Official figures show that for the first time, people are leaving dating apps. So why the exodus? And could future apps - with AI and augmented reality - be any better at matchmaking?

This episode first ran on January 7 2025.

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

Guests:

Hannah Skelley, Fashion Writer and Stylist, The Times. 

Dr Liesel Sharabi, Associate Professor of Human Communication and Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at Arizona State University.

Host: Luke Jones.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: TikTok / aidenheaney, TikTok / hopeyoufindyourdad, TikTok / gaelaitor, TikTok / zoecsheehan, TikTok / drcatpsych, TikTok / louisohno.

Photo: Getty Images. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

Ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit, Katie and Danny are together in London for a special interview with the man who is synonymous with Artificial Intelligence - Sam Altman. He is the studio talking all things OpenAI, President Trump, Elon Musk, DeepSeek and the future of life and work.

Listen to Katie and Danny's follow-up to their interview with Sam Altman as they reflect on the conversation and Elon Musk’s bid for OpenAI, which came just hours after Altman left the studio.

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

Bridget Jones is back in cinemas with her fourth outing Mad About the Boy, 24 years after her film debut. The messy heroine is the quintessential Gen X icon: too much booze, cigarettes, dodgy office romances and an obsession with the thigh gap. So why is she still winning over new fans decades later?

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: Ceci Browning, Assistant Literary Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producers: Samantha Chantarasak, Emily Webb.

Further reading:

• How Gen Z fell for Bridget Jones (by Ceci Browning, 24) 
• Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy review — our national treasure grows up 

Clips: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy/Universal Pictures, Bridget Jones’s Diary/Universal Pictures, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight/CBC, Barbie/Warner Bros. 

Photo: Universal Pictures. 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

President Trump stunned the world and horrified his Arab allies when he proposed that the US should take over Gaza and rebuild it as the "riviera of the Middle East." But where did the idea come from and could it actually happen?

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: Josie Ensor, US correspondent, The Times

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Edith Rousselot.

Clips: The Times, MSNBC, CNBC, Global News, The Guardian, Fox News, “America, Baby!” podcast

Photo: Kobby Barda, Israeli historian who shared an image of the plan for the reconstruction of Gaza City on social media.

Get in touch: [email protected] 

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

The Times has unveiled a landmark survey of Generation Z. What are their attitudes towards modern Britain, sex, drugs and… mental health? 1 in 3 young people have sought help for their mental health and a growing number are on long-term sickness. So what’s going on?

If you or someone you know has been affected by suicide or needs to talk to someone, please get in contact with the Samaritans online https://www.samaritans.org/ or call them for free on their 24-hour helpline 116 123.

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:

• Lara Spirit, Red Box Editor, The Times.
• Tanya Marwaha, mental health campaigner and Beyond Youth board member.

Host: Luke Jones.

Producer: Emily Webb.

Further reading: Gen Zers on why they’ve turned to God: ‘It’s beautiful waiting for sex’

Get in touch: [email protected].

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

When the closed steelworks in Corby, Northamptonshire, were being cleaned up ahead of redevelopment, trucks ferrying debris away from the site released poisonous dust into the air. Dozens of children born during this time had malformed limbs and other issues leading to a decades-long fight for justice. Now their story, which came to national attention via the Sunday Times, is finding a new audience - in Toxic Town a Netflix drama - and families hope it will help others to join the dots.

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: Rosamund Urwin, Media Editor, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producer: Edward Drummond.

Further reading: Can Netflix bring justice to the town poisoned by dust?

Clips: Sky News, BBC.

Photo: Sunday Times illustration.

Get in touch: [email protected]  

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

Have you - or someone you know - had a mobile phone snatched directly from your hand? It's a growing trend in London and other cities across the UK, as last Thursday, Met Police revealed they arrested 230 people and seized 1000 phones in just one week. So just who is behind this crimewave, and where exactly do the phones end up?

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:

• Dipesh Gadher, Home Affairs Correspondent, The Sunday Times.
• Louise Eccles, Early Years and Education Editor, The Sunday Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producer: Samantha Chantarasak.

Further reading:

• What really happens to your phone when it’s stolen 
• How your stolen iPhone ends up in one Chinese city market 

Further listening: What’s behind the rise in knife crime on our streets

Clips: LBC, Sun Kissed Bucket List, Nikolay Tanev, Sky News.

Photo: Metropolitan Police

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

On today's Sunday Edition, we're looking back at this episode from March, diving into the fentanyl trade. This week, President Trump cited the fentanyl crisis in the US as his justification for threatening steep tariffs against Canada and Mexico. So how does fentanyl actually get into the US?

Fentanyl kills 200 people a day in America, a deadly epidemic felt throughout the country. We trace the journey of chemicals from China, to the drug labs of Mexico to the streets of the United States. Can the tide be stemmed?

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.

Guests:

• Stephen Gibbs, Latin America correspondent, The Times & The Sunday Times, and 
• Keiran Southern, West Coast correspondent, The Times & The Sunday Times. 

Producer: Edward Drummond.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Further listening: China’s deadly role in America’s fentanyl epidemic

Clips: CNBC, NBC News, ABC News, C-Span.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected] 

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

This week the political masterminds (and Hugo) are joined by Theo Bertram, who worked in Downing Street for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

After a new book by Times journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund sheds light on the inner workings of Keir Starmer's government, is chief of staff Morgan McSweeney actually in charge? And should a new YouGov/Times poll showing Reform UK ahead of Labour for the first time cause everyone to panic?

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

On Tuesday, a panel of global medical experts convened a press conference. They said they had found a different cause of death in every baby Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering. So what did they find? And what might it mean for Letby's 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: Caroline Wheeler, Political Editor, The Sunday Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Taryn Siegel.

Further reading: My research was misused to convict Lucy Letby — so I did my own inquiry.

Further listening: Why some experts are doubting Lucy Letby’s conviction.

Clips: Sky News, Telegraph.

Photo: Times Media Ltd.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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