One winter’s night, Alex James received an unexpected call. Blur had been invited to play their biggest gig ever: Wembley Stadium. The only trouble was, he and his bandmates hadn’t spoken to – or even shouted at – each other for years. And he now had five children, an out-of-control menagerie of cats, and a sprawling farm to run. This is the story of what happened next.

Taking us behind the scenes of a raucous, rollercoaster year, Alex tells Times journalist and bestselling author Caitlin Moran how the band made a surprise – and emotional – return, recording an acclaimed album and playing sold-out shows around the world, from Colchester to Colombia and beyond.

Plus: how he went on a crash diet to fit back into his ‘Britpop Trousers,’ a chastening encounter with the President of Columbia, and the magical story behind She's So High.

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Erudite and comic, ironic and profound, philosopher Slavoj Žižek has travelled into territory where few of us dare to tread – and aged 75 he shows no signs of becoming less provocative. In this electric conversation with Yanis Varoufakis the pair explore whether progress is a good thing, where the new technologies of our age are taking us and why Slavoj is known as ‘the most dangerous philosopher in the West’.

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Both infinitely larger than ourselves and one of humanity's greatest commonalities, the night sky has shaped millennia of human history. Cosmologist Roberto Trotta joins us to reveal what the mysteries of the stars can illuminate about the mysteries of humankind, from our earliest origin myths to our methods of timekeeping which formed around the visibility of stars around the globe. From Babylon to the North Pole, from the beginning of time to the Neanderthals, from our own backyards to imaginations of Venus, this is a voyage across space and time.

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Orhan Pamuk has traveled far and wide, around the world, across the page, and in the landscapes of his mind. Now he joins Erica Wagner to illuminate his craft. From his travels around the world to his reflections on fellow writers, from journal entries scrawled across the span of over a decade to the beginnings of his creative process, Orhan joins us to explore not only his artistic method, but also how daily happenings and larger currents have shaped his oeuvre.

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The dream of immortality has existed for as long as the human imagination and until now remained just that: a dream. But neuroscientist and science communicator Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston believes that neuroscientists can, and should, use cutting-edge tools to help cheat death by preserving us until such time that we can be brought back to life. He joins us on the podcast to make a provocative case both for this nascent technology and for a future that will be worth living in, where our descedants will not scorn us but welcome us with open arms.

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‘Could you write what you write if you weren’t so tiny, Joan?’ -Eve Babitz, in a letter to Joan Didion, 1972

One was the New York name on literary lips. The other, a Los Angeleno fireball with a ferocious wit and writerly ambitions. But what started off a relationship of nurture and collaboration quickly became one of the sourest relationships in literature.

This is the golden age of Hollywood, where artists and movie stars mix with writers and rock-n-rollers in drug-fuelled parties on Franklin Avenue.

Drawing on never-before-seen correspondence between Joan and Eve – letters so intimate you don’t read them so much as breathe them – Vanity Fair’s Lili Anolik reveals to Daisy Buchanan the untold true story of these two truly iconic writers.

This is a tale of Los Angeles vs New York, hedonism vs constraint, and a rivalry that burned blisteringly hot in pursuit of success.

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George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham: never had King James I's court seen a man of such exquisite beauty. Capturing the heart of the King, becoming his lover and right-hand man, Villiers thus found himself at the heart of court politics too. But along with his angelic face he also had a brilliant mind.

Renowned historian and biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett reveals the life of this astonishingly beautiful and clever young lord, and illuminates the tender relationship he shared with the prudent King which history has mischaracterised as a coward. From Villiers's spectacular rise, to his ultimate fall, Hughes-Hallett reveals this enigmatic life in full colour.

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Few historical figures in the British political landscape have been as monumental as Winston Churchill. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world. But what was his life really like? And what might he make of the world today?

Churchill's definitive biographer Andrew Roberts joins Matthew D'Ancona to illuminate Churchill in his full complexity, from his childhood to his closest relationships, to even his financial troubles. He also shares what Churchill might make of the greatest political crises we face today, from Ukraine to Gaza.

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The seven deadly sins are the vices of humankind that define immorality, the roots of all evil in the world. But do these sins really represent moral failings, or are they important and useful human functions that aid us? 

In this episode of the podcast, neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner shares the evolutionary benefits of gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, envy, lust and anger. From continuing the existence of the human race to protecting against famine, he reveals a new perspective that engenders compassion and removes judgement from our interactions with each other.

Explaining why pathologising behaviour stops individuals getting the support they need, this conversation also dives into hubris syndrome, how stress during pregnancy affects brain development, and many more relevations from the cutting edge of modern neuroscience.

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In the Kabul offices of Moby Group, Afghanistan's largest media company, hundreds of men and women continue to bring programmes and news to the country even after the return of the Taliban. From talk shows to breaking news to educational programmes for young girls, the television empire that began as a small radio station continues to brave the country's shifting political landscape.

Now Moby's CEO Saad Mohseni joins Rory Stewart to reveal the dedication and complexity of maintaining a free press, and traces his own journey in the wider history of Afghanistan in peace and in war. Exploring a nation in turmoil, a country poised between despair and hope, Saad reveals a moving portrait of the Afghan people and illuminates how resilience remains.

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