Goodbye from "Post Reports"

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Goodbye from Post Reports"

Post Reports – The Washington Post
Date: February 6, 2026
Host: Martine Powers (with contributions from the entire audio team)

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt final episode of Post Reports, host Martine Powers and the Washington Post audio team bid farewell to their listeners after over seven years of daily news podcasting. The episode is a reflective send-off—celebrating the show’s journey, impact, and core mission: bringing top-tier reporting and stories from The Washington Post newsroom directly to listeners’ ears. Team members share personal reflections, gratitude for their audience, and insights into what it has meant to make the show.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Journey and Mission of Post Reports

• Martine Powers opens by reminiscing about the show's inception and purpose—demystifying newsroom work and making sense of world events for listeners.
• Coverage highlights include elections, wars, the COVID-19 pandemic, technological revolutions, pop culture, and scientific discoveries.

“For me, every day has been an adventure and an honor to share what's going on in the world with people who want to understand. It is a privilege to know that I got to spend time in your ears as part of your day.”
— Martine Powers [01:24]

2. Tributes and Reflections from the Team

The episode features a series of personal messages from producers, hosts, and team members reflecting on their favorite aspects of the show and expressing gratitude to listeners.

• Colby Ekowicz reflects on the privilege of elevating the work of Post journalists:

  "Bringing the Post journalism and its journalists to you...it was the highlight of my 12 years at the Washington Post. And in honor of a lifetime, I am forever grateful to you, our listeners."
  — Colby Ekowicz [02:23]

• Arielle Platnick shares the thrill of taking listeners behind the scenes:

  "It was so special to bring our brilliant reporters into the studio and have them unpack... how they did their reporting out in the field. I think they really brought journalism and the act of holding power to account really alive."
  — Arielle Platnick [02:54]

• Christina Quinn thanks the audience and her colleagues for a fulfilling experience:

  "It's been a real honor and pleasure working with this wildly talented and committed team... Thank you so much for listening to the show. It's meant a lot to us."
  — Christina Quinn [03:27/06:16]

• Emma Talkoff addresses the audience's role:

  "I'm really grateful for our audience, for everyone who wrote us or they liked an episode... And I'm just sad we won't get to make the show for you anymore."
  — Emma Talkoff [03:49]

• Sabi Robinson underlines the joy and collaboration with listeners:

  "So many story ideas have come from you. And I just really appreciate everyone who has spent part of their day listening to the work that we've done."
  — Sabi Robinson [04:22]

• Elahe Izadi reflects on the deep connection with the audience:

  "Even though it was me on the mic and my colleagues in the studio, I always envisioned you, the audience in the room with us too, listening in, wanting to ask these questions, wanting to understand. We did this all for you and with you."
  — Elahe Izadi [04:54]

• Rennie Swarnofsky celebrates the camaraderie of the production teams:

  “They were always thinking about how to serve you, our listeners, better, how to tell you an interesting story, how to hold your hand through something hard, whether this or that might make you laugh.”
  — Rennie Swarnofsky [05:46]

• Sean Car signs off with warmth and a nod to listeners’ engagement:

  “It has been an immense pleasure and honor mixing, scoring, recording and working on these episodes for your ears out there listeners... keep rocking in the free world. Much love.”
  — Sean Car [06:40]

3. The End, but Not the End of Reporting

• Martine Powers closes with gratitude and reassurance that while the podcast ends, the journalistic mission continues at The Washington Post:

  “Hardworking and brilliant journalists at the Washington Post will keep reporting and investigating and holding powerful people to account. And we bid them the best of luck in that mission.”
  — Martine Powers [06:59]

• The entire audio team is acknowledged by name as a show of appreciation for their behind-the-scenes work.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I feel like doing this job and making this work in many ways has been a total dream come true. I've gotten to spend the day making sense of life through storytelling.”
  — Sabi Robinson [04:22]

• “[Listeners], you mean so much to us. If you've found value...please know that behind the scenes we have been having such a blast making this show.”
  — Christina Quinn [06:16]

• “Thank you for the last four and a half years...keep rocking in the free world. Much love.”
  — Sean Car [06:40]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:36 – Martine Powers’ opening remarks and show history
• 02:23–02:54 – Team tributes: Colby Ekowicz and Arielle Platnick
• 03:27–04:54 – Reflections: Christina Quinn, Emma Talkoff, Sabi Robinson
• 04:54 – Elahe Izadi’s co-host message to listeners
• 05:46 – Rennie Swarnofsky on teamwork and audience connection
• 06:16–06:40 – Final thanks: Christina Quinn, Sean Car
• 06:59 – Martine Powers’ closing statement and team roll call

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Tone and Takeaway

The episode is nostalgic, heartfelt, and full of gratitude. The Post Reports team emphasizes their deep appreciation for listeners, pride in journalistic integrity, and the camaraderie among the staff. Listeners are reminded that the stories and connection built over the years remain valuable, and while the podcast ends, the commitment to quality journalism endures.

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Transcript

[Colby Ekowicz]

Everything feels more expensive right now. That's why this matters. TikTok shop has a huge selection of products with surprising deals. You don't expect affordable finds for everyday life. Download TikTok now. Hey, it's colby ekowicz.

[Arielle Platnick]

Hi, I'm arielle platnick.

[Christina Quinn]

Christina quinn.

[Colby Ekowicz]

Emma talkoff.

[Martine Powers]

Laura benshoff.

[Sabi Robinson]

Sabi robinson.

[Rennie Swarnofsky]

This is rennie swarnofsky.

[Christina Quinn]

Alana gordon.

[Sean Car]

This is sean car.

[Martine Powers]

From the newsroom of the Washington Post. This is Post Reports. I'm Martine Powers, and this is the final episode of our podcast. So just over seven years ago, we launched this daily news podcast from the Washington Post Reports. Our goal was to bring you inside our newsroom, sharing our reporting with listeners to help make sense of what was happening in the world. Since then, we've published hundreds and hundreds of episodes on our show. We have covered elections, wars, a pandemic, tech revolutions, pop culture phenomena, scientific discoveries. Honestly, you name it, we have covered it. For me, every day has been an adventure and an honor to share what's going on in the world with people who want to understand. It is a privilege to know that I got to spend time in your ears as part of your day. Now, seven years later, the Post has decided to suspend Post Reports. Everything you've heard on this show has only been possible because of an extraordinary group of journalists that includes reporters who have worked with us, shared their insights and sources and reporting, spoken to us from war zones, from air, from the White House, from inside their own closets in many cases. And it also includes members of our audio team, producers, editors, hosts, and engineers who have worked tirelessly every day to make this show possible. And I want to give folks a chance to hear a little bit from them.

[Colby Ekowicz]

Bringing the Post journalism and its journalists to you to hear directly from the people who do this vital work, to elevate their work. It was the highlight of my 12 years at the Washington Post. And in honor of a lifetime, I am forever grateful to you, our listeners, to this most talented audio team who have ever done this work. And I will miss this show always.

[Arielle Platnick]

The thing that I am going to miss most about Post Reports is introducing our listeners to the behind the scenes of how reporting really works. It was so special to bring our brilliant reporters into the studio and have them unpack, you know, how they found a scoop, how they did their reporting out in the field. And I think they really brought journalism and the act of holding power to account really alive.

[Christina Quinn]

You may know me as the host of Try this or from the seven Podcast it has been a real honor and pleasure working with this wildly talented and committed team of people for the past three years. Thanks for listening. I have loved helping make this show for the last few years and I'm really going to miss working with all the incredible journalists at the Post. Thank you so much for listening to the show. It's meant a lot to us.

[Emma Talkoff]

I'm so grateful for my colleagues on the audio team. It has been such a professional joy of mine to work with so many smart and variously talented people. And I'm really grateful for our audience, for everyone who wrote us or they liked an episode episode, for everyone who listened to an episode that we got up early or stayed up late to put together. And I'm just sad that we won't get to make the show for you anymore. Thank you so much.

[Sabi Robinson]

I feel like doing this job and making this work in many ways has been a total dream come true. I've gotten to spend the day making sense of life through storytelling. It's been so fun working on shows that you, our listeners, have contributed to. So many story ideas have come from you. And I just really appreciate everyone who has spent part of their day listening to the work that we've done.

[Elahe Izadi]

Hi, this is Elahe Izadi and I was co host of Post Reports for almost four years. And I just want to say thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in and welcoming us into your lives every day. I hope our work here left you feeling more informed, more connected to the world, and yes, even at times, delighted. And it's been an honor to have been one of the people bringing you this reporting. And now I can admit, even though it was me on the mic and my colleagues in the studio, I always envisioned you, the audience in the room with us too, listening in, wanting to ask these questions, wanting to understand we did this all for you and with you. Thank you for coming along on this ride with us.

[Rennie Swarnofsky]

I hope to bring you Post Reports, but also the Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop and more recently, some episodes of the Optimistic. These were really special teams to be a part of. They were always thinking about how to serve you, our listeners, better, how to tell you an interesting story, how to hold your hand through something hard, whether this or that might make you laugh. When you wrote in with your own stories and feedback, it was the best. Thank you for having listened.

[Christina Quinn]

I just want to thank you so much for listening. You mean so much to us. If you've found value, which I hope in the stories you've heard in the episodes and the news that we've broken down, please know that behind the scenes we have been having such a blast making this show. It's been an honor and I truly hope that you've found yourself more informed.

[Sean Car]

I want to say thank you for the last four and a half years. It has been an immense pleasure and honor mixing, scoring, recording and working on these episodes for your ears out there listeners. So thank you so much and keep rocking in the free world. Much love.

[Martine Powers]

So to everybody who has listened to this podcast and made it a part of your lives, I want to extend my deepest gratitude for the trust that you have put in us. While we will not be publishing daily episodes of Post Reports anymore, hardworking and brilliant journalists at the Washington Post will keep reporting and investigating and holding powerful people to account. And we bid them the best of luck in that mission one last time. The audio team at the Post includes Shawn Carter, Ted Muldoon, Alana Gordon, Emma Talkoff, Ariel Plotnick, Renice Fornovski, Charla Freeland, Christina Quinn, Taylor White, Josh Carroll, Thomas, Lu, Sabi Robinson, Colby Itkowicz, Laura Benchoff, Alahia Izadi, Maggie Penman, and Rena Flores. I'm Martine Powers. Thank you so much for listening.

[Washington Post Narrator]

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