Post Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post, for your ears. Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi are your hosts, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Published weekdays around 5 p.m. Eastern time.
A high-profile prison escape. A TV station takeover. An assault on police. Today on “Post Reports,” how powerful gangs in Ecuador pushed this historically peaceful nation to the brink and led its new president to declare war. Read more:Ecuador has long been an ecotourism hub and a safe haven, mostly immune from the guerilla violence endured for decades in neighboring Colombia and Peru. But the country has experienced a shift in recent years, becoming a center for drug trafficking and organized crime, as global demand for cocaine surges to new levels. On Jan. 9, this new reality came into full focus through coordinated attacks that shook the country to its core, culminating on live TV for all of Ecuador and the world to witness. The Post’s Bogotá bureau chief, Samantha Schmidt, and Ecuadorian journalist Arturo Torres have spent months reconstructing what exactly happened that day: how the chaos unfolded, the extent to which gangs infiltrated institutions, and President Daniel Noboa’s controversial response, giving unprecedented power to the military. Piecing together the details through exclusive interviews and footage revealed a deeper truth, Schmidt tells “Post Reports,” which is that the crisis in Ecuador isn’t an outlier. What happened that day and the complicated aftermath represent “a canary in the coal mine” moment and a warning for all of Latin America. Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Maggie Penman, Arturo Torres and Peter Finn.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
On Saturday, Iran directly attacked Israel. Now, Israel’s war cabinet is weighing possible responses as the U.S. and others have called for restraint.Read more: Ninety-nine percent of the more than 300 missiles and armed drones Iran launched against Israel were intercepted by Israel and its allies, according to the Israel Defense Forces. But the direct attack has also raised concerns about a broader war between Iran and Israel, and whether Israel would be able to fight two wars at once, against both Hamas and Iran. Israeli officials say that while they don’t want to, they have the capability to do so.Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix joins Post Reports to discuss what led to the attack and what could be coming next in the region. Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Lucy Perkins.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Today on Post Reports, we’re on the scene at the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump is facing trial in the first ever criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president. Read more:Jury selection began today in the trial to determine whether Trump broke state law in New York by falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment in 2016 to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet about their alleged affair. Isaac Arnsdorf and Shayna Jacobs are at the courthouse and tell Martine Powers what they’ve seen so far. Today’s episode was produced by Peter Bresnan and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Lucy Perkins.
It’s Friday, so it’s time for The Campaign Moment — our weekly roundtable conversation to help you keep track of the biggest developments during the 2024 campaign. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake, the author of The Post’s newsletter by the same name, chats with Martine Powers and our Arizona-based democracy reporter, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, about the Arizona abortion ruling threatening to upend the 2024 election. The Arizona Supreme Court this week ruled that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 can go into effect in the state. It’s a big test for Donald Trump, who has taken credit for overturning Roe v. Wade but said that Arizona went too far and that state lawmakers would quickly “bring it back into reason.”Yvonne, Martine and Aaron also chat about an awkward moment for RFK Jr.’s campaign, and how the N.Y. hush money trial could play for Trump in swing states like Arizona. Follow The Campaign Moment in a new feed to hear extra episodes from Aaron and our politics team as the campaign year continues on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to Aaron’s newsletter, The Campaign Moment, here. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Maggie Penman.
O.J. Simpson has died at 76. He became a a football star, but a 1995 murder trial made him infamous. Simpson was eventually acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife and her friend – a verdict that split the public. How will he be remembered?Read more:Simpson grew up in a poor neighborhood in San Francisco, and eventually rose to NFL stardom playing for the Buffalo Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers. He was one of the most well- known and well-liked personalities off the field, too, and was a sports commentator and appeared in more than 20 movies.But his private life was much darker. During his marriage to Nicole Brown Simpson, his wife repeatedly called 911 asking for protection. In one incident, police found her with bruises, a cut lip and a black eye, saying, “He’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill me.”In the mid-1990s, the country watched as Simpson stood trial for the murder of his then ex-wife and a friend. He was ultimately acquitted. Simpson died of cancer on Wednesday. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to Robin Givhan, The Post’s senior critic-at-large, about why the trial had legal and cultural repercussions for years. Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon with help from Emma Talkoff, Rennie Svirnovskiy, Elana Gordon and Maggie Penman. It was edited by Monica Campbell and Lucy Perkins. Additional thanks to Krissah Thompson.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.