In recent weeks, Kanye West, now known as ‘Ye’, has pulled off a number of bizarre stunts, including antisemitic rants and an inexplicable Super Bowl advert. Just a few years ago, the controversial rapper was a billionaire entrepreneur being invited to the White House, but has he now reached the point of no return?

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 Arts Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times. 

Host: Luke Jones. 

Producers: Samantha Chantarasak and Hannah Gravett.

Clips: CBS News, MTV, The New York Post, Grammys, All Falls Down/Kanye West ft. Syleena Johnson/Roc-A-Fella Records/Universal Music Group, Gold Digger/Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx/Roc-A-Fella Records/Universal Music Group, Love Lockdown/Kanye West/Roc-A-Fella Records, Power/Kanye West/Roc-A-Fella Records, MSNBC, NBC News, ABC News, TODAY, The Download With Justin Laboy, Good Morning America, Fox News and ABC 7 Chicago.

Photo: Getty Images

Get in touch: [email protected]   

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

Since his election, Donald Trump has stunned the world with a series of moves that have upended the well-established post-war international order. He picked up the phone and brought Putin in from the cold, branded Zelensky a 'dictator' and suggested America will no longer continue to finance European defence. At this pivotal moment in history, Manveen Rana speaks to former foreign secretary, historian and Times columnist, Lord William Hague on why this marks the start of a new chapter and a much more dangerous period than we are used to living in.  

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: Lord William Hague, former foreign secretary and Times columnist. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Olivia Case, Edward Drummond, Edith Rousselot.

Further reading: Starmer must evoke Churchill to woo Trump

Further listening:  How the US signaled a new world order in 5 days

Clips: Sky News, The Times, Wall Street Journal.

Photo: Times illustration/Getty images.

Get in touch: [email protected]     

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

Last year, 50 men were convicting of raping or sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot, including her husband who’d orchestrated the attacks. There was worldwide uproar and calls for changes to French rape laws. But with no imminent changes in sight, many of the rapists are appealing their sentences and at least six are already out of prison. So what's going on? And could any progress still come from this landmark case?

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: Katie Tarrant, News Reporter, The Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Further reading: Wives stand by Gisèle Pelicot rapists — and some of them are free already. 

Image: Nina Krause, The Sunday Times.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

This episode was originally published in April last year.

With young people in Britain and across the world increasingly reliant on smartphones, many teens now openly admitt they’re addicted to social media. Could an entire generation be suffering serious and irreversible damage? And is there anything we can do to reverse it?

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

Guest: Helen Rumbelow, Times Feature Writer and Columnist.

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producers: Chris Wade, Priyanka Deladia, Ed Halford.

Clips: NBC News, ITV News, Bloomberg Technology.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

Holly and Lucy are joined by Kat Denham, champion champion for The Times and The Sunday Times, as they navigate the tricky world of bank accounts mishaps. From Frozen accounts, lost payments & dormant savings, Kat shares the best ways to protect yourself from losing money.

Contact Holly and Lucy: [email protected]

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

Lord Maurice Glasman was the only Labour politician to be invited to Trump’s inauguration after striking up a friendship with JD Vance. So who is he and why is his 'Blue Labour' movement seen by Starmer's inner circle as the medicine to tackle the rise of Reform?

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: Patrick Maguire, Political Columnist, The Times and author of Get In:The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Emily Webb.

Further reading: To take on the right, will Labour go blue?

Clips: GB News, NBC, PBS, UnHerd, Together, ABC Australia, The Guardian.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

The British-Indian novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has faced his alleged attacker in court, after he was stabbed multiple times in 2022 during a public lecture in New York state. Hadi Matar, accused of assault and attempted murder, denies the charges. The author is no stranger to threats: in 1989, Iran's Supreme Leader called for his death, after deeming his novel The Satanic Verses blasphemous. Will this attack on Rushdie, a symbol of free speech himself, threaten freedom of expression?

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:

• Will Pavia, New York Correspondent, The Times.
• Robbie Millen, Literary Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times. 

Host: Luke Jones.

Producer: Samantha Chantarasak.

Further reading: Salman Rushdie trial: I was dying, author says as he recounts attack

Clips: BBC News, WION, CNN, The Daily Show, Cream Cakes, American Express, CBC News, University of Vermont.

Photo: Getty Images. 

Get in touch: [email protected]     

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

As the United States and Russia seem to be hurtling towards a bilateral peace negotiation over Ukraine, European leaders gathered in Paris in an attempt to come up with their own response. With both Ukraine and Europe edged out of these discussions, is this the moment that the US rethinks its post-war alliances?

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: Catherine Philp, World Affairs Editor, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Edith Rousselot.

Clips: Newsweek, CBS News, The White House, WSJ News, Channel 4 News, Guardian News, The Associated Press.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

A year ago Times columnist James Marriott ditched his smartphone to escape the endless notifications from his apps. How has he managed without a device many of us feel is indispensable? And could it be a more desirable future?

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: James Marriott, Columnist, The Times. 

Host: Luke Jones. 

Producer: Edward Drummond.

Further reading: I’m a digital native — can I survive without my smartphone?

Photo: Jude Edginton for The Times Magazine.

Get in touch: [email protected]  

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

When Donald Trump took office, he appointed Elon Musk as head of the Department of Government Efficiency - or DOGE - a new agency designed to radically slash federal costs. Since inauguration day Musk has done just that, laying off thousands of staff, freezing America's entire international aid programme and gaining access to the $6 trillion Treasury payments system. So what will the fallout be? And with an unelected official wielding such unprecedented power - and the courts fighting back - are we seeing the beginnings of a major constitutional crisis?

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: Hugh Tomlinson, Washington Reporter, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case and Edith Rousselot.

Further reading: Donald Trump lashes out as ‘political’ judges block his orders.

Further listening: Trump’s Gaza bombshell

Clips: Bloomberg, ABC News, Sky, The Guardian, Fox. 

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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