The Story

James Van Der Beek’s death last week at just 48 shocked fans, reignited fears about a disease we still associate with old age. Cases of bowel cancer are rising in those under 50, even as rates fall among the elderly. To find out why, researchers are turning to a century of preserved samples.

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:
Ben Spencer, science editor, The Sunday Times
 Professor Trevor Graham,  director, Centre for Evolution and Cancer
Holly Masters, cancer patient

Host: Manveen Rana
Producer: Julia Webster, Sophie McNulty
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Read more: Bowel cancer has doubled in under-50s: do the reasons lie in birth?
Further listening: Why are more young people getting cancer?
Photo: Getty.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Labour Together scandal is the latest storm threatening to capsize the government - and Gabriel has been right at the heart. For the first time, he describes what happened when a Labour think tank set private investigators on a journalist. Their secret report falsely accused Gabriel of acting as a Russian agitator and "grotesquely subverted" his faith in an attack on his and his colleagues' reporting in The Sunday Times.

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:
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times
Producer: Euan Dawtrey.
Executive Producer: Dan Box.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Further listening: ‘This is dark s***’: inside the political smear campaign to discredit journalists
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.

Labour Together, the think tank which helped Sir Keir Starmer become prime minister, has been accused of paying a PR firm to investigate Sunday Times journalists. The subsequent report contained personal information and false claims about Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrund’s faith and family background, including the incorrect suggestion he was part of a Russian conspiracy to bring down Starmer. So why did a political organisation pay for a smear campaign against journalists?

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:
Emanuele Midolo, investigations reporter, The Sunday Times.
Ben Clatworthy, Whitehall editor, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Julia Webster, Micaela Arneson.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Labour activists paid for smear campaign against journalists
Clips: BBC, Times Radio, Channel 4 News, ITV News, Sky News, GB News.
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 Times’ Money desk has been investigating the UK’s student debt system – and has discovered some bombshells. After being promised a loan that would be like paying a ‘phone bill every month’, graduates are weighed down by tens of thousands of pounds in ever-increasing debt. So how did we get here? And is there a plan to fix 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

Guest: Mary Downer, Money reporter, The Times.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Sophie McNulty.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]

Read more: Plan 2 student loan interest is unfair, says Lucy Powell
Further listening: The Budget unpacked
Clips: BBC, Parliament Live, ITN, Channel 4 News, LBC.
Episode artwork: Times Media.
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.

AI researcher Zoe Hitzig quit her job at OpenAI this week over “deep reservations” about the company’s strategy, including their decision to pilot running ads on ChatGPT. In a rare interview, she gives her reasons for leaving the industry - a world with access to "an unprecedented archive of human candour". Meanwhile, another AI researcher, this time at Anthropic, also quit with a the stark warning that "the world is in peril". They just the latest in a series of high profile resignations. So what's going on - and what are the big fears for a world increasingly dominated by AI?

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:
Zoe Hitzig, former AI researcher at OpenAI.
Mark Sellman,Technology Correspondent for the Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]
Read more: ‘The world is in peril’: AI researchers quit with public warnings
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.