The Story

Just after her 14th birthday, Hadley Freeman became achingly aware of her body – specifically, just how ‘normal’ it was compared to a thin classmate. Just four months later, she was hospitalised with anorexia. Her latest book, Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, tells the story of her many hospitalisations as a teenager, and her recovery.If you've been affected by issues in this podcast, you can find support at www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk where you can also find the number for one of their national helplines.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: Hadley Freeman, Columnist and Features Writer, The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Clip: Sky News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The driving force behind protests against President Macron’s pension plans are young people defending their inheritance: retirement at 62. But for many, it’s also about something much bigger than pensions.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: Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times.Host: Sean O’Neill.Producer: Olivia Case.Clips: Dr Patrick Preston, AP, BFMTV, Global News, BBC News, France 24. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Hollywood’s not-so-secret weapon for getting rid of wrinkles, but as the ‘pretty poison’ turns 21, Sarah Ditum asks: Should I or shouldn’t I?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: Sarah Ditum, writer for The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips: ITV, TMZ, ABC.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London’s Metropolitan Police has accepted findings from a landmark report that found racist, sexist and homophobic behaviour inside the UK’s largest police force. Baroness Louise Casey, who led the review, has been speaking with The Times about how she investigated New Scotland Yard. But does she think the Met Police can be fixed?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: Manveen Rana.Clips: BBC News, Channel 4 News, Sky News, 5 News, Metropolitan Police, The Guardian. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a regional bank in California collapsed, it sent shock waves through the financial system. A few weeks later, and we're still feeling the ripples of Silicon Valley Bank's demise. It's triggered a sense of déjà vu – only 15 years on from the global financial crisis that was brought on by banking mismanagement. Have we learned any lessons from the 2008 crisis? And is it finally time for a banking rethink?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: Mehreen Khan, Economics Editor, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: CNN, Sky News, NBC News, Al Jazeera, Fox News, CNBC, WION, BBC News, Channel 4 News, AP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even though gender equality has come a long way at work, when it comes to parenting the mother is still viewed as the primary caregiver. But does it have to be this way? Paul Morgan-Bentley talks about his new book The Equal Parent in which he draws on his own experience as a father, and asks what can be done to share the load.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: Paul Morgan-Bentley, Head of Investigations, The Times.Host: Jenny Kleeman.Clips: Parliament TV. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After swearing an oath on the King James Bible, Boris Johnson spent nearly three and a half hours being quizzed by fellow MPs on the privileges committee about gatherings in Downing Street during lockdown. The same afternoon, only 22 Tories followed him through the lobbies, defying a three-line whip to vote against the government’s Brexit deal. So is his appeal – and his argument – fading away? And where does it all leave the Conservatives?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: Henry Zeffman, Associate Political Editor, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: Parliament TV, Channel 4 News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s three years since the then prime minister Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown in an attempt to halt the spread of covid. So, as we move on from the last pandemic, what might cause the next one? And have we learned enough this time round to stop it before it gets out of hand?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: Ben Spencer, Science Editor, The Sunday Times.Host: Sean O'Neill. Clips: BBC News, Al Jazeera, Parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty years on, the invasion of Iraq is widely seen as a fiasco. But still today the conflict has ongoing consequences for Iraq and Iraqis. Times correspondent Catherine Philp is back in Baghdad to meet people and hear how they were affected then - and now.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: Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent, The Times.Dr Saad Eskander, historian and director of the Iraq National Library and Archives.Bader Katr, translator.Iraqi family in Sadr city.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Olivia Case.Clips: BBC, CBS, AP, Al Jazeera, Journeyman Pictures, CNN, The Washington Post. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicola Sturgeon’s surprise resignation last month triggered the first election for the leadership of the Scottish National Party in a decade. So, what are the priorities of the three candidates? And - with a row over membership numbers leading the party’s chief executive to resign after giving misleading figures to the press - what impact will the leadership election have on the party?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: Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips: STV, ITV, Sky News, Channel 4, The Scottish Sun.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.