Afternoon Briefing Monday 18th March

The Times Briefing for the afternoon of Monday 18th March. For more on these stories throughout the day tune into Times Radio - on DAB, online, through your smart speaker or on the Times Radio app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there cause for optimism?

Amber Rudd and Flora Gill are joined by comedian Jimmy Carr, Times Radio presenter and former Labour MP Gloria de Piero, and anti-Brexit campaigner Femi Oluwole, to discuss covid, Brexit and our future.Producer: Ben Mitchell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Undercover at Britain’s ‘conspiracy school’

A group of former teachers and a cryptocurrency trader are teaching at a suspected illegal school, Universallkidz in Manchester, in which children are being educated to become the next generation of conspiracy theorists. The Times’ Tom Ball went undercover as a teacher to find out more.This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/podcasts/the-story Guest: Tom Ball, Reporter, The Times.Host: Manveen Rana. Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.co.uk Find out more about our bonus series for Times subscribers: 'Inside the newsroom'Mentioned in this episode: Hope Sussex school trains next generation of conspiracy theorists Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catherine Philp on the Yemen crisis

What is it like to be one of the first journalists to bear witness to an unfolding crisis? Four years after the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in Yemen, 14 million people were facing a famine that, if left unchecked, would be the worst in a century. Our diplomatic correspondent travelled to the heart of the regions worst affected and recorded the devastating impact of the war on ordinary people’s lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode - Stories of our times; Tik Tok and the data war

A special extra episode for you from the daily podcast from The Times;President Trump has ordered firms to stop doing business with social media giant TikTok over security concerns. Microsoft was the front-runner to buy the company, but now Twitter has emerged as a possible suitor. What has made the app so popular and so controversial? If you like this episode please rate and subscribe. Simply search for Stories of our times on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts.Guests: Danny Fortson Sunday Times west coast correspondent.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips used: NBC, Tik Tok, ABC Australian, Biteable, France 24, CNBC, Fox News, Huffington Post, ABC News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ministry of Evil

Giles and Esther return to his office to flick through the papers; from Jamie Oliver and one pot cooking, to a pigeon for a bag and a disconnected Westminster. Giles shows a distinct lack of interest in Sarah Jessica Parker whist Esther is delighted by Sex in the City being back in the news.Get more of The Times and The Sunday Times for less than £1 a day - visit www.thetimes.co.uk/gilescorenhasnoidea to start your free trial.Producer: Ben Mitchell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LifeTimes with Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Trott has revealed the cost on his mental health of England’s rise to number one Test team in the world, and the danger of sport becoming “life or death” in an athlete’s mind. The former England batsmen opened up for the latest LifeTimes podcast about the extraordinary period, between 2009 and 2013, when the national team soared to the top of the rankings but then fell apart amid acrimony.Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode, including shows with Paul Pogba, Eddie Jones and Nicola Adams.This episode is hosted by The Times Chief Sports Writer Matt Dickinson and produced by Lucy Lavery, it is a Times Sport production, to discover more of our award winning journalism visit www.thetimes.co.uk/sport.With Special thanks to Sky Sports for the use of their memorable commentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SevenSix Agency founder Charlotte Williams on why influencers are here to stay

Scarlett Russell chats to Charlotte Williams, founder of the London-based marketing agency SevenSix.  SevenSix Agency celebrates, supports and gives a huge platform to diverse influencers, Charlotte’s direct response to the lack of diversity and representation within the advertising and influencer marketing industries.  Charlotte talks about the importance of having a strong network of contacts to jump start your side hustle, why influencers are here to stay and she shares how taking a hiatus from her business helped her to succeed her goals. Find out more about SevenSix Agency here… instagram.com/sevensixagency/www.sevensixagency.com Follow The Sunday Times Style: instagram.com/theststyle/twitter.com/TheSTStyle To get more of The Times and The Sunday Times, visit thetimes.co.uk/secretsofthesidehustle Producer: Anya Pearce Hosted on Acast. See aca

Finless Foods’ Michael Selden: “The tuna roadster”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Michael Selden, co-founder and chief executive of Finless Foods, to talk about growing tuna in a lab (2:45), getting the price down from $300,000 to $150 per pound (5:45), a publicly available bluefin tuna genome (8:45), replacing fetal bovine serum (11:30), using plant based material for the flesh “scaffolding” (14:20), scaling up (16:10), aiming for the mass market (19:55), why almost all American seafood is imported (21:20), the problems with seafood (22:40), the hardest moment(s) (27:30), the challenge of turning “clean meat” into an industry (32:00), and the science that is yet to be figured out (35:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walking The Dog with Emily Dean from The Times. Emily Dean takes some of her friends for a walk with their dogs. They talk about the weird, the wonderful, the funny and the extraordinary. 740124 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scotland beat England (again) Ireland beat Wales (again) and Italy (almost) beat France

Will Kelleher, Alex Lowe and Mark Palmer get together in an Edinburgh hotel lobby to unpick the 3rd round of the 6 nations. It's a familiar story for Wales and England, but the ending in France for Italy was anything but... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Classic PMQs Unpacked: Weak, Weak, Weak

Matt Chorley and Patrick Maguire give the "Unpacked" treatment to a classic PMQs, with John Major and Tony Blair going head-to-head in January 1997, challenging each other over the leadership of their respective parties.Plus: Columnists Robert Crompton and Jane Merrick discuss a potential Labour government's nightmare in-tray, whether school bullies prosper, and why Alan Titchmarsh had his trousers censored in North Korea.(Columnists 03:55)Classic PMQs (26:50) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Klopp crushed

Martin Samuel and Tom Allnutt join Gregor Robertson to console Tony Cascarino as Liverpool’s title challenge hits the buffers. What can Liverpool’s bad form be put down to, fitness, desire, off field issues? Tony has a hunch… And is Arne Slot the man to right the ship…?Arsenal have the wind in their sails again can they now go unbeaten for the rest of season…? Chelsea, are a mystery to the entire panel. What will happen to Poch and his erratic team come the summer?Erik Ten Hag may not be embarrassed but is his tenure coming to an end? Martin can understand his response to the media, Tom isn’t so sure…  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.