The Story

This week the final round of voting opens for the 95th Academy Awards – and the Oscars are embroiled in a row about diversity again. The latest controversy centres around a shock nomination for best actress, raising questions about the fairness of the system. Just how significant are race, power and celebrity friends in the campaign to win an Oscar?

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: Kevin Maher, chief film critic, The Times.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

Clips: ITV, ABC, Good Morning America, BBC, NBC, Nine Network.

Film credits: Gladiator - Dreamworks Pictures/Universal Pictures; Till - MGM Studios/Orion Pictures; The Woman King - Sony Pictures/Entertainment One; To Leslie - Momentum Pictures; Shakespeare In Love - Miramax Films/Universal Pictures.

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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In the days before he invaded Ukraine, President Putin used a televised address to attack the country’s sense of nationhood and deny its right to exist. A year on from the outbreak of war, ordinary Ukrainians are still using small acts of cultural resistance to re-enforce the Ukrainian identity. But what does the complete removal of Russian influence mean for the country's future? 

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: Catherine Philp, Foreign Correspondent, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Clips: Channel 4, Sky News, BBC News, Andriy Khlyvnyuk, Office of the President of Ukraine, NBC News, Times Radio, The Kremlin.

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.

Kidnap, rape, riots and murder have become a part of everyday life in Haiti. Still reeling from successive natural disasters, a cholera epidemic and starvation, the people of the Caribbean nation are witnessing civil society collapse as dangerous gangs fight for dominance.

The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 opened up a political vacuum and today sixty per cent of the capital Port Au Prince is under gang control. Is there any hope for Haiti or is it already a failed state?

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.

Guests

• Mario Delatour, Documentary filmmaker.
• Stephen Gibbs, Latin America Correspondent, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: BBC, PBS, CBS, NBC, France 24, ABC, Voice of America.

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 have entered what many experts are now describing as a golden age of AI. If machines could be our surgeons, our judges and our artists, what would it then mean to be human? Meet the philosophers trying to save humanity from the matrix.

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: Josh Glancy, Special Correspondent, The Sunday Times.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: Parliament Live TV, Global News, TED, McKinsey & Company, Open AI, Greylock, Oxford University, Lex Fridman podcast, Plenilune Pictures, DeepMind, Google, SciNews.

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.

After a six-month trial, the results of the world’s biggest four-day working week pilot have been published. It found there was no hit to productivity, while staff wellbeing was improved. But could a shorter working week really work across the whole economy?

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.

Guests:

- Joe Ryle, Director of the Four Day Week Campaign.

- Carly Goodman-Smith, Operations Director, Tyler Grange.

Host: Luke Jones. 

Clip: ITV.

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.

The race is now on to find a replacement for Nicola Sturgeon, who resigned as first minister of Scotland last week. A formidable force in Scottish politics, we trace the triumphs and controversies of her eight years in power, and look ahead to what’s next for the SNP, the independence movement and UK politics.

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: Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: Channel 4 News, Edinburgh International Book Festival, BBC News, STV News, Sky News, The National, TalkTV.

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.

Lancashire Police is facing a backlash this week for sharing personal details about missing mum Nicola Bulley to the general public. The case has received huge public interest since the 45-year-old went missing three weeks ago today. Online sleuths who have cast doubt on the police effort – determined to crack the case themselves – have been a growing distraction. Who are the TikTok detectives sharing theories online, and are they motivated by anything bigger than clicks and followers?

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: Darryl Morris, Times Radio presenter.

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: TikTok, Sky News, GB News, 5 News, BBC News, Telegraph.

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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Children conceived through rape will be recognised as victims of crime under new government plans. England and Wales will be among the first countries in the world to make this change to the law, ensuring that children in this situation are entitled to support from criminal justice agencies such as the police and courts. We speak to the campaigner at the centre of this landmark legal change. 

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: The campaigner, Daisy, who has just helped change the law for children born from rape.  

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: BBC, Channel 4 News, Sky News. 

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 Nord Stream pipelines - that pump gas from Russia to Germany - were damaged in September it didn’t take long for investigators to determine they had been sabotaged. Almost six months on, and despite three different investigations, are we any closer to knowing who carried out the attack and why?

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: Marc Bennetts, Foreign Correspondent, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Clips: CNN, DW News, Reuters, Sky News, Euronews, C-Span, The Hill.

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.

After 30 years on the run, Italy's most-wanted mafia boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, was finally caught in January. A prolific murderer, Denaro once boasted he’d ‘filled a cemetery’. His organisation inspired Hollywood films, but who was Italy's last godfather and how was he finally found? 

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: Tom Kington, Italy Correspondent, The Times.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: La Repubblica, SKY, NBC, Channel 4, CBS, BBC, The Guardian, MOBFAX, Mob News, France 24, Speak Softly Love (Rota Nino), Scarface (Brian De Palma / Universal Pictures).

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.