The Story

Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is increasingly embattled, amid protests by the families of hostages calling for him to go. Could this crisis lead to his downfall? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes .  Guest: Anshel Pfeffer, Times contributor in Jerusalem and author of...

In an interview over the weekend, President Zelensky announced a major shake up in the Ukrainian army. It comes after a week-long battle between Zelensky and his top general. So after all of this internal disarray – how is the war seen right now by Ukrainians? Anthony Loyd returns from another trip to the country, where he embedded with brigades and met the men desperate to avoid conscription. Thi...

We hear the story of one woman who was stalked by her ex-boyfriend, as domestic abuse charities warn that young people are becoming accustomed to a high level of monitoring in romantic relationships. And one of our producers finds out first hand what it's like to be tracked. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe...

Palestinian journalist Amal Helles has been reporting for The Times and The Sunday Times from Gaza since the Hamas attacks on Israel, and the beginning of the conflict in October. Foreign journalists aren't allowed unaccompanied into the territory, where she lives with her husband and two small children. So we’ve been talking to her via WhatsApp voice notes about life amid food shortages, bombing...

A former adviser to the prime minister is working with a secretive group of Tories to remove him from office before the general election. MPs have been out publicly backing Rishi Sunak and denying their involvement, but it risks setting off yet another civil war in the party. So who are the rebels?  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday T...

On Sunday, three American troops were killed in a drone strike on a US base in Jordan. At least 34 were wounded. The group responsible for the attack is one of the many Iran-backed militias that operate in the region, and they've now announced that they will halt further attacks on the US. So did Iran authorise the attack? And, at a time of such heightened tensions in the Middle East, is it a...

While UK students need straight As to get onto prestigious Russell Group degree courses, their international classmates can buy their way in through secret routes. An undercover Sunday Times investigation has already prompted an urgent review by the Department for Education. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetime...

OneTaste, the organisation behind the practice 'orgasmic meditation', was hailed as visionary at its peak. Since then, its leader, Nicole Daedone, has been arrested by the FBI on forced labour charges and her group has been branded a 'cult' – allegations they deny vehemently. But what is it? Sunday Times reporter Megan Agnew was invited to their California compound, The Land, to find out. This pod...

A Russian-born trader and a billionaire who admitted to fraud have topped this year’s Sunday Times Tax List, but more than two-thirds of the 100 individuals and families on the list contributed less tax this year. So, at a time when the tax bill for most people is up, who is paying less, and why?   This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sund...

Sir Keir Starmer is on the pre-campaign trail this week, promoting his five missions that Labour are pledging to achieve if they win the upcoming election. It comes after the most detailed polling yet predicted a landslide majority to rival Tony Blair’s 1997 win. So what would Starmer actually do in government? And what lessons is he taking from the Blairite playbook? This podcast was brought to y...

UK health chiefs have declared a national incident following a surge in measles cases in the Midlands and London, and the World Health Organisation warned yesterday that it's spreading rapidly across Europe too. Measles is a disease many doctors thought they would never see again – so what's going on? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Time...

Louise Callaghan has spent most of the last decade reporting from the Middle East. During that time she witnessed a coup attempt in Turkey, the battle to free Mosul, and was the first Western journalist to report on a gas attack in Syria in 2018. As she heads to the US to report on the election there, she reflects on the lessons she learned in the region. This podcast was brought to you thanks to...

Following his seminal book Empireland, Times writer Sathnam Sanghera now looks at the legacy of colonialism for the billions of people Britain once ruled over – from houseplants to the state of democracy. He also tells us about the fallout from Empireland, and why the debate around our own history has become so toxic.  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Ti...

After trying - and failing - to kill him via lethal injection, Alabama is planning to execute death row inmate Kenneth Smith next week using an untested method - nitrogen suffocation. But why are they resorting to this? And could he get a last minute reprieve? Today's episode contains descriptions of death and execution, right from the start - so do consider if you want to listen. This podcast was...

Three months into the war in Gaza, the conflict has reached a courtroom: the International Court of Justice in the Hague. South Africa says we are witnessing a genocide take place in real time. Israel has called the claims ‘preposterous’. A leading expert in international law walks us through the case and its possible consequences. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers o...

Twenty years after Mean Girls introduced Regina George and her pink-clad Plastics to cinema screens, the high-school Queen Bee is back in a new musical film and a West End stage musical. So why is a film for teenage girls still so popular two decades later? And what did it expose about the complicated politics of girl world? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The T...

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis began firing missiles into Israel shortly after the invasion of Gaza. But when the rebels started targeting commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, the US and UK hit back. So, who are the Houthis and can they be stopped? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofour...

This month, thousands of court documents about Jeffrey Epstein were released, unredacted, for the first time. They include new names and allegations about a number of high profile figures. So what did we learn and will anyone go to jail? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.  Guest...

Tomorrow, Taiwan heads to the polls. It’s the first election of a historic year, where more than half of the world’s population will vote. It could also be one of the most consequential.   If the ‘wrong’ candidate wins, China may threaten the self-governing island which the US has pledged to defend. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday T...

The Prime Minister has announced new legislation to quash the convictions of wrongly accused subpostmasters. It comes after a groundswell of interest - and outrage - in the story after an ITV drama was broadcast last week. How did a TV show achieve what years of journalism and a public inquiry had failed to? And what next for the convicted subpostmasters? This podcast was brought to you thanks to...

The American economy appears to be making a miraculous recovery from inflation and the pandemic. So why the bad economic vibes? Consumer sentiment is low, and the Biden administration is struggling to gain credit for dodging recession. The lessons from that could soon be felt here, as Britain heads towards an election. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times a...

In 1972 a small plane with 45 souls on board crashed in the Andes mountains. Stranded for ten weeks in minus 30C, the survivors were eventually forced to eat the bodies of their friends. Their story has been made into a new film 'Society of the Snow'; we hear from a survivor. This podcast contains scenes of a graphic nature. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The T...

In 1991, 26 year old Margaret Perry was murdered. A year later, the three men suspected of being responsible were themselves killed. All four deaths came during the latter years of Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Will a long awaited investigation into the period finally reveal any answers?  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscr...

The killing of a senior Hamas official in Lebanon has further stoked tensions in the Middle East. Hezbollah’s supreme leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned Israel that it is ready for war “without limits” should the IDF attack. Meanwhile, Iran has blamed Israel for a twin bomb attack near the tomb of an Iranian general. What impact will these developments have on the war in Gaza?   This p...

Despite being banned from the ballot paper in two states (so far) and multiple legal hurdles, Donald Trump is the clear favourite to return as the Republican candidate for US president, and opinion polls also give him the edge in a rematch with Joe Biden. Trump has joked about becoming a "dictator" for a day if he wins, and says he would carry out mass deportations – and that’s just the beginning...