With the world’s attention fixed on the war in Iran, Israeli settler gangs are rapidly and violently expanding outposts in the West Bank – seemingly with impunity. So, what’s it like on the ground? Is the Israeli government softening to the ‘extremist’ settler movement? And will settlers ever be held accountable? 

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Richard Spencer, world affairs correspondent, The Times

Host: Manveen Rana

Producers: Sophie McNulty, Taryn Siegel

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Israel’s settlers seize their chance to snatch land in West Bank

Further listening: The Board of Peace: the new UN or Trump’s vanity project?

Clips: CNN, France 24, BBC, CBS, ABC 7, Middle East Eye.

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

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Thousands of pensioners invested their life savings into London Capital and Finance before it was revealed to be the UK’s biggest ever Ponzi scheme. Now, new Times reporting shows how the millions in investments were lavishly spent by LCF’s founders. So how was a scheme on this scale allowed to take root in the first place?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests: 

• Jim Armitage, contributing editor, The Sunday Times.
• Antonia Summer, investor in LCF.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Harry Stott, Callum Martin.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Inside Britain’s biggest Ponzi scheme: where did £237m go?

Clips: Rehman Chisti MP / Facebook.

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hungary goes to the polls on Sunday and for the first time in sixteen years, Donald Trump’s right-wing ally Viktor Orbán might lose his iron grip on power. But who is this man who’s ruled the country for so long? What do we know about the man who could unseat him? And what would a loss for Orbán mean for the populist right and for Europe as a whole?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests: 

• Peter Conradi, Europe editor, The Sunday Times
• Victor Sebestyen, journalist and author covering Eastern Europe & Russia

Host: Luke Jones

Producer: Sophie McNulty, Olivia Case

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Who is Peter Magyar, the man hoping to oust Viktor Orban?

Clips: Bloomberg, DRM News, Péter Magyar - YouTube

Photo: Getty Images, The Times.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the trial rocking France's intelligence service. Two guards who had always dreamt of going under cover were allegedly tricked into a plot to kill a ‘Mossad agent’, who was nothing of the sort. It's an unbelievable tale of freemasons, fake missions - and real violence, where personal grudges are dressed up as matters of national security.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Adam Sage, Paris correspondent, The Times. 

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producer: Dave Creasey.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Freemasons, bored spies and a murder-for-hire scandal at France’s MI6

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For millions of people, Disney was a huge part of their childhood. But, for a great number of people that love never went away, and today, it's those people who have become central to Disney’s bottom line. They are the so called “Disney adults”. But their world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it's a passionate subculture marked by competition, criticism - and high costs.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Read by: Julia Webster and Sophie McNulty.

Producer: Dave Creasey.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: ‘Next-level scary’: inside the ultra-competitive world of Disney adults

Clips: Disney.

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When The Times foreign correspondent Marc Bennetts moved to Russia in 1997, there was hope for a new future for the country. But over the next 25 years, he witnessed the rise of Vladimir Putin and the erosion of civil liberties. In his new book, The Descent: Witnessing Russia’s Spiral into Madness Under Putin, Marc charts how one man remade Russia in his own paranoid image.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Marc Bennetts, foreign correspondent, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producer: Micaela Arneson. 

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Lies and fear: my life under the Kremlin’s propaganda machine

Further listening: ‘I took a grenade blast to escape’: Russian deserters speak to The Times

Clips: Channel One Russia, Educational Video Group, NBC News, ITN, Times Now World, Dot’s Eye. 

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Sunday Times investigation has found that, in Scotland, there are claims that the SNP has, in effect, shut down criticism from the charity and voluntary sectors because of a system that leaves them umbilically tied to its political objectives and fearing grave consequences if they step out of line.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Dan Sanderson, Scottish political editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Taryn Siegel.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: How the SNP spends billions ‘to buy loyalty from charities’

Clips: 5 News, Parliament TV.

Illustration: Tony Bell.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

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The countdown has begun for the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon, the first manned mission there in more than 50 years. Their voyage around our nearest neighbour will pave the way for a lunar landing and, eventually, a Moon base. But why is there suddenly rekindled interest in moon exploration, and could this bring humans toward the ultimate goal of reaching Mars?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: 

• Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut.
• Kaya Burgess, science and religious affairs correspondent for The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana

Producer: Julia Webster

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Artemis II: mission to the Moon

Further listening: The Epstein Files, AI journalism and the future of truth - The Sunday Story

Clips: NASA, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, PBS, Space Age Archive, Associated Press, CriticalPast, Cosmosphere.

Photo: Kathia Mestanza, Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump has threatened that the US would “obliterate Kharg Island” if a deal with Tehran was not reached. The US president has suggested he’d put boots on the ground to seize control of Iran's key oil export terminal. So why does the island matter so much? How would a ground invasion work? And just how risky is it to the US troops involved?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests: 

• George Grylls, Washington correspondent, The Times.
• Sir Simon Mayall, ex-Lieutenant General in the British army and author.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Harry Stott, Olivia Case.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Can the US take Kharg Island? How an invasion could play out

Further listening: Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about Trump's Iran talks

Clips: CBC, FOX, BBC, C-SPAN.

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

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Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war, was one of the most controversial picks in Trump’s cabinet. But as Trump’s foreign adventures have come to define his second term, Hegseth is not just more visible, he’s become the Iran war’s main cheerleader. So who is he?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist, the Times and the Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana

Producers: Harry Stott and Micaela Arneson

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Pete Hegseth, the former soldier and TV host selling Trump’s war

Further listening: Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about Trump's Iran talks

Clips: FOX, BBC, Forbes, CBS, SKY.

Photo: Getty Images.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.