Post Reports

Only 2 percent of sperm donors in the United States are Black. This, in turn, leaves many aspiring Black parents with an agonizing choice: choose a donor of another race or try to buy sperm from unregulated apps and online groups.  Read more: Post reporter Amber Ferguson has spent months reporting on why so few Black men donate sperm. She found that the reasons for the shortage are myriad: fa...

Today on “Post Reports,” why White people in the U.S. are now more likely to die of covid than Black Americans.  Read more: The imbalance in death rates among the nation’s racial and ethnic groups has been a defining part of the pandemic since the start. Early in the crisis, Black people died at higher rates than White people. But at the end of last year, the racial disparity in covid deaths...

Georgia, the state that was key to the Democrats taking control of Washington in 2020, could now be responsible for giving some of that power back to Republicans.  In a contentious Senate race , former NFL star Herschel Walker (R) is taking on the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock. Walker, however, is plagued with controversy that’s making it hard for Republicans to throw their support be...

A new Washington Post investigation has uncovered the fact that hundreds of veterans have taken lucrative foreign jobs — often for countries with known human rights abuses. U.S. officials approved these contracts — but fought to keep them secret. Read more: The Post found more than 500 retired members of the military – from helicopter mechanics to high-ranking generals – have cashed in on work wit...

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. Read more: 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...

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. Read more: 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 situ...

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.  Read more: 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 despit...

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 hospita...

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. Read more: Over the weekend, the rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) posted antisemitic messages on Twitter and Instagram. They were quickly take...

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.  Read more: On Monday morning, Russian forces fired a series of airstrikes on major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. At least 11 people   were...

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 ju...

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.  Read more: Prime Minister Liz Truss has been in office for only about a month, but already her proposals have weakened the struggling British economy an...

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 More: Read about how a viral song became an anthem for protesters in Iran.  Tactics of repression: How Iran is trying to stop Mahsa Amini p...

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

For months, Republican leaders have been escalating a campaign against President Biden’s border security policies by transporting migrants from their states to Democratic-led areas, without providing a plan for what happens when they arrive.  In a high-profile case in September, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew dozens of asylum seekers from Texas up to Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts island....

Today on “Post Reports,” a show about how our bodies have changed during the pandemic. We hear from our listeners about how their bodies have surprised, delighted and worried them after these past few years.  Read more: Here on the “Post Reports” team, we’ve been thinking a lot about…our bodies. Specifically, how they’ve changed over these past two years, as we’ve gone through lockdowns, isol...

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about Ian’s historic destruction in Florida, and why the story of this storm has only just begun. Read more: Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwestern Florida as one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States. Millions of people are without power, and the full extent of the destruction may not be clear for days.  We hear from Molly H...

Black men who have sex with men are contracting monkeypox at a higher rate than any other group in the United States. But they are among the least likely to be vaccinated. Today, the creative outreach to get at-risk groups vaccinated against monkeypox. Read more: Monkeypox cases might be going down, but there are still at-risk groups. While Black gay men are more likely to get monkeypox than other...

Conservative Giorgia Meloni is Italy's presumed next prime minister. Who is she? And what do the results of Italy’s historic election mean for the strength of the far-right movement in Europe?  Read more:  This week Italian voters sided with the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia, also known as the Brothers of Italy. The election results could also mean the country gets its first female p...

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about how Black coaches have been excluded from the NFL’s top jobs, despite years of attention on this issue – and why the problem is actually getting worse.  Read more: Since 1989, only 25 head coaches in the National Football League have been Black, and in the more than a century long history of the NFL only 26 Black men have held the title.  Despite 60...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down in Ukraine – holding staged referendums in occupied territories and drafting men to the war. Today on “Post Reports,” we’ll talk about how Russians are reacting to the dramatic escalation. Read more: This week in Ukraine, Moscow began staging referendums in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and drafted hundreds of thousands of Russian men to j...

The death of Mahsa Amini is igniting protests across Iran — and it’s drawing global attention to Iranians’ anger and frustration with their ultra-conservative leaders. Read more: Earlier this month, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was detained by the so-called morality police in Tehran for violating Iran’s law on headscarves and died several days later. In the days since, protesters have flooded the stree...

How a pandemic food program was used to allegedly defraud the government of $250 million.  Read more: This week, the federal government indicted 47 people connected to the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future in the largest known pandemic fraud scheme. The nonprofit claimed to be giving meals to thousands of kids who needed them. Instead, the Justice Department said, they were using b...

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico five years ago. Recovery in many ways had just begun when Fiona hit the island. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to Arelis R. Hernández about why the recovery has been stymied, and how another storm could complicate it further.  Read more: Hurricane Maria cleaved Puerto Rican memory. There was one kind of life before the storm, and an entirely different li...

On today’s show, we take you to London for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Plus, the colonial legacy and potential future of the monarchy without her leadership. Read more: The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, was laid in the royal vault at Windsor Castle on Monday. The funeral procession marks the end of 10 days of national mourning.   London correspondent Karla...