Post Reports

This week, we’re bringing you episodes of The 7 - a new podcast from The Washington Post. Your host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories, so you can get caught up in just a few minutes. Make it a habit in the new year.  Read today's briefing here.

This week, we’re bringing you episodes of The 7 - a new podcast from The Washington Post. Your host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories, so you can get caught up in just a few minutes. Make it a habit in the new year.  You can also read today's briefing here.

On The Post’s new podcast, "The 7," host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories of the day. It's a way to get caught up in just a few minutes. It comes out every weekday at 7 a.m. Check it out today, then find and follow "The 7." You can also read today's briefing here.

This week, we’re bringing you episodes of The 7 - a new podcast from The Washington Post. Your host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories, so you can get caught up in just a few minutes. Make it a habit in the new year.  You can also read the briefing here.

Who is the real Queen of Christmas? Not Mariah Carey, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Today on a bonus episode of Post Reports, we explain the legal battle for the Christmas throne. Read more: Read more about the legal battle over the “Queen of Christmas” title here . Looking for a last-minute holiday gift? Right now, you can save over 70 percent on a new premium subscription to...

Today on “Post Reports,” the way what we eat – and how we eat it – affects our mental health, not just our physical health. Plus, how to eat for your emotional well-being in the new year. Read more: Washington Post journalist Mary Beth Albright has been fascinated by the connection between food and mood for years.  “What I began to realize is that food and emotions are inextricably entwined,”...

After decades of attempts, scientists have finally created a nuclear fusion reaction in a lab. On today’s show, what this breakthrough means for the future of energy. Read more: Last week, the Energy Department announced that for the first time, scientists have been able to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain. This essentially means that in a lab-based setting, researchers wer...

Today on “Post Reports,” how the chaos of war can put even well-intentioned efforts to help Ukrainian refugees on unstable ground. Read more: It’s been 300 days since the start of the war in Ukraine. And since that war began, millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes to seek safety in Western Europe.  Back in March, the leaders of European Union countries pledged to help Ukrainians by enac...

Holidays and winter illnesses go hand in hand. Today on Post Reports, we unpack how to prevent the spread. As families face a “tripledemic” of highly contagious respiratory viruses, we turn to national health reporter Lena Sun to understand the latest on how to stay healthy this holiday season. From effective flu and covid vaccines to DIY air filters, we find out what she has learned to keep virus...

Months after their Supreme Court victory, conservatives fear that new abortion bans aren’t being sufficiently enforced. Now, from mobilizing citizen investigators to blocking abortion pill websites, they’re pursuing unorthodox ideas to further crack down.  Read more: Nearly six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , triggering abortion bans in more than a dozen states , many...

How a tip at a funeral became a year-long investigation into the sport of bodybuilding. Read more: When Post investigative reporter Desmond Butler’s father, George Butler, died last year, work was the last thing on Desmond’s mind. But a friend of his father came to him with a tip – startling allegations in the world of bodybuilding, a sport Desmond’s father helped make famous through his film “Pum...

Ahead of Sunday’s final match, two Post journalists and die-hard soccer fans discuss all things World Cup. Columnist Ishaan Tharoor sits down with Jeff Pierre, host of “The 7,” to unpack the controversies, the triumphs and what’s at stake this weekend. Read more: This year’s World Cup has been mired in debates about its host country, Qatar. But it’s more complicated than that, according to Ishaan...

Today on “Post Reports,” we dive into research on happiness and talk about finding joy in mundane experiences to cultivate a more meaningful life. Read more: Here’s an antidote to an ever-stressful, busy and uncertain world: Try finding and savoring little bites of joy throughout your day. Our Brain Matters columnist, neuroscientist Richard Sima, calls them “joy” snacks. By mindfully tuning in to...

Since 2019, the number of Americans killed by fentanyl has jumped 94 percent. Today on "Post Reports," we go inside Operation Sour Cream — and inside the pipeline bringing the deadly drug from Mexican labs to U.S. streets. Read more: In 2019, Drug Enforcement Administration agent Brady Wilson noticed big loads of synthetic drugs, like fentanyl, popping up around St. George, Utah. St. George is not...

Today, we hear from a mother and son in Iran about life amid ongoing protests and an escalating government crackdown. Despite communication challenges, journalist Sanam Mahoozi has been carefully corresponding with them for weeks about their lives in a changing Iran. “I am devastated by the way the system is treating the youth,” a mother in Tehran told journalist Sanam Mahoozi during one exchange....

A decade after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the story of a 10-year-old girl who survived the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex. — and how she has become a voice for the friends she lost that day. Read more: After a school shooting, we often hear numbers — how many children and teachers were killed or injured. But for the survivors and their families, the trauma can be ove...

Today, the White House announced that WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention and is coming home – in exchange for a notorious arms dealer. We talk about why this deal happened now, and what it means for other American hostages. Read more: More than nine months after she was arrested in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed. Griner is one of the world’s best w...

Republican Kevin McCarthy wants to be the next speaker of the House, but first he’ll need to secure 218 votes. Despite winning a majority in the midterm elections, Republicans have felt deflated by an election cycle many hoped would be a “red wave,” and some are now saying they won’t endorse McCarthy’s leadership bid.  Read more: Read Michael Kranish’s profile of Kevin McCarthy’s rise to powe...

The crypto world is in shock after FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange, declared bankruptcy. We discuss what led to the company’s collapse and how its 30-year-old founder went from a philanthropic darling to disgraced CEO. Read more: What led to the ruin of FTX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges? It’s the question confounding Silicon Valley — and Washington. After the collapse,...

For the fifth time in two years, Georgians will cast a ballot for or against Raphael G. Warnock, and despite Democratic control of the Senate, the stakes of this race for both parties are big.  Read more: Despite Democratic control of the senate, both parties still see a lot to gain or lose in Tuesday’s runoff election.

Every time producer Jordan-Marie Smith would visit her hometown, it seemed as if another person she knew from high school had died of a drug overdose. She went back home to investigate, along with reporter Lenny Bernstein. Read more: Post Reports producer Jordan-Marie Smith always thought of her hometown of Greenville, N.C., as a nice place to grow up. A small city about halfway between Raleigh an...

The Iranian government is increasing its efforts to kill or kidnap activists, journalists and others living in the West — a change that alarms U.S. intelligence officials. Shane Harris explains the extent and escalation of Tehran’s efforts. Read more: Read Shane Harris’ reporting on Iran’s assassination and kidnapping program, and the steps Western officials have taken to try to counter it.  

They needed 10 Republicans. Today on Post Reports, we take you inside the efforts of a small bipartisan group of senators – and how it gathered enough GOP support to pass same-sex marriage protections in a divided Congress.  Read more: Back in July, after this year’s first attempts to codify protections for same-sex marriage in Congress, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) had a revelation. “I rememb...

November wasn’t a great month for Donald Trump. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for a congressional committee to examine the former president’s tax returns, ending a legal battle that has consumed Congress and the courts for years. Meanwhile, a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department has been tasked with investigating Trump’s role in efforts to undo the results of the 2020 elect...

For the first time in decades, massive protests broke out in cities across China. Today on “Post Reports” — what's behind the protests and what they mean for the future of China’s leadership.  Read more: Protests erupted throughout China this weekend over the country’s “zero covid” policy, which has led the government to implement strict lockdown and testing measures to prevent the spread of...