When I listen to the news, here's what I want to know. Why this story matters. Who's at the center of it and how the reporters uncovered it? And as a journalist, I want to make sure that's what you get, too. I'm Elahe-Izadi, co-host of the podcast Post reports. Every weekday, my colleagues and I at The Washington Post give you the context you need on the biggest stories.

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wherever you listen to podcasts.

The shutdown goes on and on. Trump supporters are angry about a newly approved abortion pill.

And Taylor Swift's new album is here.

That's some of what we'll get to on The Seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Hannah Jewell.

It's Friday, October 3rd.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

Number one, senators will try again today to reopen the federal government. For three days,

hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed, multiple government agencies have effectively been

shuttered, and Democrats and Republicans have been pointing the finger at each other in blame.

The Senate has several votes on funding bills scheduled for today, but negotiations do not

appear to have yielded a breakthrough as of early this morning.

At least they are talking, I guess.

Meanwhile, it's increasingly unclear where the U.S. economy is headed,

not because of a direct hit from the federal closures, but a lack of official data.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report was scheduled to be

released this morning, but now it won't be. It is the first casualty in what is likely to be a

string of delayed or missed economic reports. For more on the state of the shutdown, check out the

latest episode of Post Reports.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey shared his insights about the Democrats' risky shutdown bet.

...