The i Podcast

Ukraine’s Western allies have announced they will supply the embattled nation with high-tech tanks in a strategic move they hope will be decisive in its battle with Russia.

From the German-engineered excellence of the Leopard 2 to the British Challenger 2, complete with a kettle for making tea, these new weapons will augment the Soviet-era vehicles Ukraine has been using to hold off the Russian advance.

In this week’s episode of The i Podcast, Chief Reporter Cahal Milmo and Senior Reporter Serina Sandhu join Molly Blackall to explore how the new tanks could have an impact on the conflict, which is nearing its one-year mark.

Then we are heading to a waterway many call one of Britain’s “most spectacular rivers” But the Wye is dying, choked by devastating pollution.

The fate of the river, which runs along part of the England-Wales border, is by no means unique – but it has become a flashpoint in the battle to save the nation’s waterways.

Science and Environment Correspondent Tom Bawden joins us to take a look at why the river is under such grave threat, and what can be done to restore it to its former glory.

Stay up to date with our Ukraine coverage here: https://inews.co.uk/topic/ukraine

Tom's story on the River Wye can be found here: https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/river-wye-death-uk-longest-best-loved-rivers-2108758

Produced by Julia Webster. The executive producer is Albert Evans and the assistant producer is Phoebe Fleming.

Music featured is by Michael Kobrin and Lexin Music - licensed via Pixabay.

Check out their music here.

https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-the-introvert-michael-kobrin-10959/

https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/

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Brexit was supposed to revive the fishing industry. Free of the shackles of Brussels rules, the UK’s fishing fleets would once more be able to make the most of British coastal waters and revitalise their coastal communities.

This is what Boris Johnson told Ian Perkes in Devon back in 2019. Four years later, the Brixham fish merchant’s business has seen sales plummet 30 per cent and export costs rise by as much as £3,000 a week.

In this week’s episode of The i Podcast with our chief news correspondent, David Parsley, we are going to take a look at what went wrong.

Then we are joined by i‘s chief features writer, Kasia Delgado, who has been looking at the four-decades-long deal between the media and the Royal Family, that has come under intense scrutiny.

As Prince Harry’s bombshell claims continue to make waves – the media’s relationship to the Royal Family is fraying, and Kasia takes us behind the scenes on how this deal is being upended.

Produced by Julia Webster. The executive producer is Albert Evans and the assistant producer is Phoebe Fleming.

Music featured is by Michael Kobrin and Lexin Music - licensed via Pixabay.

Check out their music here.

https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-the-introvert-michael-kobrin-10959/

https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liz Truss is back and she knows who is at fault for her disastrous 49-day tenure as prime minister: a “blob of vested interests” opposed to her vision of a low-tax economy.

In this week’s episode of The i Podcast, deputy political editor, Arj Singh, joins host Molly Blackall to lift the lid on her explosive intervention that has reignited the Tory party’s love affair with cutting taxes – and split the party once again.

While many thought these libertarian ideals went the same way as Truss’s doomed premiership, some in her party are unperturbed by the financial crisis they caused and want to try it all over again.

Later, we are joined by i‘s chief features writer, Kasia Delgado, who has been looking at cases of people faking their own deaths and the pitfalls of doing so in the modern age.

Faking your own death – or pseudocide – is attempted by hundreds of people every year. We take a look at this shadowy world and find out just how easy it is to disappear.

Produced by Julia Webster. The executive producer is Albert Evans and the assistant producer is Phoebe Fleming.

Music featured is by Michael Kobrin and Lexin Music - licensed via Pixabay.

Check out their music here.

https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-the-introvert-michael-kobrin-10959/

https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Strep-A has killed 16 children and caused panic among parents. The situation has been exacerbated by a lack of vital antibiotic supplies. In this week’s podcast, we take a look at what went wrong – and what it tells us about our Government’s response to infectious diseases in a post-pandemic world.

Joining us to lift the lid on what has hampered the response is i Policy Editor Jane Merrick, who has broken a series of stories during the outbreak about the scramble to supply the vital antibiotics needed to parents of sick children. i Reporter Alannah Francis also joins us to tell us about the frontline medical staff and families that have been swept up in the chaos.

Read Jane's coverage here: https://inews.co.uk/author/jane-merrick

Here are Alannah's reports from the frontline of the outbreak.

https://inews.co.uk/news/strep-a-mother-girl-symptoms-infection-pharmacy-antibiotics-2017441

https://inews.co.uk/news/antiobiotics-shortage-goverment-supply-issues-lives-risk-2014511

Many of us have had the “saving for a rainy day” adage drilled into us since an early age. So why are increasing numbers of people turning their backs on it, when it comes to their pensions?

The latest DWP figures reveal that one in six people aged 40 to 75 haven’t begun saving for retirement yet, while a quarter will be solely relying on the state pension. Lizzie Anderson has been speaking to those that have decided to live life to the full and go pension free.

Produced by Julia Webster. The Executive Producer is Albert Evans with additional production by Phoebe Fleming.

Music featured is by Michael Kobrin and Lexin Music - licensed via Pixabay.

Check out their music here.

https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-the-introvert-michael-kobrin-10959/

https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the beginning of February, a mysterious flying balloon drifted into the public’s view in the skies above Montana. Locals eagerly filmed the unidentified object, posting videos on social media, kickstarting speculation that it was a visitation from extraterrestrials.

While bizarre, it seems there was something altogether more earthly was going on. The US pointed fingers squarely at China, claiming the balloon was a spying device, but Beijing insists it was merely a meteorological device, blown off course.

By the time the balloon was shot down by a US Air Force fighter jet over the Atlantic, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had canceled a trip to China and relations between the two countries are showing no signs of improving.

In this week’s episode of The i Podcast, Senior Reporter Serina Sandhu is joined by foreign news reporter Keiron Monks to discuss how the mysterious balloons have reignited political tensions between the two superpowers.

Only 14 percent of the UK’s rivers are classified as being in a ‘good’ ecological state and if things don’t change that could be as low as 6 percent by 2027.

What does this mean in practice? It’s killing off our fragile ecosystems, making us sick and destroying these natural treasures for future generations.

The i has a plan to reverse the fortunes of our national waterways, that’s we are launching the Save Britain’s Rivers campaign – alongside our sister publication the New Scientist.

In part 2 of this episode we are joined by our Environment Correspondent Daniel Capurro to explain how we plan to pressure politicians and businesses into cleaning up their act.

Produced by Julia Webster. The executive producer is Albert Evans and the assistant producer is Phoebe Fleming.

Music featured is by Michael Kobrin and Lexin Music - licensed via Pixabay.

Check out their music here.

https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-the-introvert-michael-kobrin-10959/

https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.