The Story

Throughout Cuba, fuel shortages, blackouts, and food scarcity have become the norm. Since the US intervention in Venezuela in January, the oil lifeline into Cuba has all but dried up. Trump is now claiming that Cuba is on the brink of collapse. As the war in Iran rages on unabated – is this American neighbour his next target?

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:
Matthew Campbell, foreign features editor, The Sunday Times
Catherine Philp, world affairs editor, The Times
Host: Rosie Wright.
Producers: Sophie McNulty & Micaela Arneson.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]
Further reading: Cubans await Trump’s next move: ‘Would the Americans bomb us?’
Further listening: Drugs, oil and power: what Trump is doing with Venezuela
Clips: AP, DRM News, News Nation, Onyx Media, Archivo DiFilm, APT.
Photo: Getty Images.
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.

From the shadowy corners of incel forums, a new obsession was quietly emerging. To succeed, financially, socially and sexually, you need to level up your face and frame. Enter “Looksmaxxing”, the idea that how you look can be engineered to perfection to maximise your full aesthetic potential. It's a TikTok-fuelled culture of mogging, "bone-smashing", and glow-ups - and a way for young men to measure beauty, status, and self-worth. How far will some go to “max” their looks? Is it vanity, or a survival strategy in a hyper-visual world? And what does it reveal about the state of men’s mental health today?

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

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

Host: Rosie Wright
Guest: Jack Burke, times contributor.
Producer: Dave Creasey
Read more: Looksmaxxing: the worrying new extreme teenage trend
Image: Getty Images
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 1938, Catherine Duleep Singh, goddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of the last Maharajah of Punjab, personally secured the escape of Jewish families to Britain, saving them from the Holocaust. Her story didn’t end there, she became a prominent suffragette, fighting for women’s rights while navigating life in exile. We explore her remarkable courage, activism, and the lives she forever changed.

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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

Read by: Jack Blackburn, history correspondent for The Times.
Producer: Dave Creasey
Read more: Last princess of Punjab who saved families from the Holocaust
Image: Getty Images
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.

The Story host Manveen Rana and her Times colleague Anthony Loyd continue their search for what happened to the British photojournalist John Cantlie, after he was kidnapped by ISIS in Syria.

In this thrilling denouement to the series, Manveen and Anthony travel to a maximum security prison in Iraq to meet a man who could hold the answer. But will this ISIS prisoner reveal all? Or will Cantlie’s death remain a mystery?

Listen to the full Last Man Standing series here.

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

Hosts: Manveen Rana and Anthony Loyd, special correspondent, The Times.
Producer: Harry Stott.
Executive producer: Will Roe.
Further reading: Anthony Loyd: my hunt for the forgotten Isis hostage John Cantlie
Watch: Hostage on BBC iPlayer.
Clips: 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.

Peter Mandelson’s disastrous few months continue apace, after the government released a tranche of documents that tell us a lot about his hiring - and firing - as ambassador to the US. So what’s in the files? And what does it all say about the judgment of the Prime Minister?

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

Our listener survey is live - find it here.

Guest: Aubrey Allegretti, chief political correspondent, The Times.
Host: Rosie Wright.
Producers: Harry Stott, Micaela Arneson.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Peter Mandelson files: flawed vetting, ‘risk’ and other revelations
Mandelson files expose Keir Starmer — and it’s just the beginning
Further listening: Mandelson, Epstein and the fight for survival at No 10
Clips: Guardian News, AFP News Agency, Sky News, Diario AS.
Photo: Getty Images.
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.