Tensions are escalating between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy militia in Lebanon. Attacks on both sides have led to thousands dead and over a million people internally displaced. The latest confrontations come after decades of conflict, so where did it all begin? 

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: Lina Khatib, associate fellow at Chatham House, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute, and contributor to The Times. 

Read more from Lina: Why killing of Hassan Nasrallah marks ‘beginning of the end’ for Iran 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: Sky News, ITV News, NBC News, Binyamin Netanyahu, AP, CBS News, BBC News.

Photo: Getty Images 

Further listening: Who are Hezbollah and are they heading for all-out war?

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A new era of violence is erupting in the French city of Marseille between rival drug gangs. Deaths are soaring - with 49 murders in the first half of this year already. We go inside the city to find out how social media is helping to recruit children as young as 14 to carry out the killings.

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

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Further listening: Cocaine Inc.

Guest: Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Image credit: Getty Images

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In 2020, the US Justice Department sued Google, alleging it illegally monopolised the online search market. The US government won, and is now threatening to break up the tech giant, with wide-reaching implications for us all. 

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

Guest: Dominic O’Connell, Business Presenter, Times Radio.  

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Clips: The Justice Department, AP Archive, CNBC, CBS.  

Photo: Getty Images

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Kamala Harris may become the first female president of the United States – but who is she? Megan Agnew rode through the hills of San Francisco, talking to everyone who knew her fresh out of law school, to tell the story of how she conquered California.

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: Megan Agnew, senior features writer, The Sunday Times.

Host: Luke Jones. 

Photo: Getty Images. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Today we bring you a conversation from our fellow podcasters and Times Radio broadcasters Jane & Fi.

This week marked a year since the October 7 attacks by Hamas and Israel's military operation in Gaza, beginning of a tragic new chapter in the violent history of the Middle East. Since then, thousands have died and the ongoing war threatens to engulf the wider region. It's left policy makers questioning how, if ever, the conflict can be resolved. Two former leaders with a potential road map for peace joined Jane and Fi to discuss. 

Guests:

- Ehud Olmert, former Israeli prime minister.

- Nassr al-Qudwa, former Palestinian foreign minister.

Producer: Guy Emanuel

Subscribe to Jane and Fi 'Off Air'

This week the Story covered the October 7th anniversary in two podcasts:

How I survived October 7

A diary from Gaza - what happened next

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

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Keir Starmer has been prime minister for 100 days. It's the point in any premiership that's considered a measure of how a new leader is performing, ever since the days of Franklin D Roosevelt. So how is Starmer doing compared to his predecessors? Two authors of multiple biographies of former PMs - William Hague and historian and author Sir Anthony Seldon - discuss.

This episode was recorded live at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

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

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom'

Host: William Hague, Times columnist and former leader of the Conservative Party.

Guest: Sir Anthony Seldon.

Image credit: Getty.

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A year on from the October 7th attacks in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage, Israel's bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Our colleague Amal Helles was one of the few Palestinians to escape Gaza earlier this year. So what’s life been like for her since, and for her friends and family who remain in Gaza?

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

Further listening: How I survived October 7 

Further listening: A diary of war: Three months in Gaza

Guest: Amal Helles, journalist, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Luke Jones.

Photo: Abdel Hakim Abu Dagen for The Times.

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom'

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

To mark the publication of his memoir “Unleashed”, Boris Johnson sat down with Times Radio’s Stig Abell to talk about Donald Trump, Brexit, and refusing to rule out a political comeback.

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: Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister and author of Unleashed.

Host: Stig Abell. 

Photo: Times photographer Jack Hill. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray resigned amid weeks of bad headlines for the government over freebies. Labour’s troubles arguably began when The Sunday Times revealed a major donor, Lord Alli, had a security pass to Downing Street. Today we speak to Sunday Times Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrund about how he got the story. 

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: Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times. 

Gabriel’s reporting:

• No 10 pass for Labour donor who gave £500,000 
• How we revealed the Downing Street donor scandal rocking Labour 

Host: Luke Jones.

Clips: Sky News, ITV News, Talk TV, The Times. 

Photo: Getty Images. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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As many take a break from booze for Sober October, the writer Hannah Betts marks ten years since she gave up alcohol. It’s given her a moment to reflect on her father’s death from his own alcohol addiction and to consider why Britain apparently has such a destructive love of booze.

If you or someone you know is affected by alcohol addiction support and advice can be found through the NHS and Drinkaware.

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: Hannah Betts, writer, The Times and https://hannahbetts.substack.com/ 

Host: Luke Jones. 

Photo: Getty Images. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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