The Story
Episodes
Sandy Hook a decade on: How the AR-15 became ‘America’s Rifle’
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been 10 years since America’s deadliest mass shooting in an elementary (primary) school. In the years since, the weapon used - the AR-15 - ha...
Two voices from Ukraine: 'You cannot get used to this'
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we hear from two Ukrainian journalists who we spoke to back in March, at the beginning of Russia's invasion. At that time, Kateryna Malofieieva...
Moral hypocrisy: Why are our celebrities so nice?
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are we living in a world where there is pressure on those in the public eye to exude virtue above all else? Where has this sensibility come from and i...
Do private schools need a rethink?
09 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the last few weeks, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for private schools in the UK to have their charitable status scrapped, but why?A...
Rishi Sunak's winter of discontent
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Rishi Sunak outlasts his predecessor in the top job, just how is he doing? With polls suggesting a heavy Conservative loss at the next election, a ...
Why it's time to talk about male suicide
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Seventy-five percent of all lives lost to suicide in the UK are male. And one charity is leading a campaign to do something about it. For this year, T...
Nato’s arms race with Putin
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Putin’s invasion has ushered in a new era of industrial warfare. As the winter freeze sets in, the pace of the war has not yet abated. Weapon stocks...
The British Museum or Greece: Who should lose their marbles?
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the weekend, reports emerged that the chair of the British Museum, ex-chancellor George Osborne, has been holding ‘secret’ talks with the Gre...
China’s protests: A view from the inside
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chinese cities have seen days of extraordinary protests calling for an end to the country’s zero-Covid measures, and for President Xi to step down. ...
Nicola Sturgeon's great independence gamble
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a stinging rebuke from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom - which ruled that the devolved Scottish parliament cannot authorise an independe...
Tutankhamun: The Times scoop of a century
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One hundred years ago, when the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in Egypt, the world learnt of the treasures via The Times which had secured th...
Is the House of Lords beyond fixing?
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Every prime minister's last act in office is to choose a final list of people to elevate to the House of Lords, parliament's second chamber. And Boris...
How a dead police officer’s phone exposed misogyny, corruption and racism
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, retired Gwent police officer Ricky Jones took his own life. Jones’s family - who he’d subjected to years of abuse - looked through his ol...
The Stasi's Romeo Agents (Pt 2) - The Spy Who Left Me
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Romeo agents have infiltrated the West German Government by wooing secretaries of high-up officials. In the second part of this two-part series, a new...
The Stasi's Romeo Agents (Pt 1) - School for Seduction
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the best way to spy on your enemies? Sleep with their secretaries. In part one of this two-part series, new evidence is unearthed of East Ger...
Undercover at Boohoo: The human cost of fast fashion
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fast fashion clothing company Boohoo has exploded in popularity since the pandemic. After reports of appalling working conditions in 2020, the company...
The perfect storm facing the NHS
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amid staff shortages, Covid backlogs and potentially the first national nursing strike in the NHS’s history, the health service is facing a challeng...
Donald Trump's third run
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It was the worst-kept secret in US politics: that former President Trump would be running again in 2024. After a disappointing midterm election for Re...
Putin’s humiliation, Kherson’s liberation: Inside an occupied city
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ukrainian troops forced Putin’s war machine into a chaotic exit from the city of Kherson last Friday. After eight months of Russian occupation, it w...
Camp 41: The research station helping to save the Amazon
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the 27th UN Climate Change Conference draws to a close, The Times’ environment editor Adam Vaughan has travelled deep into the Amazon rainforest ...
Are we entering Austerity 2.0?
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tomorrow, our newest Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce his Autumn Statement. In previews, he's prepared the country for 'some pain' to fill a £50 ...
Could a jab cure cancer?
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The team behind one of the most successful Covid-19 vaccines have returned to their original mission: making cancer vaccines. The BioNTech professors ...
World Cup: Our football writer’s five stages of grief
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the twelve years since Qatar was awarded the World Cup, a number of questions have been raised about the appropriateness of hosting the tournament ...
Inside Hong Kong: A city on the edge?
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Draconian Covid rules and crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters turned the global business hub into a walled city. As it slowly reopens, expats are c...
Britain’s migration crisis, explained
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Home Secretary Suella Braverman is at the centre of a migration crisis after the Manston immigration centre was reported as unsafe, understaffed a...
Bird flu: The devastating pandemic that’s flown under the radar
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over 5.5 million farm birds have been culled to stem the largest outbreak of avian influenza ever recorded in the UK. The virus has spread to Britain’...
US midterms 2022: An existential election
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tomorrow, for the first time since the election that many Americans still believe was 'stolen', voters in the US head back to the polls. Almost everyt...
Has Brazil's election helped to save the planet?
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Brazil’s left-wing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has achieved a historic victory over his far-right rival, the incumbent president Jai...
The fall of Facebook
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years the once dominant social media platform has been hit by problem after problem. Fewer people use it, and revenues and profits are down....
Could Donald Trump go to jail?
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Former US president Donald Trump is facing a host of legal issues. So which could prove the most problematic for him and what could be the consequence...
Harry and Meghan: What the courtiers saw
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A royal correspondent’s best sources are often the unseen aides, advisors and staff, working behind the scenes. Who are these advisors? What do they...
The challenge ahead for Rishi Sunak
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of his first week in power, Rishi Sunak already faces a backlash over his choice for home secretary. And more importantly, what can he poss...
Is Labour ready for power?
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With Labour riding high in the polls, Keir Starmer is calling for an early general election. But after 12 years in the shadows, few members of La...
Is the UK heading for a housing crash?
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mortgage rates have risen sharply, hitting their highest levels in 14 years. We trace the ripple effect across the economy, as higher rates threaten t...
Lance Armstrong: The flawed fairytale
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In October 2012, cyclist Lance Armstrong was banned from the sport for life and stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles after anti-doping a...
Liz Truss quits – and Boris Johnson weighs his return
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
She’s the shortest serving prime minister in British history.As the Conservative party embarks on the process of finding another new leader, Tim Shi...
The child abuse inquiry: What have we learned since Jimmy Savile?
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, the Jimmy Savile affair shocked the nation, sparking a moral panic about child abuse and institutional cover ups. In response, the gove...
Can the new chancellor save the economy – and the PM?
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has announced plans to scrap “almost all” the tax cuts in last month’s mini-budget and curtail support for hous...
The Post Office scandal and the broken system that caused it
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The second stage of the inquiry into the Post Office scandal begins this week, focusing on the computer system at the centre of the story. How much di...
Will China invade Taiwan?
14 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China’s ruling Communist Party’s Congress begins on Sunday where Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term - effectively allowi...
Meet the Editors: Celebrating 200 years of The Sunday Times
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This month the Sunday Times turns 200 years old. To mark the occasion, Times Radio’s John Pienaar has been speaking to the editors: Emma Tucker, who...
Elon Musk (probably) buys Twitter
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a long and twisting road: six months of ‘on again off again’, after Elon Musk made an offer to buy Twitter, only to back out a few mon...
The real story of Colditz
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's a legend many of us have grown up with: a plucky group of British officers, finding themselves trapped in a heavily guarded POW camp during the S...
Putin's draft, sham referendums and the Ukrainian fight back
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin turns 70 today. In recent weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen territorial losses, a shambolic partial mobilisation, sham ref...
A wild weekend of... Scrabble
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We take a look at a popular Sunday Times feature about the National Scrabble Championships in the UK and uncover a hidden community of word nerds. Plu...
Why Iranians are burning their hijabs
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini whilst in police custody has sparked nationwide protests in Iran. The authorities have responded with a heavy cra...
The Chancellor, the u-turn and a political meltdown
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After nine days of political pressure, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has u-turned on the government’s plan to abolish the top rate of income tax, saying...
The hunt for FBI 'fugitive' Nicholas Rossi
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After an international manhunt, the FBI and Interpol say they have found a man wanted on multiple charges in four US states, who faked his death befor...
A eulogy for the 'good' internet
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When the World Wide Web was launched in 1991, hopes for it were high. But three decades later, the internet seems to be defined not by interconnectivi...
Death in Qatar: What really happened to British businessman Marc Bennett?
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Christmas Day three years ago British businessman Marc Bennett was found dead in his four star hotel room in Qatar. He'd been successfully working ...
How religious clashes came to Leicester
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Leicester has always been held up as a beacon of multicultural Britain. But for more than two weeks, the city has witnessed religious clashes between ...
The South Korean culture machine that conquered the world
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From Squid Game to K-pop to kimchi, South Korea has taken the planet by storm. How did a once-impoverished country turn its fortunes around? And what ...
How Labour plans to defeat Liz Truss
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the Labour Party meets in Liverpool for its annual conference, the dividing lines between the two biggest parties have rarely been more stark. Ahea...
Is Italy heading for its first hard right leader since Mussolini?
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The hard right is on the rise in Italy. Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party is tipped to win Sunday’s general election. If it does, she’ll ...
A beginner's guide to Trussonomics
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss has inherited an economy in turmoil. With the nation on the verge of recession and significant challenge...
The secret history of women’s football
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Women’s Super League kicked off this weekend, following the euphoria of the Lionesses' win at Euro 2022 this summer. How was that success won? W...
What the world makes of Liz Truss
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Truss will make her first foreign trip as prime minister this week to the UN general assembly in New York. She already has plenty of experience in...
What can we expect from King Charles III?
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a lifetime of preparation the former Prince of Wales became King Charles III. What kind of monarch will he be? What challenges will he face? And...
Ukraine’s fightback: A turning point in the war?
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ukrainian forces have retaken over 3000 sq miles of Russian-occupied territories in the northeast of the country. Could these developments signal a ch...
A private audience: The Queen and her prime ministers
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over her reign, Queen Elizabeth II saw more prime ministers than any previous monarch. What relationship did she have with them and what happens behin...
The Queen as diplomat: William Hague reflects
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the course of her life the Queen visited every inhabited continent and met hundreds of world leaders, helping the UK forge relations across the g...
The Elizabethan Age
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the course of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II sustained Britain's monarchy for seven decades, between the eras of steam and Zoom. She departed poss...
Queen Elizabeth II: A country in mourning
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The country now enters a time of national mourning for a nation to pay its respects to Her Majesty the Queen. Years of planning and centuries of tradi...
The gangs and guns of Liverpool
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On a Monday evening last month, 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in Liverpool by a stranger. It’s the latest in a spate of deadly gun an...
How close is a cure for long Covid?
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Six months ago, The Times’ Africa correspondent Jane Flanagan spoke to us about her search for the cause of her long Covid symptoms. We catch up wit...
Liz Truss: The people and the policies of the new PM
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Liz Truss takes over as the new Conservative Prime Minister. So what do we know about her and how she will address the urgent challenges we fac...
How Boris Johnson changed Britain
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The new prime minister will be announced today, and Boris Johnson will exit Downing Street tomorrow after just over three years in the job. What legac...
How Britain fell behind in the microchip gold rush
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They’re sitting in your hands, in your house and maybe even in your heart. But a global shortage of semiconductors means this tiny object has become...
Has Hollywood run out of ideas?
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The traditional summer blockbuster season is drawing to a close but in a world of prequels, sequels and remakes, independent films are finding it incr...
Everything Dolly Alderton knows about love
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This August, we're revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the past year.Dolly Alderton - award-winning author, podcaster, screenwriter and Sun...
The barristers’ strike: Justice on hold
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week criminal barristers in England and Wales voted to go on an ongoing, uninterrupted strike arguing they’re not paid enough for legal aid cas...
The cult of crypto: How $2 trillion went up in flames
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It promised a financial revolution - a liberation from money middlemen. But then the $3 trillion industry of cryptocurrency lost two thirds of its val...
Six months on: Is Putin's Ukraine war failing?
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the early hours of the 24th February, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As the country marks its Independence Day - and with little...
Sunak vs Truss: The people's verdict
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In two weeks, Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will become prime minister - a decision that will be made by members of the Conservative Party. So how does the...
The Prussian prince, the MI6 spy and the plot to kill Hitler
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This August, we're revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the past year.In the summer of 1944, some of Adolf Hitler's most trusted senior offi...
IVF, fraud, and 'unwanted' children
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This August, we're revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the past year. What happens when one half of a couple becomes a parent against their...
The pensions scandal Britain forgot
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Failed by everyone supposed to protect them, steelworkers were misled into moving £2.8bn out of their final salary pensions. Five years on they are s...
The energy bosses drowning in black gold
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Energy prices have become a national crisis. But for the energy companies, things have never been better. Surely something has to give? This pod...
What happened after the fall of Kabul
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, during the chaotic withdrawal of western allied forces. Images of thousands of people de...
Xi Jinping: The man behind the myth
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This August, we're revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the past year.Xi Jinping is consolidating his position as the all-powerful president...
Soham, 20 years on: The detective who solved the case
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode contains discussions of violence and suicide.It's 20 years since the murder of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Ch...
Sunak vs Truss: A whistlestop guide to the next PM
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have got just five weeks left in the Conservative leadership contest. But with ballot papers already going out to party memb...
Wolverhampton: A day in the 'levelling up' capital
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is levelling up over? Boris Johnson's big promise – to fix the country's regional inequalities – might have ended with his government. We visit Wo...
The dolphin trainer of Kharkiv
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In January, Sunday Times correspondent Louise Callaghan met 26-year-old dolphin trainer Vladyslav Litnievskyi while reporting in the Ukraini...
Revisited: Our award-winning interview on the threats facing Britain
30 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last weekend, Stories of our times won the award for interview of the year at the British Podcast Awards. The judges said: "This standout interview wa...
How the case against Trump made for good TV
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In eight slick, highly produced sessions that played out like a Netflix series, the House Select Committee for investigating the Capitol riots of Janu...
London's Olympic legacy
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago today, 900 million people watched London’s Olympic opening ceremony, marking the start of a games which, it was hoped, would help rege...
Why our man in Moscow had to leave
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the Ukraine war progressed, journalists, activists and critics were forced to flee the country. But as Putin’s grip on the media tightened, what ...
Lord Frost and the fight for the soul of the Conservative Party
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tonight, the two contenders for prime minister take part in their first head-to-head TV debate. Meanwhile, unnoticed by the general public, one former...
China’s new spy army
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The heads of MI5 and the FBI recently warned about the growing threat from China’s efforts to spy on the world as it attempts to stay ahead of rival...
Who’s making a killing from the cost of living?
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Inflation has hit a new 40-year high – just living life is expensive at the moment, and it’s getting worse. But to fight rising prices, politician...
Heatwave: Why Britain is in meltdown
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Met Office has issued a red extreme heat warning for the first time ever, as temperatures could hit a record-breaking 43C today. With train delays...
Flood and fire in Australia
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The east coast of Australia has been pummelled with disastrous flooding for the fourth time in less than 18 months. It's the first test for prime mini...
After Boris Johnson: Choosing the next prime minister
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Just six candidates are left in the race to be the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister. They're now battling to make it to the final two...
The assassination of Shinzo Abe
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a country where violent crime is almost non-existent, it came as an unspeakable shock when Japan's longest-serving former Prime Minister, Shinzo Ab...
What happens when adoption fails?
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For a small number of families, the difficulties caused to children by early trauma can lead to extreme challenges and the adoption breaks down. So wh...
‘Bongbong’ Marcos: How a dictator’s son swept to power
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Marcos name became infamous around the world when the Filipino dictator and his flamboyant family were forced out of office in the 1980s. So when ...
Boris Johnson on the brink
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a bruising day in parliament for the prime minister – which saw more resignations than ever before in British political history, includin...
New rules for trans athletes: Fairness or exclusion?
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In recent weeks the governing bodies for a number of sports have have published new rules for transgender athletes participating at elite level. So wh...
Why the government wants to scrap the Human Rights Act
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For more than decade, justice secretary and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has wanted to ditch the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British ...