Stories of our times

By The Times

What's Stories of our times about?

One remarkable story, told in depth, each day. Our daily news podcast takes you to the heart of the stories that matter, with exclusive access and reporting. Published for the start of your day and hosted by Manveen Rana and David Aaronovitch.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The school strikes explained

02.01.2023

Across England and Wales today, many schools are closed and pupils are at home as the UK’s biggest teaching union goes on strike - the first of seven days of planned action. So, after negotiations broke down, what is the ...

Stories of our times episodes:

02.01.2023 The school strikes explained Across England and Wales today, many schools are closed and pupils are at home as the UK’s biggest teaching union goes on strike - the first of seven days of planned action. So, after negotiations broke down, what is the ...
01.31.2023 Why German tanks are going to war in Europe Last week, Germany confirmed it would send tanks to Ukraine to help in the fight against Russia. The announcement came after weeks of foot-dragging on the issue. So why was the decision apparently so difficult - and what made Germany ...
01.30.2023 What's killing the Teesside crabs? When a nightmarish scene unfolded on the beaches of northeast England in the last few months of 2021, fishermen raised the alarm. The mass die-off of thousands of crabs has led to two government reports, with the latest out earlier ...
01.27.2023 The cache and the caucus: How Biden's documents may strengthen his enemies On 9 January a story broke that classified documents had been found at a Washington DC office used by President Biden. In the weeks since, four more discoveries have followed. This has been a boon to the new Republican majority ...
01.26.2023 A serial rapist inside the Met police One of the country’s worst sex offenders plead guilty to 48 rapes of 12 women committed over almost 20 years while he was a police officer for the Metropolitan Police. Meanwhile, the force's commissioner revealed that two or three Metropolitan ...
01.25.2023 How the rich and powerful try to intimidate the press Until recently the term Slapp – strategic lawsuit against public participation – meant very little. But yesterday in parliament, an MP introduced a bill to ban what he called "legal gangsterism" – attempts by the rich and powerful to use ...
01.24.2023 Iran: Fighting back in the face of execution Protests - sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of Iranian morality police - have continued for over four months, evolving to incorporate women’s rights, economic concerns and regime change. The authorities have fought back with ...
01.23.2023 The gender bill dividing the UK The UK government has blocked Scottish gender recognition reforms, which would allow anyone over the age of 16 to self-declare their gender and be recognised as such by the Scottish government. The Scottish government argues its legislation would merely update ...
01.20.2023 Are dating apps running out of steam? In 2021, Sunday Times writer Megan Agnew experienced a strange sort of heartbreak after a relationship that began on a dating app. It got her thinking: are they healthy for us? And does the data now suggest we may be ...
01.19.2023 How Taylor Swift became the voice of a generation This year, Taylor Swift is set to embark on her biggest and most expensive world tour. Fans flew into a frenzy when tickets went on sale after several thousand couldn’t get hold of them following technical difficulties. What is it ...
01.18.2023 Wagner Group: The private army leading Russia’s fightback Ukraine continues to deny Russia’s claims of victory in Soledar, where the Wagner Group – a private army – has been fighting. Why is Russia fighting for such a small town? And who are the mercenaries leading the assault? This ...
01.17.2023 Thermonuclear fusion: A star on earth to power the world? At an experimental nuclear reactor in the south of France, 35 countries are trying to build a star on earth. It's just one of several facilities around the world where scientists are trying to create the future of energy. If ...
01.16.2023 Could Boris Johnson really bounce back? Six months since his resignation, Boris Johnson has been keeping busy. Leadership chatter won’t go away, but he is happy to let his old friends do the talking. Meanwhile, his influence looms over Rishi Sunak's Brexit talks. This podcast was ...
01.13.2023 Andrew Tate's malign online influence This week, the controversial influencer Andrew Tate’s appeal against his detainment on charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania was rejected. Tate gained notoriety through his often violent and misogynistic rhetoric online. Who is he and how did he ...
01.12.2023 Sam Bankman-Fried: The unravelling of a crypto whizz kid Last week, the disgraced boss of crypto firm FTX pleaded not guilty to fraud-related charges. Just months before, billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried had been rubbing shoulders with supermodels and world leaders, and was known for his multi-million dollar charitable and political ...
01.11.2023 Prince Harry: Going Spare With the publication yesterday of Prince Harry's hotly anticipated memoir – Spare – it's been another explosive week for the royal family. So what's in the book? And, as the dust starts to settle, how will this latest drama end? ...
01.10.2023 Can the NHS be fixed any time soon? After fraught crisis talks, the government announced its plans to fix the NHS. So what's really going on behind hospital doors? How did we get here? And what are the solutions? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the ...
01.09.2023 China's Covid gamble A month after the Chinese government announced an abrupt end to its “zero-Covid” policy, lifting virtually all the restrictions its citizens had been living under for three years, the country is now experiencing a huge wave of infections. With Chinese ...
01.06.2023 How I stopped being a problem drinker Like increasing numbers of Brits, columnist Robert Crampton had a guilty secret: he was drinking more, the older he got. Way more. In a brutally honest account, he reveals what finally led him to quit. Websites and numbers for concerns ...
01.05.2023 The spy who infiltrated the ‘New IRA’ Details have emerged in court about how an undercover MI5 agent managed to infiltrate and gather evidence on the political wing of the ‘New IRA’. Dennis McFadden’s work led to the arrest of a number of the organisation's top people, ...
01.04.2023 The new science of eating well How should we eat? What should we eat? Author and epidemiologist Tim Spector says it’s time to ban the D word – ‘dieting’ – lose the calorie counting and enjoy food in a more integrated way. Tim Spector’s latest book, ...
01.03.2023 Ukraine and beyond: The world in 2023 After a period of global upheaval unlike any other in living memory, we look back at the year war came to Ukraine, and how its fallout has changed Europe and the world. We ask two of our most experienced foreign ...
01.01.2023 Best of 2022: Can an AI bot convince you that it's sentient? Over the festive period, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. Google engineer Blake Lemoine brought an unusual concern to his company: he feared the AI language program he was working with had gained sentience. Even ...
12.31.2022 Best of 2022: The Falklands, 40 years on: A father and son’s story In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. In April 1982, Captain Christopher Craig set sail with his crew on the frigate HMS Alacrity to the Falkland Islands after ...
12.30.2022 Best of 2022: The cult of crypto: How $2 trillion went up in flames In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. It promised a financial revolution - a liberation from money middlemen. But then the $3 trillion industry of cryptocurrency lost two ...
12.29.2022 Best of 2022: The real story of Colditz In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. It's a legend many of us have grown up with: a plucky group of British officers, finding themselves trapped in a ...
12.28.2022 Best of 2022: Why our man in Moscow had to leave In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. As the Ukraine war progressed, journalists, activists and critics were forced to flee the country. But as Putin’s grip on the ...
12.27.2022 Best of 2022: The South Korean culture machine that conquered the world In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. From Squid Game to K-pop to kimchi, South Korea has taken the planet by storm. How did a once-impoverished country turn ...
12.26.2022 Best of 2022: Anthony Loyd on his kidnap and escape In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022. We begin with one of the most riveting stories of the year, from The Times’ war correspondent Anthony Loyd. In their ...
12.24.2022 Wine Times with Jane Garvey and Fi Glover Today's Christmas Eve bonus episode comes courtesy of our sister podcast: Wine Times. Discussing and decanting with Suzi Ruffell and Will Lyons on a live special of Wine Times are Times Radio broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover. As well ...
12.23.2022 The best letters to the editor of 2022 Every day, hundreds of readers write into The Times and The Sunday Times. In a year when the news didn’t seem to stop, the letters editors of the two papers pick out their highlights. This podcast was brought to you ...
12.22.2022 Rebuilding Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Afghanistan. Foreign financial government support has run dry, and aid agencies are left to plug the gaps amid drought and famine. Our correspondent has been to visit ...
12.21.2022 Strikes: Is there any end in sight? Strike action on a scale not seen since the 1980s is set to continue into January as workers demand pay rises to match spiralling inflation. Today, as ambulance crews in England and Wales begin a strike, why are so many ...
12.20.2022 A life well lived: Remembering those we lost in 2022 The Times has an august history of recording the lives of significant people, and has been doing so in the obituaries pages since the 19th century. Today, we remember some of the people who may not be household names but ...
12.19.2022 The British man rescuing Ukrainians from Putin’s war British volunteer Dave Young has rescued over 800 Ukrainians from the war's frontline, as well as losing his right eye to shrapnel. Anthony Loyd and filmmaker Federica De Caria join Dave in the city of Bakhmut, the epicentre of the ...
12.16.2022 Qatar 2022: 'Like globalisation on an acid trip' As one of the most controversial World Cups in living memory heads towards its final climax this weekend -- what was it actually like being there? And for the host nation -- after scandals, condemnation and $200 billion -- was ...
12.15.2022 Why helping a generation of children starts with breakfast Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day but, for increasing numbers of children, it’s a meal they miss, affecting their concentration and learning at school. So, as the cost of living crisis affects so many this winter, ...
12.14.2022 Sandy Hook a decade on: How the AR-15 became ‘America’s Rifle’ 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 - has also been deployed in some of the decade’s most horrifying shootings. So how did ...
12.13.2022 Two voices from Ukraine: 'You cannot get used to this' 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 was in the Donbas, following the ever-shifting front line of the war. Natalia Gryvnyak was ...
12.12.2022 Moral hypocrisy: Why are our celebrities so nice? 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 is it leading to a blandness in our arts and culture? ...
12.09.2022 Do private schools need a rethink? 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? Also today, The Sunday Times launches its annual Parent Power Schools Guide. School ...
12.08.2022 Rishi Sunak's winter of discontent 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 cost of living crisis and strikes across numerous sectors, what can we make ...
12.07.2022 Why it's time to talk about male suicide 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, The Times and The Sunday Times is supporting the Campaign Against Living ...
12.06.2022 Nato’s arms race with Putin 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 are running low and Russia is rearming. The West now faces a ...
12.05.2022 The British Museum or Greece: Who should lose their marbles? Over the weekend, reports emerged that the chair of the British Museum, ex-chancellor George Osborne, has been holding ‘secret’ talks with the Greek prime minister over the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece. Also known as the Elgin Marbles, ...
12.02.2022 China’s protests: A view from the inside 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. So what is it about this generation of students that’s motivated them to come out en ...
12.01.2022 Nicola Sturgeon's great independence gamble After a stinging rebuke from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom - which ruled that the devolved Scottish parliament cannot authorise an independence referendum - SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has doubled down saying democracy itself is now at stake, ...
11.30.2022 Tutankhamun: The Times scoop of a century 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 the exclusive rights and photographs. So just how did the newspaper get the scoop? ...
11.29.2022 Is the House of Lords beyond fixing? 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 Johnson's resignation honours are already kicking up a storm… This podcast was brought ...
11.28.2022 How a dead police officer’s phone exposed misogyny, corruption and racism 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 old iPhone to try to understand more about their husband and father. But it ...

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