Post Reports

As the U.S. continues to grow racially and ethnically diverse, that shift is reflected in how our names are changing. Still, culture wars persist. And that can mean Americans are forced to consider what makes us American, and what makes a name American. Read more:Two years ago this week, a 21-year-old gunman in Atlanta massacred eight people in three  spas. Six of those victims were women of Asian descent.  It prompted a wave of reporting about racist attacks and violence, and for Marian Chia-Ming Liu, it began a deeply introspective journey – one that prompted thousands of Washington Post readers to reach out with stories about their own experiences with their names.Marian talks with Elahe Izadi about what she discovered on her name journey, and what other people from across the country have shared with her along the way. Join Post Reports LIVE on April 13th! Martine Powers will host a live conversation in D.C. with best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld at Sixth and I, in partnership with Politics & Prose. Sittenfeld is the author of books like “Eligible” and “American Wife.” Her latest novel is “Romantic Comedy,” about a late-night comedy writer’s search for love. Listeners can purchase tickets here, and if you can’t make it to D.C., you can always join via a livestream.

Today on Post Reports, we take you to an abortion hearing in Amarillo, Tex., that the judge didn’t want you to know was coming. Read more:In a four-hour hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard arguments in a lawsuit that could restrict access nationwide to the abortion medication mifepristone. The lawsuit alleges that the medication is unsafe, despite being approved and highly regulated by the FDA for decades. However, many antiabortion activists are hopeful that Kacsmaryk will rule against the FDA, because of his strong religious beliefs and previous support of antiabortion organizations. National political reporter Caroline Kitchener was inside the courtroom for the hearing and explains what she heard and what the implications of the ruling could be.

The AI behind ChatGPT just got an upgrade. But it might not have all of the bells and whistles that some were expecting.Read more:GPT-4 might sound like gibberish, but it could change what you expect from your apps (not to mention what happens when you try out ChatGPT). If you need a recipe and are low on groceries, you could soon take a picture of your open fridge for the system to “look” at, identify your ingredients, and whip up a recipe for the night. That being said, there are limits to what this new AI language model can do. For instance, even though GPT-4 is better at logic than its predecessor, it can still give answers containing false information. Tech reporter Drew Harwell breaks down the other ethics issues GPT-4 has raised.

Teachers across the nation are changing how they teach in response to state laws, administrative decrees and parental pressure. Today on “Post Reports,” we explore three examples of things teachers are cutting from their lesson plans. Read more:School districts and teachers are grappling with how to teach race, racism, U.S. history, sexual orientation and gender. These fights are happening in school board meetings, local town halls and on the campaign trail. A growing parental rights movement is fighting for greater control over what schools teach and the books available to students in school libraries and classrooms. At least 64 state laws have already reshaped what students can learn and do at school, and this fight is likely to be a main talking point ahead of the 2024 presidential election.Education reporter Hannah Natanson talked to teachers across the country to hear how and why their lesson plans were changing. Here’s what she found. 

Silicon Valley Bank is dead. The institution that was a major financier for venture capitalists, tech start-ups and other Silicon Valley outfits has collapsed. Enter: the federal government.Read more:When depositors who belonged to Silicon Valley Bank started quickly withdrawing their money recently, it caused a “bank run.” This led to the ruin of the tech-focused bank, the largest bank failure since the Great Recession. Now the federal government is stepping in to ensure customers are still able to access their money and company payrolls are distributed.Silicon Valley Bank catered to start-ups, venture capitalist groups, and even companies like Pinterest and Airbnb. Reporter Jeff Stein talks about why the government is taking such drastic measures to make sure all deposits will be available this week.

It’s not just on movie sets like the infamous “Rust.” Beyond Hollywood’s glitz and glamor, and the spectacle of the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, there are hidden dangers on many of the sets for the tv shows and movies we love.Read more:Back in October 2021, two major events happened in Hollywood. First, 60,000 union members overwhelmingly voted to go on strike because of rough working conditions on television and movie sets. The strike was narrowly averted, but it left union members wanting more. Later that month, actor Alec Baldwin allegedly shot and killed a crew member on the set of his movie “Rust.” Many blamed poor set conditions, with crew members walking off-set the day of the shooting.Washington Post filmmakers Lindsey Sitz and Ross Godwin made a documentary called “Quiet on Set” about the people behind the Hollywood cameras and sets. They say 18-hour days have led to dangerous accidents, and sexism and racism can run rampant behind the scenes. But speaking out can get you blacklisted.Sitz and Godwin spoke with five union crew members about the things they’ve seen, heard, and experienced while on set. “Quiet on Set” paints a picture of exploitation, cost-cutting, and turning a blind eye, all in the name of Hollywood.

Today on Post Reports, as we near the three-year mark of the pandemic, health reporter Lena Sun digs into the science of grief and what she learned through her own loss. Her mother was one of more than 1 million Americans who died of covid.Read more:This week, we’re marking three years since the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 was a pandemic. Since March of 2020, more than a million people have died in the United States alone and we’ve lost more than 6 million people worldwide to covid. We’ve turned to health reporter Lena Sun often over the last few years for advice on masking and social distancing, to explain how the virus spreads and how vaccines work, and for accountability reporting on the way politics and policies have interfered with science. But while she was one of the lead reporters covering the pandemic, Lena was also coping with her own loss. She lost her mother to covid in April of 2020, a famed writer on the Chinese immigrant experience, and then her sister died last year of pancreatic cancer. Today on the show, Lena shares what she’s learned about the science of grief - and how we can all process so much tragedy from the last three years.

Today, what we know about the four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico, and what this incident can tell us about medical tourism, the security situation at the U.S. southern border, and how U.S. policy has contributed to the problems.Read more:Last week, four American friends from South Carolina were kidnapped in the Mexican border city Matamoros. By the time Mexican security forces located them on the outskirts of the city Tuesday, two of the Americans were dead and another was injured. The two survivors have been returned to the border, and one suspect is in custody with an ongoing manhunt for others. Today, The Washington Post’s Kevin Sieff explains how this affects the security relationship between the United States and Mexico, and what role the U.S. has played in making Matamoros a place where violence and kidnappings happen, often with impunity.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, enables low-income families to put basic food on the table. This month, SNAP experienced dramatic cuts that have left many families and seniors struggling to figure out how to survive on less than $6 per meal. That can mean cheaper, less-healthy options like canned and processed foods, which are high in sugar and are major drivers of obesity, reporter Laura Reiley tells “Post Reports.” “It's a hunger that looks different than it used to in this country,” Reiley says. So why the change? Amid heightened financial and food insecurity during the pandemic, a federal assistance program upped monthly SNAP benefits. That program came to a screeching halt last week, despite a continued rise in food prices. Many families and seniors are seeing their monthly food assistance drop by more than $100. State-level shifts are also reducing the level of assistance. And yet, “the food that we routinely feed our families has gotten a lot more expensive,” Reiley continues. “The math that's been used to determine how much a meal costs has not kept up with inflation or how we eat.” Read more:Millions could see cuts to food stamps as federal pandemic aid ends.A mile-long line for free food offers a warning as covid benefits end.Republicans take aim at food stamps in growing fight over federal debt.

Today on the show, the $500 million alleged Ponzi scheme that preyed on Mormons.Read more:Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German was killed outside his home in September; a Clark County official he had investigated is charged in his death. To continue German’s work, The Washington Post teamed up with his newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to complete one of the stories he’d planned to pursue before he was killed. A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that preyed upon hundreds of people — many of them Mormon — over the course of five years. Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating. Today on Post Reports, we look at how more than 900 people invested an estimated total of $500 million into an alleged Ponzi scheme, and why the men who allegedly ran this operation are still walking free.