The Story

On Monday, Israel announced it's preparing a ground offensive into Lebanon. Fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group, has ratcheted up since the death of Iran’s supreme leader more than two weeks ago. Over 900 people have been killed in Lebanon and nearly one million are displaced. Will Israel’s new campaign bring a quicker end to the fighting? Or prolong a war which is already spiralling out of control?

This episode contains graphic descriptions that some listeners may find distressing.

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:
Lousie Callaghan, foreign correspondent, The Sunday Times.
Tom Ball, reporter, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Micaela Arneson, Julia Webster.
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Read more: IDF prepares for Lebanon offensive: ‘We don’t know how this ends’
Further listening: The Gulf's moment of truth - reshaping the Middle East
Clips: IDF via @NationalDefence Youtube.
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.

The war in the Middle East has now entered its third week and shows no sign of ending any time soon. Oil prices have soared and transatlantic relations between the US and its allies are strained. So what are President Trump's options now? And will the Europeans support him in policing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz?

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: George Grylls, Washington Correspondent, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Olivia Case and Harry Stott.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]
Read more: Starmer resists Trump’s call to send warships to Strait of Hormuz
Further listening: Is Cuba next?
Clips: Fox, The White House, STV, The Times, Euronews, Keir Starmer / YouTube, WSJ, C-SPAN, DRM News International / YouTube.
Photo: Getty Images, The Times' Senior Digtal Designer Shaun Parkinson.
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.

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.

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

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.