Post Reports

Congress and President Biden have five weeks to strike a deal on raising the debt ceiling, according to a new projection from the Treasury Department. Otherwise, the country will need to brace for an economic catastrophe. The problem? Neither side is willing to compromise. 

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have agreed to meet next week, but both have also insisted they are unwilling to negotiate, stoking fears that the government may miss this critical deadline. 

Tony Romm joins “Post Reports” to explain. 

Read more:

• Biden seeks debt ceiling talks, as U.S. faces possible June 1 default
• Here’s what’s in the House GOP bill to raise debt limit, cut spending
• With debt bill adopted, far-right House Republicans ready for fiscal war

Join “Post Reports” on a journey through the Kutupalong mega camp in Bangladesh. It’s home to about a million Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar only to face growing militant threats from within the camp. 

The Kutupalong encampment has become increasingly difficult for visitors to access. Armed guards man the entrance. Documentation to enter is hard to come by. But earlier this year, Rebecca Tan, The Post’s Southeast Asia bureau chief, spent two weeks inside. She discovered deteriorating conditions, frightened refugees with nowhere else to go and a desperation fueling the growth of violent Rohingya groups inside the camps. 

In today’s episode, Rebecca takes us into the lives of a Rohingya community that much of the world keeps forgetting. And she uncovers the story of one man, Mohammad Ismail, who, despite the dangers of coming forward, has been fighting for his family and for his people’s survival. 

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The Rohingya fled genocide. Now, violence stalks them as refugees.

Aid dwindles for Rohingya refugees as money goes to Ukraine and other crises.

Rohingya refugees are braving perilous seas to escape camp desperation.

Fire rips through Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, displacing 12,000.

On today’s bonus episode of “Post Reports,” a conversation between our senior host Martine Powers and the author Curtis Sittenfeld about her new book, “Romantic Comedy.” 

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This month, Martine spoke with Curtis Sittenfeld in front of a live audience at D.C.’s Sixth & I synagogue, in partnership with Politics & Prose. 

Learn more about “Romantic Comedy” here.

“Who Is Hillary Without Bill?” In her previous book, novelist Curtis Sittenfeld imagines another life for Hillary Rodham.

Today on “Post Reports,” how artificial intelligence can re-create voices that may have otherwise been lost to disease.

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When Mark Dyer was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) last year, he started on a difficult checklist. He got his will in order; he got set up to receive Social Security and disability benefits. But of all the things Mark had to do to get ready for life with ALS, there was one thing he found himself putting off: voice- and phrase-banking. 

These technologies allow people with ALS, who may eventually lose the ability to speak, to communicate using a recorded, synthetic version of their own voice. And artificial intelligence is allowing ALS patients to sound more like themselves. 

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to reporter Amanda Morris about the technology that preserves voices that would otherwise be lost to disease. We explore what improvements to this technology mean for the mental health of the patients using synthetic voices.

“We often talk about artificial intelligence in a negative way,” Morris says. “But what I thought was interesting about this story is that we look at some of the positive impacts that artificial intelligence is having on people who have different conditions and disabilities. And, sometimes I think it’s nice to tell a good story.” 

After an ongoing medical absence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is being called on by her colleagues to resign. Today, why Feinstein is in the hot seat and what this moment could mean for the trailblazer’s legacy.

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In early March, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was hospitalized with a case of the shingles. Since then, she’s been absent from her job, and her Democratic colleagues have been calling on her to resign. As the tie-breaking vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Feinstein’s absence has stalled President Biden’s judicial nominations from moving forward. 

Cue the outrage. 

In a tweet last week, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) publicly called out Feinstein’s refusal to resign as irresponsible at a time when Republican-appointed judges are calling the shots on significant legislation across the country.

Congress reporter Liz Goodwin walks us through the Democratic infighting over Feinstein’s absence. We trace the discontent with Feinstein to its partisan origins, discuss wider concerns about her age and mental acuity, and grapple with what this moment could mean for Feinstein’s legacy as a trailblazing female lawmaker.

The Wagner Group is a name that seems to be coming up a lot lately, whether it’s in connection with the war in Ukraine or the fighting in Sudan. Today on “Post Reports,” reporter Greg Miller unpacks the origins of this mercenary network and its growth fueling instability around the world.

The Wagner Group operated in the shadows for years, its network of mercenary forces aiding the Russian government in military operations in places such as Ukraine. 

In the time since, the Wagner Group has expanded and morphed well-beyond Russia’s borders, fueling instability and helping autocrats maintain or challenge power through disinformation campaigns and building up their military.

But according to newly leaked U.S. intelligence documents, the Wagner Group is becoming even more “nefarious,” Greg Miller, an international investigative reporter, tells “Post Reports.”

“It's actually trying to destabilize parts of Africa so that then it can again back Russia’s preferred and favored candidates,” as it seeks to further gain wealth and resources of its own, Miller explains. 

Read more:

Wagner Group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals.

Russian mercenaries are closely linked with Sudan’s warring generals. 

What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit in Ukraine? 

Here we go again: President Biden has just announced his 2024 reelection bid. But has his time in the White House actually convinced voters to give him another four years? Or are even his supporters turning “blah” for Biden?   

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The video starts out dramatically. Images of the Capitol under attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Grainy footage of a protest on the grounds of the Supreme Court. A musical score to rival a Marvel superhero movie. 

And then President Biden’s voice, announcing his 2024 campaign: “Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to us as Americans. That’s been the work of my first term. To fight for our democracy,” he says, music soaring under the voice-over of the launch video. “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection.” 

But as the campaign tries to ratchet up excitement for the president’s reelection bid, the roadblocks to another four years are also mounting. Rising inflation. Stagnant legislative attempts. And, maybe most importantly, an enthusiasm gap from voters — even the people who supported Biden in 2020.

White House reporter Tyler Pager joins “Post Reports” to give a snapshot of the country — and a president — in the run-up to 2024.  

The new live-action Barbie movie is highly anticipated … among adults. Today on “Post Reports,” we unpack the business decisions behind Mattel’s move.

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Can nostalgia make the Barbie movie a win for Mattel? A few weeks ago, Warner Bros. dropped a full-length trailer for the highly anticipated film from Greta Gerwig and her co-writer and partner Noah Baumbach. 

Since the trailer dropped, it has gone viral – among young adults – making business reporter Rachel Lerman wonder why a toy-maker is making a movie for grown-ups. 

Rachel talked to industry analysts and Barbie fans about Mattel’s strategy and what this movie can tell us about the cultural moment we’re in.

Missing people, buried car parts and human remains in Oklahoma: the silent but not so secret influence of white-supremacist prison gangs.

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Carol Knight thought she was going to build her dream home in Choctaw, Okla. But when she started renovations, she discovered all kinds of debris buried on her property. Everything from electronics to car parts and motorcycles. 

Carol had heard rumors that the previous residents weren’t the most upstanding citizens, so she called her friend Jathan Hunt, a private investigator, to check out the area. His dogs found some bones, which they handed over to authorities. But Jathan continued to search for answers about what may have happened at Carol’s property.

While Jathan was busy working the case, local, state and federal authorities have been looking into a slew of missing person cases in the area. Which led them to a compound with potential ties to a white-supremacist prison gang, the Universal Aryan Brotherhood. 

Post reporter Hannah Allam has been following the developments in Oklahoma and tells us what she’s learned about this secretive investigation. 

Disney has planned out the next decade of Marvel and Star Wars films, but are audiences still willing to keep up with all its content, or is fatigue setting in? 

When Disney bought Star Wars and Marvel for a total $8.05 billion, it made a big bet that audiences would consistently keep up with the interconnected storylines that span movies, television shows and video games. 

But while the franchises remain relatively successful, there are signs that audiences are starting to feel fatigue. Marvel’s most recent film, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” was panned, Star Wars fans criticized the most recent trilogy of films, and Disney CEO Bob Iger recently said it may be time for the company to reconsider its investments in the two franchises. 

David Betancourt, who reports on comic book culture for The Post, joins us to explain. 

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Read more:

• How will Marvel Studios bounce back from its wave of bad news?
• It’s time for Star Wars fans to get excited about movies again