Post Reports

On this weekend’s edition of The Optimist, reporter and self-proclaimed cynic Kyle Melnick goes on a journey with a dog. We’ll talk about what he learns, and the science of how dogs make us calmer, happier – and maybe even more trusting.

If you want more optimistic content on the weekends, let us know at [email protected] and [email protected] – and check out our newsletter.

Today’s show was produced and hosted by Maggie Penman and reported by Kyle Melnick. It was edited by Allison Klein and mixed by Ted Muldoon.

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President Donald Trump spent several days this week in Asia, dining with world leaders and hammering out the details of trade agreements. The visit culminated with a face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. While both sides agreed to back off of their most aggressive trade positions, the visit was overshadowed by Trump’s directive that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing.

Back at home, the federal government shutdown has created a cliff for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, which 42 million Americans rely on for food assistance. With that benefit slated to run out at the end of October, how are Democrats and Republicans in Congress reacting?

Host Elahe Izadi speaks with White House economic policy correspondent Jacob Bogage and David J. Lynch, who covers trade for The Post. You can purchase David’s latest book, “The World's Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong (and What Would Make It Right),” here.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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Since we launched “Post Reports” almost seven years ago, our production team has had an inside joke every time we reach this time of year. We start calling the show “Ghost Reports,” in honor of Halloween. We look for the spookiest and most thematic stories happening around our newsroom. 

Today, we’re bringing you just such an episode. It’s a personal ghost story from Washington Post reporter Clarence Williams, who went to Foxcroft boarding school in Loudon Country, Virginia. Where, every Halloween, they tell the legend of Mrs. Kyle, a pre-Revolutionary spirit with unfinished business.

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Casey Means faces lawmakers on Thursday, as they vet her nomination for the nation’s top medical post: the U.S. surgeon general. Means has been a prominent critic of the medical establishment. She could soon be put in a position to change it.

Means, 38, resigned from her final year of medical residency to become a health products entrepreneur, a popular online personality with a best-selling book about “Good Energy,” and a leading figure in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Critics say she has a history of saying things in potentially misleading and scientifically inaccurate ways. In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services called Means a “world-class physician and scientist whose nomination as Surgeon General reflects her deep understanding of modern metabolic health and her fierce commitment to evidence-based care.”  

Today, host Elahe Izadi speaks with Lauren Weber, The Post’s health and science accountability reporter, about her and her colleague Rachel Roubein’s exclusive reporting on the rise of Casey Means, her financial interests, and how her collision course with the medical establishment could shake up American medicine. 

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks to Rachel Roubein, Lynh Bui, Juliet Eilperin and Alisa Shodiyev Kaff.

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As consumers are doing more shopping online, and as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been driving the price of goods up, many toy and mall brands have been struggling. But Build-a-Bear Workshop is thriving – the company’s stock has grown by nearly 1,200% over the past five years, outpacing growth by tech giants like Microsoft and Apple. 

Host Elahe Izadi speaks with retail reporter Jackie Peiser about how this toy company has managed to thrive in a challenging economic moment.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and mixed by Sean Carter and Sam Bair. 

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Former presidents usually leave the big political battles to their successors. Up until this year, that was largely the case for former president Barack Obama. In his retirement from politics, he founded an award-winning production company, wrote a memoir, and worked to cultivate new political leaders through the Obama Foundation. 

But a second Trump presidency has tested Obama and put him back in the national spotlight as the Democratic Party looks to him for answers on how to respond to Trump’s most unprecedented policies, including partisan redistricting. 

Today on “Post Reports,” host Colby Itkowitz speaks with national politics reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb about how Obama is confronting Trump and why his voice continues to hold sway over Democrats.

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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Today on “Post Reports,” Optimist reporter Maggie Penman shares the new science of aging, and a hopeful research finding that getting stronger and healthier in old age is possible for many of us – even after a health setback. 

If you want to hear more stories like this, please let us know. You can reach the whole team at [email protected] or email Maggie at [email protected].

Today’s episode was reported and produced by Maggie Penman. It was edited by Allison Klein and Ted Muldoon who also mixed the show.

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This week, construction crews knocked down the East Wing of the White House to make way for the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. This demolition surprised many in D.C., as President Donald Trump had previously said his proposed addition would not significantly alter the existing structure.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with White House reporter Dan Diamond and Dan Merica, the co-anchor of the Early Brief newsletter, about why this construction is unlikely to be derailed and what we know about the ballroom plans. And, they discuss how past comments by Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner and onetime Trump nominee Paul Ingrassia have come back to haunt them.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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One of the hottest events in San Francisco over the past couple of months was a lecture series by tech billionaire Peter Thiel – in which he preached about those he thinks are “legionnaires of the Antichrist.” Thiel has shared his Christian viewpoints publicly and is a longtime supporter of conservative politicians. But in these talks, he asserts that those who are pro-regulation are also against God. 

The lectures were off the record, but Gerrit De Vynck and other reporters at The Post obtained leaked recordings of them. Today on “Post Reports,” Gerrit shares these recordings with host Colby Itkowitz and unpacks what Thiel’s argument says about tech’s growing power and ambition during the second Trump administration.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Laura Benshoff and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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Can the Oklahoma City Thunder defend its championship? How will all the player injuries affect the dynamics in the Eastern Conference? And if fewer people are watching the games … how does the NBA grow? 

“Post Reports” tackles the important questions at the heart of this year’s NBA season, which began Tuesday. 

And we’re bringing in the experts: The Sports Moment writer Ava Wallace joins NBA reporter Ben Golliver in a special sports takeover of the show. 

Today’s episode was produced by Lucas Trevor. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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