Why some Democrats defected to end the shutdown
After weeks of holding out, a small group of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans over the weekend to start the process of reopening the government. Since the U.S. government closed its doors on No...
10 Nov 202518min
How far can a sense of purpose take us?
Jordie Poncy was about to start a job counseling cancer patients when he learned he had cancer himself. Three years later, his health is stable — and he’s finding meaning by helping others fight.If yo...
8 Nov 202516min
She couldn't win as a Democrat. Will running as a Republican work?
Kate Barr ran for state Senate in North Carolina’s 37th District as a Democrat last year, expecting to lose. She even branded her campaign with the words “Kate Barr can’t win.” She ran the unconventio...
7 Nov 202518min
How some veterans exploit the VA disability system
This year, taxpayers will spend about $193 billion to compensate almost 7 million disabled veterans. Some of the conditions prevent veterans from working or doing everyday tasks – but a Post investiga...
6 Nov 202529min
How Democrats swept Tuesday’s key elections
There was little suspense after polls closed yesterday. Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the governor’s office in New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger easily defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears for the same ...
5 Nov 202526min
How to get enough protein — without going overboard
These days, just about any food you could possibly imagine now has “added” protein. There’s protein popcorn, protein muffins and even protein water. But where did this obsession with protein begin? An...
4 Nov 202521min
Stretching a food budget, when SNAP's uncertain
An estimated 42 million Americans use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – also known as food stamps – to feed themselves and their families. The program ran out of funding over th...
3 Nov 202519min
How much do dogs reduce our stress?
On this weekend’s edition of The Optimist, reporter and self-proclaimed cynic Kyle Melnick goes on a journey with a dog. We’ll talk about what he learns, and the science of how dogs make us calmer, ha...
1 Nov 202514min
