by faith leaders and labor unions. They were protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the state, including the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renée Good by an ICE officer earlier this month. Although it is not clear how Pretti’s interaction with federal agents began on Saturday, bystander footage reviewed by The Post raises questions about Homeland Security’s account of what happened. On Saturday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti – a legal gun owner, who was carrying a gun in or near his waistband when he was killed – had been committing an act of domestic terrorism. According to a Post analysis, federal agents had already secured the handgun he was carrying by the time they fatally shot him. Today on “Post Reports,” host Martine Powers speaks with national reporter Kim Bellware about the death of Alex Pretti – why many people are worried that his death won’t get a thorough investigation, and how this encounter is raising important questions around America’s gun debate. Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon and Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Annie Gowen, Lauren Gurley and Gina Harkins. Follow the latest in The Post’s Minneapolis coverage here. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

32 min
4 DAYS AGO

Why going outside is good for you, even when it's freezing

Today on the show, we explore the science behind why going outside is so good for us, even when it’s freezing. If you’re interested in learning more about nature therapy, check out the Center for Nature Informed Therapy. A psychologist says this exercise can make you more hopeful in 14 days: the Noticing Nature Intervention is straightforward, but its results might surprise you. If you want more Optimistic stories in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter. And if you’d like to hear more hopeful stories on the weekend on “Post Reports,” please send us an email: podcasts@washpost.com. Today’s show was produced by Maggie Penman with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy who also mixed the show. It was edited by Allison Klein and Ariel Plotnick. Thank you to Sean Carter. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

18 min
4 DAYS AGO

Trump’s Greenland ‘deal,’ and Democrats’ midterm math

President Donald Trump made headlines with two speeches this week. First came his sprawling, stream-of-consciousness address in the White House briefing room on Tuesday. Then, his barbed remarks about fellow world leaders at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trump concluded the week with a purported deal on America’s future role in Greenland – but it remains unclear what that deal will entail. “A lot of what we've seen from Trump during his political career, but specifically over the last year is … notching the win before the details are worked out,” White House reporter Cleve Wootson said on this week’s episode of the “Post Reports” politics roundtable. “He gets to walk away from Davos saying: I got what I wanted from these European leaders. America has won.” Wootson spoke on the podcast with host Colby Itkowitz and Dan Merica, co-anchor of the politics newsletter The Early Brief. They also talk about the 2026 midterms, and why Democrats are newly optimistic about their chances in the Senate. “The map is not overall very favorable to them,” Colby says, “but they're suddenly looking at it and thinking: We might be able to do this.” Today’s show was produced by Thomas Lu and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Martine Powers and mixed by Sean Carter. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

41 min
5 DAYS AGO

The Iranian director who risked his freedom to make his Oscar-nominated film

Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been making social cinema since the 1990s. His work follows everyday Iranians and their struggles against societal forces. In 2010 the director received a ban on filmmaking from the Iranian government, and in 2022 he was imprisoned after he inquired into a fellow filmmaker’s arrest. Despite being jailed and censored, Panahi has continued to work. His films such as "The Circle,” “Taxi” and “No Bears” have won awards from the top film festivals in the world. Now his latest film, “It Was Just an Accident,” has been nominated for two Oscars for best international feature film and best original screenplay. The film follows a group of former Iranian political prisoners who kidnap a man they suspect was their torturer, but they aren’t totally sure it’s him. Panahi shot the film in secret in Iran because he didn’t have official government permission to make it. While it is receiving critical acclaim around the world, it’s being repressed in Iran, where the government recently handed Panahi a new prison sentence. Today on “Post Reports” Elahe Izadi speaks with Jafar Panahi about how he made “It Was Just an Accident” and why he is planning to return to Iran once his awards campaign is over. The two spoke this month, before this week’s Oscar nominations and the most recent escalation of anti-government demonstrations and crackdowns in Iran. Today’s show was produced by Lucas Trevor, Joshua Carroll and Sam Bair, who also mixed it. It was edited by Elana Gordon and Peter Bresnan, with help from Reena Flores. Thanks to Neon for movie clips and photos. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

26 min
6 DAYS AGO

A mysterious death inside ICE's largest detention center

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the death of a detainee at a Texas detention camp this month, the agency initially gave no cause of death. A fellow detainee said he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards; ICE said “staff observed him in distress.” Seeking answers, Lunas Campos’s family called El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner, and an employee told them that – subject to the result of a toxicology report – the office is likely to classify Lunas Campos’s death as a homicide. Today on “Post Reports,” investigative reporter Douglas MacMillan tries to find out what really caused the death of a detainee – and takes us inside the black box of the largest detention camp in the United States. Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick, Dennis Funk and Martine Powers and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Juliet Eilperin. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

20 min
20 JAN

How Trump’s Nobel obsession is upending geopolitics

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump sent an unusual text to the prime minister of Norway. The two leaders had been messaging about Greenland – specifically, Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposed to the United States taking over the autonomous Danish territory. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement that he had been trying to de-escalate the situation. President Trump responded by linking his insistence on taking over Greenland to his grievance over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize – bestowed yearly by the Nobel Committee in Norway. Today on “Post Reports,” London bureau chief Steve Hendrix joins host Martine Powers with the latest on Trump’s bid for Greenland, how it all comes back to his perceived Peace Prize snub, and how his obsession is starting to have a real impact on geopolitics. Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sean Carter. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

27 min

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“Truer, but also darker.” This is the real origin story behind America’s decision to go to the moon. The story we learn starts with Sputnik, then President Kennedy’s challenge, and ends with triumph: an American flag on the lunar surface. But in the 50 years that have passed since the moon landing, as presidential documents have been declassified and secret programs have been revealed, a wilder story has begun to emerge. “Moonrise,” a new Washington Post narrative mini-series, digs into the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, the transformation of American society and politics, and even the birth of science fiction, to unearth what really drove us to the moon. Join host Lillian Cunningham (of the Presidential and Constitutional podcasts) as she uncovers a story that has so much to reveal about America -- and about the dreams and nightmares of being human on this Earth.

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HISTORY
With the writing of the Constitution in 1787, the framers set out a young nation’s highest ideals. And ever since, we’ve been fighting over it — what is in it and what was left out. At the heart of these arguments is the story of America. As a follow-up to the popular Washington Post podcast “Presidential,” reporter Lillian Cunningham returns with this series exploring the Constitution and the people who framed and reframed it — revolutionaries, abolitionists, suffragists, teetotalers, protesters, justices, presidents – in the ongoing struggle to form a more perfect union across a vast and diverse land.

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HISTORY
The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham journeys through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. In trips through five iconic landscapes, she ventures off the marked trail and beyond the parks’ borders to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in these places today. Along the way, she meets the people fighting to help these parks evolve – and survive.

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HISTORY
Opinion writer Jonathan Capehart talks with newsmakers who challenge your ideas on politics, and explore how race, religion, age, gender and cultural identity are redrawing the lines that both divide and unite America. "Capehart" is a podcast from Washington Post Opinions, with conversations adapted from Washington Post Live events.

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NEWS COMMENTARY
The Washington Post's Presidential podcast explores how each former American president reached office, made decisions, handled crises and redefined the role of commander-in-chief. It was released leading up to up to Election Day 2016, starting with George Washington in week one and ending on week 44 with the president-elect. New special episodes in the countdown to the 2020 presidential election highlight other stories from U.S. presidential history that can help illuminate our current moment. Hosted by Lillian Cunningham, the series features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers like David McCullough and Washington Post journalists like Bob Woodward. [When you're done, listen to Lillian's other historical podcasts: Constitutional and Moonrise]

5.0 (1)

HISTORY
“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. Host Cristina Quinn brings exactly the right amount of motivation with her endearing enthusiasm and the curiosity to learn along with you. Each course is a quick and practical guide that provides new perspectives on the kinds of hurdles we all share. If you’ve been searching for the right place to start, Try This.

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Martine Powers

Host
Elahe Izadi

Host
Marianne LeVine

Guest
Kim Bellware

Guest
Cleve Wootson Jr.

Guest
Dan Merica

Guest
Jafar Panahi

Guest
Steve Hendrix

Guest
Matt Viser

Guest
Andrew Ackerman

Guest

Post Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post, for your ears. Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi are your hosts, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Published weekdays around 5 p.m. Eastern time.