The Story

It’s one of the most anticipated movies of the year. After months of bright pink promo ‘Barbie’ - starring Margot Robbie and directed by Greta Gerwig - finally hits the big screen this week. Little girls have been playing with the doll for 64 years... but she's not without her controversies. So, is life in plastic really still fantastic?  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support...

Councillors in Orkney have voted to explore ways that the group of Scottish islands could break away from Scotland and the UK. Proposals include becoming a crown dependency or even a self-governing territory of Norway - so how might Orxit work? And how could this debate hurt the SNP at the next election? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday T...

On Wednesday evening, five days after allegations were first published, Huw Edwards was named by his wife as the BBC presenter accused of paying £35,000 to a young person for sexually explicit photographs. As further allegations emerge, the Metropolitan Police says it has found no evidence of a criminal offence and Edwards is receiving in-patient hospital care for his mental health after a “seriou...

Last week, the Israeli army entered the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank and carried out a two-day raid where the target - according to Israel - was the headquarters of local militants. During the incursion, journalists were not allowed into the camp. Now that the rubble is being cleared - what really happened? And has it fed the flames of the 'Jenin Brigades' - a new generation of resistance t...

Since 2020, orcas have been carrying out hundreds of attacks on boats near Gibraltar, Spain and Portugal, but last month one of the animals made global headlines when it hit a yacht off the coast of Scotland. Researchers are trying to understand the behaviour - could it be that the killer whales are out for revenge on humanity? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of Th...

In Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, men and women are working secretly, behind enemy lines. They're blowing up bridges, identifying targets for bombing raids and killing anyone caught collaborating with the enemy. So who are they? How are they recruited? And how has one man managed to infiltrate the Russian army itself? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The...

The biggest and most controversial issue for the 31 member nations at the Nato summit in Lithuania tomorrow will be whether to offer fast-track membership to Ukraine. Would this be a step too far – or has the invasion by Russia made it inevitable? We speak to a former Nato secretary-general. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscri...

Scientists are on a mission to solve the problem of drug-resistant infections. It’s a race against time: millions of lives could be at risk when antibiotics stop working. The answer could be a century-old treatment largely abandoned since the invention of penicillin. Research in this podcast was undertaken with reference to 'The Good Virus' by Tom Ireland. For more information on his book, and on...

Today the third Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway in Leeds. But while fans enjoy England’s national summer sport, last week a damning report found that racism, sexism, classism and elitism were "widespread" in the game. So how dire is the situation - and can cricket be saved? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Time...

Last week a 17 year-old was shot dead at a traffic stop in the French town of Nanterre near Paris. In response, the country erupted in rage and riots. Protesters say the killing is evidence of long-standing racism and brutality by the police. So can the relationship between France and some of its most disenfranchised citizens ever be repaired? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support...

Security measures at Wimbledon have been ramped up to stop the environmental activist group Just Stop Oil from disrupting play. Meanwhile, controversial new police powers came into effect this week in England and Wales, aimed at curbing their protest methods. The group wants the government to halt new fossil fuel licensing and production, but its tactics have faced criticism. Who exactly are they...

Vladimir Putin may have averted an armed rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin – but if the fall of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 tells us anything, it's that even a failed coup can still spell ruin for a leader. 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: Peter Conradi, Europ...

The second of our two-part special on the origins of Covid, drawing from a new Sunday Times investigation into the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Insight team has spoken to US investigators who believe the Wuhan Institute ran a covert project of dangerous experiments – and that it was done in collaboration with the Chinese military. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of reader...

The first of our two-part special on the origins of Covid, drawing from a new Sunday Times investigation into the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Newly declassified US intelligence leaves open the question of where the pandemic really started. But fresh evidence drawn from confidential files reveals Chinese scientists spliced together deadly pathogens shortly before the pandemic. This podcast was bro...

Belarus’ dictatorial president Alexander Lukasheko is getting ever closer to the Kremlin - this week he even brokered a truce between the Wagner group and president Putin to prevent a march on Moscow. But most Belarusians don’t want to be an arm of Russia and - outside of this small country’s borders - a group of exiled pro-democracy protesters are taking up arms and training themselves to fight b...

Last week the Bank of England put up interest rates to 5 per cent - a move that has already meant increased mortgage payments for many. So could this lead to a crash in the housing market? What can the government do to alleviate the pain for homeowners - and is inflation here to stay? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe toda...

Vladimir Putin has survived the most serious threat to his authority in two decades of power, following an attempted armed mutiny led by the leader of the Wagner group – and his former ally – Yevgeny Prigozhin. For the time being, Prigozhin has struck a deal to defuse tensions. But what does this mean for Putin’s grip on power and for the war in Ukraine? This podcast was brought to you thanks to t...

Mass migration is transforming our continent just as significantly as wars did in the past. For a book he’s written on this very issue, author and journalist Ben Judah followed the path of Hannibal and Napoleon, crossing the Alps with a group of migrants trying to enter France. This Is Europe: The Way We Live Now by Ben Judah is available now - https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/ben-judah/this-i...

It's the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in Essex - the ship that brought some of the first post-war migrants to the UK from the Caribbean to fill labour shortages. But years later, many were deemed illegal immigrants and were detained - or deported. The government launched a process to issue them with official documents alongside a compensation scheme. So w...

A woman has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after using abortion pills to end her pregnancy after the legal time limit, sparking protests and calls for abortion to be decriminalised. But could law reform risk abortion rights becoming more restrictive? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofo...

The launch of the LIV golf tour by Saudi divided the world of professional golf between those who joined, enjoying large payouts to promote it, and others who took a principled stand against what they said was naked sportswashing. So, after the surprise announcement of a merger between LIV Golf and the more traditional American and European tours who's in, who's out and what will it ultimately mea...

British Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful has announced he's stepping down. But why? In the world of high fashion, was his downfall the result of style over substance, rumours of diva-like behaviour or was he simply ahead of his time? And how did the rumoured power struggle between new-blood Enninful and old-guard Anna Wintour play out? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support o...

This week, Donald Trump became the first US president to be charged with a federal crime. This came less than three months after he was indicted in New York on separate state charges. Why is this time more serious? 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: David Charter, US Edi...

The ‘Ndrangheta mafia got their start kidnapping for money but now import billions of pounds worth of cocaine into Europe every year. A pan-European raid earlier this month led to the arrest of 155 people and the seizure of 23 tons of drugs. So could this finally break a crime organisation whose roots go back hundreds of years?  This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of re...

Murmurs are emerging from the secretive state that the force behind the dictatorship is female. Could supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, be next in line for the throne? Subscribers can read Richard's article on Kim Yo-jong on the Times website . This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk...