The Story

Thousands of pensioners invested their life savings into London Capital and Finance before it was revealed to be the UK’s biggest ever Ponzi scheme. Now, new Times reporting shows how the millions in investments were lavishly spent by LCF’s founders. So how was a scheme on this scale allowed to take root in the first place?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuests: Jim Armitage, contributing editor, The Sunday Times.Antonia Summer, investor in LCF.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Harry Stott, Callum Martin.We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Inside Britain’s biggest Ponzi scheme: where did £237m go?Clips: Rehman Chisti MP / Facebook.Photo: Getty Images.

Hungary goes to the polls on Sunday and for the first time in sixteen years, Donald Trump’s right-wing ally Viktor Orbán might lose his iron grip on power. But who is this man who’s ruled the country for so long? What do we know about the man who could unseat him? And what would a loss for Orbán mean for the populist right and for Europe as a whole?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuests: Peter Conradi, Europe editor, The Sunday TimesVictor Sebestyen, journalist and author covering Eastern Europe & RussiaHost: Luke JonesProducer: Sophie McNulty, Olivia CaseWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Who is Peter Magyar, the man hoping to oust Viktor Orban?Clips: Bloomberg, DRM News, Péter Magyar - YouTubePhoto: Getty Images, The Times.

It's the trial rocking France's intelligence service. Two guards who had always dreamt of going under cover were allegedly tricked into a plot to kill a ‘Mossad agent’, who was nothing of the sort. It's an unbelievable tale of freemasons, fake missions - and real violence, where personal grudges are dressed up as matters of national security.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: Adam Sage, Paris correspondent, The Times. Host: Rosie Wright.Producer: Dave Creasey.We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Freemasons, bored spies and a murder-for-hire scandal at France’s MI6Photo: Getty Images.

For millions of people, Disney was a huge part of their childhood. But, for a great number of people that love never went away, and today, it's those people who have become central to Disney’s bottom line. They are the so called “Disney adults”. But their world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it's a passionate subculture marked by competition, criticism - and high costs.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryRead by: Julia Webster and Sophie McNulty. Producer: Dave Creasey. We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: ‘Next-level scary’: inside the ultra-competitive world of Disney adultsClips: Disney. Photo: Getty Images.

When The Times foreign correspondent Marc Bennetts moved to Russia in 1997, there was hope for a new future for the country. But over the next 25 years, he witnessed the rise of Vladimir Putin and the erosion of civil liberties. In his new book, The Descent: Witnessing Russia’s Spiral into Madness Under Putin, Marc charts how one man remade Russia in his own paranoid image.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: Marc Bennetts, foreign correspondent, The Times. Host: Manveen Rana. Producer: Micaela Arneson. We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Lies and fear: my life under the Kremlin’s propaganda machineFurther listening: ‘I took a grenade blast to escape’: Russian deserters speak to The TimesClips: Channel One Russia, Educational Video Group, NBC News, ITN, Times Now World, Dot’s Eye. Photo: Getty Images.

A Sunday Times investigation has found that, in Scotland, there are claims that the SNP has, in effect, shut down criticism from the charity and voluntary sectors because of a system that leaves them umbilically tied to its political objectives and fearing grave consequences if they step out of line.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: Dan Sanderson, Scottish political editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Taryn Siegel.We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: How the SNP spends billions ‘to buy loyalty from charities’Clips: 5 News, Parliament TV.Illustration: Tony Bell.

The countdown has begun for the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon, the first manned mission there in more than 50 years. Their voyage around our nearest neighbour will pave the way for a lunar landing and, eventually, a Moon base. But why is there suddenly rekindled interest in moon exploration, and could this bring humans toward the ultimate goal of reaching Mars?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: Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut.Kaya Burgess, science and religious affairs correspondent for The Times.Host: Manveen RanaProducer: Julia WebsterWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Artemis II: mission to the MoonFurther listening: The Epstein Files, AI journalism and the future of truth - The Sunday StoryClips: NASA, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, PBS, Space Age Archive, Associated Press, CriticalPast, Cosmosphere.Photo: Kathia Mestanza, Getty Images.

Donald Trump has threatened that the US would “obliterate Kharg Island” if a deal with Tehran was not reached. The US president has suggested he’d put boots on the ground to seize control of Iran's key oil export terminal. So why does the island matter so much? How would a ground invasion work? And just how risky is it to the US troops involved?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuests: George Grylls, Washington correspondent, The Times.Sir Simon Mayall, ex-Lieutenant General in the British army and author.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Harry Stott, Olivia Case.We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Can the US take Kharg Island? How an invasion could play outFurther listening: Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about Trump's Iran talksClips: CBC, FOX, BBC, C-SPAN.Photo: Getty Images.

Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war, was one of the most controversial picks in Trump’s cabinet. But as Trump’s foreign adventures have come to define his second term, Hegseth is not just more visible, he’s become the Iran war’s main cheerleader. So who is he?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: Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist, the Times and the Sunday Times. Host: Manveen RanaProducers: Harry Stott and Micaela ArnesonWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Pete Hegseth, the former soldier and TV host selling Trump’s warFurther listening: Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about Trump's Iran talksClips: FOX, BBC, Forbes, CBS, SKY.Photo: Getty Images.