The race for the Republican nominee for the 2024 US presidential race is already underway – with former White House resident Donald Trump throwing his hat in the ring a full two years ahead of time. One man who seems poised to be Trump's biggest threat is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. So who is Ron DeSantis? And could he really beat Trump to the nomination? Our man in Washington, David Charter, sat down with him for an interview.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. Guest: David Charter, US Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: Fox News, CNN, CBS News, ABC News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, one woman is determined that the world doesn't lose interest. To mark International Women's Day we meet Lesia Vasylenko, the Ukrainian MP who travels the globe drumming up military support for Ukraine, using every media platform available to fight Putin.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. Guest: Lesia Vasylenko, Ukrainian MP.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: BBC News, Radio Free Europe, Hromadske, CNN, CBS, India Ahead, Sky Australia, News Nation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almost six years after a suicide bomber killed 22 and injured hundreds more at the Manchester Arena, the inquiry into the attack has published its final report. Did the security services have the intelligence that could have prevented it from happening?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Fiona Hamilton, Crime and Security Editor, The Times.  Host: Luke Jones. Clips: Manchester Arena Inquiry, Reuters, BBC News, Times Radio, AP.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25-year-old Rishi Sharma sleeps in a rental car and eats one meal a day. But it’s worth it, he says – as he travels around the world to interview every surviving Second World War veteran. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests: Will Pavia, New York Correspondent, The Times. Rishi Sharma. You can watch Rishi’s interviews on his YouTube channel, ‘Remember WWII with Rishi Sharma’: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRikw4uCjS8ck3O9Mj-N35Q Host: Manveen Rana.  Clips: YouTube, CBS, Participant.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Aaronovitch has left The Times after nearly 18 years at the paper, and after three years on Stories of Our Times. As well as presenting this podcast, every week David discussed the news with friend and fellow columnist Danny Finkelstein on Matt Chorley's Times Radio show. On Tuesday, Matt and Danny said goodbye to David with an hour-long special in which they discuss the Brexit deal, trust in politicians, and listener questions for the 'Cerberus of Columnists'.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the strictly isolated Hasidic community of North London, thousands of boys reach the age of 16 without being able to read or speak much English. The education for boys in the community includes only minimal secular teaching at most places of learning. Many schools are unregistered, and in some cases, as a Times investigation finds, are not even supposed to exist. And - in a rare glimpse into this hidden world - we speak with the head teacher of a registered Hasidic school, who explains that any discussion around improving the institutions must start with one basic question: what do these schools do right?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guests:Andrew Norfolk, Chief Investigative Reporter, The TimesEli Spitzer, head teacher at a Hasidic schoolHost: Manveen Rana. Clips: Parliament TV. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of Britain's most important paintings of a non-white subject could leave the UK forever next week as the deadline approaches to submit an offer to buy the Portrait of Omai from its private owner. It's valued at £50 million. So what's the painting's story - and can a museum raise that much money in time?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Bendor Grosvenor, British art historian.  Host: David Aaronovitch. Clips: Oxford University Press, TRT  Find out more about the public campaign by The National Portrait Gallery and the Art Fund here: https://www.artfund.org/get-involved/campaigns/omai-portrait-appeal Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday the prime minister revealed his big Brexit deal with the European Union, which aims to avoid a hard border across the island of Ireland and in the Irish Sea, as well as preserve sovereignty for people in Northern Ireland. But will it be enough to bring the DUP back to Stormont? And what exactly is the Stormont brake? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. Guest: Oliver Wright, Policy Editor, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: Sky News, The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC Radio 4, BBC Newsnight, GB News, UK Parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the first day of the war in Ukraine, a story emerged of a David and Goliath face-off in the Black Sea, when the Ukrainian soldiers on a small, desolate island responded to a Russian warship’s call to surrender by telling it to go f*** itself. The Ukranians were thought to have been killed and the story became one of the great founding myths of the war - but what really happened to the men on the island and who uttered that fateful phrase?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Louise Callaghan, foreign correspondent, The Sunday Times.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: Telegraph, Reuters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the final round of voting opens for the 95th Academy Awards – and the Oscars are embroiled in a row about diversity again. The latest controversy centres around a shock nomination for best actress, raising questions about the fairness of the system. Just how significant are race, power and celebrity friends in the campaign to win an Oscar?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.Guest: Kevin Maher, chief film critic, The Times. Host: David Aaronovitch. Clips: ITV, ABC, Good Morning America, BBC, NBC, Nine Network.Film credits: Gladiator - Dreamworks Pictures/Universal Pictures; Till - MGM Studios/Orion Pictures; The Woman King - Sony Pictures/Entertainment One; To Leslie - Momentum Pictures; Shakespeare In Love - Miramax Films/Universal Pictures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.