Post Reports

This week in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, officers and medical experts testified on the cause of George Floyd’s death. And why it’s so hard to prosecute police officers. Read more:During the second week of the Derek Chauvin murder trial, prosecutors focused on two subjects: how the former officer’s tactics, denounced by fellow police officers on the stand, did not align with his training; and what was happening biologically to George Floyd in the key moments before his death. Holly Bailey reports from Minneapolis. Brown University associate professor Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve on the interdependence between prosecutors and police officers – and why it means that officers rarely face consequences in excessive-use-of-force cases. If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners: one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to postreports.com/offer. 

What’s at stake in the biggest union battle this country has seen in decades. The future of community colleges. And, facing the prospect of “vaccine passports.”Read more:Jay Greene reports on Amazon workers’ fight for a union in a warehouse in Alabama — and the drive’s potential to inspire other workers. Normally during an economic downturn, higher-education reporters like Nick Anderson expect to see a rise in enrollment in community colleges. This time, that didn’t happen. Nick explains what that means for these schools and the students they serve, at a time when community colleges are being given increased political attention. The scramble to develop vaccine passports — and the potential problems they pose — from health reporter Dan Diamond. If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners: one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to postreports.com/offer. 

Understanding Georgia’s controversial new voting law. And, how to tell if it’s allergies … or covid. Read more:Georgia just passed a new voting law. Amy Gardner reports on the background of the controversial law and what actually ended up in it. As spring reaches full bloom, some allergy sufferers are wondering: Are their stuffy noses and itchy eyes actually symptoms of the coronavirus? Wellness reporter Allyson Chiu allays those fears and answers other reader questions about allergies and vaccines.

Why some prominent economists and Republican lawmakers are worried the economy might recover too quickly. And, what it’s like to be a teenager while lawmakers debate your right to exist.Read more:The Federal Reserve has emerged as a White House ally in rejecting concerns about overdoing the stimulus. But Rachel Siegel reports that some economists and market analysts are raising alarm bells about the risks of overstimulating the economy and triggering inflation. In other words — could we be recovering too quickly?What used cars tell us about the risk of too much inflation hitting the economy.On Tuesday, the nation's first ban on medical treatments for transgender youths passed in Arkansas. Similar bills are being considered in at least 17 other states. Samantha Schmidt reports from one of those states, Missouri, where a transgender girl is struggling to find her voice as legislators attack her right to exist. If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners — one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to postreports.com/offer. 

Experts warn that the United States may be entering a fourth surge of coronavirus cases. And, the things we take when we leave home. Read more:Some scientists are warning that the United States is entering a “fourth wave” in the pandemic. Others are questioning that conclusion. Reis Thebault reports. When Post community editor Yu Vongkiatkajorn left Chiang Mai at 18, she tried to bring with her a veritable library — books collected over the years, journals she treasured. But when making her home in the United States, the object that stayed with her through her cross-continental moves was an unexpected one: a traditional silk shirt from Thailand that she never wears but lives permanently in her closet. For Post Reports producer Linah Mohammad, she also holds on to clothing, with two scarves that represent the Jordanian and Palestinian parts of her cultural identity. The Post is asking listeners to reflect on their own mementos from different homelands. Drop us a line at PostReports@washpost.com with your story about the object you brought when you immigrated to the United States. Or visit our submission form here to tell us more.

As more vaccines become available in the U.S., the problem stops being supply and starts being how you get everyone to take one. Ariel Plotnick reports on the public health effort to bring the vaccine-hesitant around to getting a shot.Read more:“We want to be educated, not indoctrinated,” say Trump voters wary of coronavirus vaccines. Dan Diamond reports on the findings of a focus group he sat in on last month with vaccine-hesitant Trump voters.“We can do this”: Biden unveils pro-vaccine TV ads and a network of grass-roots leaders to push vaccinations. The administration plans to spend more than $10 million on the ad campaign in April.If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners -- one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to postreports.com/offer.

Emotional testimony in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged in the killing of George Floyd. And, Biden’s massive infrastructure plan. Read more:The murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin began in Minneapolis this week, with emotional testimony from witnesses to George Floyd’s death. National correspondent Holly Bailey lays out what the jurors heard.Follow The Post’s live coverage of the Chauvin trial here. On Wednesday, President Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Economics reporter Rachel Siegel explains what’s in the sprawling proposal and the challenges Biden will face in garnering congressional support.

Thousands are journeying to the border, motivated by complicated personal and practical reasons. Plus, the sound of Mars.Read more:Migrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in large numbers. Arelis R. Hernández rode along with Constable Roque Vela on a dusty road along the Rio Grande in South Texas to talk to some of the people trying to navigate the complicated policies at the border — and learn about why they’re trying to cross it. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is recording sound. Martian wind might not sound exciting, but hearing it stopped producer Bishop Sand in his tracks. The rover is continuing to record sounds, and NASA releases them in weekly files at https://soundcloud.com/nasa.

How scammers raked in millions of dollars in pandemic relief fraud schemes. Advice for vaccinated parents about what to do with their unvaccinated kids. And, what we know about the origin of covid-19.Read more:Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had charged hundreds of scammers who targeted the trillions of dollars made available through federal aid programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program. Reporter Matt Zapotosky explains how the thieves worked, how they were caught and what the consequences have been — for the scammers and the scammed. As more adults become vaccinated against the coronavirus, some vaccinated parents might find themselves in a quandary — while they may be protected, allowing for more freedom in socializing or engaging in other routine activities, their children are not. Wellness reporter Allyson Chiu discusses what that means for summer camp and play dates.The World Health Organization has released its findings into the origin of the coronavirus. Foreign affairs reporter Emily Rauhala explains the controversy around the report and the answers it has left unanswered.

After telling the world about the brutality he experienced in a Damascus prison, Mazen al-Hamada mysteriously returned to Syria, into the arms of his tormentors. His story goes to the heart of the Syria tragedy — a decade after the hopeful Arab Spring. Read more:After escaping from Syria to the Netherlands, Mazen al-Hamada shared his story about the horrors he had endured in a Damascus prison with audiences across the United States and Europe. Then — mysteriously, inexplicably — just over a year ago, he returned to Syria, to risk again the cruelties of the government he had so strenuously denounced. He hasn’t been heard from since. In an interview with audio producer Linah Mohammad, Post Beirut bureau chief Liz Sly paints a portrait of a man so haunted by the horrors he endured that he was unable to adapt to a new life in Europe, and explains how his story speaks to the post-Arab Spring Syria:“Everything has changed and then nothing has changed, in the worst possible ways on both counts.”