Post Reports

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 BrokenDoors@washpost.com.

Emily Yahr, an entertainment reporter for The Washington Post, shares her firsthand experience covering the explosive Depp v. Heard trial. She discusses the trial's surprising public fascination and its implications for domestic abuse discourse. Yahr highlights how social media has polarized opinions, along with the chaotic scenes outside the courthouse from dedicated fans. The conversation also reflects on the trial's impact on survivors and the societal attitudes towards accountability in cases of domestic violence.

Isaac Arnsdorf, a National political reporter for The Washington Post, dives into the NRA's struggle for relevance amidst internal strife and external criticism. He discusses how extreme gun rights groups are challenging the NRA's authority and pushing for a more aggressive stance on gun rights. The conversation also addresses the NRA's dwindling influence after mass shootings and how advocacy around gun control is evolving. Misinformation and conspiracy theories are highlighted as new forces shaping the gun politics narrative.

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. 

Matthew Brown, a Georgia native and political correspondent for The Washington Post, dives into the heated Republican primaries in Georgia, where Donald Trump's influence remains strong. He discusses the significant divide within the GOP as candidates grapple with election integrity and responses to Trump’s claims of fraud. Brown analyzes the implications of a potential election denier stepping into office and the broader trends shaping voter sentiments in this critical battleground state, where the stakes for 2022 are higher than ever.

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.