Are animals conscious? Why we’re starting to think so

Tonight, in the first of only two presidential debates, the two oldest candidates in history have a lot to prove. Joe Biden faces serious questions about his mental and physical fitness, Donald Trump may have to conduct part of his campaign from behind bars. Could this debate prove pivotal for the campaign ahead - and the November election itself?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: Ben Hoyle, Foreign Editor, The Sunday Times.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: Joe Biden's Twitter, Guardian News, The Telegraph, CTV News, TPM TV, Bloomberg TV, AP Archive, MCamericanpresident Youtube. Get in touch: [email protected] out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Five Conservative politicians are now being investigated by the Gambling Commission for allegedly placing bets on the date of the general election. Hundreds of pre-election bets are now being trawled for connections to the party. Rishi Sunak has withdrawn support from two of those under investigation but how bad could this get for the Tories?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: https://www.thetimes.com/podcasts/the-storyGuest: Harry Yorke, Deputy Political Editor, The Sunday Times.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: BBC News, The Sun.Get in touch: [email protected] out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After centuries of dismissing the rest of the animal kingdom as non-sentient beings, scientists and philosophers are starting to make a new declaration in favour of animal consciousness. So what does that even mean, and what does it change?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co.uk/thestoryGuest: Tom Whipple, Science Editor, The Times. Host: Luke Jones.Clips: Netflix/My Octopus Teacher.Get in touch: [email protected] Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Critics say the Labour leader is robotic, boring and hard to read, but is that all there is to the man in the running to become the next prime minister? The Sunday Times has spent three months on the campaign trail in search of the real Keir Starmer. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co.uk/thestoryGuest: Josh Glancy, News Review Editor, The Sunday Times.  Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: The Times, Spiked, Talk TV, Sky News, Channel 4 News. Further listening: Hague talks to Rishi Sunak about being a dad, AI, and a terrible political inheritanceGet in touch: [email protected] Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Planet Hope, a podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, hosted by The Story as a bonus weekly series each Sunday.The Southern Cone of South America is home to some of the most beautiful and diverse ecosystems in the world. However, decades of exploitation have taken their toll. Expansive lands left destroyed from ranching and species like the jaguar teetered on the brink of extinction. Environment Editor for The Times, Adam Vaughan is joined by one of the most successful conservation philanthropists in history, Kris Tompkins, to hear how she’s committed her life to making this corner of the world wilder.This is Planet Hope, a podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative. This podcast is advertiser funded. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1993 the Canadian Conservative party went into the election in power but lost all but two of its seats. A party called Reform came to dominate right wing politics, and went on to merge with the Conservatives. Could the same be about to happen in the UK?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co.uk/thestoryGuests: -Wayne Hunt, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Mount Allison University in Canada,  and,-Danny Finkelstein, columnist, The Times.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: Times Radio, BBC, CBC, CPAC.Get in touch: [email protected] Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s being described as the UK’s first TikTok election - so can a flying pig, Cilla Black, and Nigel Farage have the power to change the result on the night?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co.uk/thestoryGuests:Matilda Davies, Data Journalist, The Times and The Sunday Times.Lara Spirit, Red Box Editor, The Times.Host: Jane Mulkerrins.Clips: TikTok/@uklabour, Sky News, TikTok/@ukconservatives, TikTok/@libdems, TikTok/@nigel_farage, Twitter/@rishisunak. Further listening: Could the 'blue wall' fall?The Green vote, it’s not (only) about the environmentThe UK economy’s broken. Can Labour fix it? Get in touch: [email protected]  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who’s voting Green in this election? There’s the fruit bowl analogy - mangos, melons and figs (we’ll explain) - and, more unkindly, the carpark. With sky-high levels of disenchantment driving support, could this be their breakthrough moment? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.co.uk/thestoryGuest: -Janice Turner, columnist, The Times and,-Joe Twyman, co-founder and director, Deltapoll.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: Sky News Australia, Times Radio.Further listening: Could the "blue wall" fall?Get in touch: [email protected] Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The super-rich are trialling innumerable whacky theories to radically extend their lives, from not eating after 11pm to taking hundreds of supplements a day and even blood transfusions from their children. But what does the science tell us? Could some of these ideas actually prove effective? And why are we still so obsessed with the quest that is as old as mankind itself: immortality?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: Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge and author of Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality.Host: Luke Jones.Clips: WIRED UK, Valuetainment Clips, Diary of a CEO, TalkTV. Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom'Get in touch: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surrey has always been a bastion of support for the Conservatives but this election the Liberal Democrats believe they stand a chance of taking some of the truest of blue seats. So, what’s changed? We visit Guildford to find out.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: Anne Milton, Conservative MP for Guildford 2005 - 2019. Host: Manveen Rana.Further Listening: The UK economy’s broken. Can Labour fix it? Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom'Get in touch: [email protected] candidates standing in Guildford are – Angela Richardson - Conservative. Sarah Gillinson - Labour. Zoe Franklin - Liberal Democrat. Dennis Saunders - Reform UK. Sam Peters - Green. John Morris - The Peace Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.