Impromptu

Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy recommended putting a warning on social media for minors last week, while governors from coast to coast have pushed for restrictions on teen phone use. But how worried should we really be, and what is there to do about it? Post columnists Amanda Ripley, Molly Roberts and Theodore Johnson talk through the dumbphone trend, how explicit lyric warnings on CDs backfired and what actually worked in the campaigns to stop kids from smoking. Listen to Murthy talking to our colleagues on the daily news podcast, Post Reports, about why he sees social media as such a threat to young people."How bullying shaped the surgeon general's fight against social media"Read more from the Washington Post: “Surgeon general calls for social media warning labels”“What research actually says about social media and kids’ health”“Opinion | Why a warning label for social media is so crucial”Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

It’s been a rough few years for movie theaters, and the dismal start to the summer blockbuster season hasn’t helped. If people go to theaters less often, will that change the type of movies that are made? Is the future of moviegoing a boutique, high-end experience? Matt Belloni, host of “The Town,” joins The Post’s Alyssa Rosenberg and Chris Suellentrop to talk about what’s going on with the movies and what, if anything, will get people out of their living rooms and into theaters.Read more from Belloni here and subscribe to his “What I’m Hearing” newsletter. Or you can find his podcast about the entertainment business, “The Town” wherever you listen.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A quarter of Americans, most of them Republicans, say immigration is the most pressing issue facing the country. Post columnists Karen Tumulty, León Krauze and Jim Geraghty discuss why this issue is top of mind for so many people, how politics continues to thwart policy and whether Americans still see our country as a cultural melting pot.Read more from the columnists.Karen Tumulty: “The U.S. is failing millions of undocumented essential workers”León Krauze: “Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge fall spotlights immigrant workers”Jim Geraghty: “Why America Needs a Secure Border | National Review”And here’s more information on the topics discussed in the show:“Immigration Named Top U.S. Problem for Third Straight Month”“The Economic Impacts of Removing Unauthorized Immigrant Workers”“Fueled by unprecedented border crossings, a record 3 million cases clog US immigration courts”Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The Alitos are the latest couple to face the question: When you are married to someone in public life — a Supreme Court justice, a member of Congress, a Post Opinions columnist — what compromises do you need to make? Should you be held to the same ethical standards as your spouse? Charles Lane, Ruth Marcus and James Hohmann discuss the politics of marriage, whether the Supreme Court is more partisan now than in the past and why they don’t think Justice Alito needs to recuse himself in the Jan. 6 case.Read more from the Washington Post:“The strange case of Alito v. Alito” “Sam Alito's flag flew upside down. Are his ethics?”“Read Justice Alito’s letter denying requests to recuse from Jan. 6 cases”

Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and Karen Tumulty got together to talk about their immediate reactions to Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, the quality of his defense, and why the most knowledgeable people in Washington were expecting something different.

Do we actually want AI that seems human?Chatbots are being made to act and sound like humans. That makes them easier to talk to, but there could be other consequences. As our relationships with artificial intelligence evolve, do we need to draw a brighter line between what is technology and what is us? Opinions columnists Josh Tyrangiel, Bina Venkataraman and Amanda Ripley talk about what we really want out of AI. Read more on AI from our Washington Post columnists.Josh Tyrangiel: “Honestly, I love when AI hallucinates”“Let AI remake the whole U.S. government (oh, and save the country)”“College students are dropping out in droves. Two sisters could fix that.”Bina Venkataraman:“When technology of the future traps people in the past” “Can AI solve medical mysteries? It's worth finding out.”Take advantage of our Memorial Day sale and subscribe to The Washington Post for just 99 cents every four weeks for your first year. This deal runs from May 21-June 3, 2024. Subscribe here.

The house, the yard and the picket fence have long been part of the American Dream. Owning a home is lauded as a way to grow your wealth and pass it down to future generations. But high demand and short supply, coupled with today’s soaring interest rates, have made home ownership out of reach for many Americans. Opinions columnist Catherine Rampell and associate editor Alexi McCammond join deputy editor Charles Lane to talk about the cultural and financial forces at work and the generational shift in thinking about whether buying a house is the best place to put your money. Read more from the Washington Post:“The YOLO economy is saving American cities” “Cities try every tool to fix the housing shortage except what works”“Stop blaming millennials for the housing crisis”Take advantage of our Memorial Day sale and subscribe to The Washington Post for just 99 cents every four weeks for your first year. This deal runs from May 21-June 3, 2024. Subscribe here.

As trust in institutions plummets and many people search for shared values, what is the state of American identity? This bonus "Impromptu" episode features a live discussion between Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Jason Willick and the hosts of "Post Reports" Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi about the importance of identity in a changing world.For more from our colleagues in the newsroom, listen to "Post Reports," a daily afternoon podcast, where you can hear deep dives into the biggest and most important stories of the day.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The WNBA season began this week following a college tournament where the women were more popular than the men. Is this shift about more than Caitlin Clark and the fantastic players in basketball right now? Sports columnist Sally Jenkins joins Opinions columnists Theodore Johnson and Amanda Ripley to talk about what athletes have done for the women’s movement and whether the women’s game can avoid some of the pitfalls that have plagued men’s sports. Read more from our columnists about what they discussed in this episode.Sally Jenkins: “Title IX showed generations of women what was possible” and “Caitlin Clark is coming, and the WNBA better get ready for her”Theodore R. Johnson: “Healing medicine for a fractured nation? College basketball.”

Discussion on the decline of religious affiliation in America and its impact on issues like loneliness and political divisions. Explore personal stories about faith, community, and societal polarization. Reflect on the role of communal spaces beyond work and home in generating meaning. Challenges of belonging to religious groups with differing beliefs and evolving views on religion's impact on community building and loneliness.