The Story
Episodes
Meet Robert Kennedy Jr: The US election wild card
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Scion of the Kennedy dynasty, Robert Kennedy Jr has ditched the Democrats and declared his candidacy in the 2024 US Presidential race, running as an I...
A Very British Scandal: How Captain Tom's charity got caught up in controversy
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter has come under scrutiny after the Charity Commission opened an investigation into links between her family and the ...
How to win an election
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the parties prepare to do battle at the polls, The Times launches a new podcast, 'How to Win an Election', in which we bring together three of the ...
Is Israel’s war with Hamas winnable?
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last night Israel's military said its forces had "advanced another significant stage in the war" and encircled Gaza City, the most built-up area of th...
How ‘ugly’ Birkenstocks conquered fashion and feminism
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
German shoemakers Birkenstock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of more than $8 billion last month, and the sandals are top ...
After the blackout: What's happening in Gaza?
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
During a 34-hour communications blackout that began on Friday evening, Israel launched its ground invasion into Gaza. With thousands of Palestinians k...
WhatsApps, ‘f***wits’ and ‘Dr Death’: The Covid inquiry heats up
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dominic Cummings gives evidence to the UK’s Covid inquiry today – the latest in a string of senior advisors to Boris Johnson to do so. The publish...
Why MI5 is so worried about AI and the next election
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week world leaders and AI companies will gather for a summit at Bletchley Park, the Second World War code-breaking centre. It’s the most import...
How Taylor Swift became the voice of a generation
28 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Friday was a big day for Taylor Swift. She released the reimagined version of her 2014 album 1989, and was declared a billionaire by business news out...
Sextapes, gossip blogs, and Paris Hilton: How the noughties went toxic
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week Britney Spears released her new memoir, and is the latest celebrity to open up about the trauma of being a young famous woman in the 2000s. ...
Does Hamas have a strategy?
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Israel conducts 'wide-scale' retaliatory strikes against Gaza, the humanitarian crisis in the area has reached devastating proportions. Thousands a...
Get out of jail free: The new Tory prisons policy
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Prisons in England and Wales are at full capacity. Exclusive reporting for the Times revealed judges were being advised to suspend sentences, rather t...
Exposing a multibillion-pound cover-up at HS2
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the cost began to spiral, HS2 bosses allegedly shredded documents, sacked whistleblowers and used misleading projections to keep the scheme alive a...
What’s behind Britain’s shoplifting epidemic?
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Shoplifting offences have risen by 25 per cent in the past year alone, according to the Office for National Statistics. With some incidents turning in...
Israel-Gaza: Two of our Jewish writers reflect on the past two weeks
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Two weeks into the current Israel-Gaza conflict, we take a moment to reflect on the events of October 7th and their aftermath. In this personal conver...
Israel-Gaza: How the conflict could spread
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The attack on a hospital in Gaza, leaving at least 500 dead, has led to fears that the situation is spiralling out of control. With each side blaming ...
The Great Big Bedbug Outbreak: Real or hype?
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says that bedbugs on the Underground are a ‘real cause for concern’, after fears that an infestation in Paris could spr...
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, explained
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The past century has seen the borders of Palestine and then Israel shift. From the Balfour Declaration in 1917 – when Britain first promised a Jewis...
A fertility deception, DNA and the half sister
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This story is a disturbing illustration of how one man can seemingly go through life lying to women, abandoning them with children while paying no chi...
Rape, assault and corruption: The police officers breaking the law
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer shocked the nation and eroded public trust in the police. Now The Times has exposed the scale ...
The modelling agencies recruiting from refugee camps
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Modelling agencies are recruiting young people who have fled war-torn African countries and are living in extreme poverty. They are flown to Europe to...
Why the next election isn’t yet a done deal
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 2023 conference season is winding down. But did the parties achieve what they wanted - and needed - to? And did they shift the dial when it comes ...
Israel goes to war
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On Saturday the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel, killing more than 900 people in Israel and taki...
Is Disney losing the magic?
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Disney celebrates its 100th birthday this month, a series of recent flops and gargantuan acquisitions has left people asking whether the shine is b...
The problem for Keir Starmer
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If the polls are to be believed, Sir Keir Starmer is on track for a comfortable victory at the next general election – and just this morning, he has...
Why the West is starting to fracture over Ukraine
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last night, for the first time in American history, the House of Representatives voted to remove its speaker from office. It was a victory for a group...
Sam Bankman-Fried: The inside story from the author of The Big Short
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, met Sam Bankman-Fried when his crypto exchange was rewriting the rules of global finance and was by his side w...
Europe's drug death capital: Is decriminalisation Scotland’s answer?
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Scotland has the highest drug-related death rate in Europe – and last week approved plans for its first drug consumption room to try and reduce deat...
The reinvention of Rishi: Can he save the Tories?
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From A-levels to net zero, the prime minister has new plans to bite into Labour’s poll lead. No 10 wants voters to meet the ‘real Rish’ – a de...
The untold story of the woman who escaped the Yorkshire Ripper
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1979, Ruth Shaw was a student in Bradford, walking alone one night when she encountered Peter Sutcliffe – the serial killer the pap...
On the frontline: One night in Ukraine
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We bring you the story of one Ukrainian command post as a patrol runs into chaos on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, with Anthony Loyd who return...
Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘hell' island and the woman who exposed its secrets
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the past four years, the former Attorney General of the US Virgin Islands has been entrenched in a battle with the estate of the financier, paedop...
Can a ‘miracle’ weight loss drug end Britain's obesity epidemic?
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a diabetic drug that recently became a weight loss diet fad for the rich because of its ability to suppress hunger. Now, Wegovy, a drug similar...
How the rich and powerful try to intimidate the press
23 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week the editors of The Times and The Sunday Times wrote to the justice secretary, calling for a crackdown on the misuse of libel laws by the sup...
How HS2 went off the rails
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The high speed railway HS2 has been quietly graded ‘red’ by the government’s infrastructure watchdog, meaning successful delivery appears unachi...
Russell Brand investigation: What happened next
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last weekend The Times and The Sunday Times – together with Channel 4's Dispatches – broke the news of allegations against Russell Brand including...
Death in the blood: The most shocking scandal in NHS history
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From the 1970s onwards, an estimated 5,000 NHS patients were given contaminated blood products, which contained deadly diseases like hepatitis and HIV...
Why is Temu so cheap? Shopping on the popular but ruthless Chinese app
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Temu, the world’s biggest bargain bin. Since launching just five months ago, the app has been downloaded more than nine million times in ...
The Ukrainian honeytrappers ensnaring Putin's lonely soldiers
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ukrainian women are making fake profiles on dating apps, matching with Putin’s lonely troops and tricking them into revealing information that could...
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...