Reasonably Optimistic

As trust in institutions plummets and many people search for shared values, what is the state of American identity? This bonus "Impromptu" episode features a live discussion between Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Jason Willick and the hosts of "Post Reports" Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi about the importance of identity in a changing world.

For more from our colleagues in the newsroom, listen to "Post Reports," a daily afternoon podcast, where you can hear deep dives into the biggest and most important stories of the day.

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The WNBA season began this week following a college tournament where the women were more popular than the men. Is this shift about more than Caitlin Clark and the fantastic players in basketball right now? Sports columnist Sally Jenkins joins Opinions columnists Theodore Johnson and Amanda Ripley to talk about what athletes have done for the women’s movement and whether the women’s game can avoid some of the pitfalls that have plagued men’s sports. 

Read more from our columnists about what they discussed in this episode.

Sally Jenkins: “Title IX showed generations of women what was possible” and “Caitlin Clark is coming, and the WNBA better get ready for her”

Theodore R. Johnson: “Healing medicine for a fractured nation? College basketball.”

When asked about their religious affiliation, nearly 30 percent of Americans identify as “nones,” or “nothing in particular.” And over the past 25 years there’s been a steep decline in people belonging to any type of church, synagogue or mosque. But what is lost as people drift from religion? Is it at all responsible for today’s loneliness crisis?

Read more from our columnists about what they discussed in the episode.

Perry Bacon: “I used to be a Christian. Now I miss church.”

Kate Cohen: “How atheists can fix a broken America” and “Go back to church! (Or something like it.)” 

Shadi Hamid: “The dilemmas of living in a post-religious world.”

Campus protests across the country have renewed Americans' attention on the Israel-Gaza war and are scrambling U.S. politics, particularly on the left. Senior Opinions Editor Amanda Katz speaks with columnists Dana Milbank and Shadi Hamid about how their views have evolved since Oct. 7, whether there’s a double standard on free speech, and what the protests could foreshadow for the upcoming presidential election, particularly among young people.

(Note: This episode was recorded Monday, April 29 and does not reference events that took place after)

Read some of the columns referenced in this episode. Dana Milbank wrote on what it felt like for him in the weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks: “It’s a lonely time to be a Jew in America” 

Shadi Hamid wrote about the recent Israeli aid bill and some Democrats’ changing views: “Why it matters that some Democrats voted against aid for Israel”

The Supreme Court is set to decide to what extent former President Trump could be immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, as his lawyers have claimed. Post Opinions columnists Charles Lane, Ruth Marcus and Jason Willick discuss the strategy and timing of these arguments and what we might expect the justices to decide in this showdown about the future boundaries of presidential authority.

Read Ruth Marcus on why she thinks this case is “simultaneously bogus and important.”: “How the Supreme Court should rule on presidential immunity.” And here’s her column on what she sees as the Trump team’s delay tactics: “How Trump could win by losing, and delay his trial date.”

Check out Jason Willick’s column where he describes the “nightmare scenarios” that dominate this debate: “Trump’s immunity claim at the Supreme Court deserves to fail, as does his Jan. 6 prosecution.” Here’s more on his thoughts about how this case has been prosecuted: “Special counsel Jack Smith has exposed his error in prosecuting Trump.”

Some women are retreating to stereotypical, retro gender roles that embrace the patriarchy. Known as “tradwives,” they are all over TikTok. Style columnist Monica Hesse, letters and community editor Alyssa Rosenberg and senior editor for Opinions Amanda Katz discuss how this trend exposes a continued struggle over equality for men and women in modern society.

Read Monica Hesse’s column: Tradwives, stay-at-home girlfriends and the dream of feminine leisure

Read the Cut article that kicked off a lot of recent controversy over #TradWives: The Case for Marrying an Older Man

America is entering a grueling presidential election season that’s also a rematch of the one from four years ago. Many Americans report feeling dread and exhaustion about politics and the news. So how do we stay engaged? What can journalists do to help? Three of our columnists talk through it.

Read Amanda Ripley’s deep dive crowdsourcing a playbook for election-year sanity: How to survive another Trump-Biden election

And we want to hear your strategies too! Let us know how you plan to make it through this election year. Are there things you are doing differently to manage stress, preserve relationships and feel like you are making a difference? Tell us here. 

Read Perry Bacon’s latest on voters of color shifting right: More voters of color are backing the GOP. Should Democrats panic?

And check out Jim Geraghty writing about why we all need to stop pretending this election is normal: Welcome, Democrats, to the 'abnormal is the new normal' charade

Post columnists David Ignatius and Jim Geraghty just returned from Ukraine. They detail the mood on the ground, how much U.S. aid actually matters and whether the war seems winnable. Plus, Ignatius talks about his meeting with President Zelensky.

Read David Ignatius’s interview with President Zelensky: Zelensky: ‘We are trying to find some way not to retreat’

Read Jim Geraghty’s latest columns from Kyiv: 

Ukrainians have a message for Mike Johnson

How Russians are joining the fight against Putin

The Biden administration wants America to transition to electric cars. Last week, the EPA announced a rule requiring more than two-thirds of new vehicles be electric or plug-in hybrid by 2032. This comes on top of pouring federal money into tax credits and developing charging infrastructure. But there are still bumps on the road to an electric-vehicle America. Charles Lane, Catherine Rampell and Megan McArdle talk about how to navigate them.

Read Megan McArdle’s latest column on EVs: The best way to get everyone into electric cars? Hint: It's not a mandate. 

Catherine Rampell wrote this month about everything packed into the Inflation Reduction Act, including EV tax credits: Biden should fight climate change, not trade wars

Read Charles Lane on the hard choices needed for an electric future: Electric vehicles won’t fix our carbon dilemma without some hard choices along the way 

Further reading:

Electric Cars Are Coming. How Long Until They Rule the Road?

Unsold EVs are piling up at car dealerships. What does that mean for the auto industry?

Gasoline Superusers

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade back in 2022, it indicated that abortion was an issue to be relegated to the states. Instead, it has blown up American politics, firing up voters and leading to conflicting lower court rulings. Post columnists Ruth Marcus, Alexandra Petri and Amanda Ripley discuss how it feels to be a woman in the post-Dobbs world and what’s at stake when abortion returns to the Supreme Court this term as the justices hear a case on access to mifepristone. 

Ruth Marcus: Even after abortion pill ruling, reproductive rights remain in the balance

Alexandra Petri: I don’t know how to write about all that hasn’t happened since the fall of Roe