The Story

This month the Sunday Times turns 200 years old. To mark the occasion, Times Radio’s John Pienaar has been speaking to the editors: Emma Tucker, who's edited the paper since 2020, and John Witherow, the former Sunday Times editor who's just finished nine years at the helm of The Times.

The conversation took place in front of an audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday. It’s a packed discussion covering the news industry, Emma and John's favourite stories, war reporting, and a little bit about a young Boris Johnson's rather brief stint as The Times reporter in Brussels.

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:

- Emma Tucker, Editor, The Sunday Times.

- John Witherow, Chairman of Times Newspapers.

Host: John Pienaar.

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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It’s been a long and twisting road: six months of ‘on again off again’, after Elon Musk made an offer to buy Twitter, only to back out a few months later. Two weeks before Musk and the social media company were set to face off in court to decide this, the world’s richest man changed his mind again and agreed to go ahead with his original offer after all. So, is this the end of the saga? Or just the first step of a much bigger plan?

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: Callum Jones, US Business Correspondent, The Times.

Host: Jenny Kleeman.

Clips: CNBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, BBC News, NBC News, Yahoo Finance,

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 new five-part investigation from The Times begins here on Stories of our times on Thursday 13 October. 

It follows the story of the Very Reverend Professor Martyn Percy, who left Christ Church, Oxford, as its Dean with a £1.25 million settlement earlier this year.

But big questions remain. 

The Times’ journalist Andrew Billen returns to his old university to try and understand why Percy and his employer got into a four year long battle, which left the priest close to suicide and cost the Oxford college millions in charitable funds. 

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It's a legend many of us have grown up with: a plucky group of British officers, finding themselves trapped in a heavily guarded POW camp during the Second World War, try every trick they can think of to break out. But, in a new book by Ben Macintyre, we hear for the first time the real story of Colditz. A story that's not just more complicated, but far more interesting than the one we were told.

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: Ben Macintyre, Associate Editor, The Times.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

Clips: BBC/Universal Studios, The Imperial War Museum.

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.

Vladimir Putin turns 70 today. In recent weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen territorial losses, a shambolic partial mobilisation, sham referendums and threats of nuclear attacks. So what possible outcomes are there for President Putin’s plan?

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: Roger Boyes, Diplomatic Editor, The Times

Host: David Aaronovitch

Clips from: Sky News, ABC News, NBC News, Reuters

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 take a look at a popular Sunday Times feature about the National Scrabble Championships in the UK and uncover a hidden community of word nerds. Plus, tile by tile, we trace the evolution of the popular game - from going online during the pandemic to banning offensive words following the Black Lives Matter protests.

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: Ralph Jones, writer and Sunday Times contributor. 

Host: Jenny Kleeman.

Clips: Sky News, YouTube channel Dweebovision.

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 death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini whilst in police custody has sparked nationwide protests in Iran. The authorities have responded with a heavy crackdown, and it’s estimated over 130 people have died so far. As protests continue, could the death of one young woman lead to regime change?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get 3 months for just £1: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.

Guest: Ramita Navai, journalist, Sunday Times contributor, author of 'City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran', and host of 'The Line of Fire' podcast.

Host: Manveen Rana

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: CBS News, WION, BBC News, France 24, Radio Farda, Sky News, NBC, ITN archive, TRT World, BBC Farsi, Middle East Matters.

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 nine days of political pressure, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has u-turned on the government’s plan to abolish the top rate of income tax, saying he felt ‘humility and contrition’. So, what was the mood at the Conservative party conference as Kwarteng addressed his party? Plus, we learn more about the chancellor driving the policy formerly known as ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’.

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

Guests: 

- Henry Zeffman, Associate Political Editor, The Times.

- Rachel Sylvester, Columnist, The Times.  

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: BBC, DW News, STV, Times Radio.

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 an international manhunt, the FBI and Interpol say they have found a man wanted on multiple charges in four US states, who faked his death before fleeing America for Scotland. But the Glasgow resident at the centre of the case insists he is the victim of a "monstrous" miscarriage of justice – that he is not Nicholas Rossi, but is Arthur Knight, an Irish-born orphan who has never visited the United States. Our reporter investigates.

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

Guest: Marc Horne, news reporter, The Times.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

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 World Wide Web was launched in 1991, hopes for it were high. But three decades later, the internet seems to be defined not by interconnectivity and liberation, but by scandal, abuse and polarisation. Political journalist Marie Le Conte remembers a different internet -- from those early days. An internet that was fun, freeing and joyful. The 'good' internet.

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

Guest: Marie Le Conte, political journalist

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: CBSN, BBC, Sky News, Parliament TV, "Panic Attack " (C), The Paddingtons / Mercury Records.

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.