The Story

The fall of Kanye West

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent weeks, Kanye West, now known as ‘Ye’, has pulled off a number of bizarre stunts, including antisemitic rants and an inexplicable Super B...

‘A lawlessness that’s deeply alarming’: William Hague on Trump’s new presidency

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since his election, Donald Trump has stunned the world with a series of moves that have upended the well-established post-war international order. He ...

Why Gisèle Pelicot’s rapists are getting out of prison

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last year, 50 men were convicting of raping or sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot, including her husband who’d orchestrated the attacks. There was ...

The Sunday Edition: 'Rewilding' the smartphone generation, one school's story

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode was originally published in April last year.With young people in Britain and across the world increasingly reliant on smartphones, many t...

How to deal with banking nightmares

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Lucy are joined by Kat Denham, champion champion for The Times and The Sunday Times, as they navigate the tricky world of bank accounts...

The Labour politician who inspired JD Vance

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Maurice Glasman was the only Labour politician to be invited to Trump’s inauguration after striking up a friendship with JD Vance. So who is he...

What the Salman Rushdie trial means for free speech

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The British-Indian novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has faced his alleged attacker in court, after he was stabbed multiple times in 2022 during a public le...

How the US signalled a new world order in 5 days

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the United States and Russia seem to be hurtling towards a bilateral peace negotiation over Ukraine, European leaders gathered in Paris in an attem...

Can you live without a smartphone?

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A year ago Times columnist James Marriott ditched his smartphone to escape the endless notifications from his apps. How has he managed without a devic...

Elon Musk's 'hostile takeover' of Washington

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Donald Trump took office, he appointed Elon Musk as head of the Department of Government Efficiency - or DOGE - a new agency designed to radicall...

The Sunday Edition: The decline of dating apps, and what could replace them

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Official figures show that for the first time, people are leaving dating apps. So why the exodus? And could future apps - with AI and augmented realit...

An interview with Sam Altman, Co-Founder & CEO of OpenAI

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit, Katie and Danny are together in London for a special interview with the man who is synonymous with Artificial Int...

How Bridget Jones charmed Gen Z

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bridget Jones is back in cinemas with her fourth outing Mad About the Boy, 24 years after her film debut. The messy heroine is the quintessential Gen ...

Trump's Gaza bombshell

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump stunned the world and horrified his Arab allies when he proposed that the US should take over Gaza and rebuild it as the "riviera of t...

Why are so many Gen Zers not working?

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Times has unveiled a landmark survey of Generation Z. What are their attitudes towards modern Britain, sex, drugs and… mental health? 1 in 3 you...

The 'toxic town' and the mothers seeking justice for their poisoned babies

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the closed steelworks in Corby, Northamptonshire, were being cleaned up ahead of redevelopment, trucks ferrying debris away from the site release...

The organised crime groups stealing your phone

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you - or someone you know - had a mobile phone snatched directly from your hand? It's a growing trend in London and other cities across the UK, a...

The Sunday Edition: Inside the fentanyl trade

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On today's Sunday Edition, we're looking back at this episode from March, diving into the fentanyl trade. This week, President Trump cited the fentany...

How To Tell Who's Really In Charge

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week the political masterminds (and Hugo) are joined by Theo Bertram, who worked in Downing Street for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.After a new bo...

Is there ‘new evidence’ in the Lucy Letby case?

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Tuesday, a panel of global medical experts convened a press conference. They said they had found a different cause of death in every baby Lucy Letb...

Trade Wars: Trump vs China

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Having implemented - then temporarily rescinded - tariffs on Canada and Mexico after both countries struck last-minute deals, Donald Trump now has his...

The Chagos Islands deal that could threaten the special relationship

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Having ruled the Chagos Islands since the 1800s, the UK now wants to cede sovereignty of the tiny archipelago in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. But on...

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard: I had Mom killed. I hope she’d be proud of me now

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2016, 24-year-old Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was sentenced to 10 years in the US State of Missouri, for arranging the murder of her mother. Her mother, C...

Who really runs the Labour Party?

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

‘ Like an HR manager, not a leader’. This is the description of Sir Keir Starmer from his closest and most influential aide, according to a new ...

The Sunday Edition: Thames Water - the business model built on sh*t

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tomorrow Thames Water will be going to the High Court in London for the start of hearings to approve a restructuring plan for its debts. So we thought...

The King visits Auschwitz, Kate follows in Princess Diana's footsteps and a new royal baby

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Mansey shares her first-hand account of a historic moment - witnessing the King become the first British monarch to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, mar...

'Don't make Putin make a point' a Russian warns the West

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nina Khrushcheva, great grand-daughter of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, and Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York, s...

DeepSeek: AI’s ‘Sputnik moment’

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A Chinese rival to ChatGPT wiped $700 billion from the value of the world’s largest tech companies in just one day. DeepSeek claims its free, open-s...

The momfluencers embracing ‘Make America Healthy Again’

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Robert F Kennedy Jr. - President Trump's pick as health secretary - begins his confirmation hearings today. He's the man who coined the phrase 'Make A...

The underwater war against Russian sabotage

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last week a Russian spy ship was spotted off the coast of the UK. The Royal Navy was sent to closely monitor the vessel as it passed through British w...

The controversial money fuelling Britain

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's that time of year again. The Sunday Times Tax List. So who made it to the top? And is there a bit of a dark side to the list this year?This podca...

The Sunday Edition: 'This twisted lottery', two families' stories

26 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last weekend, The Sunday Times' Josh Glancy landed in Tel Aviv, after the ceasefire had just been announced. Israelis held their breath to see if it w...

How to become mortgage-free

25 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For many, paying off a mortgage is one of their biggest financial goals. So, this week Holly and Lucy are joined by mortgage expert Sarah Tucker from&...

Bannon vs Musk: The battle for the soul of Donald Trump

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon labelled the new kid on the block, Elon Musk, as “racist” and “truly evil”, it hit the hea...

On the frontline of Sudan’s forgotten war

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For almost two years, two armies have fought a brutal civil war in Sudan, Africa’s third largest country. Over 150,000 have died, 11 million have be...

Why wasn't the Southport killer stopped?

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Axel Rudakubana has pleaded guilty to killing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July. But why wasn’t the 18 year ol...

We need to talk about debt

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Reeves travels to the World Economic Forum today to shore up support among CEOs and world leaders in Davos. The chancellor hopes to boost inves...

A second Trump presidency begins

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At 12pm ET today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. To mark this historic occasion, we’ve gathered together ...

The Sunday Edition: The cost of being ugly

19 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today we look back on one of our favourite episodes from the past few months: a deep dive into the economics of beauty, with Tom Whipple.Do looks matt...

AI Very British Revolution!

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As a bonus episode, we’re bringing listeners of The Story an episode from the Tech Podcast from The Times.The Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, join...

A shaky ceasefire in Gaza

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There was widespread jubilation at the announcement that a deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu's governme...

What’s behind the rise in knife crime on our streets

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Analysis of a decade’s worth of sentencing data across England and Wales between 2013 and 2023 has revealed a worrying uptick in knife crime nationw...

The Government’s anti-corruption minister resigns

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tulip Siddiq, Labour’s anti-corruption minister, has resigned after reporting by the Sunday Times revealed that she resided in a series of propertie...

'We’re praying for mercy here': Escaping the LA inferno

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As LA continues to battle its worst fires in history, the political blame game has started, with Donald Trump accusing California’s governor, Gavin ...

Blake Lively v Justin Baldoni

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Having made a multi-million dollar film together, Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are now trading muti-million dollar lawsuits over wh...

The Sunday Edition: The SAS murders and the conspiracy to cover them up - Part 2

12 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Sunday Times’ investigative team, Insight, has combed through 6,000 top secret documents to piece together the story of multiple military and go...

The Saturday Edition: The SAS murders and the conspiracy to cover them up - Part 1

11 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week the Times revealed that ministers are considering bringing back a retired military chief to lead the armed forces amid concerns the likely f...

Donald Trump’s imperial ambitions

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US president-elect has sparked a series of diplomatic rows after saying he was willing to use military or economic force to take control of Greenl...

The journalist who exposed Britain’s grooming gangs

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk has unleashed a huge political row in the UK over whether there should be a national inquiry into the gangs that groomed young girls for rap...

Is Elon Musk dictating the British political agenda?

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Scroll through his latest posts on X and Elon Musk has a laser focus on UK politics. His main targets? Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips MP and their res...

The decline of dating apps, and what could replace them

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Official figures show that for the first time, people are leaving dating apps. So why the exodus? And could future apps - with AI and augmented realit...

Why Donald Trump courted the wrestling world

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Linda McMahon, the wife of WWE’s founder Vince McMahon has just been nominated to be Donald Trump’s secretary for education. What’s behind Trump...

Cocaine Inc. (Bonus) - Colombia: Seized and stolen again

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Drill talks to Richard McColl about living and working at the centre of the global cocaine trade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...

Cocaine Inc. (Bonus) - Question Time

04 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cocaine Inc. hosts Fiona, David and Stephen answer your questions about how they made the series. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

Cocaine Inc. (Bonus) - The Artist

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Mee, a former cocaine trafficker who worked with the Cali Cartel, sits down to discuss how he built an illicit empire.David Collins and execut...

Cocaine Inc. (Ep 8) - Bringing it Home

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The investigation takes us to a $10 million home in a leafy city suburb.Back home in Melbourne, Stephen Drill picks up a money trail leading right pas...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 7) - The Dubai Gold Rush

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Undercover in a gleaming world where nobody asks questions. David Collins follows the money trail through Dubai’s crowded gold souk to its luxu...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 6) - Sunshine and Lollipops

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Drug money is carried out of the UK in suitcases carried by passengers travelling in luxury.A cash mule tells David Collins about the brazen operation...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 5) - The Woodchurch Estate

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On the streets of northern England where chaos reigns among those doing the selling. David Collins spends time in Merseyside, speaking to people ...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 4) - The Pineapple Trader

29 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Europe’s vast ports act as logistic hubs in a worldwide operation that relies on corruption and torture. In the Netherlands, Fiona Hamilton rev...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 3) - The 64 Million Percent Mark-up

28 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As cocaine is smuggled out of South America it multiplies in value, driving people to extremes. Stephen Drill follows the trail to Mexico and unc...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 2) - The Sweet Song

27 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Where people fight and die in the coca plantations. In Colombia, Stephen Drill discovers how the international cocaine business starts, and the c...

Cocaine Inc. (Pt 1) - A shooting at Christmas

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Between now and January 6th we will be playing the 2024 award-winning series, Cocaine Inc., from The Times, The Sunday Times and News Corp Australia.&...

What's behind the rise in food allergies

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The number of people with food allergies in the UK has more than doubled since 2008, with more than 5,000 people a year hospitalised in England with a...

Life as an investigative reporter

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Christmas Day, The Times' Investigations Editor, Dominic Kennedy, will spend his last working day at the paper having started back in 1993. To mark...

Tracing the origin story of Taylor Swift [Replay]

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From Pennsylvania to New Jersey to Tennessee, The Times’ Megan Agnew spent three weeks on the Taylor Swift trail, discovering the origins of the sup...

Last Man Standing: On the trail (Pt 1)

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a bonus episode, we’re bringing listeners of The Story the first episode of our series Last Man Standing - the story of British photojournalist J...

Inside the lair of Assad’s 'drug lord' brother

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Maher al-Assad is the youngest sibling of the deposed Syrian dictator. He’s also known as the ‘enforcer’, renowned for his brutal crackdowns on ...

Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump and the spying game

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has caused widespread alarm in defence and security circles, not only in t...

Jay-Z and the rape allegations

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The rap mogul’s, whose real name is Shawn Carter, billion dollar empire is at risk after he was named in a civil lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13...

Prince Andrew and the Chinese 'spy'

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Prince Andrew has now "ceased all contact" with an alleged spy working on behalf of China's shadowy United Front Work Department. But their relationsh...

Unit 29155: The Russian cyberagency targeting Britain

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Security services have issued an unprecedented warning about a shadowy Russian military unit accused of carrying out assassinations and cyberattacks o...

Trad Wives: The influencers selling 1950s house-wife life [Replay]

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2024.Millions of social media users are flocking to follow the Trad Wives: stay-at-home mo...

How the CEO murder suspect became a social media folk hero

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After nearly a week on the run, Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania for the murder of health insurance CEO, Brian Thompson. But in a macabre t...

William Hague talks to Sir Kim Darroch: Dealing with Trump 2.0

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Kim Darroch is the former UK ambassador to the USA and worked with Trump for two years during the President’s first term. So how should the UK d...

The true cost of plant-based milk

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Healthier, eco-friendly, altogether virtuous. This may be how we think of milk alternatives but new research is calling into question the ‘plan...

ISIS 2.0?

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a new leadership emerges in Syria, disparate groups remain in control of different parts of the country. In the midst of the fluctuating situation,...

Gisèle Pelicot and the trial that changed France

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity when her husband - and dozens of other men - were charged with raping and sexually assaulting her. Her d...

Who should keep the Elgin Marbles? [Replay]

08 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, No 10 confirmed it wouldn’t stand in the way of a deal to return the Elgin Marbles to their original home in Athens. The comments came af...

How to keep blaming your predecessors

07 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a bonus episode, we’re bringing listeners of The Story an episode of our fellow Times podcast How To Win An Election.The prime minister wants to ...

The death of clubbing

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nightclubs are closing their doors at an alarming rate. Research by The Night Time Industries Association shows that as many as three clubs a week hav...

Why the Syrian civil war is back

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With wars raging in Israel and Lebanon, no one was watching neighbouring Syria. Until an alliance of rebel forces launched an astonishing offensive a ...

The AI that could block kids from social media

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, Australia became the first country to block under 16s from social media. Age verification AI could be a crucial tool in the ban, so we spok...

Gregg Wallace vs. 'middle class women of a certain age'

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gregg Wallace, the presenter of one of the BBC's most popular programmes 'MasterChef' has stepped back from the show while allegations of historical m...

The myth of the X exodus

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It started two years ago, when Elon Musk bought Twitter, now X. People fled the social media platform, citing a change in the algorithm and concerns o...

What’s fuelling the emergence of Ireland's far right? [Replay]

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Ireland went to the polls in a general election where for the first time in the history of the republic, immigration was among the leading i...

Jane & Fi talk to General David Petraeus

30 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a bonus episode, we’re bringing listeners of The Story an episode from Off Air with Jane & Fi podcast from The Times.General David Petraeus, ...

Who really runs Britain?

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Observers of Britain today might think of it as a more meritocratic and socially equal society than ever before. But, while the narratives have certai...

The debate about death that split the country

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tomorrow, MPs will vote on a Bill that, if passed, would allow terminally ill people with less than six months to live the right to take their own liv...

Inside the Laos party town where backpackers die

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With six backpackers dead from suspected methanol poisoning, how did the remote town of Vang Vieng become the go-to destination for gap year hedonism,...

‘I gave my life to the CIA. They betrayed me.’

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Sept 12, 2001, Blerim Skoro was approached by a man and a woman while he was in prison. They turned out to be CIA agents. That one meeting would ch...

Did the Queen hate Boris Johnson?

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past eight years, Sunday Times chief political commentator, Tim Shipman has written the story of British politics. From Brexit to backstops, ...

A Very British Scandal: How Captain Tom's charity got caught up in controversy [REPLAY]

24 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, over four years later, a report from the Charity commission concluded that Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter and her husband had committed “...

Planet Hope: Finding Hope for our Planet

23 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is Planet Hope, a podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by The Story.In this special episo...

Putin’s “nuclear blackmail”

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The decision by the US to allow Ukraine to launch western long-range missiles into Russia has provoked a furious reaction from Moscow, and pushed tens...

Are food shortages the farmers' secret weapon?

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over ten thousand farmers marched on Westminster this week, protesting changes to inheritance tax. But does the government’s new policy mean the end...

Why young Brits are turning to Dubai

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As inquiries about relocating to the Emirati city from the UK have risen four-fold in the past five years; what does its allure say about life back ho...

Why Tim Spector wants to bring back the nanny state

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The government should treat ultra-processed foods like cigarettes and alcohol - and bring in higher taxes on the companies that make them, says Profes...

Korea's 4b 'anti-men' movement comes to America

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

No sex, no babies, no marriage, no men. In 2018 a niche feminist movement started in South Korea as a reaction to the country’s entrenched misogyny....

Undercover: The Times investigation into Turkish plastic surgery clinics [Replay]

17 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week the health secretary has urged people to “think very carefully” before flying overseas for plastic surgery as the NHS is left to “pick...