The Story

Throughout Cuba, fuel shortages, blackouts, and food scarcity have become the norm. Since the US intervention in Venezuela in January, the oil lifeline into Cuba has all but dried up. Trump is now claiming that Cuba is on the brink of collapse. As the war in Iran rages on unabated – is this American neighbour his next target?

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: 

• Matthew Campbell, foreign features editor, The Sunday Times
• Catherine Philp, world affairs editor, The Times

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producers: Sophie McNulty & Micaela Arneson.

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

Further reading: Cubans await Trump’s next move: ‘Would the Americans bomb us?’

Further listening: Drugs, oil and power: what Trump is doing with Venezuela

Clips: AP, DRM News, News Nation, Onyx Media, Archivo DiFilm, APT.

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.

From the shadowy corners of incel forums, a new obsession was quietly emerging. To succeed, financially, socially and sexually, you need to level up your face and frame. Enter “Looksmaxxing”, the idea that how you look can be engineered to perfection to maximise your full aesthetic potential. It's a TikTok-fuelled culture of mogging, "bone-smashing", and glow-ups - and a way for young men to measure beauty, status, and self-worth. How far will some go to “max” their looks? Is it vanity, or a survival strategy in a hyper-visual world? And what does it reveal about the state of men’s mental health today?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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

Host: Rosie Wright

Guest: Jack Burke, times contributor.

Producer: Dave Creasey

Read more: Looksmaxxing: the worrying new extreme teenage trend

Image: 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.

In 1938, Catherine Duleep Singh, goddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of the last Maharajah of Punjab, personally secured the escape of Jewish families to Britain, saving them from the Holocaust. Her story didn’t end there, she became a prominent suffragette, fighting for women’s rights while navigating life in exile. We explore her remarkable courage, activism, and the lives she forever changed.

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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: Jack Blackburn, history correspondent for The Times.

Producer: Dave Creasey

Read more: Last princess of Punjab who saved families from the Holocaust

Image: 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.

The Story host Manveen Rana and her Times colleague Anthony Loyd continue their search for what happened to the British photojournalist John Cantlie, after he was kidnapped by ISIS in Syria. 

In this thrilling denouement to the series, Manveen and Anthony travel to a maximum security prison in Iraq to meet a man who could hold the answer. But will this ISIS prisoner reveal all? Or will Cantlie’s death remain a mystery?

Listen to the full Last Man Standing series here.

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

Hosts: Manveen Rana and Anthony Loyd, special correspondent, The Times.

Producer: Harry Stott.

Executive producer: Will Roe.

Further reading: Anthony Loyd: my hunt for the forgotten Isis hostage John Cantlie

Watch: Hostage on BBC iPlayer. 

Clips: BBC.

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.

Peter Mandelson’s disastrous few months continue apace, after the government released a tranche of documents that tell us a lot about his hiring - and firing - as ambassador to the US. So what’s in the files? And what does it all say about the judgment of the Prime Minister?

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

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

Guest: Aubrey Allegretti, chief political correspondent, The Times. 

Host: Rosie Wright. 

Producers: Harry Stott, Micaela Arneson.  

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

Read more: Peter Mandelson files: flawed vetting, ‘risk’ and other revelations

Mandelson files expose Keir Starmer — and it’s just the beginning

Further listening: Mandelson, Epstein and the fight for survival at No 10

Clips: Guardian News, AFP News Agency, Sky News, Diario AS.

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.

As Iran continues to attack its Gulf neighbours could the strikes turn into a wider war? Who might be drawn in? And with Iran hitting friends as well as foes, how will this war reshape the Middle East and its relationship with the US?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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: 

• Michael Stephens, consultant and senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. 
• Hofit Golan, influencer and content creator.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Olivia Case and Harry Stott.

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

Read more: Iran latest: Trump says war could end soon as ‘nothing left to target’

Further listening: Iran has a new leader - how long will he last?

Clips: Al Jazeera. 

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.

War in the Middle East has caused oil and gas prices to soar and sent the markets into turmoil. But why does oil still have such a powerful influence over the cost of household goods? And what has history taught us about how wars are waged when oil holds such sway?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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:

• Dr Ellen R. Wald, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and author of Saudi, Inc..
• Harry Wallop, consumer journalist and Times Radio contributor.

Host: Rosie Wright

Producer: Julia Webster and Harry Stott

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

Read more: Does Trump really have a plan for what he is doing in Iran?

Further listening: Could Trump lose MAGA over Iran?

Clips: Blue Georgia on X, The White House, The Economic Times, CNN, GB News, AP

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.

Iran has appointed a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. He’s the son of the late Ali Khamenei and a shadowy figure with a history of orchestrating brutal crackdowns on dissenters. President Donald Trump is also not a fan. So what does his appointment mean for the conflict raging in the Middle East? 

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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: 

• Catherine Philp, world affairs editor, The Times.
• Negah Angha, former US State Department and National Security Council advisor.  

Host: Darryl Morris.

Producer: Micaela Arneson, Sophie McNulty.

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

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

Read more: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader?

Further listening: How AI helped Trump attack Iran

Clips: Sky News, Al Jazeera, NBC, Fox News, The Times, ABC News

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.

The use of Artificial Intelligence by militaries used to be talked about in the abstract, but during the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran we’ve seen it used in real time. So what happens when you have robots who can make battlefield decisions quicker than the speed of thought? And what made the Trump administration fall out with one of the world’s leading AI companies?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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: David Leslie, Professor of ethics, technology and society in the Digital Environment Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London.

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producers: Harry Stott, Sophie McNulty. 

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

Read more: How AI helps 20 US troops do the work of 2,000 in Iran war

Further listening: Anthropic vs Pentagon: How AI is changing war

Clips: Fox, CBS News, Reuters.

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.

Thirty years after her death, Frida Kahlo went from relative obscurity to one of the most famous female artists on the planet. Now, her image has been used on everything from watches, scented candles, clothes, sanitary pads, and even Barbie dolls. But how did the communist icon become the face of a million dollar enterprise? At the centre of the story is a Kahlo family divided. Should her image reflect her artistic treasures or a global brand?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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: Blanca Schofield, assistant culture and books editor for both The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producer: Dave Creasey.

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

Read more: Artist — or brand? How Frida Kahlo’s family lost control

Photo: FridaMoji/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.