The Standard

Previewing our Brave New World series, in which Evgeny Lebedev delves deep into the ideas of thought leaders, scientists, and intellectuals who are shaping the future and transforming our culture. Tune in each week for captivating interviews with some of the brightest minds of our time, and explore the realms of longevity, neuroscience, biohacking and psychedelics like never before. For the full v...

Is Sadiq Khan set for a smooth victory? How significant is Ulez for London voters? Will national politics influence voters? Our City Hall Editor Ross Lydall explains how he believes the 2024 mayoral election will unfold, and considers the factors that will make or break Sadiq Khan’s attempt to secure an historic third term as mayor. In this episode: Why this year’s mayoral election could be quite...

Hospitality industry rakes in £46 billion to beat pre-pandemic income . How Beyoncé and The Weeknd brought huge numbers to the capital. Why are indy venues struggling to stay afloat? Our Local Democracy Reporter Noah Vickers explains the capital’s economic boost, and Arts Correspondent Robert Dex explains why smaller music venues are on a knife-edge. In this episode: Post-pandemic boom down to inc...

The best way to deal with Blue Monday 2024? Book your escape! Our Lifestyle Director Suzannah Ramsdale reveals where to go on holiday this year: The under-the-radar Greek island to explore, Sweden’s eco-friendly floating cabins, the new 2,090-mile bike trail across the Balkans and more. In this episode: ‘Cool-cations’: why people are heading to cooler destinations  Why Bhutan is the place to...

Culture editor, Nancy Durrant, and chief theatre critic, Nick Curtis, review Macbeth starring David Tennant at the Donmar Warehouse. This is a special cut-down episode taken from The Standard Theatre Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catherine Tate’s famed for her eponymous sketch show, roles in the American version of The Office and as Donna Noble, Doctor Who’s outspoken companion. Now, Bloomsbury-born Tate is bringing a very London story to life - the Enfield poltergeist. Tate’s appearing in The Enfield Haunting at the Ambassadors Theatre, co-starring David Threlfall, famous as Frank Gallagher in Channel’s 4’s Shameless. In...

London is in the grip of a shoplifting epidemic with a huge spike in crimes over the past year. In this episode, the Evening Standard's crime correspondent Anthony France reports how store theft in the capital now costs retailers over £9 million each month as offences soared by almost 50 per cent. The head of the British Retail Consortium says “violence, abuse and theft are all significantly up on...

Rishi Sunak reveals the Government will introduce emergency legislation to exonerate and compensate hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted in the Horizon IT scandal. The Standard podcast hears the latest developments in part one with our political editor Nicholas Cecil at Parliament.  Then in part two, senior features writer Katie Strick recounts the harrowing story of an innocent Lond...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan appears to have signalled the start of the 2024 race for City Hall. The mayor’s promised free school meals for all primary school children in the capital to continue as his £140 million flagship policy if he wins a third mayoral term Khan's pledge is echoed by his Conservative rival Susan Hall to help parents struggling with the cost of living crisis. It’s marks a countdown...

Hollywood stars were out for the 81st Golden Globes - and we’ve got the highlights and red carpet gossip for you. The ceremony’s short-notice host was comedian Jo Koy, taking the helm for the first time - but some of his jokes fell pretty flat, with one particular lead balloon sparking a ‘death stare’ from Taylor Swift in the celeb-packed audience. So, who went home from the Beverly Hills Hilton w...

Oklahoma! actor Patrick Vaill - who plays scientist Dr Brenner as a young man in the stage adaptation of Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Phoenix Theatre - joins us to discuss everything from the ‘Upside Down’. This interview is taken from The Standard Theatre Podcast and was recorded in December when the West End show opened. Vaill’s role was made famous in the Netflix sci-fi horror serie...

Heavy rain and flooding have been causing chaos in London. On Thursday, a RNLI lifeboat, Met Police, and fire brigade vessels, had to rush to Temple Pier because a party boat sank that was moored there. Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were called to Hackney Road in east London because of severe flooding after a canal burst its banks. The Standard news reporter William Mata has been int...

Court documents relating to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein have been made public. The Standard’s Deputy Political Editor, Jitendra Joshi, discusses the names, allegations and what it all means.  The documents mainly consist of previously unseen legal arguments from the defamation case Virginia Guiffre, Epstein's main accuser, made against his former lover Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015....

Will the longest strike in NHS history bring services to a standstill?  Junior doctors in England - who make up roughly half the doctor workforce - walked out across the country at 7am this morning. It’s the start of a six-day walkout over pay involving thousands of medics in the British Medical Association. The Standard’s Health Reporter, Daniel Keane, explains everything you need to know. H...

The Evening Standard’s astrologer, Shelley von Strunckel, explains what this year has in store for all of us.  Why 2024 is all about ‘breakthroughs’ and what each star sign can expect in the coming 12 months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the highlight of London’s arts calendar - the Standard’s pop culture review of 2023. Listen to what’s made our very ad hoc list of the cream of this year’s pop culture. From ‘Barbenheimer’ to Beckhams, double denim, warp-speed Tik Toks and Paltrow’s ski case to ‘Taylornomics’, Stormzy & Maya return, S Club reunited, Rihanna and ‘rizz’. You’ll hear Evening Standard producer Mark Blunden sp...

This is a festive cutdown taken from our Theatre podcast. Hear Nancy and the Nick’s reveal some of their top West End shows from 2023 and what they’re looking forward to in 2024. To hear the full episode hit this link: lnk.to/zHhmCd Merry Christmas, and have a happy New Year, with only the best kind of drama. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special festive edition of London Love Stories with Katie Strick for The Standard podcast.  Legendary British filmmaker Richard Curtis discusses his love affair with the capital and how it inspired his career. He also shares exclusive behind the scenes gems about Love Actually, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time and Bridget Jones’s Diary.  Want to hear more? Listen t...

The total raised by the Evening Standard’s Winter Survival Appeal in partnership with Comic Relief has swelled to £2.4 million - thanks to a final surge in public donations to £200,000. With one million children in extreme poverty and at severe risk of being inadequately fed, clothed or kept warm this winter, the funds raised have been hailed by struggling charities and parents as a lifesaver, pro...

It was a “nightmare” before Christmas at Hyde Park Corner tube station with “unsafe” scenes caused by train delays and “staggering levels of criminal and antisocial behaviour” from some people apparently returning from the Winter Wonderland event.  TfL is investigating after a station worker described how dozens of people at a time barging through ticket barriers, plus threats to assault staf...

NHS bosses are warning London hospitals are under “extraordinary pressure” due to a “high volume of sick people” as junior doctors began their 26th day of strike action. Members of the British Medical Association began a 72-hour walkout from 7am on Wednesday in hospitals across England in a bitter dispute over pay. Hospital bosses in the capital say the strikes came at “the worst possible time” wi...

Two emergencies are unfolding in China and Iceland. At least 126 people were reportedly killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in a freezing, mountainous region of north-western China, on the Tibetan Plateau. Search and rescue operations are under way in the country’s Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai provinces, as rescuers work in sub-zero temperatures. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, the long-gru...

Baroness Mone has admitted that she stands to profit from a contract between the Government and PPE firm Medpro, but insisted that she and her husband Doug Barrowman have “no case to answer”. The Conservative peer confessed to lying to the press after she repeatedly denied her links to a company that made million of pounds during the Covid pandemic. The discuss the scandal, the investigation and w...

Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga sit down with our Deputy Culture Editor, Nick Clark backstage at the Gielgud Theatre. The West End and Broadway legends are currently starring in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends. This is taken from The Standard Theatre Podcast, click here to find out more . For all the latest news visit standard.co.uk . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Alex Batty was found after six years. The British boy went missing in October 2017 when he was 11 years old. This week, the now teenager was picked up by a lorry driver after 'walking in the French mountains for days'. Our crime reporter John Dunne explains the details behind this incredible story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.