Post Reports

The limitations of American diplomacy — at the border between Russia and Ukraine, and at the Olympics in Beijing.

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According to U.S. intelligence and The Post’s reporting, Russia is planning to move up to 175,000 troops to its border with Ukraine — plans that have the international community concerned. On a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, President Biden threatened economic sanctions and other measures if the Kremlin were to escalate the situation and invade Ukraine. Shane Harris reports on Putin’s plans, and on how difficult it is to deter a country like Russia.

Plus, the United States’ diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. Rick Maese reports on the pointed snub in protest of China’s human rights abuses.

The trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder and CEO. 

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Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of the medical technology start-up Theranos, is on trial for 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Tech reporter Rachel Lerman has been covering Holmes’s trial for about three months now. Lerman dives into what we’ve learned about the Theranos founder from her extraordinary moments on the stand – and what that tells us about the “fake it ‘til you make it” culture of start-ups in Silicon Valley.

Do you think you’re experiencing long-haul covid symptoms? Share your experience with The Post. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the question of how some may have to live and reckon with long-haul covid, or lingering symptoms after having had covid-19, remains open. Help The Post understand what it’s like to experience long-haul covid symptoms and how they affect your everyday life. A reporter may follow up with you.

Why dozens of students at Howard University spent part of their fall semester living in tents. And, omicron comes to the United States.

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Mold, mice, water damage and no WiFi. Those have been some of the conditions in Howard University’s housing units in Washington. This fall, the conditions led to protests that lasted more than 30 days. Some students even slept in tents on the historically Black university’s campus. But such conditions aren’t new. For years, students and graduates have complained about building conditions at a school that’s often called “the Mecca.”

Many students blamed university president Wayne A.I. Frederick. But some students say Corvias, a private company that manages 60 percent of the housing on Howard’s campus, is the real culprit. Schools often hire companies to handle dining halls and custodial services because they don’t get enough funding from federal, state and local governments. Education reporter Lauren Lumpkin and producer Jordan-Marie Smith report on the relationship between universities and the private companies managing their housing — and the students who say those relationships need to end.

Plus later in the show, national health reporter Dan Diamond explains what President Biden’s administration plans to do about the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners — one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe.

What Jack Dorsey’s departure from Twitter means for Silicon Valley, the platform and its dedicated users. And how the new CEO, Parag Agrawal, could change the direction of the company. 

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In a casually written tweet Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he would be stepping down from his position. As the company’s co-founder, he’s been a Silicon Valley icon for 15 years, and he leaves behind a complicated legacy. Tech reporter Will Oremus says that his departure is shrouded in mystery and that the resignation letter he posted to Twitter did not explain whether he was voluntarily leaving the company or was ousted by investors. 

Dorsey’s replacement is Parag Agrawal, the company’s former chief technology officer. While he’s well-liked by staff, he was an unexpected pick to head one of Silicon Valley’s most fraught and politically embroiled social media companies — and it’s up in the air whether his limited experience will limit his ability to navigate important and thorny questions around content moderation. 

Today on Post Reports, a deep examination of the sheriffs involved in the controversial 287(g) program. Plus, how the new republic of Barbados signals a changing tide for the British crown.

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Investigative reporter Debbie Cenziper has been looking into the expansion of a controversial program called 287(g) that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to recruit sheriffs as partners to question and detain undocumented immigrants.

“What I found most surprising is that some of the sheriffs empowered by the federal government with enforcement authority, the power to investigate and detain undocumented immigrants, had made very public statements — some might call them bombastic statements — about their views on immigration policy,” Cenziper said. 

Later on the show, we’ll talk about Barbados officially removing Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and inaugurating its first president — and bestowing Rihanna as a “national hero.” As Jennifer Hassan reports, the importance of Barbados transitioning to a republic goes beyond one country and reflects a growing debate over why the British monarchy still exists.

It’s a critical week for abortion rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could roll back the protections of Roe v. Wade. But the arguments to gut Roe are coming from the surprising lens of women’s empowerment.

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Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization goes before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The caseputs Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions to the test, and it could be the case that defines abortion rights for generations. 

When The Lily reporter Caroline Kitchener first read a brief in Dobbs written by the attorney general of Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, she found an argument against abortion that she hadn’t heard before. Fitch was urging the court to use the Dobbs case to gut Roe v. Wade because restricting abortion access, Fitch said, empowers women. 

Kitchener reports on the landmark case before the court, and examines the pitch advocates like Fitch are making with their antiabortion arguments — and why some people aren’t buying it.

On Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, The Washington Post is hosting a live Twitter Space conversation about the omicron coronavirus variant. Join Martine Powers and Post health reporters to hear the latest on what scientists have learned about omicron. Set a reminder to join the Twitter Space here.

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. Right now you can get a subscription to The Post for just 99 cents every four weeks, and you can give a full year as a gift for just $9.99. Go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe. It's the best deal we’ve ever offered, and it ends today.

Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus, could be the next big hurdle in beating the pandemic. Today on Post Reports, what we know so far, and why you shouldn’t panic just yet.

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Last week, a new coronavirus variant was detected in southern Africa. Since then, public health officials and government leaders have been trying to figure out what’s next. Some countries have reinstated travel bans, while others are urging people not to panic.

While as of Monday there were no known cases in the United States, President Biden said that “sooner or later we’re going to see cases of this new variant here.”

Reporter Dan Diamond explains what we know about the omicron variant and why you should proceed with caution but not panic. We also talk about what this new variant reveals about tensions between countries where vaccines are widely available and those where they’re not. 

Relatedly, Post Reports recently aired an interview with Dr. Fauci. He talked about booster shots, and why he thinks all eligible Americans should be getting them. You can listen to that episode here.

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. Right now you can get a subscription to The Post for just 99 cents every four weeks! And you can give a full year as a gift for just $9.99. Go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe. It's the best deal we’ve ever offered and it's happening only for a couple more days.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the “first Thanksgiving” between English pilgrims and Wampanoags in Massachusetts. But historians say the true story of what happened bears little resemblance to the myth that many Americans learn in grade school.

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In 1621, some pilgrims and some Wampanoags shared a feast. It wasn't the first meeting between the two groups and it wouldn't be the last, but for many reasons — including the American Civil War — the anniversary of that meal took on both an outsized importance and a whitewashed simplicity.

This year, in honor of the 400th anniversary of that meal, Post reporter Dana Hedgpeth wanted to hear the Wampanoags’ side of the story. 

In the final installment of our series Teens in America, what it sounds like for the family of one 17-year-old to confront White privilege and racism.

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With Thanksgiving coming up this week, a lot of us might be feeling anxious about seeing relatives we may not have seen in a while, especially if we don’t always see eye to eye with them. We might be bracing for some awkward conversations or even some intense debates around politics or what we’ve been seeing on the news.

Iris Santalucia can relate to that. In the final installment of our series Teens in America, we listen in as the 17-year-old New York City native has a tough conversation with her parents about the role White privilege plays in their family. 

Iris’s mother is White. Her father is Latino and has often felt targeted by police because of his race. Although her mother says she knows people of color are sometimes profiled, she doesn’t believe her husband is among them. Iris sees White privilege as one element in her parents’ dynamic and confronts her mother about it on tape. 

This series is produced in collaboration with YR Media, a nonprofit media, music and technology incubator. For more stories in this series, visit wapo.st/teens. 

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. Right now you can get a subscription to The Post for just 99 cents every four weeks. And you can give a full year as a gift for just $9.99. Go to www.washingtonpost.com/subscribe. It's the best deal we’ve ever offered and it's only happening for a few days.

Today on “Post Reports,” a conversation with Anthony S. Fauci: We cover why you should get a booster, how you can gather safely with family over the holidays, and how Fauci feels about having his job — and science — politicized. 

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Anthony S. Fauci has become a familiar voice for many Americans during the pandemic. As a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus task force and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he led the country through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and continues to guide the U.S. response. Ahead of the holidays, we spoke to Fauci about how to gather with friends and family safely. “If people are vaccinated, then they should feel good and safe about enjoying, in their own homes, a typical Thanksgiving meal,” Fauci said. 

However, Fauci does recommend a level of caution, especially if you’re going out or gathering with family and friends who might be unvaccinated. 

We also spoke to Fauci about the toll that it’s taken on him to be a public figure at a time when science and public health are increasingly politicized. 

“What kind of society [is it] in which you have a public servant, who’s not a political person, who the only thing he’s saying is he wants people to get vaccinated [...] and for that his life gets threatened, his wife and his children get harassed and threatened?” Fauci said. “To me, it's an assault on me. But it is also an assault on science in general.”

He cautioned that this assault on science is “very threatening to the foundation of our society.”

Reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb has been covering a recent wave of death threats sent to Fauci. 

“Throughout the pandemic,” Abutaleb said, “we've seen public health officials resign at alarming rates because of the burnout and the hostility that's been directed toward them.” 

Fauci and his office have been swamped by so many angry messages and threats that in late October, his assistant quit answering the phone for two weeks. Just as he and the Biden administration were preparing for the campaign to vaccinate young children, our colleagues reported, he got 3,600 calls in 36 hours. 

“A lot of people just don't want to follow the public health guidelines that we've had to during this pandemic,” Abutaleb said.“They've been difficult. And I think they take out that anger and resentment out on the health officials who are telling them what they should do.”

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. Right now you can get a subscription to The Post for just 99-cents every four weeks. And you can give a full year as a gift for just 9-dollars and 99-cents. Go to www.washingtonpost.com/subscribe.