On this encore episode of “Post Reports,” we rethink our friendships. Research shows that strong friendships are essential to a healthy life.

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Have you ever neglected your friendships for romantic love? It may be time to rethink your priorities. 

A growing body of research shows that friends are essential to a healthy life. Cultivating strong friendships may be just as important for our well-being as healthy eating habits or a good night’s sleep. Platonic love may even be more important than romantic love. 

People with strong friendships tend to have better mental health, and there may be benefits to our physical health, as well. Large social networks lower our risk of premature death more than exercise or dieting alone, research found. 

On this encore episode of “Post Reports,” Teddy Amenabar reports for the Well+Being section at The Washington Post and walks us through these findings and offers advice for how to maintain our friendships. 

Running backs used to be among the most famous — and best-paid — players in football. But the game has changed and so has their status. Today on “Post Reports,” what that means for the sport and these players — and how they might be able to change it. 

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The traditional running back has moved to the margins. The position is dangerous and injury-prone, but increasingly NFL teams are finding it makes business sense not to commit to these players long-term. 

Feeling underappreciated and underpaid, running backs have started trying to push back. 

On a recent Zoom meeting in which running backs commiserated about their shrinking market, Cleveland Browns star Nick Chubb admitted to reporters, “Right now, there’s really nothing we can do.” 

Today on “Post Reports,” sports columnist Jerry Brewer breaks it down

and tells us what could happen next. 

A grand jury has indicted former president Donald Trump for alleged crimes stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Today, what the third indictment of Trump means for the 2024 Republican front-runner.

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The four-count, 45-page indictment alleges that former president Donald Trump conspired to defraud the United States, conspired to obstruct an official proceeding and conspired against people’s rights. Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House in next year’s election, denied all wrongdoing. Special counsel Jack Smith said his office would seek a speedy trial.

Today, The Post’s Devlin Barrett breaks down the criminal charges against Trump for allegedly trying to overthrow the 2020 election. And, what this means as Trump continues to run for president in 2024.

Today on “Post Reports,” we follow up with Brooke and Billy High, two teenagers compelled into parenthood by the Texas abortion ban. Now, they’re caring for their twin daughters in a new city — and trying their best to hold it all together.

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Last summer, The Post’s abortion reporter Caroline Kitchener told the story of a teenager who wanted an abortion and ended up having twins because of the Texas abortion ban. The story — which “Post Reports” also covered — went viral. 

“The fascinating thing about that story for me was that people read it in two completely different ways,” Caroline Kitchener tells guest host Will Oremus. “You had antiabortion people saying, ‘This is wonderful. There are two babies in the world. Their parents love them. They got married. He’s joining the military,’ … kind of holding them up as poster children for what an abortion ban can do. But on the other side, you had abortion rights advocates saying, ‘This is a tragedy. She dropped out of school, this ambitious young woman; her life in so many ways is just so much more difficult.’”

In today's episode of “Post Reports,” Caroline catches up with Brooke and her now-husband Billy as the two 19 year-olds try to make marriage and parenthood work.

Today on “Post Reports,” we explore the controversy around Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” – and how the song landed near the top of the charts. Critics say its new music video is full of coded threats against Black people.

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Country music star Jason Aldean is facing immense backlash over “Try That in a Small Town,” which soared in popularity even as the music video was pulled from Country Music Television amid the controversy. While Aldean is defending the video onstage and on social media, it was quietly edited to remove images of a Black Lives Matter protest after critics accused the song of containing coded threats against Black people. Aldean’s label said the video was edited for copyright reasons but did not elaborate.

The Post’s Herb Scribner explains how the controversy has fueled the song’s popularity.

This year, Mississippi banned transgender young people, such as Ray, from accessing hormones or other gender-transition treatments. Nearly half the country has since passed similar bills, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

Across the country, families are doing everything they can to protect their trans children. Some uprooted their lives in red states for the promise of protections in blue ones. Others filed lawsuits. Katie, Ray’s mother, couldn’t afford to move, and she needed a solution faster than the courts could offer, so she’d settled on a cheaper, quicker plan: She’d take a day off from her nursing job, and she and Ray would travel out of state for his medical care.

This story is the third in 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 Casey Parks of The Washington Post and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles.  

Some parents are using tracking devices meant for keys to keep tabs on kids too young for smartphones. 

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Apple AirTags are not meant to track your kids. But that’s exactly how some parents are using them. In backpacks, on wristbands, they are making it so parents worried about introducing their children to a smartphone can access their child’s location in case something goes wrong.

And AirTags aren’t the only tech marketed toward the fear of parents. There are flip phones, watches and other devices marketed specifically for making sure your child is accounted for. 

Technology reporter Heather Kelly wanted to look into this as her own son heads into the fourth grade and searches for more independence. She’ll uncover how the tech works, its pitfalls and the ethics of tracking your children.

What happens when doctors push misinformation, jeopardizing patients’ lives? Today we dig into a months-long Post investigation into a system that appears ill-equipped to respond, and what that means for patients who suffered the health consequences.

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When Margret Murphy’s long-time doctor’s office told her to stop wearing a mask at her appointments during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting masking could be the cause of her high blood pressure, she left the practice and went elsewhere. 

But the doctor's actions shocked health reporter Lena Sun.  Sun – along with our colleague Lauren Weber – looked into how often this kind of bad medical advice was being given in doctors’ offices, and what, if any, consequences doctors faced.

“Doctors are among the most trusted people that we know,” Sun says. “They're up there on the pedestal. And so when they spread misinformation, it is triply damaging.” 

Yet, as this investigation found, doctors who prescribed misinformation rarely faced punishment.

A political crisis has swept Israel. Amid massive protests, lawmakers in parliament voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government actions, weakening the judiciary. Who’s driving it?

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On Monday, Israel’s lawmakers voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to block government actions. Tens of thousands of people marched in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv after the vote, with protesters worrying about the step back from democracy after the important check on executive power was voted out by a far-right coalition. 

Jerusalem Bureau Chief Steve Hendrix explains Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's uncertain role in the judicial overhaul, the history of the far right in Israel, and how this reform prompted thousands of Israelis to take to the streets. 

Moms for Liberty is a conservative parental rights organization that is increasingly influencing the policies of the Republican Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called it an extremist group.

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A few weeks ago, conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty held a summit in Philadelphia. At the summit, the group rallied against sexual education, critical race theory and public health mandates — all topics its members believe public schools are teaching to “indoctrinate” their children. 

A few weeks before the summit, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated Moms for Liberty as an extremist group that spreads “messages of anti-inclusion and hate.” Still, GOP presidential candidates are giving their stamp of approval to the group: Presidential hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump all gave speeches at the summit.

Today, campaign reporter Hannah Knowles takes us inside the Moms for Liberty summit and explains how the group is influencing Republican Party politics.