Impromptu

Ava Wallace, sports reporter at The Washington Post, is in France to report on the Summer Games — and eat a lot of croissants. Join her through the entire run of the games, for several episodes a week as she captures the highs, the lows and the Paris of it all, along with other Post colleagues.Follow The Sports Moment podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or YouTube.Sign up for The Sports Moment: Olympics Edition newsletter here.

After all the hand-wringing over the last month, it took only about 24 hours for Democrats to fall in line behind Vice President Harris as their new nominee. Even so, some worry she’s not the strongest candidate that could have been put forward. Our columnists discuss whether she can win, who might join her as a running mate and what it means for her chances to be a woman of color on the top of the ticket in 2024.Read more from Post Opinions:“The five groups of Democrats that ended Biden’s candidacy”“Today's Democrats love unity and hate arguing. Here's why.”“Democrats should not fear running two women”“What Harris needs to do, now, to win”

After a truly wild few weeks in politics, our columnists huddle up at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. They discuss the mood on the ground in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, how the unity message seems to be fraying and what recent events mean for the presidential campaign – and the country – going forward. Plus, humorist Alexandra Petri serves up an imagined J.D. Vance infomercial using his own words about Trump.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

With falling poll numbers and President Biden's public appearances doing little to reassure voters he’s still got what it takes to win, Democrats are faced with a difficult decision about how to proceed. Biden has dug in, pledging to the public that he isn’t going anywhere. Charles Lane, Karen Tumulty and Perry Bacon Jr. talk through whether Biden can salvage his campaign, how possible it really is to change course now and who else could step up.Read more from our columnists:“Kamala Harris walks into the storm — and keeps her footing”“What if Biden steps aside from the Democratic nomination?”“If not Biden, who? Five columnists weigh in.”

It’s the week of the Fourth of July and the word patriotism is as divisive as the rest of American politics. Theodore Johnson, Karen Attiah and Jason Rezaian discuss the good and the bad about the United States, and how to reconcile its shortcomings while pushing for a better future. Read more from some of our columnists —Ted Johnson: “American democracy is fine. It's the republic that's in trouble.”“Buck up, America. Help is on the way.”Karen Attiah: “How to reckon with the cult of the gun”

President Biden’s debate performance has Democrats in a panic and Donald Trump supporters gleeful. Columnists Karen Tumulty, Dana Milbank and Jim Geraghty process how things feel the morning after, whether the president should step aside and how the truth was the night’s biggest loser. Read more from our columnists about the debate:Karen Tumulty: “The Great Democratic Freakout is upon us”Dana Milbank: “If America is failing, that debate showed why”Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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.”

When asked about their religious affiliation, nearly 30 percent of Americans identify as “nones,” or “nothing in particular.” And over the past 25 years there’s been a steep decline in people belonging to any type of church, synagogue or mosque. But what is lost as people drift from religion? Is it at all responsible for today’s loneliness crisis?Read more from our columnists about what they discussed in the episode.Perry Bacon: “I used to be a Christian. Now I miss church.”Kate Cohen: “How atheists can fix a broken America” and “Go back to church! (Or something like it.)” Shadi Hamid: “The dilemmas of living in a post-religious world.”

Campus protests across the country have renewed Americans' attention on the Israel-Gaza war and are scrambling U.S. politics, particularly on the left. Senior Opinions Editor Amanda Katz speaks with columnists Dana Milbank and Shadi Hamid about how their views have evolved since Oct. 7, whether there’s a double standard on free speech, and what the protests could foreshadow for the upcoming presidential election, particularly among young people.(Note: This episode was recorded Monday, April 29 and does not reference events that took place after)Read some of the columns referenced in this episode. Dana Milbank wrote on what it felt like for him in the weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks: “It’s a lonely time to be a Jew in America” Shadi Hamid wrote about the recent Israeli aid bill and some Democrats’ changing views: “Why it matters that some Democrats voted against aid for Israel”

The Supreme Court is set to decide to what extent former President Trump could be immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, as his lawyers have claimed. Post Opinions columnists Charles Lane, Ruth Marcus and Jason Willick discuss the strategy and timing of these arguments and what we might expect the justices to decide in this showdown about the future boundaries of presidential authority.Read Ruth Marcus on why she thinks this case is “simultaneously bogus and important.”: “How the Supreme Court should rule on presidential immunity.” And here’s her column on what she sees as the Trump team’s delay tactics: “How Trump could win by losing, and delay his trial date.”Check out Jason Willick’s column where he describes the “nightmare scenarios” that dominate this debate: “Trump’s immunity claim at the Supreme Court deserves to fail, as does his Jan. 6 prosecution.” Here’s more on his thoughts about how this case has been prosecuted: “Special counsel Jack Smith has exposed his error in prosecuting Trump.”

Some women are retreating to stereotypical, retro gender roles that embrace the patriarchy. Known as “tradwives,” they are all over TikTok. Style columnist Monica Hesse, letters and community editor Alyssa Rosenberg and senior editor for Opinions Amanda Katz discuss how this trend exposes a continued struggle over equality for men and women in modern society.Read Monica Hesse’s column: Tradwives, stay-at-home girlfriends and the dream of feminine leisureRead the Cut article that kicked off a lot of recent controversy over #TradWives: The Case for Marrying an Older Man

America is entering a grueling presidential election season that’s also a rematch of the one from four years ago. Many Americans report feeling dread and exhaustion about politics and the news. So how do we stay engaged? What can journalists do to help? Three of our columnists talk through it.Read Amanda Ripley’s deep dive crowdsourcing a playbook for election-year sanity: How to survive another Trump-Biden electionAnd we want to hear your strategies too! Let us know how you plan to make it through this election year. Are there things you are doing differently to manage stress, preserve relationships and feel like you are making a difference? Tell us here.  Read Perry Bacon’s latest on voters of color shifting right: More voters of color are backing the GOP. Should Democrats panic?And check out Jim Geraghty writing about why we all need to stop pretending this election is normal: Welcome, Democrats, to the 'abnormal is the new normal' charade