The Story

Could the Indian Covid-19 variant pose "serious disruption" to lockdown easing and what does our response tell us about the future of our pandemic strategy?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: Tom Whipple, Science editor at The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: Times Radio & BBC.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.

Italy's Five Star Movement, a political party co-founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009, promised radical change by putting citizens back in control of politics. Today the party is facing problems. Will this populist force change course or will it continue with its anti-establishment agenda?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: Tom Kington, Italy correspondent for The Times.Host: David Aaronovitch.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.

Last week the Scottish National Party won a historic fourth term in government. With a commitment to hold another independence referendum – and a majority in the Scottish parliament for it – what happens next?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:- Kieran Andrews, Scottish political editor, The Times.- Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde.Clips from: BBC, STV, ITV, Channel 4 News, Met Office.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.

Once hailed as a pain obliterating wonder drug, OxyContin helped give birth to one of the most devastating public health crises in the developed world.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 Radden Keefe, The New Yorker staff writer and author of Empire of Pain.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: CBS News, CNN, C-Span, France 24, Kentucky Attorney General, KSBY, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, MSNBC, NBC News, Newsy, PBS, Purdue Pharma, Reuters, Tylenol, Vice, WAVY TV, WMUR TV.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.

All across India there are scenes of devastation and desperation as the country grapples with a brutal second wave of Covid-19. What went wrong? And will this crisis have a lasting impact on the political future of Prime Minister Modi?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:-Amrit Dhillon, Freelance journalist for The Times.-Hugh Tomlinson, South Asia correspondent for The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.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.

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.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.

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.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.

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.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.

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.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.

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.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.