Post Reports

Every minute of your morning counts. Host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories of the day, with the reporting and insight of The Washington Post. Get caught up in just a few minutes every weekday at 7 a.m. Launches Nov. 14. 

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In a campaign season filled with critical races, Republican Kari Lake’s bid to be the next governor of Arizona stands out. Reporter Ruby Cramer joins us to discuss Lake’s candidacy, and why some think she represents the future of the GOP.

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National political enterprise reporter Ruby Cramer wrote about what it’s like to watch Lake on the campaign trail. 

The war in Ukraine may be thousands of miles away from Ohio. But because of the state’s large Ukrainian population, the war could determine who wins the state’s open Senate seat: isolationist Republican J.D. Vance or Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.

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Republican J.D. Vance and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan are in a tight race over an open Senate seat in Ohio, a state Donald Trump carried in 2020. While both candidates have talked plenty about domestic matters, there is one issue that could swing the race: what America’s role in the war in Ukraine should be. 

Ohio has a large population of people descended from Eastern Europe. One small city — Parma — is home to the largest community of Ukrainian Americans in the state. While these voters often support conservatives, Vance’s opposition to providing more aid to Ukraine in the war with Russia has caused many of them to reconsider.  

Reporter Cara McGoogan joins us on “Post Reports” to discuss what she learned when she spoke to voters in Ohio.

Today on “Post Reports,” why RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — is overwhelming children’s hospitals, and what parents can do to keep their children safe.

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Children’s hospitals are under strain as they care for unusually high numbers of kids infected with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. RSV, a common cause of cold-like symptoms, started surging in late summer, months before its typical season. This surge in RSV comes as the flu is sending a record number of people to the hospital this early in the season, along with continued covid-19 cases. Health reporter Fenit Nirappil on how RSV is affecting children across the country, and what parents should look out for as we move into winter virus season.

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about mortgage rates, which are the highest they’ve been in two decades – what that means for the housing market, and why it could make housing costs even higher for renters and buyers alike – at least in the short term.

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Mortgage rates topped 7 percent this week, the highest level in 20 years — and the latest sign that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive moves to slow the broader economy are hitting the housing market hard already. Fed reporter Rachel Siegel breaks down what this means with our guest host, national security reporter Shane Harris.

Rishi Sunak is Britain’s new prime minister – the third one in two months. He’s also the first person of color to lead the country. But will he really be a departure from his predecessors?

Read foreign affairs columnist thoughts on Britain having its first leader of South Asian descent.

What data from the “nation’s report card” shows about how students progressed during the pandemic — and why people like Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are calling the results “appalling and unacceptable.”

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This week the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “nation’s report card,” was released for the first time since 2019. Widely considered to be the most comprehensive look at how students are progressing academically, it showed that during the pandemic students across the country fell behind dramatically in math and reading. Education reporter Laura Meckler reports on what the data means and what educators and parents can do to counteract the learning loss. 

Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz are in a tight Senate race in purple Pennsylvania. The stakes are high as the nation waits to see if Democrats can flip this seat.

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On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will vote for their next senator – Republican Mehmet Oz, the TV personality, or Democrat John Fetterman, the state’s Lieutenant Governor.

Many believe that this seat is the best chance for Democrats to maintain a majority in the Senate. So what do we know about Senate hopeful John Fetterman? Who is the man behind the social media campaigns and the stroke survival story?

Only 2 percent of sperm donors in the United States are Black. This, in turn, leaves many aspiring Black parents with an agonizing choice: choose a donor of another race or try to buy sperm from unregulated apps and online groups. 

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Post reporter Amber Ferguson has spent months reporting on why so few Black men donate sperm. She found that the reasons for the shortage are myriad: failure of sperm banks to recruit Black donors; a selection process that demands a three-generation medical history and excludes donors with felony convictions; mistrust of the medical profession by Black men because of a legacy of historical discrimination. The result is a severe shortage, and intense competition for Black men’s sperm.

“If it's a White woman, she could just so easily get a sperm donor,” Ferguson says. “And if it doesn't work, she can get another one. She can get another one. For a Black woman, if she is lucky enough to find a Black donor, it's really maybe one of her only chances.”

For Black gay men who want to donate sperm, there are even more restrictions.

Today on “Post Reports,” why White people in the U.S. are now more likely to die of covid than Black Americans. 

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The imbalance in death rates among the nation’s racial and ethnic groups has been a defining part of the pandemic since the start. Early in the crisis, Black people died at higher rates than White people. But at the end of last year, the racial disparity in covid deaths vanished. Now, White people are more likely to die of covid than Black people. Reporter Akilah Johnson breaks down the complex, historic forces that brought us here and what this means for the future.

And, you may have heard the news about the resignation of United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss. Truss lasted 44 days, making her the nation’s shortest-serving prime minister in 300 years. Our colleagues in London are bringing you the latest news of what could happen next - and you can find their reporting on washingtonpost.com. 

We also had an episode earlier this month about the eroding faith in the new prime minister – it’s called “In Truss, the UK doesn’t trust.” It’s a great explainer of who she is and how her proposals weakened the country’s already struggling economy. You can listen to it here.