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The Washington Post

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.

Post Reports

In early 2024, executives at artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic ramped up an ambitious project they sought to keep quiet. It was code-named Project Panama, and internal documents filed in court described it as an “effort to destructively scan all the books in the world.”

According to the filings, the company had spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire and slice the spines off potentially millions of books, before scanning their pages to feed knowledge into the AI models behind products such as Claude, its popular chatbot. A judge ruled this fair use.

Details of Project Panama emerged in more than 4,000 pages of documents in a copyright lawsuit brought by book authors against Anthropic. The company agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle the case in August – but a district judge’s decision last week to unseal a slew of documents in the case more fully revealed Anthropic’s zealous pursuit of books.

Today on “Post Reports,” technology reporter Will Oremus explains the lengths to which AI firms such as Anthropic, Meta, Google and OpenAI went to obtain colossal troves of data with which to “train” their software – a frantic and sometimes clandestine race to acquire the collected works of humanity. 

He and host Martine Powers discuss how AI companies’ efforts sometimes might have crossed over into the illegal, and how authors and artists might fare in an AI-centered future. 

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sam Bair.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The quest to ‘destructively scan’ all the world’s books

Houses in the United States keep getting bigger, but the people in bigger houses aren’t necessarily happier. Bigger homes often come with higher costs and more maintenance and can pull people further away from the places and relationships that matter. For some, choosing a smaller home can actually make life feel easier, more connected and more satisfying.

Elahe Izadi speaks with climate coach Michael Coren about the joys that come with living in a smaller house and what to prioritize when deciding where to live. 

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Dennis Funk with help from Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. 

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Why smaller houses can make us happier

After both Renée Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by Department of Homeland Security officers in Minneapolis this month, the story from the agency’s secretary, Kristi L. Noem, was that these individuals’ intentions represented acts of domestic terrorism. 

Confirmed as DHS secretary a year ago under President Trump, Noem has been one of the most visible defenders of Trump’s immigration agenda, executing a sprawling deportation campaign and backing the increasingly aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Customs and Border Patrol agents, which fall under her purview. 

Over several months, ICE and CBP officers have been fanning out across Democratic-run cities — entering neighborhoods and homes to make arrests, aggressively spraying protesters with tear gas, and even detaining U.S. citizens. Federal officers have been involved in 16 shootings since July and have killed three people, including two U.S. citizens. Yet this sweeping immigration agenda and the consequent actions by federal officers were not part of the original mission of DHS. 

Today, immigration reporter Marianne Levine discusses how former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has transformed DHS and what that could mean for its future. 

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sam Bair.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

How Kristi Noem transformed immigration enforcement

The killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday morning marks a dramatic escalation of what was already a very tense moment for Minneapolis. 

Just a day before, thousands of residents marched in a citywide strike organized by faith leaders and labor unions. They were protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the state, including the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renée Good by an ICE officer earlier this month. 

Although it is not clear how Pretti’s interaction with federal agents began on Saturday, bystander footage reviewed by The Post raises questions about Homeland Security’s account of what happened. On Saturday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti – a legal gun owner, who was carrying a gun in or near his waistband when he was killed – had been committing an act of domestic terrorism. According to a Post analysis, federal agents had already secured the handgun he was carrying by the time they fatally shot him.

Today on “Post Reports,” host Martine Powers speaks with national reporter Kim Bellware about the death of Alex Pretti – why many people are worried that his death won’t get a thorough investigation, and how this encounter is raising important questions around America’s gun debate.

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon and Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Annie Gowen, Lauren Gurley and Gina Harkins. 

Follow the latest in The Post’s Minneapolis coverage here. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

After Alex Pretti's killing, a battle of narratives

Today on the show, we explore the science behind why going outside is so good for us, even when it’s freezing.

If you’re interested in learning more about nature therapy, check out the Center for Nature Informed Therapy.

A psychologist says this exercise can make you more hopeful in 14 days: the Noticing Nature Intervention is straightforward, but its results might surprise you.

If you want more Optimistic stories in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter. And if you’d like to hear more hopeful stories on the weekend on “Post Reports,” please send us an email: podcasts@washpost.com. 

Today’s show was produced by Maggie Penman with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy who also mixed the show. It was edited by Allison Klein and Ariel Plotnick. Thank you to Sean Carter. 

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Why going outside is good for you, even when it's freezing

President Donald Trump made headlines with two speeches this week. First came his sprawling, stream-of-consciousness address in the White House briefing room on Tuesday. Then, his barbed remarks about fellow world leaders at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump concluded the week with a purported deal on America’s future role in Greenland – but it remains unclear what that deal will entail.

“A lot of what we've seen from Trump during his political career, but specifically over the last year is … notching the win before the details are worked out,” White House reporter Cleve Wootson said on this week’s episode of the “Post Reports” politics roundtable. “He gets to walk away from Davos saying: I got what I wanted from these European leaders. America has won.”

Wootson spoke on the podcast with host Colby Itkowitz and Dan Merica, co-anchor of the politics newsletter The Early Brief. They also talk about the 2026 midterms, and why Democrats are newly optimistic about their chances in the Senate.

“The map is not overall very favorable to them,” Colby says, “but they're suddenly looking at it and thinking: We might be able to do this.”

Today’s show was produced by Thomas Lu and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Martine Powers and mixed by Sean Carter. 

Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

Trump’s Greenland ‘deal,’ and Democrats’ midterm math

Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been making social cinema since the 1990s. His work follows everyday Iranians and their struggles against societal forces. In 2010 the director received a ban on filmmaking from the Iranian government, and in 2022 he was imprisoned after he inquired into a fellow filmmaker’s arrest. Despite being jailed and censored, Panahi has continued to work. His films such as "The Circle,” “Taxi” and “No Bears” have won awards from the top film festivals in the world. 

Now his latest film, “It Was Just an Accident,” has been nominated for two Oscars for best international feature film and best original screenplay. 

The film follows a group of former Iranian political prisoners who kidnap a man they suspect was their torturer, but they aren’t totally sure it’s him. Panahi shot the film in secret in Iran because he didn’t have official government permission to make it. While it is receiving critical acclaim around the world, it’s being repressed in Iran, where the government recently handed Panahi a new prison sentence. 

Today on “Post Reports” Elahe Izadi speaks with Jafar Panahi about how he made “It Was Just an Accident” and why he is planning to return to Iran once his awards campaign is over. 

The two spoke this month, before this week’s Oscar nominations and the most recent escalation of anti-government demonstrations and crackdowns in Iran. 

Today’s show was produced by Lucas Trevor, Joshua Carroll and Sam Bair, who also mixed it. 

It was edited by Elana Gordon and Peter Bresnan, with help from Reena Flores.

Thanks to Neon for movie clips and photos.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

The Iranian director who risked his freedom to make his Oscar-nominated film

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the death of a detainee at a Texas detention camp this month, the agency initially gave no cause of death. A fellow detainee said he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards; ICE said “staff observed him in distress.” 

Seeking answers, Lunas Campos’s family called El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner, and an employee told them that – subject to the result of a toxicology report – the office is likely to classify Lunas Campos’s death as a homicide. 

Today on “Post Reports,” investigative reporter Douglas MacMillan tries to find out what really caused the death of a detainee – and takes us inside the black box of the largest detention camp in the United States. 

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick, Dennis Funk and Martine Powers and mixed by Sean Carter.

Thanks also to Juliet Eilperin. 

﻿Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A mysterious death inside ICE's largest detention center

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump sent an unusual text to the prime minister of Norway. 

The two leaders had been messaging about Greenland – specifically, Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposed to the United States taking over the autonomous Danish territory. 

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement that he had been trying to de-escalate the situation. President Trump responded by linking his insistence on taking over Greenland to his grievance over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize – bestowed yearly by the Nobel Committee in Norway. 

Today on “Post Reports,” London bureau chief Steve Hendrix joins host Martine Powers with the latest on Trump’s bid for Greenland, how it all comes back to his perceived Peace Prize snub, and how his obsession is starting to have a real impact on geopolitics. 

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sean Carter. 

﻿Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

How Trump’s Nobel obsession is upending geopolitics

Friendship is vital for our health and happiness, but we don’t always prioritize it. The Optimist’s Maggie Penman goes on a journey to make new friends and learn why so many of us are craving connection.

Today’s show was produced by Maggie Penman, with help from Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Allison Klein. 

For more stories from The Optimist, subscribe to our newsletter. If you want to hear more stories like this on “Post Reports,” send Maggie an email at maggie.penman@washpost.com. 

If you want to check out Billy Baker's book, it's called “We Need to Hang Out: A Memoir of Making Friends.”

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

How to make – and keep – friends

This spring, Howard Schultz returned as Starbucks CEO to stop a rapidly growing unionizing effort. Today, what happens when an anti-union leader comes up against one of the fastest growing union efforts in the country. 

Read more:

With more than 225 stores voting to unionize since last fall, the Starbucks unionization effort has been seen as a beacon of hope for the labor movement. But despite his track record of providing workers with substantial benefits, Starbucks's founder and current CEO, Howard Schultz, sees the movement as a personal threat to his life's work. Reporter Greg Jaffe spent time with Schultz to try to understand his beliefs on unionizing, and what the future of the labor movement could be now that it has such a powerful adversary in Schultz.

The billionaire Starbucks CEO and his ‘Venti’ union fight

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