Some people said Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste” was unadaptable. The subject matter was too heavy and too academic. But Ava DuVernay had a vision – and she pursued an unusual funding model to get her new film “Origin” made.  
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 When filmmaker Ava DuVernay couldn’t get traditional financing to film “Origin,” the Ford Foundation, Melinda Gates and other philanthropists stepped in. National arts reporter Geoff Edgers says it might be cinema’s new business model. 
 Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Maggie Penman.  
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Ava DuVernay on making a film her way

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.

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It’s Friday, so it’s time for The Campaign Moment — our weekly roundtable conversation to help you keep track of the biggest developments of the 2024 campaign. 
 This week, we hear directly from some undecided voters about how Donald Trump’s criminal conviction lands with them. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake, who writes The Washington Post's new Campaign Moment newsletter, and Isaac Arnsdorf, who covers Trump and the MAGA movement for The Post, sit down with co-host Martine Powers. They also discuss Stephen K. Bannon’s upcoming stint in prison, as well as President Biden’s executive order curtailing asylum and its implications for the campaign. 
 Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon.  It was edited by Renita Jablonski and Mary Jo Murphy.  
 Subscribe to Aaron’s newsletter, The Campaign Moment, here.  Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The Campaign Moment: Swing voters on Trump's verdict plus Biden's border order

Eight months into Israel’s war in Gaza, a string of standoffs, schisms and ultimatums have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet to the brink of collapse and raised the prospect that his own coalition could follow, possibly leading to new elections. 
 Externally, the embattled prime minister is under growing pressure from the public to bring home Israel’s remaining hostages and from the Biden administration to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. Within his unity government, formed less than a week after the deadly militant attacks on Oct. 7, he is contending with rebellions by allies and opponents alike. 
 Today, “Post Reports” host Martine Powers speaks with Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix about the external and internal pressures Netanyahu faces during is facing amidst a critical moment in the war in Gaza. 
 Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Ariel Plotnick. It was edited by Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Lior Soroka. ﻿ Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Why Netanyahu is facing an ultimatum

In Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” he writes: “I’ve bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, DC, and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles. I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig.” Federal prosecutors this week used these words and other excerpts from Biden’s memoir against him, as they attempted to convince a jury that he lied about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in Delaware in 2018. The president’s son faces three felony charges related to the gun purchase.  Today on “Post Reports,” Justice Department reporter Perry Stein and host Martine Powers break down the charges Biden faces in his federal trial, why the prosecution is using his memoir as evidence and what impact the case could have on his father’s reelection campaign.  Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan, with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter.  Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A gun, a memoir and the trial of Biden’s son

On Monday, Anthony Fauci – a former health adviser in the Trump and Biden administrations – testified in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, a panel devoted to investigating the federal response to covid-19. The contentious hearing came amid a battle between the panel’s Republican and Democratic leaders over how to understand Fauci’s legacy in shaping the U.S. response to the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the popular understanding of the virus’s origin. 
 Host Martine Powers speaks with health reporter Dan Diamond about why this hearing catapulted a retired Fauci back into the headlines. 
 Today’s show was produced by Ariel Plotnick and Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and mixed by Sean Carter.  
 ﻿Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The battle over Fauci's legacy

TikTok offered the Biden administration a kill switch. Today on “Post Reports,” why the U.S. government declined. 
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 In 2022, TikTok offered the U.S. government an extraordinary deal.  The social media app – owned by a Chinese company – said it would let federal officials pick its U.S. board of directors, would give the government veto power over each new hire and would pay an American company that contracts with the Defense Department to monitor its source code.  The Biden administration, however, went its own way.  Today on “Post Reports,” tech reporter Drew Harwell takes host Elahe Izadi behind the scenes of the U.S. government’s decision to pass on TikTok’s proposal.  Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter.  Subscribe to The Washington Post here and check out this story about the health consequences of loud restaurants. 

Ava DuVernay on making a film her way

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