The Story

Axel Rudakubana has pleaded guilty to killing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July. But why wasn’t the 18 year old - who was referred to counter terrorism scheme Prevent three times - stopped before he could commit his crimes? And, as the Prime Minister warns of a new kind of terrorism, does Britain need to rethink its whole strategy around terror to prevent an attack like this happening again?

This podcast contains descriptions of violence.

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:

• Constance Kampfner, Northern Correspondent, The Times.
• Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producers: Samantha Chantarasak, Olivia Case.

Further reading:

• Axel Rudakubana: from class clown to killer
• Southport attack timeline: missed opportunities and misinformation

Clips: GB News, 10 Downing Street, UK Parliament.

Photo: Merseyside Police / PA.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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.

Rachel Reeves travels to the World Economic Forum today to shore up support among CEOs and world leaders in Davos. The chancellor hopes to boost investment amidst volatile bond markets, borrowing costs hitting a 27-year high, and the prospect of Trump tariffs. But is the government heading for a Liz Truss-style crash? 

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: Dominic O’Connell, Columnist, The Times, and Business Presenter, Times Radio. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producer: Samantha Chantarasak.

Clips: GB News, Sky News, NBC News, UK Parliament, BBC News. 

Photo: Times Design/Getty Images 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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.

At 12pm ET today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. To mark this historic occasion, we’ve gathered together two of our US experts from either side of the Atlantic – one who attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, and one who will be attending this one. What’s so different this time around?

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:

• Josh Glancy, News Review Editor, The Sunday Times.
• Louise Callaghan, US Correspondent, The Sunday Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Taryn Siegel.

Clips: Straight Arrow News, CNN, ABC News, NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, CNN.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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.

Today we look back on one of our favourite episodes from the past few months: a deep dive into the economics of beauty, with Tom Whipple.

Do looks matter? Pulchronomics, the study of economics and beauty, says they do. But just how much impact does being attractive have on your love life, career and happiness? Are our fortunes really determined by our looks? 

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: Tom Whipple, Science Editor, The Times. 

Host: Luke Jones. 

Producer: Priyanka Deladia.

Times Poll: How attractive are you? Rate yourself out of five

Clips: Britain’s Got Talent ITV/Thames. 

Photo: Times Design, Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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 a bonus episode, we’re bringing listeners of The Story an episode from the Tech Podcast from The Times.

The Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, joins the pod to discuss the British Government's 'AI Opportunities Action Plan' (and Elon Musk). Plus, a new guide the UK's fastest growing tech companies is revealed by The Times and Sunday Times, read all about it.

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.

There was widespread jubilation at the announcement that a deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu's government is still to formally approve the deal that would bring to an end 15 months of conflict. The deal includes the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners. But how exactly will it work? And, more importantly, will it last?

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: Samer Al-Atrush, Middle East Correspondent, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Edward Drummond, Olivia Case.

Clips: The Times and The Sunday Times, Reuters, Times Radio, Al Jazeera, Parliamentlive.tv, Sky, CBS, BBC, @zakisolja / X.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected]

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.

Analysis of a decade’s worth of sentencing data across England and Wales between 2013 and 2023 has revealed a worrying uptick in knife crime nationwide. For the first time, the contents of more than 4.7 million lines of crime and sentencing data have been used by The Times to build profiles of fatal stabbing victims and offenders convicted of knife possession.

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 Woode, Crime Correspondent, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producer: Samantha Chantarasak.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Clips: BBC 5Live, Sky News, ITV Anglia, X/@crimeLdn

Photo: Times Design.

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.

Tulip Siddiq, Labour’s anti-corruption minister, has resigned after reporting by the Sunday Times revealed that she resided in a series of properties bought by associates of her aunt, the now deposed leader of Bangladesh, who’s accused of siphoning off billions from the country. The journalist who followed the story all the way to Dhaka speaks to 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.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Emily Webb

Clips: Times Radio, Channel 4 News, BBC News.

Photo: Getty Images. 

Further reading: Tulip Siddiq’s flyers found in palace of deposed Bangladesh leader

Get in touch: [email protected]

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 LA continues to battle its worst fires in history, the political blame game has started, with Donald Trump accusing California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, of caring more about fish than people. We’ll explain.

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:

• Megan Agnew, senior features writer (US), The Times.
• Jamie Hartman, songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles, CA

Hosts: Luke Jones and Edith Rousselot

Producer: Edith Rousselot

Clips: NBC News, NewsNation, CBS News, ABC 10, KTLA 5, The Tonight Show 

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected].

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.

Having made a multi-million dollar film together, Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are now trading muti-million dollar lawsuits over what did (or didn’t) happen on set and during the promotional tour for It Ends With Us. But what do court documents and private texts allege about Hollywood's dark arts? And like MeToo, could this be the start of another watershed moment triggered by Tinseltown?

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: 

• Keiran Southern, West Coast Correspondent (US), The Times.
• Andrew Billen, Features Writer, The Times. 

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Clips: It Ends With Us / Justin Baldoni / Sony / Columbia Pictures / Wayfarer Studios / Blake Lively, Entertainment Tonight, MsMojo, YouTube / @TheAmalaEkpunobi, YouTube / Megyn Kelly, The Hollywood Reporter, TikTok / @lovingsingle, YouTube / TED / Justin Baldoni, TikTok / justinbaldoni. 

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: [email protected].

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.