Post Reports

The president is taking steps to safeguard abortion access, even as some lawmakers are talking about blocking patients from seeking the procedure across state lines. Today on “Post Reports,” we explore abortion’s next legal battleground.Read more:Two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection to abortion in the United States, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at safeguarding abortion rights. This includes measures to ensure access to abortion medication and emergency contraception, protecting patient privacy, and bolstering legal options for those seeking access to such care.These measures will potentially help people who already face obstacles to getting an abortion. But they’re also a defense against new laws that could be coming in antiabortion states. Some antiabortion lawmakers are looking to prevent people from traveling to other states to obtain abortions. Caroline Kitchener brings us behind the scenes with some of the key players in the interstate legal fight.

It’s official: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned. We review the scandals that led Johnson here and try to understand what happens next for his party. Then we discuss WNBA star Brittney Griner’s guilty plea and why it’s not surprising.Read more:After a week of government resignations, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the leader of the Conservative Party.The calls for Johnson to resign came after the discovery that the prime minister had promoted a lawmaker to a position of power, despite knowing of accusations of sexual misconduct against the appointee. After a long string of scandals throughout Johnson’s term, cabinet members said they could no longer trust the prime minister. So we asked London bureau chief William Booth: Where does this leave the future of the British government? Later in the show, Dave Sheinin, a sports reporter for The Post, breaks down the guilty plea of WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner, who remains detained in Russia on a drug charge, submitted the plea in court Thursday. Meanwhile, pressure mounts on the Biden administration to make larger strides to get her back to the United States.

Many of those who are covering the war in Ukraine also call it home. Today on Post Reports, the story of a reporting trip to Chernihiv that also became a rescue mission for one of our colleagues. Read more:As the battle for the east of Ukraine intensifies, we take you to a city north of Kyiv that survived weeks of Russian siege. It also happens to be the hometown of Kostiantyn Khudov, a Ukrainian journalist who has been working for The Post since before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February. The relationship between foreign and local journalists is a crucial one — as Kostiantyn and The Post’s Siobhán O’Grady explain, it allows the world to see what’s happening in cities like Chernihiv. Today we go there with Siobhan and Kostiantyn, and learn what it’s like to cover a war so close to home.

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about the chaos and terror at July Fourth celebrations over the holiday weekend. Then, we break down a big decision point for the Justice Department on whether to seek the death penalty in another recent mass shooting. Read more:In Highland Park, Ill., a holiday parade became a scene of horror as a gunman opened fire on the crowd. At other celebrations in cities nationwide, the booming sounds of fireworks were apparently mistaken for gunshots, sending scores of revelers fleeing for cover. “I think a big piece of what we saw on Monday is this loss of trust over the last several years,” reporter Marc Fisher said.The rise of mass shootings in America has brought up so many complicated and sad questions: How are we supposed to live in a society where we have to be so fearful? What will it take to prevent these shootings from happening? And how do we punish the people who perpetrate unthinkable acts of violence?Today, we are diving into that last question, in an interview with our colleague David Nakamura. In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Buffalo, the Biden administration must decide whether to pursue the death penalty for the 18-year-old suspect. When he visited Buffalo last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland assured survivors and victims’ families that a full investigation was taking place. It’s a “death penalty eligible crime,” Garland said in a news conference. But this Justice Department is conflicted — civil rights advocates have long opposed capital punishment, saying that it is inhumane and disproportionately used against racial minorities.

Gas prices are high, unemployment is low and the tools the federal government has to fight inflation could cause a recession. So how should we think about the economy right now? We asked our econ reporters and a personal finance columnist for advice. Read more:Businesses and consumers are increasingly worried the U.S. economy will tip into a recession. There are already growing signs that Americans are starting to spend less on dining out, vacation plans and even such routine services as manicures and haircuts. Today on “Post Reports,” we take some of your questions about the economy, and get answers from economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai, personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary and reporter Rachel Siegel, who covers the Federal Reserve.

Doctors are worried gray areas in new abortion bans force a choice between breaking their oath and breaking the law. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to an OB/GYN about what those decisions are like. Plus, how to cover your digital trail if you seek an abortion.Read more:Health and science reporter Ariana Eunjung Cha recently wrote about the fear and confusion many doctors are facing since Roe was overturned.. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) joined numerous other professional organizations and medical journals over the past few days in warning that the ruling will affect health care beyond abortion, creating new risks for patients and potentially increasing maternal mortality. We interviewed Nisha Verma, an OB/GYN in Atlanta who is also a fellow at ACOG. She talked about the gray areas these laws and restrictions don’t cover. “These laws don’t make any sense,” Verma told Elahe Izadi. While lawmakers point out that there are exceptions for the life of the pregnant person, Verma says it’s very unclear what that means. “There's not a moment in time. This line where someone goes from being completely fine to dying. It's a continuum. People get sicker and sicker. And so we have to be able to make decisions in that continuum with all of the training that we have without having to worry about whether the person was sick enough or whether we're going to get in trouble under the law,” Verma said. Also on the show, tech reporter Heather Kelly explains how to protect your privacy if you’re seeking abortion care — and why period-tracking apps are best avoided. 

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court — just after the court delivered a blow to President Biden’s climate plan. Today, we talk about the divided court and what it means for the future of our democracy.Read more:On Thursday, the Supreme Court sharply cut back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce the carbon output of existing power plants, a major setback for the Biden administration’s plans to combat climate change.The vote was 6 to 3 — like many votes were this term — with the court’s conservative supermajority voting together on blockbuster issue after issue, including gun control and abortion.“Any one of these would have been a big decision on its own,” says Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes. “The fact that there were so many of them this term is what I think has really put the Supreme Court in the public eye in a way that it hasn't been for years.”

Congress notched a major legislative win last week by passing gun control legislation. But will a recent Supreme Court ruling on a concealed-carry law blunt the victory?Read more:One day before Congress sent a landmark piece of gun legislation to President Biden’s desk, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on New York’s concealed-carry licenses that could weaken the law. Then, the morning of the bill’s passage, the Supreme Court announced another landmark decision, overturning of Roe v. Wade. Leigh Ann Caldwell, anchor for Washington Post Live and the co-author of the Early 202 politics newsletter, joins us to talk about how those two rulings affected Congress. And she explains what’s in the new gun control bill that was signed by President Biden last week, and how Republicans in the Senate came on board for a genuinely bipartisan effort.

On Tuesday in a surprise hearing, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson gave the most damning testimony to date on President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.Read more:It didn’t take long to find out why the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol chose to hold a surprise hearing on Tuesday: Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided what quickly became clear was the most damning testimony to date on President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.Reporter Aaron Blake says her testimony is particularly important when it comes to just how much Trump cultivated and even desired the insurrection itself — and whether, crucial from a legal standpoint, his effort to overturn the election was corrupt.Hutchinson stitched together repeated warnings — some involving Trump himself, including that he was warned that his Jan. 6 rallygoers had weapons — about what might happen. Despite these warnings, aides struggled to talk Trump out of a plan to march to the Capitol. And despite warnings about weapons in the crowd the morning of Jan. 6, Trump still directed people toward the Capitol in his speech.Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani had advocated for a march to the Capitol after Trump’s speech on the Ellipse. She said this prompted Meadows to worry “things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.”Follow all The Post’s coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings here.

After Brooke Alexander learned she was pregnant last August, she and then-boyfriend Billy High initially wanted an abortion. Just 18 and 17, the pair had been dating only a month. But Brooke and Billy live in Texas, where a state-wide abortion ban prohibited the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy. Brooke was too far along, and this past spring, she gave birth to twins. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade Friday, ending the constitutional right to an abortion, it set off a cascade of abortion bans and restrictions. That means that more Americans are now facing the same conundrum as Brooke and Billy. National political reporter Caroline Kitchener recently spent a week with Brooke and Billy, to see how parenthood had upended their lives in ways they couldn’t have predicted. As we navigate a world without the protections of Roe, they give us a preview of what could be in store for other people who could be pushed into parenthood. Read more:Read Caroline Kitchener’s profile of Brooke and Billy and see pictures of them and their twins here. 

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the fundamental right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. Today, we take you from a clinic in Houston to protests and celebrations outside the court, and explain what this decision means.Read more:The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was the most anticipated of the term. But while this was a stunning reversal — it wasn’t surprising. A draft of the decision was leaked in May, indicating that the majority of justices were prepared to take this drastic step. The decision has sent shock waves throughout the country, and in at least a dozen red states, trigger laws are already in place to ban virtually all abortions within 30 days. Caroline Kitchener reports from a clinic in Texas, which is one of the states where the news this morning meant abortion providers had to halt operations immediately.Meanwhile in D.C., a crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court to celebrate, or protest, in an outpouring of joy and rage. Robert Barnes, who covers the Supreme Court for The Post, explains what this moment means for decades of conservative organizing around restricting abortion, and what the justices’ opinions could tell us about what happens next.

Today on Post Reports, we follow two union fights at Amazon warehouses with very different outcomes, and what they can tell us about what it takes to go up against a trillion-dollar company.Read more:In early April, the labor movement saw a huge victory: Workers voted to unionize an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island. Our reporter Greg Jaffe went up to New York to meet Chris Smalls, the charismatic leader of a new kind of worker-led movement. Greg had one big question: Could this movement spread?There would be another test just a few weeks later, at a second Staten Island facility across the street. Despite high-profile support, the workers would learn that replicating a truly grass-roots organizing effort would be even more challenging than they thought.

Colombia has elected its first leftist president. Unthinkable a decade ago, his victory signals a dramatic shift in the pandemic-wracked region. Plus, the powerful testimony from election workers whose lives were upended by Donald Trump’s false claims. Read more:For the first time in its 200-year history, Colombia will have a leftist president: More than 50 percent of voters chose Gustavo Petro, a former guerilla fighter and mayor of Bogatá, to lead the country. Petro is one of several new left-wing leaders in Latin America, as voters kick out leaders who they feel failed them during the pandemic when inequality in the region soared. Now, Petro says he aims to work with a coalition of left-wing presidents to tackle climate change and issues affecting women and Indigenous people. We checked in with the Post’s Bogatá bureau chief, Samantha Schmidt, to talk about what this moment could mean for Latin America, and whether the United States could be taking a back seat in the region. And, yesterday’s hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol included powerful testimony from former election workers in Georgia who described how their lives were derailed after Trump targeted them.

Today on Post Reports, the rogue Google engineer who thinks the company’s AI has come to life – and the dangers of artificial intelligence that impersonates humans. Read more:Nitasha Tiku covers tech culture for The Post. Recently, she broke the story about the Google engineer who concluded his company’s chatbot generator “LaMDA” was sentient. But even as Google and outside experts disagree, this case raises questions about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence that closely mimics humans.

As the Supreme Court seems poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, we explore some of the fissures in the antiabortion movement.Read more:What does it mean to identify as “pro-life” in 2022?When Karen Swallow Prior, a longtime antiabortion activist, first heard about the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion suggesting that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, she was thrilled. But she quickly realized her feelings on the “pro-life” movement had become a lot more complicated over the decades.Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein and Post Reports producer Rennie Svirnovskiy visited with Prior as she grappled with what it means to be “pro-life.”

Fifty years ago today, five men broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, located in the posh Watergate building in D.C. Nobody knew it at the time, but the break-in was the first in a series of events that spiraled into the Watergate scandal, and eventually, the downfall of President Richard M. Nixon. For many people, their memories of this event have become encapsulated in a movie: the iconic 1976 film “All the President’s Men.” Based on the book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the film follows the pair as they dig into the break-in and crack open the scandal, tracing the source of the burglary back to the White House. Ann Hornaday, The Post’s film critic, calls the movie a metonym for Watergate — a stand-in for this entire period in history — “that from the moment it opened seemed to fuse seamlessly with private memory and collective myth.”Today, guest host and media reporter Elahe Izadi talks with Ann about what it means for a film to function in this way. And, we hear a dramatization of a deleted scene from an early draft of the screenplay, as Ann reveals that the classic we know almost didn’t exist. Read more:Film critic Ann Hornaday explains how “All the President’s Men” went from buddy flick to masterpiece in her Washington Post Magazine story.

On Wednesday, independent advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended the agency authorize coronavirus vaccines for children under 5. What this move means for families and how it will affect where we are in the pandemic.Read more:It’s finally happening: The Food and Drug Administration  seems poised to sign off on coronavirus vaccines for children younger than 5 years old. Parents are celebrating the news after waiting for approval for almost a year and a half. But why did it take so much longer for this, while adults have already had vaccines for over a year? And what does this development mean for our fight against the pandemic?Anita Patel, a critical care pediatrician at Children’s National Hospital in D.C., on why this vaccine was so delayed and how they’re developed for children, and Patel gives advice for parents who might be concerned about the vaccine.

Ten Republicans. Ten Democrats. One bipartisan gun-control deal. Could this be the last chance for any meaningful action on federal gun reform?Read More: Over the weekend, Republicans and Democrats announced a monumental agreement on addressing gun violence. They had a nine-point plan that included provisions that would prevent gun sales to a broader group of domestic violence offenders (closing what is called the “boyfriend loophole”), and criminal background checks for gun buyers under 21 would require checks of juvenile justice and mental health records. A federal grant program would also encourage states to implement red-flag laws.Leigh Ann Caldwell, who covers Congress and also writes The Post’s Early 202 newsletter on politics, explains the policy proposals in the Senate framework. She shares the political calculations that led to this rare bipartisan moment and what the future could hold for more legislation on guns.

Today on Post Reports, the GOP candidates spreading the so-called “big lie,” and how the Jan. 6 committee hopes to educate Americans about what really happened. Plus, the United States has sent weapons to Ukraine — but now the troops need tech support. Read more:J.R. Majewski marched to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and tweeted a photo with the caption: “It’s going down on 1/6.” Last month, he won the Republican nomination in an Ohio congressional district along Lake Erie.A Washington Post analysis found that across the country, more than 100 GOP primary winners back Trump’s false election claims. As many Americans are tuning in to watch the Jan. 6 committee hearings on Capitol Hill this week, where even the people closest to Trump are testifying that they tried to warn him his election fraud claims were false, The Post’s Amy Gardner reports that it’s almost become a prerequisite in GOP primaries to embrace Trump’s election denialism.Also on the show: The U.S. has sent powerful antitank weapons, called Javelins, to Ukrainian troops on the front lines. But, as Alex Horton reports, the customer service on these weapons leaves something to be desired. 

Is the U.S. economy hurtling toward a recession? Dean Baker, an economist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in D.C., thinks it all boils down to just how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates again later this week. On today’s “Post Reports,” we examine the factors that could lead to a recession — and we ask what Americans can do to prepare if it happens. 

Today on “Post Reports,” the sixth and final episode of “Broken Doors,” about the risks of no-knock raids for people on both sides of the door. How did we get here – and what does the future look like? Read more:“Broken Doors” is an investigative podcast series hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the U.S. justice system — and the consequences for communities when accountability is flawed at every level. In the sixth and final episode of this series, a man accused of killing an officer during a no-knock raid speaks from jail about the risks to people on both sides of the door. As we investigate the history of these raids, we also hear from the mother of Breonna Taylor, who is pushing for an end to no-knocks. We’ll also hear from people who say this tactic is necessary. How did we get here – and what does the future look like?The full series is out now wherever you get your podcasts. You can email the “Broken Doors” team with any tips or feedback at [email protected]. 

Today on “Post Reports,” what the fight for abortion rights means for Black women, and how both sides of the fight are intertwined with the legacy of slavery and racism.Read more:With a Supreme Court ruling on abortion access looming, Black women in particular are struggling with the fight for reproductive rights. A long history of medical mistreatment and neglect follows Black women, and it makes the debate between abortion rights and antiabortion advocates all the more complicated. While some oppose abortion care because it’s regarded as a form of “genocide,” others say overturning Roe v. Wade would mark the latest effort to take away what generations of Black women have rarely had: bodily autonomy. Akilah Johnson on what an overturn of Roe could mean for Black women.

How high school students across the country are fighting for their right to read. Plus, what the Golden State Warriors represent off the basketball court.Read more:A few months ago, education reporter Hannah Natanson sat in on the meeting of an unusual book club at Vandegrift High School in Austin, Tex. – one in which students read exclusively books banned by their school district, and think deeply about the aspects of the world that’ll remain hidden to them if grown-ups keep banning books. Then, we hear from Washington Post global opinions writer Jason Rezaian on the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, their outspoken coach Steve Kerr, and why Jason thinks the Warriors should now be considered “America’s team.”

Starting Thursday, the House committee probing the attack on the Capitol is holding televised hearings. What will be revealed after nearly a year of investigation? Plus, an update on California’s Tuesday elections.Read more:After conducting hundreds of interviews and uncovering more than 100,000 records, the House committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is making the investigation public, holding six televised hearings, the first starting tomorrow in prime time. The hearings will feature testimonies from key figures in former president Donald Trump’s inner circle, such as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and former vice president Mike Pence’s aides. Political investigations reporter Josh Dawsey shares what to expect from these hearings and how they could affect the Republican politicians who built their brands defending the insurrection.Plus, the results of Tuesday’s elections in California — and what they tell us about how Democrats are viewing changes to the criminal justice system.

Today on Post Reports, how rising prices at mobile home parks may destabilize the entire housing market. Plus, climate change is forcing schools to close early for “heat days.” Read more:America’s housing crisis is trickling down to mobile home parks. Mobile homes have traditionally been the country’s biggest source of affordable housing: 20 million Americans live in manufactured homes. Most mobile home park residents own their houses and rent the land underneath. But now, mobile home parks are doubling or even tripling their rent across the country. Economics reporter Abha Bhattarai explains how high demand, low inventory and a rise in corporate ownership threaten the affordability of mobile homes. Plus later in the show, national education reporter Laura Meckler discusses how schools in many parts of the country are closing because of excessive heat fueled by climate change. “Heat days” pose a threat to students’ health and academic success, Meckler explains, adding, “This is a problem that people recognize but is just a lot easier to identify than it is to solve.”

Today on “Post Reports,” we take a hard look at California’s strange election season to see how Democrats across the country are testing the viability of their beliefs – and whether some may be losing patience with leftward ideas.Read more:Tomorrow is primary day in the Golden State. And in California’s two largest cities, things are looking pretty…odd.In San Francisco, there’s a campaign to remove a district attorney and “progressive prosecutor,” who was voted in a couple of years ago. Then, in Los Angeles, one of the front-runners of the Democratic mayoral primary is a guy whom some voters have described as a secret Republican. We take stock of the primary election in California and what it says about the future of leftward politics with correspondent Scott Wilson.

Today on “Post Reports,” the fifth episode of “Broken Doors,” about a multi-house no-knock raid,and the drugs police say they seized.Read more: “Broken Doors” is an investigative podcast series hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the U.S. justice system — and the consequences for communities when accountability is flawed at every level. In the fifth episode of this series, we head to Missouri.Police upended the lives of an entire block and killed a 63-year-old grandfather when they carried out a no-knock raid at multiple homes in St. Louis. But what did the police actually seize?

How aborition in the movies changed the way Americans think about reproductive rights. And a dispatch from Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilee celebrations in London.Read more:As we wait to hear how the Supreme Court rules on abortion access in America, we’ve been reflecting on what has and hasn’t change since Roe. v Wade was decided almost 50 years ago. Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post’s film critic, looked at how the film industry has portrayed abortion since the landmark ruling in 1973. After watching movies like “Dirty Dancing,” “Juno,” “Knocked Up” and “Obvious Child,” Hornaday says she noticed a “strange evolution,” in how Hollywood’s depiction of abortion has changed over time.This week marks Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th year on the throne. The Platinum Jubilee celebrations are taking place all across the United Kingdom. Karla Adam, a correspondent based in London, reports on what this anniversary signifies for the future of the British monarchy. 

Today on Post Reports, we bring you to the frontline of the war in Ukraine, as Russian forces encircle Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Plus, a teenager coming of age in the war finds purpose in helping fellow displaced Ukrainians. Read more:Nearly 100 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have suffered significant setbacks: President Volodomyr Zelensky says Russia has now taken 20 percent of his country. Foreign correspondent Siobhan O’Grady brings us into the trenches of the eastern Donbas region, where Russia has focused its military advancements. Ukrainian battalions are digging trenches, desperate to turn the tide of war. Later in the show, we meet 16-year-old Anna Melnyk, whose life changed overnight when her family was forced to flee their home in Kyiv and head west for the transit city of Lviv. Now Anna –– who volunteers as a guide for the displaced at a train station in Lviv –– is undergoing a drastic transformation alongside other Ukrainian teens, who are trading high school concerns for work that will shape the kind of nation they will inherit once the fighting ends.“She said it makes her feel like she's doing something for her country. That it's a role for her,” says reporter Hannah Allam. “She’s not 18. She can't enlist in the military and then take up arms. She’s not even old enough to drive. So, this was something she could do.” 

More than a week later, what we know and don’t know about how a gunman carried out a massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex. — and why the timeline from authorities keeps changing.Read more:In the days since a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, new and horrifying details about the timeline of events keep emerging. We now know that the gunman was able to walk into the school unimpeded. We know that children called 911 from within classrooms pleading for help. But we still don’t know exactly why it took so long for authorities to stop the gunman. Silvia Foster-Frau reports on what happened during a devastating 90-minute window.

As hurricane season hits, we examine what happens when Black communities seem to be last in line for disaster planning in Texas.Read more:Communities more likely to be hit by hurricanes are bracing themselves for a rough summer, as hurricane season begins June 1. But in Kashmere Gardens, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Houston, residents are still trying to repair the damage to homes from a hurricane that hit five years ago. As Tracy Jan tells producer Bishop Sand, that’s because money to address that damage — and to prevent further destruction — has been hard to come by. According to an investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Texas directed federal grants toward Whiter and wealthier areas — leaving places like Kashmere Gardens out to dry. 

Today on “Post Reports,” the fourth episode of “Broken Doors,” about the minutes between approval for a no-knock warrant and a deadly raid.  Read more:“Broken Doors” is a new investigative podcast series hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the U.S. justice system — and the consequences for communities when accountability is flawed at every level. In the fourth episode of this series, we head to Port Allen, La.On July 25, 2019, a Black man was killed during a no-knock raid on a motel room in Louisiana. His fiancee was also inside. An investigation into what led up to the fatal shooting reveals the speed with which it happened — and raises questions about electronic warrants, a relatively new technology being adopted by law enforcement agencies across the country.The full series is out now wherever you get your podcasts. You can email the “Broken Doors” team with any tips or feedback at [email protected].

After six weeks, the contentious defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is set to wrap up Friday. Today on “Post Reports,” what happened in the courtroom and online, and why it matters.Read more:After six weeks of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial, the jury is hearing closing arguments Friday.Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018 in which she referred to herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse (Depp has denied all allegations of abuse). Heard countersued Depp for $100 million after his lawyer Adam Waldman called her accusations a hoax.Despite the gravity of the allegations, the trial has garnered attention from all corners of the Internet — millions have tuned in to the live-streamed trial every day, analyzing and memeing every aspect of the trial. Entertainment reporter Emily Yahr has been covering the contentious trial in person and online, and discusses why so many people are obsessed with it and what that implies.

The NRA faces critics from all sides, with infighting among its executives and, after the Uvalde, Tex., school shooting, renewed pressure from gun control advocates. And then there are the radical gun groups that say the NRA hasn’t gone far enough.Read more:Tomorrow, the National Rifle Association will kick off its annual meeting. Just a few hours from the site of Tuesday’s school shooting, the convention will feature a 14-acre gun show and headliners including former president Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R).Post national political reporter Isaac Arnsdorf will be there to cover it. And he says the NRA’s place in the gun control landscape is shifting: Mired in internal battles and legal troubles, the organization now has to compete with a handful of even more adamant gun rights groups that are growing in popularity. Today, how the NRA navigates bad press in the wake of mass shootings, and how the American gun culture it helped create has evolved.

The deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade, and what’s changed in the years since the massacre in Newtown, Conn. Read more:Washington Post reporter Arelis Hernández is on the ground in Uvalde as children and families try to make sense of the violence that tore through Robb Elementary School on Tuesday. According to a Post database,last year was the deadliest year for school shootings in America since at least 1999, the year of the Columbine massacre. This year is on track to be even worse – and the reasons for that aren’t entirely clear. John Woodrow Cox, who helped create The Post’s tracker, breaks down the massive, sometimes unseen impact of gun violence on American schoolchildren, and the tricky politics of gun control legislation.Read an excerpt from John’s book, “Children Under Fire: An American Crisis.”

Today on Post Reports, what to know about monkeypox and how prepared the United States is for future pandemics. Plus, in New Orleans, the return of a beloved Mardi Gras tradition.Read more:What is monkeypox, and how concerned should we be about the virus? Cameron Wolfe, an infectious-disease expert at Duke University, explains what we know about the rare virus, now confirmed in the United States and Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert late last week, urging doctors and health departments to be vigilant. Monkeypox, which can be passed to animals and humans, is usually found in Central and West Africa. But many of the recent cases cropping up in the United Kingdom, France and elsewhere suggest the virus may be spreading through the community. Plus, in New Orleans, the Mardi Gras Indians are back in a big way. 

On Tuesday Republican voters in Georgia will choose between candidates who supported Donald Trump’s claims that the election was stolen and those who did not. The results may say a lot about election integrity in 2022 — and the state of the GOP nationwide. Read more: In 2020, the fate of the presidency and which party would control the U.S. Senate hinged on what happened in Georgia. The state emerged as a contentious battleground, and it quickly drew the attention of President Donald Trump, who began to falsely claim that the elections in the state were manipulated. Nearly two years later, Trump’s influence over Georgia’s elections has not disappeared. In fact, several Republican candidates have declared their support for Trump’s false election claims, including challengers to the incumbent governor and secretary of state. And Trump’s sway has created a schism in the state’s Republican Party. Matthew Brown, who covers politics in the state, unpacks the dimensions of Georgia’s primaries and examines what could happen if an election denier enters office. 

After the murder of George Floyd, reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa spent months learning everything they could about Floyd’s life. The story they reveal in a new book shows how systemic racism shaped and shortened it. Read more: “He's everywhere — but he's not here. He's on somebody's wall. He's on somebody's billboard. … He's in a newspaper, but he's not here. He's here in spirit. But he's not here.” In the summer of 2020, after George Floyd was murdered, he became a symbol and a rallying cry. But what was missing in our understanding was the man himself — a figure who was complicated, full of ambition, shaped by his family and his community and centuries of systemic racism.  The Washington Post set out to better understand who Floyd really was and reported a series of stories about George Floyd’s America. We made a podcast based on this reporting, “The Life of George Floyd,” which we’re playing today for you in full. But two of the reporters on that project still had questions.  Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa have now written a book that delves deeper into Floyd’s life — what he was like as a father, a boyfriend, a classmate, an athlete, how ambitious he was. And how those ambitions were hobbled by systemic racism. They learned about things that happened to Floyd’s family, hundreds of years before he was born, that shaped everything that would happen to him later.  If you’d like to read an excerpt of Robert and Tolu’s book, you can find that here: How George Floyd Spent His Final Hours.

A year ago today, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Texas Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act. The law bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many people even know they’re pregnant. It also employed a novel legal strategy that empowered ordinary people to enforce the law by suing anyone who may have helped facilitate the abortion.Many observers thought the law would be blocked from taking effect or overturned after passing. That didn’t happen. The Supreme Court had three opportunities to consider the law and didn’t, signaling that the court could be open to overturning Roe v. Wade. In the recent uproar over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it’s been easy to forget about the impact and significance of Texas’s law. But a year later the law still stands in the state, blocking abortions after about six weeks. Today on Post Reports, on the anniversary of the Texas abortion ban, national political reporter Caroline Kitchener brings us the story of the activist who helped to craft the law, the doctor who tried to challenge it, and the lessons both sides have taken away from its success.Read more:Caroline Kitchener examines whether a national abortion ban is possible in a post-Roe world. You can also read her profile of Dr. Alan Braid. 

Today on Post Reports, an estimated 1.5 million retirees have reentered the U.S. labor market over the past year. What’s bringing them back?Read more:Millions of Americans who retired during the pandemic are returning to the workforce.Many are being lured back to work by more flexible, hybrid work arrangements and declining concerns over covid. And, yes, some of it is also being driven by high inflation. But there’s good news, too: Ageism might be less of a problem for older workers. Companies are scrambling to find experienced, reliable people to fill all these open jobs. And suddenly, the AARP set is looking pretty good.

Finland and Sweden are applying for NATO membership, ending decades-long policies of military neutrality. We take a look at what this means for global security. Plus, why some NATO leaders are worried about Vladimir Putin being humiliated in Ukraine.Read more:Finland and Sweden’s leaders announced in recent days that they would be seeking membership in NATO, the military alliance among the United States, Canada and many European countries. Sweden and Finland historically have remained neutral to avoid conflict — but the war in Ukraine and their geographical proximity to Russia pushed them to reassess. National security reporter Shane Harris discusses how this move changes the security landscape and the possible consequences if Russia loses the war. 

With key states holding primaries this week, we ask the big question for the 2022 midterms: Will Republicans take back control of Congress? And, the GOP lawmakers who have echoed the racist conspiracy theory used to justify the mass shooting in Buffalo.Read more:The 2022 midterms are ramping up. On Tuesday, voters in five states, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina, will vote in primary elections.Meanwhile, in races around the country, Republicans are pushing anti-immigrant sentiments that echo the “great replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy theory that motivated a mass shooter in Buffalo on Saturday.Congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor breaks down Republican strategy and how Democrats might hold on to their slim majorities in Congress. Check out The Washington Post’s guide to the 2022 midterm elections.  

A few weeks ago, Martine Powers appeared on the Black culture podcast “For Colored Nerds” to discuss her love of period dramas and what does and doesn't work as these shows try to be more inclusive in their casting.To hear the rest of Martine’s discussion with Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse, check out “For Colored Nerds” wherever you get your podcasts, and listen to the episode “Black in Time.”

In the years before Roe v. Wade, the group known as Jane helped more than 11,000 Chicago women get abortions. We look back at the group and talk with one of its members as activists and health advocates mobilize in anticipation of the end of Roe.Read more:In the years before Roe v. Wade guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion, a group of women banded together in Chicago to help others access the procedure illegally. Their fliers read things like: “Pregnant? Don’t want to be? Call Jane.” Jane became the group’s code name. They estimate that between 1969 and 1973 they helped around 11,000 women get abortions, and many members of the group learned to perform abortions themselves. Laura Kaplan was a member of Jane from 1971 to ’73 and wrote a book on the group’s history called “The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.” Today on the show, we talk to Laura about the dangers women faced before abortions were constitutionally protected, how the underground group evolved, and how she’s making sense of this moment as activists and health advocates mobilize in anticipation of the end of Roe.

For months, parents have been scrambling to feed their children amid a nationwide baby formula shortage. Today, why the supply is so short, and how parents are coping.Read more:Three-quarters of American parents with infants rely on baby formula. For many, it’s the only option to keep their babies alive and healthy. But since the winter, shortages have left caregivers scrambling to find enough food. Last week, supplies in stores were down more than 40 percent. Parenting editor Amy Joyce says the shortage is due to a combination of factors, including snarled supply chains and the closure of a major plant in Michigan where Abbott Nutrition produces Similac and other popular formula brands. In February, Abbott recalled some formula after several infants got sick — and two died. The company says it hasn’t found a link between its formula and the illnesses, but the Food and Drug Administration is still investigating. Today on “Post Reports,” we hear about parents dealing with a situation they never could have imagined.

A cache of more than 1.4 million newly released records exposes the inner workings of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturer. Today on “Post Reports,” we go inside the sales machine at Mallinckrodt.Read more:The largest manufacturer of opioids in the United States once cultivated a reliable stable of hundreds of doctors it could count on to write a steady stream of prescriptions for pain pills.But one left the United States for Pakistan months before he was indicted on federal drug conspiracy and money laundering charges. Another was barred from practicing medicine after several of his patients died of drug overdoses. Another tried to leave the country in the face of charges that he was operating illegal pill dispensing operations, or pill mills, in two states. He was arrested and sent to prison for eight years.These doctors were among 239 medical professionals ranked by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals as its top prescribers of opioids during the height of the pain pill epidemic, in 2013. That year, more than 14,000 Americans died of prescription opioid overdoses.More than a quarter of those prescribers — 65 — were later convicted of crimes related to their medical practices, had their medical licenses suspended or revoked, or paid state or federal fines after being accused of wrongdoing, according to a Washington Post analysis of previously confidential Mallinckrodt documents and emails, along with criminal and civil background checks of the doctors. Between April and September of that year, Mallinckrodt’s sales representatives contacted those 239 prescribers more than 7,000 times.The documents, made public after years of litigation and bankruptcy proceedings, shed new light on how aggressively Mallinckrodt sought to increase its market share as the epidemic was raging.Meryl Kornfield and Scott Higham report. 

Nearly 1 million people in the United States have died of covid-19, and the toll is growing among vaccinated people as the virus gets harder and harder to dodge. Today on Post Reports, what we can learn from looking at vaccinated deaths.Read more:According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinated people made up a shocking 42 percent of covid deaths in January and February during the peak of the omicron surge, compared with 23 percent during delta’s surge in September. Vaccines are still highly effective at preventing illness and death. But as more and more highly contagious variants arise, it becomes harder for elderly people, the immunocompromised and those whose vaccines are wearing off to avoid infection.Health reporter Fenit Nirappil wanted to dispel the myth that only unvaccinated people are dying of covid — and he wanted to put names and faces to some of the hundreds of thousands of people who died this past winter. Today on Post Reports, a look at what happened during the winter surge, and what we can learn from it as the virus continues to mutate.

Today on “Post Reports,” the head of global health at the U.S. Agency for International Development, Atul Gawande, on the state of the pandemic and why global vaccination efforts are at risk. Read more:Today on the show, we hear from national health reporter Dan Diamond about his interview with  Atul Gawande, who leads global health at USAID and co-chairs the Biden administration’s covid-19 task force. He is also an endocrine surgeon, health-care researcher and writer. Gawande explains his efforts as a Biden administration official to slow the pandemic through global vaccination — and how funding for those efforts are at risk. “It isn't enough to just bring a bunch of vaccines on the tarmac and say, ‘Go,’” Gawande says. “We need to support their ability to maintain the cold chain, to have workers who can move out into the rural areas.” Gawande also talks about the state of public health abroad as the war in Ukraine continues.

Today on Post Reports, we go to Sierra Leone, where having a baby can mean risking your life. Read more:Today, we follow the story of Susan Lebbie. Lebbie is 17 and has just given birth to her son, Evan. Throughout her pregnancy she was terrified of facing the same fate as her mother, who died while giving birth to Susan. Susan’s fears are not unfounded: One in 20 women in Sierra Leone die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, according to the latest United Nations estimate, most often from losing blood. The West African country consistently ranks as one of the deadliest places on Earth to have a baby. But practically every death is preventable. To be pregnant in Sierra Leone is to be at the mercy of resource-strapped institutions and the global trends shaping them. Survival is too often up to luck. West Africa bureau chief Danielle Paquette reports. 

In the ‘90s, Buffalo was ground zero for the battle over abortion rights. Today we revisit that time with media columnist Margaret Sullivan — who served as managing editor of the Buffalo News — and talk about how media has shaped the abortion debate.Read more: In 1998, in Buffalo, NY, OB/GYN Barnett Slepian was murdered in his own home by anti-abortion extremist, James Kopp. We hear from media columnist Margaret Sullivan about how she remembers this volatile time and how the media has influenced the abortion debate. Plus, journalist and author Eyal Press discusses the alarming attacks against his own father, a doctor who also provided abortions for patients in Buffalo.