The Story

It's official: the UK economy is back in recession. This week we've heard of record-high job losses and a sharp economic downturn - but the worst could still be to come.Guest: Gurpreet Narwan, economics correspondent, The Times.  Host: Manveen Rana.  Clips: BBC, ITV, Sky News.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 Trump has ordered firms to stop doing business with social media giant TikTok over security concerns. Microsoft was the front-runner to buy the company, but now Twitter has emerged as a possible suitor. What has made the app so popular and so controversial?Guests: Danny Fortson Sunday Times west coast correspondent.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: NBC, Tik Tok, ABC Australian, Biteable, France 24, CNBC, Fox News, Huffington Post, ABC News.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.

In one heart-stopping moment last Tuesday, Beirut, a city that’s seen its share of wars, was rocked by the biggest blast in its history. Now that international donors have pledged a quarter of a billion euros in aid for Lebanon, can the country begin to rebuild?Guest Richard Spencer, the Middle East correspondent for The Times.Ghadi Sary, Middle East consultant and journalist. Melissa Ajamian, instructor in the Department of Political Studies at the American University of Beirut.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: FRANCE 24, BBC, CBC, CNN, Sky News.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 the eastern end of the Sunset Strip is a hotel called Chateau Marmont. For many years it's been the favourite hang-out spot of movie stars and writers; but now the Chateau’s owner has announced the hotel is about to become a private members club. What does the change mean for the future of the iconic venue?Guests:Shawn Levy, author of The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont.Jenn Hoffman, former US Weekly reporter.Host: David Aaronovitch.Clips used: OSSA, TMZ, WGN News, CineStars, CBS News, Graham Norton Show, Access Hollywood, Movieclips, Warner Bros Entertainment.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.

75 years ago this week, a devastating atomic bomb changed world history. What can we learn from these events? Guest:Koko Kondo, Hiroshima bomb survivor and peace campaigner.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: NBC, Imperial War Museum, US Army.You can hear more first-hand memories of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the Second World War by listening to Voices of War at Imperial War Museums’ website iwm.org.uk/victoryThis 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.

Stories about the persecution of China’s Muslim Uighur minority have been in the news in recent weeks. We hear the story of one man living in Turkey: Abdurehim Parac, a Uighur poet in exile.Guests: Hannah Lucinda Smith, Times Istanbul correspondent.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: France 24, Sky News Australia, BBC, Channel 4 News, South China Morning Post, Al, Jazeera, PBS, CNBC.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 High Court case been brought by a young man whose family were shot dead by a rogue SAS unit in Afghanistan. The trial has led to the release of documents which suggest a horrifying pattern of night-raid killings, cover-ups and ‘collective amnesia’ by soldiers in a crack army special forces unit.Guests:Jonathan Calvert, Insight Editor, The Sunday Times.George Arbuthnott, Deputy Insight Editor, The Sunday Times.David Collins, Northern Correspondent, The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen RanaClips used: Guardian, CNN, 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.

Why did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex really quit royal life? A new book purports to take readers into their inner sanctum. Guests:Valentine Low, Times Royal correspondent. Andrew Billen, Features writer.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: CNBC, ABC, NBC, Euronews, ITV.Additional music: Meydan (licensed under Creative Commons).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.

Wiley - rapper, producer and godfather of grime - has been dropped by his management following an antisemitic Twitter tirade. In the wider conversation that followed, were Black British Jews left out?  Guests:Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, journalist and podcaster. Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for The Times.  Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: Sky News interview with Wiley, 5 News, i24 News and Smithsonian channel.Song credits: Asylum, Warner, INCredible, Sony.Additional music: Nctrnm (licensed under Creative Commons).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.

13 year old Christopher Kapessa died in July last year after he was pushed from a bridge over the Cynon river in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. The Crown Prosecution Service concluded that it was a “foolish prank”. Did racism play a role in his death and the subsequent police investigation?Guests: Alina Joseph, mother of Christopher Kapessa.Hilary Brown, lawyer for Alina Joseph.Suresh Grover, founder of The Monitoring Group.Jude Lanchin, solicitor at Bindmans.Additional music: Jordan Powell (licensed under Creative Commons).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.