The Story

The war in Iran has left its people divided. Some openly welcome the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, others mourn, steadfast in their loyalty to the Islamic Republic. The divisions run deep, cutting across generations. Majid Parsa grew up in one such household. He tells his story.

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Read by: Majid Parsa, author of The Ayatollah's Gaze.

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producer: Dave Creasey.

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Photo: Getty Images.

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As the war in the Middle East enters its seventh day, prominent supporters of President Trump have criticised his decision to attack Iran. The political stakes are high for a president who pledged no new wars on the campaign trail. So can he keep the MAGA crowd on his side?

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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

Guest: Katy Balls, Washington editor for The Times and The Sunday Times

Host: Manveen Rana

Producer: Julia Webster

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Read more: Iran is Trump’s biggest bet yet. It could define his presidency

Further listening: Iran after the Ayatollah

Clips: Sky, CBS, CNN, ABC, WAAY 31, BBC, Fox, Tucker Carlson, Channel 4, C-SPAN, Associated Press, Boston Globe

Photo: Graphic by Denise Kelly. 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.

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In this bonus episode we're showcasing how The Story host Manveen Rana and her Times colleague Anthony Loyd are back exploring the the kidnap and disappearance of British photojournalist John Cantlie by ISIS in Syria, after a mysterious listener got in contact.

Originally released four years ago, Last Man Standing is now the inspiration for the new BBC three-part documentary series Hostage, based on reporting from our original series.

Find the full Last Man Standing series here.

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.

When the Mexican government took down a drug lord last week, the Sunday Times was there to document the aftermath. Does this mark a turning point in the war on drugs? Or are things about to get much worse? 

A warning that this episode contains descriptions of graphic violence. 

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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

Guest: Louise Callaghan, Americas correspondent, The Sunday Times. 

Host: Rosie Wright. 

Producer: Micaela Arneson. 

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

Read more: A cartel boss is dead, but normal Mexicans always pay the price

Further listening: The town ripped apart by Mexico’s new narcos 

Clips: BBC, WMTW, Configo FN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Noticias Telemundo, 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.

Last month, Sir Keir Starmer made it clear that the US would not be permitted to use UK bases to launch strikes against Iran. On Sunday, that position shifted. Not only has the UK now allowed the use of joint bases, it is also intercepting Iranian drones, and sources have told The Times that a British warship may be deployed to Cyprus. As tensions in the Middle East escalate, is Britain being drawn ever deeper into the conflict? And how might this end?

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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

Guests: 

• Michael Evans, defence contributor, The Times
• General Sir Patrick Sanders, former Chief of the General Staff and co-host of The General & the Journalist, one of our sister podcasts 

Host: Rosie Wright

Producers: Sophie McNulty & Olivia Case

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Read more: Special relationship ‘not what it once was’, as Trump rebukes PM on Iran

Further listening: Iran after the Ayatollah

Clips: The Times, AP, BBC, CNN, The White House, Sky 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.

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After weeks of protests against Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime earlier this year, the Iranian people cried out for American help as they were massacred in their thousands. Over the weekend, the Americans and Israelis did finally intervene in Iran, killing the Ayatollah, but leaving a flood of questions in their wake. Who will now fill the political vacuum? Will there be regime change? And what next for the Iranian people?

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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

Guests:

• Rana Rahimpour, Iranian journalist.
• Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian history, the University of St. Andrews. 

Host: Rosie Wright.

Producers: Harry Stott, Julia Webster. 

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

Read more: Who will replace Ayatollah Khamenei — a moderate or an ‘Iranian Putin’?

Further listening: Iran's supreme leader killed - is the Middle East in all out war?

Clips: BBC, AP, EuroNews, State Department / Instagram, 60 Minutes.

Photo: Getty Images, The Times, Dana Chan.

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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For decades, a chilling rumour has haunted Sarajevo: that foreign tourists paid to visit the besieged city in the early 1990s to shoot at its residents. Today, Italian authorities are investigating several cases of alleged ‘tourist snipers,’ thrusting these accusations back into the headlines. Now, an eyewitness to these so-called ‘human safaris’ has spoken to The Times about what he saw more than 30 years ago.

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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

Guest: Tom Kington, the Italy correspondent, The Times

Host: Manveen Rana

Producer: Sophie McNulty

Translator: Aleksa Antic

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Read more: Sarajevo sniper tourists ‘killed children by day, then partied at night’

Clips: BBC, ITN, FRENCH 24 English. 

Photo: Getty Images, Tom Kington.

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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Early on Saturday morning, the US and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran, killing the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran has retaliated, with strikes reported in the UAE, Qatar and across the region. But will Trump get his regime change or could Iran become just another failed state? And is the middle east on the brink of all-out war?

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:

• Gabrielle Weiniger, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza correspondent, The Times.
• Sir Peter Westmacott, formerly Britain’s Ambassador to the United States of America, and Britain's political secretary, Tehran.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Olivia Case and Sophie McNulty.

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

Read more: Iran latest: UK plans mass Middle East evacuation as Tehran strikes back

Further listening: Four years of war: can Ukraine continue to deny Putin?

Clips: The White House / YouTube, CBS, Truth Social, ABC, BBC, The Times. 

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.

Next week, the BBC launches a new three part documentary, Hostage, based on our award winning Times podcast series Last Man Standing. It's the story of British photojournalist John Cantlie who was kidnapped in Syria by Islamic State in 2012. While his fellow hostages were released or murdered, he remained captive. Then, a series of Isis propaganda videos emerged, fronted by Cantlie. He hasn’t been seen since. So what happened to him? In this episode, The Times War Correspondent, Anthony Lloyd, begins his investigation.

This episode was first published on 24 June 2022.

Listen to the whole series: Last Man Standing 

Hosts: Manveen Rana and Anthony Lloyd, War Correspondent, The Times.

Clips: BBC, 5Live, CNN, NBC, BBC.

Further reading: The murky truth about Britain’s forgotten hostage John Cantlie

We've launched The Story's first ever listener survey! If you can, please take a few minutes to fill it in. You can find it here: The Story survey

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 men wanting to buy her breast milk, to going undercover in the IVF wild west, investigative journalist and author Alev Scott has immersed herself in the murky, and often unregulated world of fertility. What she found was a trillion dollar industry, where the maternal body is a hot commodity. It also raised some serious ethical questions: How much, if anything, should breastmilk cost? Who should be allowed to buy it? And is it right that you can pay more for ‘VIP’ egg donors?

We've launched The Story's first ever listener survey! If you can, please take a few minutes to fill it in. You can find it here: The Story survey

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: Alev Scott, investigative journalist and author of Cash Cow.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Dave Creasey. 

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

Read more: Undercover in Europe’s infertility and surrogacy industry

Photo: Getty Images & Mark Harrison for the Times magazine.

You can buy Cash Cow: How the maternal body became a global commodity – and the hidden costs for women at the Times Bookshop.

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.