Post Reports

Senate stalwart Dianne Feinstein died Thursday at the age of 90. Today, we talk about her legacy — and the existential crisis for Democrats that comes with her vacant Senate seat. Read more: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, centrist stalwart of the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. At age 90, she was the chamber’s oldest sitting member and its longest-serving woman. Although the question of her fitness to serve received increasing scrutiny after she was hospitalized in February, Feinstein worked in politics for more than 50 years. She started in local politics in her home city of San Francisco and eventually became the city’s mayor. Then, in 1992, Feinstein became the first woman elected to the Senate from the state of California. Today, senior congressional correspondent Paul Kane discusses the late senator’s life, legacy and the big question on the minds of many on Capitol Hill: What will happen to her vacant Senate seat? A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated, upon second reference, the year in which San Francisco's mayor and city supervisor Harvey Milk were killed. It was November of 1978, not 1979. The audio has been updated to remove the error.

Stacks of cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and arms sales to Egypt – they’re all in the details of the federal indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez. This week, the New Jersey Democrat pleaded not guilty. So what’s next for the embattled senator? Read more: The indictments against Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are stunning, with investigators finding envelopes filled with cash and gold bars in the senator’s home. It is considered one of the more serious political corruption cases involving a U.S. senator. It is also not the first indictment involving Menendez, who faces a reelection campaign. Issac Stanley-Becker, a national investigative reporter for The Post, breaks down the case against Menendez, how his previous corruption trial ended in a hung jury, and why this new indictment matters for the Democratic Party.

As the U.S. government moves closer to a shutdown, we hear what that means for the economy, federal workers and families across the country. Read more: Congress must agree to a short-term funding bill before an Oct. 1 shutdown, which could interrupt paychecks for many federal workers and military service members. Basic government services could also hang in the balance, from food safety inspections and child-care funds to aid for long-term disaster recovery. Already, FEMA has delayed billions of dollars in funding for future natural disasters in the event of a shutdown. The Post’s Tony Romm explains why we are heading toward this impasse on federal funding, once again, and how a lengthy shutdown could test the U.S. economy.

Their dad is in prison for his actions on Jan. 6. Their brother was the one who turned him in. Their mom moved to D.C. to support “political prisoners” in the D.C. jail. Sarah and Peyton Reffitt are caught in the middle. Can this family reconcile? Read more: On Christmas Eve 2020, Guy Reffitt sent a text to his family group chat. He was furious about the outcome of the 2020 election — which he believed was stolen from former President Donald Trump. “Too many lines have been crossed,” he wrote. “Too many years this happened. We are about to rise up the way the Constitution was written.” That’s when his son, Jackson Reffitt, went to his room and filed a tip to the FBI. Roughly 15 percent of the more than 1,100 people charged for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, were turned in by family members, friends or acquaintances. The Reffitts are one of those families, shattered by the insurrection and its aftermath. Now, they’re trying to put the pieces back together. Today on “Post Reports,” listen to the Reffitts as they try to work through everything that’s happened in their family — and in the country — over the past few years.

A record $24 billion in pandemic investments has been propping up the nation’s child-care industry. Now, as that money runs out, parents and day-care centers are bracing for disruptions — and the economy is bracing for the ripple effects. Read more: Even in the best of times, juggling work and child care can be a struggle. But as pandemic-era funding for child care dries up, an estimated 70,000 child-care centers are expected to close, leaving parents with even fewer — and less-affordable — options. “A lot of the resilience and the strength that we've seen in the economy in the last few years has been because of the strong labor market – because people are going back to work, and especially women and mothers in particular are really returning to the workforce at record levels,” economic correspondent Abha Bhattarai explains. “So there is a very real fear that as childcare becomes more difficult to access, more expensive to access, those women may be pushed out of the workforce.”

The jury had been brought in for a murder trial. It was a homicide with no body, a case that had been first classified as a missing person instead of a death. There had been no confession. No blood. No weapon. No witnesses. The alleged murder had gone unsolved for more than a decade, and onlookers had wondered, not unreasonably, whether it was simply unsolvable. The question at hand was whether, 13 years ago, a man named Isaac Moye had murdered a woman named Unique Harris. The trial was an attempt to bring an ending, at last, to a mystery that had tortured her family and baffled strangers, including Washington Post reporter Monica Hesse, who had followed the case from the very beginning. By the end of the trial, Monica realized she’d understood the whole case wrong. – This story is part of a new collection of occasional bonus episodes you’ll be hearing from “Post Reports.” We’re calling these stories “Deep Reads,” and they’re part of The Post’s commitment to immersive and narrative journalism. Today’s story was written by Monica Hesse and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles.

Strikes by Hollywood actors and entertainment writers are in full-swing, making this an unusual fall, television-wise. We’re looking at the impact on the coming season of television and the future of the industry. Read more: A Hollywood strike marches on, but that has not stopped the production of new shows altogether. The Post’s television critic Lili Loofbourow discusses some of the most hotly anticipated shows, including new series such as “The Other Black Girl,” “The Changeling” and “A Murder at the End of the World.” Then Lili breaks down what impact the Hollywood strike could have beyond the fall.

Catastrophic flooding in Libya last week left an estimated 10,000 people dead or missing. Today, we report from the ground and explain how warming oceans and a hotter planet contributed to the scale of the disaster. Read more: At the end of what has already been a summer of extremes, floods have spanned the globe with remarkable intensity in recent weeks. Countries from Spain to Brazil to Japan have been inundated. Libya was hit the hardest last week, with catastrophic flooding in coastal cities such as Derna and Sousa that left an estimated 10,000 people dead or missing. And while the causes for these catastrophes vary, they all have one thing in common: climate change. Today, foreign correspondent Louisa Loveluck reports from Libya, bringing us the extraordinary story of one family that narrowly survived the floods. Then, global weather reporter Scott Dance explains how the world’s oceans, warmed by record-breaking heat, are making storms more intense and more dangerous.

Today on “Post Reports,” a look at what has happened to Iranians in the year since massive protests swept the country. We hear from family members impacted by the government’s harsh crackdown and how Iran’s repression playbook works. One year ago, the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked what analysts have described as the longest-running, anti-government protest in Iran’s recent history. In the months since, Iranian security forces have unleashed a harsh crackdown, killing at least 530 protesters, according to human rights groups. Yet far more common and far more difficult to quantify are the tens of thousands of family members and acquaintances of the dead, who have been pressured, arrested and harassed, or who have disappeared. “I think that the government understands the power of grief and how powerful that can be to move people,” visual forensics reporter Nilo Tabrizy tells “Post Reports.” One year after Mahsa Amini’s death, and after these protests began, Tabrizy shares the stories of what two families have endured amid an evolving movement and a regime’s exacting repression playbook. Read more: Their loved ones were killed in Iran’s uprising. Then the state came for them. A year after Mahsa Amini’s death: repression and defiance in Iran.

How a killing in Canada has caused a geopolitical crisis that is sending shock waves through India, the United States and beyond. Read more: On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in a speech to Parliament that agents of the Indian government killed a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil. Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader, was killed in June in British Columbia.. Trudeau’s announcement led to the Canadian government expelling an Indian diplomat. India denied the allegations and expelled a Canadian diplomat in return. Canada has called upon its allies to publicly condemn the killing, just as countries including the United States are hoping to bolster their relationship with India in hopes of fending off China. The Post’s South Asia correspondent Karishma Mehrotra walks us through how we got to this geopolitical crisis and what it means for India’s global relationships.

First it was Hollywood, and now another big union strike is underway. For the first time ever, thousands of United Auto Workers members are striking against Detroit’s Big Three auto companies. Read more: An historic autoworkers fight is now on, with thousands of UAW members walking off the factory floors at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler. Workers are asking for pay increases and more equal benefits for temporary workers, particularly as companies post profits and increase executive pay. It’s the latest union fight in the United States as workers such as nurses and Hollywood scriptwriters and actors seek better pay and job security. Meanwhile, the specter of the presidential election hovers over the autoworkers strike. Global business reporter Jeanne Whalen explains what’s at stake in this strike and how the issues at hand go well beyond the auto factories.

Today on “Post Reports,” residents in Lahaina are healing after the deadly Maui wildfires with the help of a Hawaiian tradition: surfing. Read more: The Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii – the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century – took the lives of at least 115 people, with the number of missing still unknown. With lives and homes devastated, residents are searching for a sense of normalcy. Surfing offers a reprieve for many of those affected by the tragic event. “It can be a great way for people to heal. Like ocean therapy, saltwater therapy,” said former professional surfer and surfboard shaper, Jud Lau. “The ocean is a healing place.” With the help of his Instagram followers and donations, Lau and other board shapers on Maui are replacing boards for those who lost them in the fire. Lahaina resident Victoria Gladden, a mother of three daughters, lost five boards in the fire, as well as everything else she owned. Getting back in the water was crucial for her to reconnect with herself in post-fire chaos. With the help of the Surfboard Replacement Project, Gladden and her eldest daughter Brianna reconnected with the water, finding peace on the waves. “This is just my favorite place in the whole entire world is the ocean,” she said after surfing for the first time since the fire.“I will never, ever live in a place where I cannot be in the water. I wouldn't, no way. What kind of life would that be?”

Last spring, South Carolina English teacher Mary Wood was horrified when her students reported her to the local school board for teaching about race. As she starts a new school year, we ask what it’s like for her to step back into the classroom. Read more: Last spring in Chapin, S.C., two students in high school English teacher Mary Wood‘s class reported her to the local school board for teaching about race. Wood had assigned her all-White AP English Language and Composition class readings from Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me,” a book that examines what it means to be Black in America. In emails, the students complained that the book made them ashamed to be White, violating a South Carolina rule that forbids teachers from making students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” on account of their race. Wood’s case drew national, polarizing attention. Conservative outlets and commentators decried Wood’s “race-shaming against White people.” Left-leaning media declared her a martyr to “cancel culture,” the latest casualty of raging debates over how to teach race, racism and history that have engulfed the country since the coronavirus pandemic began. Wood is not the first teacher to get caught in the crossfire: The Post previously reported that at least 160 educators have lost their positions since the pandemic began because of political debates. South Carolina is one of 18 states to restrict education on race since 2021, according to an Education Week tally. And at least half the country has passed laws that limit instruction on race, history, sex or gender identity, according to a Washington Post analysis. Today, as a new school year begins, education reporter Hannah Natanson talks to Wood about what it’s like for her to return to teaching, and whether she feels she can trust her students again.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has directed House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden – a move that appears to appease hard-right lawmakers. The investigations center on whether Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings. Claiming there are “allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption,” McCarthy has directed House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Yet House Republicans have not put forth evidence directly showing that Biden benefited from his son’s business deals in Ukraine and elsewhere. Congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor puts this inquiry into perspective, explains where the GOP stands on investigating Biden, and what this could mean for the president as he heads into an election year.

Today on “Post Reports,” why an earthquake in Morocco was so deadly, the anger over the government response, and what survivors say they need now. Read more: The massive earthquake in central Morocco that killed at least 2,900 people was unusual for that part of the country — and that’s part of what made it so deadly. Claire Parker has been on the ground reporting from the remote villages that were hit the hardest. “It's quite different from, for example, the earthquake in Syria and Turkey earlier this year when people were still pulling out survivors days later, I think partly because of just how poorly constructed these buildings are,” Parker said. Days later, many survivors are still waiting for basic necessities, and feeling abandoned. Morocco has also been reluctant to accept outside aid, baffling foreign governments. In the absence of government aid, ordinary Moroccans are trying to fill in the gaps. “The solidarity shown by ordinary Moroccans has been astounding,” Parker said. “We've seen again and again on these really twisty, turny, narrow mountain roads that are very difficult to navigate, hundreds of small cars packed full of blankets and milk and water and diapers, all of these supplies making their way to these remote villages just out of a sense of an obligation to help.” The country declared three days of mourning nationwide as rescuers and recovery teams mobilize. Some residents described using their bare hands to pull loved ones from the rubble. Here’s how and where you can make a donation to help earthquake survivors in Morocco.

India has fallen down the ranks of the World Press Freedom Index, sitting at 161 out of 180 countries. Journalists have been harassed, arrested and even killed. Today, what it’s like to be a journalist in India under the Modi government. Read more: Over the weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Biden at the G-20 summit in New Delhi. But there were some people noticeably absent from the leaders’ big meeting: the press. Growing restrictions on the press in India have become a concerning trend for many people in the country. And last year’s takeover of television news channel NDTV by India’s richest man and close ally of prime minister Modi, became a turning point for perceptions of the country’s press freedom. Today on “Post Reports,” South Asia correspondent Karishma Mehrotra tells us what it’s like to be a journalist in India under the Modi government, what’s behind this shift in Indian journalism and what the implications are for India's future. We also speak with former TV news anchor Ravish Kumar on his struggles as a journalist in the country.

Stephanie Gilbert wrote a letter to Jungsun Kim, the new owner of Richland Farm in Clarksville, Md. In the letter, Gilbert laid out centuries of her family’s remarkable history: the five generations of her enslaved ancestors who had labored at Richland Farm and a neighboring plantation for one of Maryland’s most prominent families. Gilbert explained in the letter that she’d established a relationship with the White descendant who had inherited Richland — the woman who had just sold the estate to Kim for $3 million. During a decade of visits to Richland, she said, “we’ve celebrated Juneteenth, commemorated the ancestors, wept for their trials, and celebrated their triumphs.” Then Gilbert made a request: Would Kim allow Gilbert, a stranger, to continue to visit the 133-acre estate where her enslaved ancestors are buried? – This story is part of a collection of new, occasional bonus episodes you’ll be hearing from “Post Reports.” We’re calling these stories “Deep Reads” and they’re part of The Post’s commitment to immersive and narrative journalism. Today’s story was written by Sydney Trent and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles.

Last year, 425 people died of extreme heat in Phoenix. Stephan Goodwin was one of them. Today, why people who suffer from schizophrenia are more vulnerable to a hotter climate. And, what can be done to better protect them. Read more: Climate change is warming the planet and breaking heat index records across the globe. For people with mental illness, scorching temperatures can be especially deadly. That was true for Stephan Goodwin, a 33-year-old man who spent his last moments of life in the sweltering heat in Phoenix last year. Goodwin had schizophrenia, an illness that is often characterized by hallucinations and paranoia. One study of heat wave deaths in British Columbia found that 8 percent of the people who had died in the heat had been diagnosed with schizophrenia — rendering it more dangerous, when combined with heat, than any other condition studied. Climate reporter Shannon Osaka recently went to Phoenix to meet Goodwin’s mother, Darae Goodwin, and to better understand why people with this condition are so vulnerable to a hotter climate. Shannon and guest host Rachel Siegel discuss how the physical, mental and social toll the disease takes can exacerbate an already dangerous situation, and what can be done to better protect this population.

The world is moving toward electric vehicles. In Part 3 of our series on the hidden toll of this historic transition, business reporter Evan Halper breaks down this industrial shift and the concerns it brings over human and environmental costs. Read more: States such as California and New York are moving to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. Meanwhile, President Biden wants at least half of new car sales to be electric by 2030. But the race to reduce our carbon footprint has hidden tolls. Workers in South Africa mining for manganese – an essential mineral for electric car batteries – are experiencing serious health problems. There are also geopolitical ramifications, with tensions in Afghanistan, where an untapped trove of lithium ore is beginning to garner interest from both the Taliban and Chinese prospectors. Today on “Post Reports,” Halper tells us how regulators, advocates and companies are responding to growing concerns over electric vehicle manufacturing. More from The Post’s bigger series, “Clean Cars, Hidden Toll”: In the scramble for EV metals, a health threat to workers often goes unaddressed. In the race for lithium, Afghanistan is of interest to the Taliban and Chinese prospectors. To meet EV demand, industry turns to technology long-deemed hazardous. Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers. On the frontier of new “gold rush,” the quest for coveted EV metals yields misery. The underbelly of electric vehicles. Minerals are crucial for electric cars and wind turbines. Some worry whether we have enough.

In today’s installment of our series on the hidden toll of electric vehicles, reporter Gerry Shih ventures into the mountains of Afghanistan to find out what happens when loads of untapped lithium – a key part of electric vehicles – trigger a cross-border “gold rush.” Read more: “Waste kunzite” is what Afghan miners call the white rock that is all around them. It’s “waste” to them because they don’t have the capacity to extract it or sell it now. But around the world, this rock is extremely valuable. It contains lithium, an essential ingredient in the long-lasting battery within the floor of each electric vehicle. The demand for lithium – and electric vehicles more broadly – is rising fast, while states such as California and New York move to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. President Biden is also pushing for electric vehicles to make up at least half of new car sales by 2030. Despite the real benefits of going electric, the sourcing of raw materials in electric vehicles carries serious human, environmental and geopolitical costs that are often overlooked by consumers, manufacturers and policymakers. Today on “Post Reports,” we set out to unearth these tensions in Afghanistan, where an untapped trove of lithium ore is beginning to garner interest from both the Taliban and Chinese prospectors, who are looking to secure their grip on this sought-after global market. “There's a lot of money to be made here and there's a lot of interest in this resource,” Shih tells “Post Reports.” “When we consider holistically the pros of this great shift towards EVs, we also have to look at some of the unintended consequences.” More from The Post’s bigger series, “Clean Cars, Hidden Toll”: In the scramble for EV metals, a health threat to workers often goes unaddressed. To meet EV demand, industry turns to technology long deemed hazardous. Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers. On the frontier of new “gold rush,” the quest for coveted EV metals yields misery. The underbelly of electric vehicles. Minerals are crucial for electric cars and wind turbines. Some worry whether we have enough.