The Story
Episodes
Russell Brand accused of rape
16 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode contains detailed allegations of rape and sexual assault. Following an exclusive investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Ch...
Where did all the rockstar authors go?
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When a list of young British novelists to watch was released in 1983, many of them went on to become household names, thanks to both their talent and ...
The Westminster aide suspected of spying for China
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In an exclusive investigation, The Times and The Sunday Times have revealed that a Tory parliamentary researcher arrested on suspicion of spying for C...
Could Hunter Biden's laptop cost his father the presidency?
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gabriel Gatehouse breaks down the Hunter Biden conspiracy theories, which all centre around his infamous laptop. What’s actually on the laptop? Why ...
Spanish football: The kiss, its fallout and Spain’s MeToo moment
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At the Women’s World Cup final last month, the president of the Spanish Football Federation kissed the national team’s star player - on the lips. ...
Investigation: Can you trust private hospitals?
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new investigation for The Sunday Times finds that unnecessary operations happen every year in private hospitals. And when that happens and patients ...
Studio Ghibli: Is this the end for the Japanese studio that inspired Pixar?
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The international premiere of Studio Ghibli’s latest film took place last night, after breaking box office records in Japan in July. The Boy and the...
Schools concrete crisis: What the government knew and when
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday the government published a list of over a hundred schools in England which are fully or partially shut because of safety fears over RAAC –...
The untold story of Liz Truss's chaotic 49 days in No 10
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago today, Liz Truss stood in Downing Street at the start of her premiership promising “action every day”. Over the tumultuous 49 days that...
Investigation: The seven lives of the £2 million fraudster
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jody Oliver deceived his wife, children and male fiancés while adopting a colourful array of identities, scamming those around him out of millions of...
Lucy Letby: What makes a female serial killer?
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies, one question has remained – and may always be – unanswered: why?In this episod...
Investigation: Who really owns £250m of Britain's best real estate?
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Foreign leaders’ families have been snapping up some of Britain's most expensive mansions and penthouses, but their identities were hidden from publ...
Vivek Ramaswamy: The next Donald Trump?
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vivek Ramaswamy - the rising star of the US Republican Party - wants to send troops to the Mexican border, abolish government departments and push for...
Unmasking a spy: The Chinese agent stealing secrets from the UK
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Times has unmasked a Chinese government spy who’s targeting thousands of British professionals on LinkedIn. This person - and their team - are a...
What Harry and Meghan did next
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Despite this week’s release of Prince Harry’s new series for Netflix, Heart of Invictus, this summer has been a chastening time for the Duke and D...
Prigozhin's plane crash: The last weeks of the Wagner boss
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences after a plane crash which is believed to have killed the boss of the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Once clos...
Can the Lionesses lift the World Cup tomorrow?
19 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Saturday we're bringing you an extra episode from another Times podcast – The Game football podcast.The Lionesses are now just one win away fro...
Lucy Letby: The NHS nurse who murdered babies
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 33-year-old neonatal nurse has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further six, during a year-long period betwe...
The fire at Britain’s wonkiest pub
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When The Crooked House pub near the West Midlands town of Dudley was consumed by fire and then demolished, much more was lost than just a quirky venue...
How Spain's civil war became a modern-day culture war
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After inconclusive elections last month, today Spain's parliament reconvenes to try to form a government. But as Spanish politicians look to the futur...
Meet the man saving a glacier (by putting it in his freezer)
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, Times science editor Tom Whipple stood on what used to be a glacier, on rock that used to be below 40 metres of ice. Then, glaciologist Ma...
Cocaine Britain: Traffickers v the police
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The UK is now Europe’s biggest consumer of cocaine. The drug has been linked to a surge in domestic violence and middle-class users are being warned...
El Salvador: The rise of the ‘world’s coolest dictator’
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Not long ago, the tiny nation of El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world. Now, it has the highest incarceration rate. President Nayib Buk...
Can Lizzo survive a harassment lawsuit?
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Pop superstar Lizzo has said a lawsuit with claims of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment are ‘false’. Three former dancers have brou...
Why so many MPs are calling it quits
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With an election just around the corner, politicians are quitting Westminster in their droves, many of them under 40. Is the job broken – or are the...
Why heating our homes with hydrogen could be a pipe dream
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the neighbourhood of Whitby in Cheshire, residents had to grapple with a question that many more of us will have to ask in the coming years: how sh...
Why Niger's latest coup opens a door for Putin in Africa
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Niger, in west Africa, has suffered its fifth coup in just over six decades of independence. This one could have repercussions far beyond its borders ...
Why Gen Z are giving up booze
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Younger people are turning away from alcohol, with Gen Z most likely to be teetotal – including Spider-Man actor Tom Holland. Millennials, too, are ...
The art of the political lunch, with Tim Shipman
05 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday we're bringing you an extra episode from another Times podcast – the Red Box politics podcast with Matt Chorley.Very few people have had...
Trump: The charges for conspiring to overturn the election
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, for the third time in only a few months, former president Donald Trump was indicted, pleading 'not guilty' to four federal charges that arg...
The unsolved murder of a private detective and decades of police corruption
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, it’s understood that London’s Metropolitan Police agreed a record £2million settlement after admitting that a 35-year long murder inv...
Why it's time to give up ultra-processed food
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
High-calorie, ultra-processed food has taken over the British diet, accounting for 60 per cent of our calorie intake. Now, in an alarming new book, Dr...
Fired, interrogated, killed: Where are Putin's generals?
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Following the Wagner mutiny, it’s been a difficult few weeks for Vladimir Putin. He has detained, interrogated or fired a number of his top soldiers...
Is Israel becoming a dictatorship?
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's not often that a parliamentary vote changes the fate and character of a nation. But this week Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition pushed t...
Greece is burning... is climate change to blame?
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the past week, islands in Greece have experienced catastrophic wildfires. Over twenty thousand people have been evacuated - the largest rescue ope...
Why single women are going to Denmark to become mothers
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the last few years, the UK has seen a 44 percent increase in single women seeking fertility treatment on their own. That means they need sperm - an...
The Ukrainian spymaster who Putin wants dead
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Major-General Kyrylo Budanov is the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence - the 37-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become the country's yo...
How a fake AI ‘you’ could con your parents out of thousands
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With just a few seconds of your voice, a scammer can create a fake AI version of “you”, call your parents and potentially scam them out of thousan...
Why Hollywood shut down
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Hollywood’s actors joined its writers in the first industry-wide shutdown in 63 years. The West Wing’s Richard Schiff tells us his fear...
How giant pandas became China’s furry diplomats
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The giant panda has become one of China’s diplomatic tools, after a pair were gifted to President Nixon as an act of friendship in the 1970s. But wi...
Should Rishi Sunak fear a by-election disaster?
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a by-election triple whammy tomorrow - and seats up for grabs include Boris Johnson's former constituency of Uxbridge. The votes were triggered...
A bright pink cultural history of Barbie
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 G...
Why a group of Scottish islands wants to join Norway
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Councillors in Orkney have voted to explore ways that the group of Scottish islands could break away from Scotland and the UK. Proposals include becom...
Huw Edwards, the BBC, The Sun and the media storm
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
'This generation is more dangerous': The new West Bank resistance
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 - wa...
The orca uprising: Why killer whales are attacking boats
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 globa...
Behind enemy lines: Meet the secret Ukrainian counter offensive
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, men and women are working secretly, behind enemy lines. They're blowing up bridges, identifying targets for ...
Could Ukraine really join Nato? A former secretary-general answers
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 member...
What happens when antibiotics stop working?
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ant...
“The culture is rotten”: What is wrong with English cricket?
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
How a killing by French police led to a week of riots
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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....
Just who are Just Stop Oil?
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Security measures at Wimbledon have been ramped up to stop the environmental activist group Just Stop Oil from disrupting play. Meanwhile, controversi...
How Putin might fall: A lesson from 1991
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin may have averted an armed rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin – but if the fall of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 tells us anythi...
The Wuhan lab (Pt 2): The shadow project
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ins...
The Wuhan lab (Pt 1): Mutant viruses and risky experiments
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 de...
The plan to overthrow Europe’s last dictator
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Belarus’ dictatorial president Alexander Lukasheko is getting ever closer to the Kremlin - this week he even brokered a truce between the Wagner gro...
Will high interest rates cause a housing crash?
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Wagner mutiny: Is this the beginning of the end for Putin?
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Migration: How Europe as we know it is changing for good
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 j...
Why victims of the Windrush scandal are still waiting for justice
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
A British woman is jailed for abortion - does the law need to change?
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ca...
How Saudi Arabia is buying up the sport of golf
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ot...
Inside Vogue: Fashion's ultimate power struggle
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The criminal charges that could send Trump to prison
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ne...
Inside the operation to bring down Italy's most feared mafia clan
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Is Kim Jong-un’s sister North Korea’s true leader?
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Murmurs are emerging from the secretive state that the force behind the dictatorship is female. Could supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, K...
Boris Johnson resigns. Now what?
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The immediate events that led to Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP last week began with a phone call from The Times. A total of three Tory MPs ha...
The NHS nurse accused of murdering babies: Lucy Letby on trial
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
33-year-old neonatal nurse Lucy Letby has been on trial since October, 2022 over the alleged murder of seven babies and attempted murder of 10 more at...
Planet Hope: Forecasting volcanic eruptions with Andrew McGonigle
10 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
What to expect from the Covid inquiry
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s already been the subject of controversy – causing a row over access to Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages – and it hasn’t even begun. On...
Can Rishi Sunak really stop the small boats?
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to put a stop to small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel and says that his plans to prevent the dang...
Why the Tories are tearing themselves apart over housing
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The housing crisis is emerging as one of the key battlegrounds ahead of the general election, especially for millennial voters. But as Labour turns up...
Investigation: The black market behind your takeaway
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A Sunday Times investigation has found that drivers for Deliveroo, UberEats and other takeaway apps, are selling access to their accounts to people wh...
Z Generation: Into the heart of Russia's fascist youth
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the war in Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end, Vladimir Putin is betting on a new generation of Russians to march in step with the regime. ...
Planet Hope: Alleviating human-wildlife conflict with Krithi Karanth
03 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: Daniel Finkelstein on his family’s miraculous survival
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a story of covert archives and freezing wastelands, of concentration camps and gulags. In a new book, Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein reveal...
Inside Kenya’s doomsday death cult
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast, a taxi driver turned evangelist pastor told his followers that the “rapture” was coming. Four years...
Why the British Isles still hosts the world’s most dangerous race
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week the 2023 Isle of Man TT race - often dubbed the ‘most dangerous’ race in the world - begins.Six riders died last year at the motorc...
How Russia’s Wagner group took over the Central African Republic
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s Wagner group – already dominant in the conflict in Ukraine – has become the de facto boss in the diamond-rich Central African Republic,...
Photographing five prime ministers
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re away for the bank holiday, so in the meantime we're bringing you a highlight from another Times podcast, Red Box, in which Matt Chorley presen...
Planet Hope: Predicting the Earth’s climate with Tom Matthews
27 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
Are the water companies really making our rivers cleaner?
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last week water companies pledged to spend £10bn over the next five years to drastically reduce the number of sewage spills going into the country’...
Exposed: How online fraudsters are ripping off Britain
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It took less than an hour on the Telegram messaging app for an undercover Times reporter to infiltrate a network of fraudsters based in the UK. They o...
How Call of Duty became Britain's post-Brexit battleground
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft has found itself in a bitter war of words with both its gaming rival Sony and the UK authorities, over a multi-billion dollar takeover bid o...
What hardcore porn is doing to a generation of teenagers
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a new report from the Children’s Commissioner points to the impact of violent pornography on British children, are the waters around consensual s...
Diamonds and divorces: Are the oligarch sanctions working?
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Russia's deputy defence minister, Timur Ivanov, was sanctioned by the EU last October. Forty days before that happened, his wife, the socialite Svetla...
Planet Hope: Revolutionising the world's plastic waste problem with Miranda Wang
20 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
The Sunday Times Rich List: Who is Britain's richest person?
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Hinduja family leads the Sunday Times Rich List again, having topped it four times before. But who is the man at the head of the family and how ha...
The underground bankers funding people smugglers
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whilst the government's controversial illegal migration bill moves through parliament, an untraceable and ancient banking system is being used to fina...
Trouble at the Kremlin
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a difficult fortnight for Vladimir Putin. Russia has been losing ground in the key city of Bakhmut, the man in charge of the Wagner gro...
Investigation: How ketamine became the UK’s hidden campus killer
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the last decade, ketamine has become one of the most popular drugs among students. Part of its appeal seems to be a false reputation for being comp...
India: The next global superpower?
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
India will soon surpass China as the most populous country in the world. As China’s population slumps, could India’s population rise spell a new c...
Planet Hope: Establishing a healthier global population with Mark Kendall
13 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
Eurovision 2023: A very political song contest
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The UK is holding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine which won last year but can’t fulfil its hosting duties because of the ...
Turkey’s knife-edge election: Is Erdogan’s time up?
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As polling suggests the public are losing faith in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian rule, what does this weekend’s election mean for...
An MI6 agent's journey from spy to killer
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A British man was recruited by MI5 and MI6 to infiltrate al-Qaeda training camps – but then brought the horror back home.This episode contains descr...
Qatargate: The inside story of the big Brussels bung
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s part thriller, part farce, starring a glamorous Greek MEP, an Italian toyboy and bundles of euros stuffed in suitcases and hidden under beds. S...
Off Air with Jane Garvey and Fi Glover: How Britain prepared for nuclear war
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're away for the bank holiday, but in the meantime we thought we'd introduce you to one of the newer hit podcasts from the Times stable: Off Air, ho...
Planet Hope: Navigating the Great Spine of Africa with Steve Boyes
06 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a b...
How to crown a King, 2023-style
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tomorrow, Charles will be crowned King at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony marked with hundreds of years of tradition. Just how will the coronation rep...