Post Reports

Today on “Post Reports,” we follow up with Brooke and Billy High, two teenagers compelled into parenthood by the Texas abortion ban. Now, they’re caring for their twin daughters in a new city — and trying their best to hold it all together.Read more:Last summer, The Post’s abortion reporter Caroline Kitchener told the story of a teenager who wanted an abortion and ended up having twins because of the Texas abortion ban. The story — which “Post Reports” also covered — went viral. “The fascinating thing about that story for me was that people read it in two completely different ways,” Caroline Kitchener tells guest host Will Oremus. “You had antiabortion people saying, ‘This is wonderful. There are two babies in the world. Their parents love them. They got married. He’s joining the military,’ … kind of holding them up as poster children for what an abortion ban can do. But on the other side, you had abortion rights advocates saying, ‘This is a tragedy. She dropped out of school, this ambitious young woman; her life in so many ways is just so much more difficult.’”In today's episode of “Post Reports,” Caroline catches up with Brooke and her now-husband Billy as the two 19 year-olds try to make marriage and parenthood work.

Country music star Jason Aldean's song 'Try That in a Small Town' sparked controversy over its perceived coded threats against black people. The song's popularity soared despite the music video being pulled from Country Music Television. Critics accused the song of containing racist undertones, leading to a quiet edit of the video. The controversy surrounding the song has fueled its popularity and raised questions about the artist's stance and freedom of expression.

This year, Mississippi banned transgender young people, such as Ray, from accessing hormones or other gender-transition treatments. Nearly half the country has since passed similar bills, according to the Movement Advancement Project.Across the country, families are doing everything they can to protect their trans children. Some uprooted their lives in red states for the promise of protections in blue ones. Others filed lawsuits. Katie, Ray’s mother, couldn’t afford to move, and she needed a solution faster than the courts could offer, so she’d settled on a cheaper, quicker plan: She’d take a day off from her nursing job, and she and Ray would travel out of state for his medical care.This story is the third in a collection of new, occasional bonus episodes you’ll be hearing from “Post Reports.” We’re calling these stories “Deep Reads” and they’re part of The Post’s commitment to immersive and narrative journalism. Today’s story was written by Casey Parks of The Washington Post and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles.  

Some parents are using tracking devices meant for keys to keep tabs on kids too young for smartphones. Read more:Apple AirTags are not meant to track your kids. But that’s exactly how some parents are using them. In backpacks, on wristbands, they are making it so parents worried about introducing their children to a smartphone can access their child’s location in case something goes wrong. And AirTags aren’t the only tech marketed toward the fear of parents. There are flip phones, watches and other devices marketed specifically for making sure your child is accounted for. Technology reporter Heather Kelly wanted to look into this as her own son heads into the fourth grade and searches for more independence. She’ll uncover how the tech works, its pitfalls and the ethics of tracking your children.

What happens when doctors push misinformation, jeopardizing patients’ lives? Today we dig into a months-long Post investigation into a system that appears ill-equipped to respond, and what that means for patients who suffered the health consequences.Read more:When Margret Murphy’s long-time doctor’s office told her to stop wearing a mask at her appointments during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting masking could be the cause of her high blood pressure, she left the practice and went elsewhere.  But the doctor's actions shocked health reporter Lena Sun.  Sun – along with our colleague Lauren Weber – looked into how often this kind of bad medical advice was being given in doctors’ offices, and what, if any, consequences doctors faced.“Doctors are among the most trusted people that we know,” Sun says. “They're up there on the pedestal. And so when they spread misinformation, it is triply damaging.” Yet, as this investigation found, doctors who prescribed misinformation rarely faced punishment.

A political crisis has swept Israel. Amid massive protests, lawmakers in parliament voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government actions, weakening the judiciary. Who’s driving it?Read more:On Monday, Israel’s lawmakers voted to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to block government actions. Tens of thousands of people marched in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv after the vote, with protesters worrying about the step back from democracy after the important check on executive power was voted out by a far-right coalition. Jerusalem Bureau Chief Steve Hendrix explains Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's uncertain role in the judicial overhaul, the history of the far right in Israel, and how this reform prompted thousands of Israelis to take to the streets. 

Moms for Liberty is a conservative parental rights organization that is increasingly influencing the policies of the Republican Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called it an extremist group.Read more:A few weeks ago, conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty held a summit in Philadelphia. At the summit, the group rallied against sexual education, critical race theory and public health mandates — all topics its members believe public schools are teaching to “indoctrinate” their children. A few weeks before the summit, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated Moms for Liberty as an extremist group that spreads “messages of anti-inclusion and hate.” Still, GOP presidential candidates are giving their stamp of approval to the group: Presidential hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump all gave speeches at the summit.Today, campaign reporter Hannah Knowles takes us inside the Moms for Liberty summit and explains how the group is influencing Republican Party politics.

Today on “Post Reports,” why experts are suddenly feeling a bit more optimistic about the economy. And whether we can finally stop worrying about a recession … or not.Read more:For the past few years, the U.S. economy has been in a period of chaos. The coronavirus pandemic caused supply chains to go haywire, and inflation shot up. Many people were laid off early in the pandemic – followed by historic job growth and hiring struggles. But now, it seems as if the economy might be settling into a new normal: The job market is going strong, inflation is cooling off, and wages are finally keeping up.Despite these positive indicators, Washington Post economic reporter Rachel Siegel says, people might not be feeling totally ready to celebrate.Today, we talk about whether we should still be worried about the ever-looming recession, and whether consumers will feel any relief coming out of this tight financial period.

The much-anticipated movie “Oppenheimer” opens today – about the scientist who led the development of the atomic bomb. On “Post Reports,” we’re joining The Post’s Lillian Cunningham on a journey to the site of the bomb’s first test.Read more:White Sands National Park contains a geological rarity: the largest field of gypsum sand dunes anywhere on Earth. The blinding white dunes stretch for miles in every direction, dazzling tourists, inviting selfies and sled rides.But there’s much more to this park than meets the eye. White Sands National Park, one of the newest in the system, is embedded within White Sands Missile Range, the largest military installation in the country. Today the missile range is a testing ground for cutting-edge weapons. It’s also home to the Trinity site, where the first test of an atomic bomb was conducted in 1945. In that instant, the sand beneath the bomb fused into greenish glass. And life changed forever for people living in communities nearby.That same sand also holds evidence of humanity’s origins on this continent. One observant park ranger at White Sands National Park has spent years uncovering footprints delicately preserved in the shifting sand. Those tracks have painted a picture of prehistoric families living alongside mammoths and giant ground sloths. They’ve also raised new questions about just how long ago the first people might have crossed into North America.In this episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham visits these two very different sites in the New Mexico desert and asks why this landscape has been both safeguarded and sacrificed. Subscribe to Field Trip here or wherever you're listening to this podcast.

Shein, the fast-fashion retailer, is involved in scandals including human rights abuses. Influencers faced backlash for promoting the brand. Shein denies wrongdoing. Lawmakers are concerned about the company's impact and influence. Fast fashion has changed our relationship to clothing and Shein has influenced this trend.