The Story

This is Planet Hope, a podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times in paid partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Each episode is hosted by The Story released as a bonus weekly series on Saturdays. Andreia Pawel is co-founder of the Orange River-Karoo Conservation Area, one of the world’s most ambitious rewilding projects. Spanning more than a million hectares in Namibia, and with the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, it aims to restore lost ecosystems, reintroduce species and work with local Nama communities to build a new model for conservation. She tells Adam Vaughan how, with bold ambitions, we can breathe new life into the natural world.Planet Hope is brought to you in paid partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Guest: Andreia Pawel, conservationist and co-founder, Orange River-Karoo Conservation AreaHost: Adam Vaughan, environment editor, The TimesSeries producer: Priyanka DeladiaSound designer: David CracklesThis podcast is advertiser funded.

Negotiations at the annual global climate change conference, or COP, are in full swing. But with consensus on the issue collapsing at home and abroad, including the US withdrawing from the landmark Paris agreement, is there even any point in the summit? We ask the UK’s special representative for climate.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Professor Rachel Kyte, UK special representative for climate.Host: Manveen Rana.Producers: Harry Stott, Olivia Case.Read more: Ed Miliband: Cop30 will prove net zero doubters wrongFurther listening: Have we stopped caring about climate change?Clips: United Nations / YouTube, TRT World, DW News / YouTube, Yahoo / YouTube, ITV, SABC News, News X World.Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

Thousands of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein have been released by the US House Oversight Committee. One email alleges Donald Trump 'knew about the girls'. While the White House argues a selective leaking of this correspondence has created a fake narrative, what does this release tell us about the relationship between the US President and the convicted paedophile? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Josie Ensor, chief US reporter, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Taryn Siegel.Clips: NBC News, Fox News.Further Reading: What Epstein said about Trump in newly released emailsFurther Listening: Can Trump shake his Epstein problem?Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

This week, The Times broke the news that the International Olympic Committee is a step closer to banning transgender women from competing in all female events. So why is the IOC acting now? And could President Trump have anything to do with 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/thestoryGuest: Martyn Ziegler, chief sports reporter, The Times and The Sunday Times. Host: Manveen Rana. Producer: Micaela Arneson.Read more: Transgender women to be banned from all female Olympic eventsFurther listening: New rules for trans athletes: fairness or exclusion?Clips: Sky News, Bloomberg, Sports Insider by DRM / YouTube, CBS Evening News, Sky News Australia, Associated Press, Sky News Sports. Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

After the resignations of two of its most senior members of staff, the BBC is being questioned over allegations of institutional bias. Donald Trump has threatened to sue the organisation, and with negotiations about the continuation of the BBC’s funding model underway, where does it leave our national broadcaster?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Rosamund Urwin, media editor, The Sunday Times. Host: Manveen Rana. Producers: Edward Drummond, Shabnam Grewal, Harry Stott.Clips: News.com.Au, Reuters, TalkTV, NBC News, Bloomberg News, GBNews, BBC News, Sky News, ITV News.Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

Last year, tech billionaire Mike Lynch was given a second chance at life when he was acquitted of criminal fraud charges. But while celebrating with friends and family aboard his yacht, a freak storm arose. Lynch, his daughter, and five others were tragically killed. This week, deliberations begin over how much compensation his estate owes to the company he defrauded. Payments which could lead to bankruptcy.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Katie Prescott, technology business editor, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Producer: Micaela Arneson. Further listening: The tragedy of Mike Lynch and the sunken yacht Clips: Danny in the Valley, BBC, LeadersIn, Black Thunder / YouTube, Charlie Rose. Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

It’s the most watched TV show of the year, but The Traitors is much more than just entertainment: it’s a psychological experiment. How did a game, born out of Cold War Soviet roots, become a mirror of modern power, politics, and trust? Why do we value charm over logic? And can you ever really trust anyone? Not according to Times feature writer Helen Rumbelow.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestorySpoiler alert: Reveals the winner of the Celebrity Traitors from the start. Guest: Helen Rumbelow, feature writer and columnist, The Times.Host: Luke Jones.Producer: Dave Creasey.Read more: The Traitors is rigged, just not how you think it isThe Celebrity Traitors final review — epic duplicity and backstabbingWho should be in series two of The Celebrity Traitors?Clips: BBC, Network 10.Photo: Cody Burridge/Studio Lambert/BBC

This is Planet Hope, a podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times in paid partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Each episode is hosted by The Story released as a bonus weekly series on Saturdays. Explorer and Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner Steve Boyes has spent decades navigating Africa’s wild rivers. He tells Adam Vaughan how illness and resilience has reshaped his outlook and why protecting rivers, landscapes and communities has become his life’s mission.Planet Hope is brought to you in paid partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Guest: Steve Boyes, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer.Host: Adam Vaughan, environment editor, The TimesSeries Producer: Priyanka DeladiaSound Designer: David CracklesThis podcast is advertiser funded.

Last year’s attack on a dance class in Southport killed three young girls and injured a further eight, as well as two adults. The teenager responsible, Axel Rudakubana, has since been sentenced to a minimum 52 years. But a public inquiry is still trying to understand whether it would have been possible to prevent the horrific event.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Constance Kampfner, northern correspondent, The Times. Host: Luke Jones.Producer: Edward Drummond.Read more: Axel Rudakubana’s father ‘was too scared to challenge him’Southport killer’s brother ‘feared he would kill a family member’Clips: Southport Inquiry, Times Radio, The Times.Photo: Getty Images.