The Story

How do hackers take down a high street staple? What started as a contactless payment outage at Marks and Spencer, quickly became the retail fortnight from hell, as cyber attacks have brought brands to a crashing halt in online trading over the last two weeks. So who is behind it, and what are their methods? And more importantly, how do you guard yourself in an evermore online world?

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Eight years before the Grenfell tragedy, a fire in a high-rise building killed six people. Now a Sunday Times investigation has raised serious questions about the cladding used on those flats and thousands of others in the UK. So is this Britain's biggest corporate scandal?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Marti...

You could say one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic was the chance to work from home, avoid the daily commute, and get a better work-life balance. But, for some hardy souls, being out of the office and away from the boss’s scrutiny is a chance to get a second job, or even a third... or forth. But how are they doing it, and is it even legal?

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This episode was originally published last January.

For almost two years, two armies have fought a brutal civil war in Sudan, Africa’s third largest country. Over 150,000 have died, 11 million have been displaced and evidence of genocidal war crimes have emerged. So why has the war in Sudan been forgotten? The Times’ Special Correspondent Anthony Loyd has recently returned from a reporting trip on the frontline and tells The Sto...

Virginia Giuffre died by suicide last week, aged 41. Jeffrey Epstein’s key accuser was instrumental in putting Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars and had also accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault. He’s always denied the claims and settled the case for a rumoured £12 million. So was justice done for Giuffre and the other survivors? And how did a woman from the right side of the tracks end up being trafficked around the world?

This podc...

The trial of Sean Combs - the hip-hop producer and rapper otherwise known as P Diddy, Puff Daddy, Love, and a plethora of other aliases - will begin next week, with the jury selected on Monday. As he pleads not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, how did he get to this point? And how did he build his celebrity empir...

Nigel Farage is throwing the kitchen sink at Labour and he’s not being subtle about it. As Reform UK ramps up its local election efforts, Farage is fielding candidates in councils up and down the country. But the real showdown is in Runcorn and Helsby, where Reform is plotting a high-profile coup in the upcoming by-election. What’s at stake in Runcorn, and why should Keir Starmer be worried?

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An American Biosciences company claims to have ‘de-extincted’ prehistoric dire wolves. Next they plan to bring back the woolly mammoth and the dodo. But even if they could, should they?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Tom Whipple, Science Writer, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Shabnam G...

Harvard has sued the Trump administration over multibillion-dollar funding cuts in the biggest escalation yet in the battle between the government and higher education. What does the showdown mean for the ideological freedom of American institutions and has Trump taken on a fight he can’t win? 

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co...

This episode was originally published last December.

Australia is the first country to block under-16s from social media -- and age-verification AI could be a crucial tool in the ban. We spoke to our journalist who has been to the industry-leader’s HQ to find out if the technology actually works. And if it does, could the UK follow suit? 

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In this episode, Lucy and Holly ask why a new generation of investors is turning to one of the world’s oldest assets: gold. Joined by Brian Byrnes from Moneybox, together they unpack gold’s historical role in the economy, its incredible performance, and how it compares to trendier assets like Bitcoin and tech stocks. Is gold still relevant in a digital-first world? Why are younger investors increasingly drawn to it? And does it hav...

The Beatles will be the subject of four interconnected films - one for each member - planned for release close together in April 2028. We asked the author of a recent book on The Beatles to tell us how he’d make the films - and what is still left to discover about the most famous band in history. 

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes...

What are the practical implications for trans women after the Supreme Court ruled that under equality law, sex means biological sex? And how is the Labour government grappling with the ruling? Last week we heard from one of the campaigners for single sex spaces. Today we speak to someone who was stunned by the court's decision.

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The Times’ crime correspondent David Woode sits down with a 19-year-old man who was recently imprisoned for carrying a knife. We get a rare insight into what some

young people are really facing in London, and why he felt he had to arm himself with a deadly weapon.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

If you've been affe...

Following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, cardinals from across the world will now descend on Vatican City in Rome to choose the next Pope. The Oscar-nominated film Conclave dramatised the political machinations and backstabbing involved in choosing a successor - so, with incriminating dossiers and secret plots, is fact about to mirror fiction?

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This episode was first published last August.

When Alex Campbell suggested to his high school sociology class that they would be investigating a 40-year-old cold case, he had no idea where it would lead. Within a year, a serial killer had been identified. In his next class, they decided to try and overturn a wrongful conviction. And they did. So just how did Mr. Campbell breed a class of super sleuths?

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Romance fraud is at an all time high, low-hanging fruit in the growing world of online scams. But what are the methods? Who falls for it? And are there ways we can all avoid it?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests: 

• Mary Chater, romance fraud victim
• Alexis Conran, TV and radio presenter

Host: Luke Jones.

...