The Story

A Sunday Times Insight investigation reveals a royal allegedly using their position to enrich themselves. Going undercover and working with Channel 4's Dispatches, the Insight team filmed HRH Prince Michael of Kent at a business meeting in which prospective clients were told he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make representations to Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical Russian regime. The investigation calls into question the way in which members of the royal family are permitted to make money and how they get involved in British foreign affairs.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests:Jonathan Calvert, Editor of The Sunday Times Insight investigations team.George Arbuthnott, Deputy editor of The Sunday Times Insight investigations team.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, Channel 4 Dispatches, Embassy of Russia, Reuters, BBC, Sambofias. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Northern Ireland's first minister, DUP leader Arlene Foster, has stepped down. Who will take over the top job? And what could it mean for the future of Northern Ireland?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests:- Henry McDonald, contributing writer, The Sunday Times. - Sam McBride, political editor, Belfast News Letter.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips: BBC, Belfast Telegraph, DUP, Channel 4, Euronews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She cofounded Tinder in her twenties, then became the target of misogynistic trolling. Now her female-friendly dating app Bumble has made her one of the world’s wealthiest women aged just 31. How has Whitney Wolfe Herd changed the way we date forever?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Jane Mulkerrins, Assistant editor of The Sunday Times Magazine.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Thursday the 6th May, voters in Hartlepool will elect the first new MP since Boris Johnson and the Conservatives’ landslide victory in 2019. With polling showing the Tories on course to win the seat from Labour - what can we learn about the national picture from this constituency in the North East?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests: Patrick Maguire, Red Box editor at The Times.Mhari Aurora, Red Box reporter at The Times.Host: Will Roe.Clips used: ITV & BBC.Full list of candidates standing in the Hartlepool by-election on Thursday, 6th of May:David Bettney - Social Democratic Party.The Incredible Flying Brick - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party.Hilton Dawson - The North East Party.Gemma Evans - Women's Equality Party.Rachel Featherstone - The Green Party. Adam Gaines - Independent.Andrew Hagon - Liberal Democrat.Steve Jack - Freedom Alliance. No Lockdowns. No Curfews.Chris Killick - [no description].Sam Lee - Independent.Claire Martin - Heritage Party.Jill Mortimer - Conservative Party. John Prescott - Reform UK.Thelma Walker - Independent.W. Ralph Ward-Jackson - Independent.Paul Williams - Labour Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Joe Biden has proposed some of the most expansive and expensive economic reforms in America in recent political memory. He’s been keen to paint himself as a 21st century Franklin D. Roosevelt. How apt is that comparison? Will he pull his grand plans off?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: David Charter, US Editor for The Times.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: CNBC, William J Clinton Presidential Library, CSPAN. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a groundbreaking investigation carried out by The Times back in the 1960s, an anti-corruption police unit was set up to investigate corruption in the Metropolitan police force. How did they do it?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Julian Mounter, former Times journalist.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They're calling it the 'cash for cushions' scandal. How did the refurbishment of the prime minister's flat snowball out of control? And what lies ahead for Boris Johnson?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests:- Steven Swinford, political editor at The Times.- Daniel Finkelstein, columnist at The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: BBC, Sky News, ITV, AP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden’s approach has been different to most western European nations. But a year on, how have the Swedes fared, and did their government let them walk into a second wave? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Daniel Öhman, investigative journalist at Sweden Public Radio.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: Channel 4, CBS News, TODAY and Sveriges Radio.On the 16th April, 2020, Manveen spoke to the Sunday Times' Middle East correspondent Louise Callaghan about life in Sweden: Listen to that episode on the 'Curious case of Sweden'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hundreds of children have succumbed to a mystery illness that can keep them in a sleeplike state for years and scientists are stumped. What does it feel like to sleep for months? And how do you treat the children who just won't wake up?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Suzanne O’Sullivan, neurologist.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March, one digital art creation titled: "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" by artist Beeple, sold for a groundbreaking $69.3 million. What is digital art and why has it taken the world by storm?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests:-Eddie Frankel, Art critics and art editor at Timeout.-Jane Mulkerrins, Assistant editor of The Sunday Times Magazine.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: AP archive, CNN, Christies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.