Post Reports

Cardinals will gather on Wednesday for the highly secretive process of choosing a new pope, following the death of Pope Francis in late April.

In the film “Conclave,” Ralph Fiennes plays a Catholic cardinal presiding over the election of a new pope. In real life, that task falls to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a possible front-runner among papal candidates at this week’s conclave at the Vatican.

But how accurately does the Oscar-nominated “Conclave” match an actual conclave — the process of electing a pope that will begin May 7? 

Today on “Post Reports,” style reporter Shane O’Neill joins host Colby Itkowitz to parse fact from fiction. 

Today’s episode was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Ariel Plotnick and Peter Bresnan. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Lucy Perkins. Thanks to Carla Spartos. 

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Since February, thousands have attended political rallies helmed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), deemed the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Political events with crowds like this don’t have much precedent outside of a presidential campaign. But Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are hoping to harness anger over the policies of the second Trump administration to push the Democratic Party to support their progressive policies.

Host Colby Itkowitz travels to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to speak with rallygoers and to sit down with Sanders for an interview. 

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff with help from Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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In early 2023, Sean Combs — otherwise known as Diddy, Puff Daddy, Love — seemed to be on top of the world. He had a long career as a successful music producer and businessman, and he received multiple honors for his work — even getting a key to the city of New York from its mayor. But that fall, everything changed when his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he’d sexually abused and sex trafficked her throughout their decade-long relationship. 

This opened the floodgates. Dozens of other alleged victims came forward, and soon Combs found himself at the center of a federal investigation into his businesses. After arresting him in September 2024, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment that Combs used his business to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery. He’s now awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail.

For the next month on “Post Reports,” we’re going to be following Combs’s trial, which starts Monday. You’ll hear regularly from reporter Anne Branigin, who’s been closely following this story since Cassie filed her lawsuit, as well as other Washington Post journalists from the Style and Audio teams. On today’s episode, Branigin describes how the Combs rose to fame and power, and what he is now being accused of. 

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Reena Flores and Carla Spartos and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Maggie Penman, Lucas Trevor, Amanda Finnegan and Renita Jablonski. The episode also features Janay Kingsberry and Helena Andrews-Dyer, reporters for the Style section of The Post. Geoff Edgers contributed to this report.

Follow our coverage of the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on Spotify here.

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President Donald Trump’s second term started with a record-breaking pace of executive actions. Today, senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with White House reporter Natalie Allison and national reporter Maeve Reston about Trump’s 100-day record and how the American public feels about some of his signature actions so far. They also discuss Trump’s decision to switch out national security adviser Michael Waltz, and some early and very different recent maneuvers from some ambitious Democrats who could lead the party into the 2028 election – including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Laura Benshoff.

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On April 30, 1975, the Vietnam War came to an end, as North Vietnamese closed in on the South Vietnamese capital and thousands of American personnel frantically evacuated. 

The war left a devastating legacy: More than 3 million Vietnamese died and more than 58,000 U.S. troops were killed. The remains of more than 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers and 1,200 U.S. service members are still missing. 

Over the past five decades, there has been a delicate progress toward peace and reconciliation between the countries, facilitated by trade, U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Under President Donald Trump, that’s all being unraveled. 

On today’s show, South East Asia Bureau chief Rebecca Tan shares her reporting from Vietnam on the painful legacies of the war and how U.S.-Vietnam relations are suddenly faltering.  

This episode was produced by Elana Gordon, and mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Lucy Perkins with help from Peter Finn and Maggie Penman. Thank you to Emma Talkoff. 

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On May 2, the United States will start charging import fees, also known as tariffs, on small-dollar shipments from China. Those fees fundamentally alter the business model of companies like Shein and Temu, which ship low-cost goods and garments directly from factories in China to consumers.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Washington Post fashion critic Rachel Tashjian to understand what these changes will mean for shoppers and gets advice for how to shop for better quality clothes on any budget.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sam Bair. 

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and border czar Tom Homan held a briefing Monday to tout the Trump administration’s record on immigration. There, reporters asked about the recent deportation of three U.S. citizen children. 

According to recent polls, Trump is increasingly losing support for his hard-line approach to immigration enforcement. Co-host Colby Itkowitz talks to White House reporter Marianne LeVine about what the first 100 days of Trump’s immigration policies add up to – and what we could expect next.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Ariel Plotnick. It was mixed by Sean Carter. Thank you to Christine Armario. 

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Lisa Singh has spent the past six months working overnight on the subway platforms of New York, where homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction and crime had been unfolding as overlapping crises. Since Lisa had taken the job, a woman died after being lit on fire on an F train at Coney Island, a man was pushed into the path of an oncoming train in Manhattan, and other riders were shoved, punched and stabbed in unprovoked attacks.

Before this work, Lisa had spent years as a nurse in a psychiatric emergency room, so she knew how difficult it could be to treat schizophrenic or bipolar patients who couldn’t always advocate for themselves. Now, she has the power to order involuntary removals of people with mental illness and hospitalize them for up to 72 hours, and she can use the orders at her discretion to remove mentally ill people who cannot meet their basic needs — even if they aren’t acting dangerously toward others.

This story follows Lisa through several shifts in the New York City subway. The piece was reported, written and read by Ruby Cramer. Audio production and original music by Bishop Sand.

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Senior politics reporter Aaron Blake talks with The Washington Post’s chief correspondent covering national politics, Dan Balz, and national security reporter Abigail Hauslohner about new reporting this week about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

Hegseth’s continued use of Signal, an unclassified messaging app, to share highly sensitive information has roiled the agency he oversees. They also unpack new polling that shows warning signs for Trump: public support for his legally dubious immigration policies have turned negative. 

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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David Hogg began his journey as a political activist after surviving the Parkland school shooting in 2018. Today, he’s a leader in the Democratic National Committee and co-founder of a group called Leaders We Deserve, which focuses on electing young, progressive candidates. The group’s recent announcement that it would spend $20 million to challenge Democratic incumbents in safe seats has stoked controversy within the party – even prompting DNC Chair Ken Martin to propose a rule change that would force Hogg to choose between his two roles. 

Today, Colby Itkowitz speaks with Hogg about why Democrats' popularity is cratering and how he thinks primarying established Democrats will strengthen the party.

This show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Sam Bair, who also mixed the episode. It was edited by Reena Flores and Maggie Penman. And special thanks for the video production to Daniel Mich, David Bruns, Justin Scuiletti, Peter Stevenson and Billy Tucker. Watch Hogg’s interview with us on YouTube here.