The Story

On Friday, US Supreme court justice and 87-year old five foot pop culture icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. With her passing, a prized vacancy on the highest and most influential court in the US has opened up. Who is going to fill it and what will it mean for the future of American politics? Guest: Henry Zefffman, Washington Correspondent for The Times. Host: Luke Jones. Clips used: BBC, The Ken...

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have reignited this summer over a gas dispute, with the country's leaders trading rhetorical blows. But how precarious is the situation and could they be sleep-walking into a war in the Mediterranean? Guest:  Hannah Lucinda-Smith, The Times' Istanbul Correspondent.  Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: Aljazeera, France24, DWNews. Hosted...

A Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish government's handling of complaints against Alex Salmond has continued to make headlines. But what does it mean for the future of the SNP and Scottish Independence?  Guest:  Kieran Andrews, The Times' Scottish political editor.  Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: Scottish Parliament, BBC, 5 News, Telegraph, Guardian, The Nine (BBC Sc...

In an event exclusively for subscribers to The Times and The Sunday Times via Times+, Kim Darroch, former UK Ambassador to the US, has a conversation with Manveen Rana. Find out more here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the UK, 60,000 people have reported coronavirus symptoms that last more than three months. Artist Monique Jackson is one of them. What do we know about long covid, and how is the COVID Symptom Study app helping us fill in the blanks? Guests: Monique Jackson, artist with long tail covid. Prof Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, co founder of ZOE Covid Symptom...

With less than 50 days until the US presidential election, Donald Trump's relationship with the US military has become strained. But how is the fallout impacting his hopes of returning to the White House? Guests:  Henry Zeffman, Washington Correspondent, The Times. Admiral James Stavridis, Retired US Navy admiral and Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Host: Manveen Rana.  Clip...

Today: the story of one French athlete with dreams of attending the Olympics. Her hopes were put in jeopardy when she was accused of doping, but everything is not as it seems.  Host: David Aaronovitch.  Guest: Adam Sage, Paris correspondent for The Times.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does Andrew Wakefield’s pseudoscience help us understand our modern post-truth crisis? Guest: Brian Deer, former Sunday Times investigative reporter, author of The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Andrew Wakefield's War on Vaccines. Host: David Aaronovitch.  Clips used: Channel 5 and ET Canada.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A sudden rise in coronavirus cases has sparked alarm and a strengthening of public health measures. As of today, much of the UK is living by "the rule of six". Could this be the beginning of a second wave? Guest:  Tom Whipple, science editor, The Times.   Host:  Manveen Rana.  Clips: Times Radio, CBS News, Sky News, BBC News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

When Sunday Times journalist Decca Aitkenhead went to report from a Jamaican magic mushrooms retreat last year, she arrived a sceptic – but left feeling profoundly changed. Guest: Decca Aitkenhead, chief interviewer, The Sunday Times. Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthony Fauci is the most important doctor in America, and he's the public face of the battle against Covid-19 in the US. Does President Trump listen to his advice? Guest:   Rhys Blakely, science correspondent, The Times.   Host: Manveen Rana.  Clips used: CNN, NBC, MSNBC, Sky News, US National Library of Medicine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

On August 20th, Russia's most prominent opposition politician was taken ill on a flight after a suspected Novichok poisoning. Alexei Navalny was put into an induced coma and flown to Germany. What does this latest incident mean? And why was Angela Merkel's government keen to take him to Berlin?  Guest:  Edward Lucas, Times columnist.  Host:  Manveen Rana. Clips: The Sun, D...

Brexit’s back. Trade talks resume today following two bombshells: a leak that Downing Street is preparing to tear up parts of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the prime minister’s statement that no deal would be a "good outcome" for the UK. Is Britain headed for no deal? Guest: Oliver Wright, policy editor, The Times.  Host: Manveen Rana. Clips: Sky, BBC, Euronews, DW News. Hosted on Acast. See...

What are the longterm effects of Covid-19? Times’ journalist Roger Boyes spent weeks under sedation in the intensive care unit after being diagnosed with covid-19 in March. He is one of the thousands who were put on a ventilator for lifesaving treatment at the height of the pandemic. Guests: Roger Boyes, Times Diplomatic Editor. Dr Joel Meyer, ICU consultant. Dr Alex Quigley, clinical psychol...

Jeremy Corbyn’s journey from the backbenches to party leader is well known. But this week sees the publication of a book that takes us down the other side of the slope, and shows how, late last year, the Corbyn project imploded. Guests:  Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall correspondent, The Sunday Times. Patrick Maguire, Red Box reporter, The Times. They are both the authors of "Left Out: The Inside...

As students all around the country return to school we explore the issues facing pupils, teachers and parents. Guests:  Sian Griffiths, Sunday Times Education and Families editor. Host: Manveen Rana.  Clips used: BBC, The Sun. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Britain went into lockdown fears about health infection rates and the catastrophic impact on the economy set in, but something else was taking hold. We've been speaking to the anti-racism charity, The Monitoring Group, and they've noticed an alarming trend: a rise in racist hate crime.  Guests: Suresh Grover, The Monitoring Group. Dorothea Jones, The Monitoring Group. Host: Manveen Ra...

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former campaign chief, appeared in Manhattan federal court via video last week. He was arrested and charged for allegedly siphoning money from a fundraising campaign to build the president’s controversial border wall with Mexico. He pleaded not guilty. Today we take a look into his past to separate the man from the myth.  Guests: Josh Glancy, Washington Bureau Chief...

The US is nearing the finish line of a much anticipated election campaign, and the conventions made headlines this week. It's Trump v Biden for the soul of America, but what about their running mates? We put Mike Pence and Kamala Harris under the spotlight. What do we really know about who they are and what they want?  Guests:  Henry Zeffman, Washington correspondent for The Times....

Two weeks ago, Alexander Lukashenko claimed to win a sixth term as president of the Republic of Belarus. But after his 26 year rule, many in Belarus have had enough. Since the August 9th election, the country has seen widespread protests which have been met with mass arrests and repression. We follow four young Belarusians caught up in history. Host: Manveen Rana. Guests:  Aliaksandra Yu...

Last week Dido Harding, the former amateur jockey and TalkTalk boss who since May has been the head of the ramshackle NHS Test and Trace programme, was put in charge of England’s new pandemic response agency. Sunday Times business reporter Sabah Meddings traces Harding’s rise to the top of one of the most important organisations in the country. Host: Manveen Rana. Guest: Sabah Meddings, pharma, co...

A confidential report has identified a string of murder-suicides that could in fact be the work of a serial killer who attacks vulnerable elderly couples with extreme violence. Could this killer still be at large? And could a pattern of behaviour truly have been missed for 15 years? Guests:  David Collins, Northern correspondent, The Sunday Times.  Jonathan Calver, Insight Editor, T...

Sales of camping gear have jumped as more Britons opt to holiday within the UK this summer due to coronavirus. Today we take you under canvas in the great British outdoors. Guest: Ben Machell is a feature writer for The Times. Host: David Aaronovitch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past week the Education Secretary has defended the use of an algorithm to produce A-level grades, categorically ruled out a U-turn and then completed said U-turn. But what if this is just the most high-profile example of algorithms creeping into our everyday lives? Guests:  Steven Swinford, deputy political editor, The Times. Timandra Harkness, author of Big Data, Does Size Matter? Hos...

The Afghan war could finally be limping to an end, and a peace deal with the Taliban could now be on the horizon. But will some of the most dangerous Taliban fighters have to be released back into society? Guest:  President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. Host:  Manveen Rana.  Clips:  BBC, Channel 4, CSPAN. Additional Music: Jordan Powell, Nihilore (licensed under Creative Common...