The Story

For much of the pandemic, university students have been confined to their halls for months on end. For some, drugs became a way to pass the time. But as lockdown lifts, will the rise in student drug taking have a more lasting impact? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storieso...

President Biden has launched a 90-day investigation into the origins of the virus, following reports which give fresh life to the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis. Once regarded as a conspiracy theory, the idea is now being taken seriously by both American and British intelligence. So what changed? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Su...

In the middle of one of the world's most beautiful rivers, the Drina, there now floats an island of rubbish – with no one taking responsibility. How did a landscape already ravaged by war become blighted by the peace that followed? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofo...

Living the British dream – as dozens of TV shows testify – has always meant owning your own home. But today, if you’re a millennial in a city, a dream is quite possibly what it will remain. What's stopping millennials from getting on the housing ladder? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: the...

It was a day that brought Westminster to a standstill. Today the Sunday Times Insight team analyses the nearly 7 hours of evidence the former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings gave to parliament last week. And we speak to relatives of those who died of Covid-19 about the questions still left unanswered. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and Th...

On Sunday afternoon, a Ryanair flight to Vilnius made a sudden and dramatic landing in Minsk. In what some have described as state sponsored kidnapping, a prominent Belarusian opposition activist was marched off the plane by members of the Belarusian KGB. What role has Russia played in this extraordinary episode? And with the clamour of international condemnation, will anything really change? This...

Since the announcement of the divorce between Bill and Melinda Gates, a fuller picture of the Microsoft billionaire’s life is emerging. What could it mean for the world's biggest private charitable foundation – and what role might Jeffrey Epstein have played in the rift? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one...

The annual Sunday Times Rich List has identified a record-breaking 24 new billionaires this year. For many of us, it's been a bleak year with recurring lockdowns, businesses closed and workers furloughed. So how have these individuals managed to generate so much wealth, and what happens after the boom? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Tim...

It happened on the 22nd of May 2017, when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb as attendees of an Ariana Grande concert were exiting the Manchester Arena, leaving 22 people dead and hundreds injured. An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that a notorious Libyan drug gang operating in Manchester may have had more to do with the attack than previously known. This podcast was brought...

The devastating results for Labour at the Hartlepool by-election have made it clearer than ever that the party is facing an existential crisis. But it's not the first time that Labour has been confused about its identity and purpose. What can Labour's past tell us about the party's future? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe...

Two-hundred Palestinians, including fifty-nine children have been killed in Israel's bombardment of the Gaza strip over the last week. Despite mounting global pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the exchange of rocket fire between Israel and Hamas looks likely to continue. Today we hear one woman's story as she and her family take shelter in the same home. This podcast was broug...

Could the Indian Covid-19 variant pose "serious disruption" to lockdown easing and what does our response tell us about the future of our pandemic strategy? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guest: Tom Whipple, Science editor at The Times. Host: Manveen Ra...

Italy's Five Star Movement, a political party co-founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009, promised radical change by putting citizens back in control of politics. Today the party is facing problems. Will this populist force change course or will it continue with its anti-establishment agenda? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subsc...

Last week the Scottish National Party won a historic fourth term in government. With a commitment to hold another independence referendum – and a majority in the Scottish parliament for it – what happens next? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guests: - Ki...

Once hailed as a pain obliterating wonder drug, OxyContin helped give birth to one of the most devastating public health crises in the developed world. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guests: Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker staff writer and author o...

All across India there are scenes of devastation and desperation as the country grapples with a brutal second wave of Covid-19. What went wrong? And will this crisis have a lasting impact on the political future of Prime Minister Modi? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storie...

A Sunday Times Insight investigation reveals a royal allegedly using their position to enrich themselves. Going undercover and working with Channel 4's Dispatches, the Insight team filmed HRH Prince Michael of Kent at a business meeting in which prospective clients were told he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make representations to Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical Russian regime. The investig...

Northern Ireland's first minister, DUP leader Arlene Foster, has stepped down. Who will take over the top job? And what could it mean for the future of Northern Ireland? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guests: - Henry McDonald, contributing writer, The S...

She cofounded Tinder in her twenties, then became the target of misogynistic trolling. Now her female-friendly dating app Bumble has made her one of the world’s wealthiest women aged just 31. How has Whitney Wolfe Herd changed the way we date forever? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: theti...

On Thursday the 6th May, voters in Hartlepool will elect the first new MP since Boris Johnson and the Conservatives’ landslide victory in 2019. With polling showing the Tories on course to win the seat from Labour - what can we learn about the national picture from this constituency in the North East? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Time...

President Joe Biden has proposed some of the most expansive and expensive economic reforms in America in recent political memory. He’s been keen to paint himself as a 21st century Franklin D. Roosevelt. How apt is that comparison? Will he pull his grand plans off? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month f...

After a groundbreaking investigation carried out by The Times back in the 1960s, an anti-corruption police unit was set up to investigate corruption in the Metropolitan police force. How did they do it? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Gues...

They're calling it the 'cash for cushions' scandal. How did the refurbishment of the prime minister's flat snowball out of control? And what lies ahead for Boris Johnson? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guests: - Steven Swinford, political editor at The...

During the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden’s approach has been different to most western European nations. But a year on, how have the Swedes fared, and did their government let them walk into a second wave?  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes . Guest: Dani...

Hundreds of children have succumbed to a mystery illness that can keep them in a sleeplike state for years and scientists are stumped. What does it feel like to sleep for months? And how do you treat the children who just won't wake up? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/stori...