The Story

As the war in Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end, Vladimir Putin is betting on a new generation of Russians to march in step with the regime. Russia's Youth Army now has more than a million members and – through TikTok dances and influencers – is indoctrinating children as young as six years old.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guest: Dr Ian Garner, author of Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth: https://timesbookshop.co.uk/z-generation-9781787389281

Host: Luke Jones.

Clips: Tiktok, International Film Foundation, SBS, AFP.

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.

This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a bonus weekly series each Saturday.

As the world population continues to surge, conflicts between people and wildlife over food, resources and space for living are heightening.  Environment Editor for The Times, Adam Vaughan is joined by conservationist and Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Krithi Karanth to explore how she is using technology to help local communities in India mitigate animal attacks and lessen animosity between wildlife and humans.

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 a story of covert archives and freezing wastelands, of concentration camps and gulags. In a new book, Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein reveals how his family took a journey that ended happily in Hendon – but took a detour through hell.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.

Guest: Daniel Finkelstein, Times columnist and author of Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival: https://timesbookshop.co.uk/hitler-stalin-mum-and-dad-9780008483845 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: BBC Radio 4, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

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.

In the Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast, a taxi driver turned evangelist pastor told his followers that the “rapture” was coming. Four years and more than 200 deaths later, Kenyan police are investigating what they suspect was a death cult. What could possibly have compelled hundreds of people to abandon their homes and families to join it?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.

Guest: Matthew Campbell, Foreign Features Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.  

Host: Manveen Rana.  

Clips: BBC News, WION, DW News, KTN News, Reuters, Global News, NTV Kenya.  

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.

This week the 2023 Isle of Man TT race - often dubbed the ‘most dangerous’ race in the world - begins.

Six riders died last year at the motorcycle racing event. So why do the competitors keep coming back for more?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Articles - Dispatch: Inside the Isle of Man TT, the course that has killed 266 people https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inside-the-isle-of-man-tt-the-course-that-has-killed-266-people-9nb8hdn5k

Guests:

- Phoebe Luckhurst, Senior Commissioning Editor at the Sunday Times Magazine.

- Richard “Milky” Quayle, ex-motorbike racer and former Isle of Man TT champion. 

Host: Will Roe. 

Clips: TT Closer to the edge/Isle of Man Film & CinemaNX, Isleofmanttofficial, Obsession Engineering/Dave Hewson.

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.

Russia’s Wagner group – already dominant in the conflict in Ukraine – has become the de facto boss in the diamond-rich Central African Republic, where the mercenary force influences not just politics but the economy and culture. So how did this happen? And which country might be next in Wagner's sights?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guest: Anthony Loyd, senior foreign correspondent, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: France 24, Al Jazerra, CNN, TRT World, BBC, WION, Tourist © 2021 3xMedia and Vesta, Director: Andrey Batov.

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.

We’re away for the bank holiday, so in the meantime we're bringing you a highlight from another Times podcast, Red Box, in which Matt Chorley presents the best interviews, analysis and panel discussions from his Times Radio show.

For more than a decade Andrew Parsons was the official Downing Street photographer - chronicling life at No 10 with every prime minister from David Cameron to Rishi Sunak. He talks to Matt about capturing everything from David Cameron pre-emptively writing his resignation letter in 2015, to THAT lock down breaking birthday party in the Cabinet room.

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.

This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by Stories of Our Times as a bonus weekly series each Saturday.

The Earth’s climate has been known to change in the past, but it’s only since the industrial revolution that there have been changes to our climate which have been driven by humans. Environmental Editor for The Times, Adam Vaughan joins climate scientist and National Geographic Explorer Tom Matthews to investigate how his work, mapping the planet’s most extreme climates, can help us to better understand how our climate is changing and most importantly, evaluate whether we can change the course that we’re on.

Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports Tom Matthews as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Mount Everest Expedition and the Amazon Expedition.

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.

Last week water companies pledged to spend £10bn over the next five years to drastically reduce the number of sewage spills going into the country’s waterways and seas. Over 30 years on since privatisation have our beaches and rivers got cleaner?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guest: Adam Vaughan, Environment Editor, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Clips: BBC News Al Jazeera Times Radio, Sky News, Channel 4 News, Parliament.

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 took less than an hour on the Telegram messaging app for an undercover Times reporter to infiltrate a network of fraudsters based in the UK. They openly traded bank details for thousands of victims – and boasted that the police would do nothing to stop them. We hear how the gang were exposed and speak to one of their targets.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guest: Emma Yeomans, news reporter, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

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.