The Story

The Supreme Court has ruled that Shamima Begum will not be allowed to return to the UK to fight her citizenship case. Begum, who was a teenager when she left Britain to join ISIS, has been fighting a legal battle to return home from the camp in northern Syria where she's currently detained. Today we revisit the first in our five part mini-series providing background on the case. To listen to the rest of the series search 'Bring Me Home' on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.It was a chance meeting in a Syrian camp. A veteran war reporter, a young mother, and an interview that polarised a nation. Shamima Begum was just 15 years old when she and two of her school friends from Bethnal Green left Britain to join Islamic State. Five years later, with her fate still hanging in the balance, the Supreme Court will this week decide whether she can return to the UK to challenge the deprivation of her citizenship. This episode of the Stories of our Times podcast will form part of a week-long series. We'll explore: what should happen to British nationals who left to join Islamic State, and do we have a responsibility to bring them back?The rest of the Bring Me Home series:Episode 2, Life in the Camps Episode 3, Deradicalising Shamima Begu‪m‬Episode 4, Lessons from EuropeEpisode 5, A legal battle over Shamima Begum's future 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: Anthony Loyd, Foreign Correspondent, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Features writer for The Sunday Times Rosie Kinchen examines what it's like to live through the ordeal of losing your daughter and never getting the recognition of what exactly happened.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: Rosie Kinchen, Features writer for The Sunday Times.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: ITV news, Police Scotland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If one day, you saw your newborn baby with a little bruise you couldn't explain, what would you do? Many people like Holly Kobayashi would ask a professional for advice and reassurance. Instead Holly set in motion a process which led to her son being taken away and a four-month long fight to win him back and prove that she could care for him.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: -Emily Dugan, Social affairs correspondent for The Sunday Times.-Holly Kobayashi, mother of Adventure. Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three years ago, a dramatic raid at the headquarters of a popular winter sports blew open a scandal at the International Biathlon Union. The former president, Anders Besseberg, has been accused of receiving gifts in return for favours. These are charges he denies. What happens to sporting integrity when those at the top are accused of corruption?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 Walsh, Chief sports writer at The Sunday Times. Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: IBU and Euronews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who is the Congresswoman who has split the Republican party with her toxic views?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: -Josh Glancy, The Sunday Times Washington Bureau Chief.-Lisa Hagen, WABE Radio reporter.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: Vice, AP, 11Alive, Stop the Steal, WABE, Bloomberg, CGTN, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Times has uncovered that spies are creating fake business profiles on the professional networking site so that they can identify targets and obtain classified information. Under fake profiles, agents offer money and lucrative business opportunities in exchange for sensitive information. What does this tell us about how China operates?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: -Fiona Hamilton, Crime and security editor at The Times.-Isabel Hilton OBE, Broadcast journalist and long term China watcher.-Philip Ingram, Former senior British intelligence officer.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus edition we are bringing you an episode from another Times podcast - Past Imperfect.Nadiya Hussain MBE rose to fame after winning The Great British Bake Off back in 2015. She talks to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson about the way her life has changed since then and how the abuse that she faced as a child inspired her to be a force for change.Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfectSamaritans: www.samaritans.orgBlueprint for All: www.blueprintforall.orgThe Survivors Trust: www.thesurvivorstrust.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before Channel 4's hit series It's Sin was broadcast, writer Russell T Davies made headlines for his comments on how the show was cast. Should LGBTQ+ roles only be played by those with a lived experience? Or is that in itself, a form of discrimination?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:-Alex Roberts, actor.-Lucinda Syson, casting director.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips Used: Channel 4, BBC3, Oscars YouTube channel, Columbia Pictures, Sky News Australia, TRT World, ITV Loose Women. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October, a Stories of our times investigation blew the lid off a Russian disinformation campaign, which had aimed to stoke fears about the Oxford vaccine.Now Russia has its own vaccine, Sputnik, which is highly effective but still isn't most countries' first choice. Has the Kremlin shot itself in the foot, and become Sputnik’s own worst enemy?We revisit our investigation and check in with our Moscow correspondent for an update.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: Marc Bennetts, Moscow correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: BBC, CNBC, CNN, Times Radio, Comedy Central. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday the prime minister will unveil a roadmap for how we exit lockdown. Today we look to two countries which might show us a glimpse of the future: Australia and Israel.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: -Tom Whipple, Science editor at The Times.-Bernard Lagan, Australia correspondent at The Times.-Anshel Pfeffer, Freelance journalist for The Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.