The Story

In this special two part podcast, Whitehall editor at The Sunday Times, Gabriel Pogrund, is joined by the preeminent investigative journalist and author Patrick Radden Keefe.On a cold November night in 2019, 19 year old Zac Brettler jumped to his death from the balcony of a luxury London apartment. Police concluded it was suicide, however, under Radden Keefe's forensic microscope together with Gabriel's own Sunday Times investigation, serious questions are raised about what really happened that night, and whether it was suicide after all. It's a tale rooted in London's criminal underground, and now the subject of Radden Keefe's latest book, London Falling.In this episode we hear about how a young man, born into a wealthy family, become embroiled with a notorious London gangster.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryHost: Gabriel Pogrund - Whitehall editor at The Sunday TimesGuest: Patrick Radden KeefeProducer: Dave Creasey.Executive Producer: Kate FordWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: The dead teenager, the lying suspect and the black box that proves itPhoto: The Times, design by Cecilia Tombesi.Click here to buy London Falling at the times bookshop.

For decades UK sofas have contained chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and infertility because of uniquely strict fire rules. Up to a fifth of their foam consists of a chemical not used in any other country’s sofas, but is now classed “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organisation. So how deadly is your sofa, why is the UK an outlier and are things set to improve?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: Martina Lees, senior property reporter, The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Edward DrummondWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Sitting comfortably? Your sofa is among the most toxic on Earth

After mounting hostilities and Trump’s threats that ‘a whole civilization will die’ unless Iran backs down, Tehran and Washington have agreed to a two week ceasefire. Now, they’re discussing a ten-point plan to permanently end the war. But is this the end of the fighting or just a pause? What’s in the peace plan? And has this conflict taught Iran that it can hold the world to ransom?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: Catherine Philp, World Affairs Editor, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Producers: Olivia Case and Sophie McNulty.We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: What’s in Iran’s ten-point ceasefire plan? Trump’s stumbling blocks examinedFurther listening: The West Bank land grab no one’s watchingClips: BBC, CNN, AP, CSPAN, NDTV, The Mary Trump Podcast. Photo: Getty Images.

With the world’s attention fixed on the war in Iran, Israeli settler gangs are rapidly and violently expanding outposts in the West Bank – seemingly with impunity. So, what’s it like on the ground? Is the Israeli government softening to the ‘extremist’ settler movement? And will settlers ever be held accountable? 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: Richard Spencer, world affairs correspondent, The TimesHost: Manveen RanaProducers: Sophie McNulty, Taryn SiegelWe want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.comRead more: Israel’s settlers seize their chance to snatch land in West BankFurther listening: The Board of Peace: the new UN or Trump’s vanity project?Clips: CNN, France 24, BBC, CBS, ABC 7, Middle East Eye.Photo: Getty Images.

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.