Elon’s Spies

F**k it, release ‘em all: Trump and the Jan 6ers

For more than two years, Special Counsel Jack Smith investigated allegations of President Trump’s election fraud. His investigation ended last month – not with a trial, but a dense report. Why has nobody paid attention?

Goodbye mum: the ruthless fight for child custody

One of the most difficult questions facing a judge in the family court is which parent should have custody of a child. To help them answer that, judges rely on independent experts to provide an impartial voice in the court. But what happens when the objectivity of those experts is questioned? This is the story of how the family courts have failed some of the children it exists to protect. Reporters: Louise Tickle and Hannah Summers Additional reporting: Paul Bradshaw, Serena Cesaro, William Jarrett and Tom Wall Producer: Matt Russell Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett

Rogue Russia: nuclear poker

In October 2022 the course of Russia’s war in Ukraine shifted. Intelligence from the US and UK indicated that Russia could turn to a nuclear bomb to get on top of the war. This is the story of those six days in October, and just how close Putin really came to pressing the nuclear button.

Rogue Russia: Agents of mayhem

Last October, the head of MI5 said Russia was on a mission to cause “sustained mayhem” on European streets. It might be hard to spot at first, but it is there in plain sight. This is the unpredictable, violent world of the modern Russian intelligence services Reporter: Alexi Mostrous Producer: Gary Marshall Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett

Jordan Peterson and the making of man

Jordan Peterson is a controversial figure, but he is also a man with a long-standing appeal to a particular demographic. What does his popularity tell us about a possible crisis in young men today?

Finding my voice

Xavier Greenwood’s childhood memories are dominated by a speech impediment and a thick accent. But was it all in his head?

The final bow: David Bowie’s last act

David Bowie’s last months were spent fulfilling one final ambition: staging a musical based around his songs. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. Zelda Perkins not only met hers, she produced the musical he staged in his dying days

The immortality bros: the business of living forever

The tech millionaire Bryan Johnson once went viral for infusing himself with a litre of his 17-year-old son’s blood plasma. That experiment failed, but it hasn’t distracted him from his life’s mission: reversing ageing. Now, the self-declared professional guinea pig has travelled to a libertarian free zone on a remote Caribbean island, to receive experimental gene therapy administered by a company called Minicircle. This is the story of biohacking… on steroids. What happens when you build a privately run, for-profit nation state? And what happens when that state becomes a playground for experimental medicine?

Killing hope: Iran’s mind wars

The fall of Assad in Syria is a disaster for Iran, so much so that people are beginning to ask if this might finally be the moment when Iran’s pro-democracy movement breaks through. This is the story of one activist’s 25 year fight against the Islamic regime in Iran, a story of courage and despair.

Stuck in space

In June 2024, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore went into space. It was expected to last just over a week. Instead, by the time they’ll return, it’ll have been more than eight months. This is the story of how two great American institutions – Boeing and NASA – failed them.