In The News

This episode was originally published in May 2026.

Michael, the biopic tracking the early years of Michael Jackson, opened to dire reviews and criticism over its silence on the child sex abuse allegations levelled at the music superstar.

The fans, though, don’t care; they made Michael a box office smash. Its first weekend broke records, with the film scoring the biggest opening of all time for any musical biopic.

It stars Jaafar Jackson, who does a good job channelling his late uncle Michael, and the music is wall-to-wall with brief detours into some aspects of Jackson’s odd life, including his obsession with Peter Pan, his first nose job and his acquisition of Bubbles the chimpanzee. Originally the script included the case of one of the boys who alleged sex abuse, but that was cut.

So without the truth of Jackson’s life, what is the point of this biopic? And why is Hollywood so fixated on musical biopics?

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally published in June 2026.

When Isak Andic, who created the Mango clothes brand, died from a fall while our hiking with his only son, Jonathan, in the mountains outside Barcelona, it was treated as a tragic accident.

But for the Spanish police, something about events on that hiking trail in December 2024 just didn’t add up.

First there were inconsistencies in Jonathan’s police statements. Then forensics found evidence that suggested something more sinister may have happened to the 71-year-old billionaire.

In May, in a move that created shock and headlines in Spain, Jonathan was arrested in connection with his 71-year-old father’s death.

He has been released from custody having posted €1 million in bail. But what happens now? Will the case go to trial to decide if the fashion mogul’s death was an accident or murder?

Madrid-based reporter Guy Hedgecoe has been following the story.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

This episode was originally published in June 2026.

For the six men and one woman trafficked to Donegal by Georgijs Poniza and Armen Pogosyan, life was unimaginably harsh.

They worked long, gruelling hours, lived together in dire conditions, rummaging in public bins for food and walking up to 30km to get to work. When they stepped out of line they were subject to abuse including physical violence.

In the nearly three years they spent in modern slavery in Ireland, the seven victims, all Latvians, earned about €750,000 but as their bank accounts were controlled, they saw a tiny fraction of that.

This month in a first conviction of its kind in the State, Poniza and Pogosyan, who were long-time residents in Ireland, were jailed for a total of 24 years for human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

So how did the operation work? Why in a small community in Donegal did no one notice anything? And how were the traffickers caught?

Chris McNulty, a journalist with Donegal Daily, has been following the case and was in court for the sentencing.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

This episode was originally published in June 2026.

Naomi James (38) was pregnant with her fourth child when, disillusioned with Ireland's maternity services, she chose to give birth at home without medical assistance.
Shortly after her baby was born at home in Drogheda in June 2024, she became ill and was taken to hospital, where she died.

Naomi was just one of an unknown but growing number of women in Ireland who opt for a free birth, – to have their babies without a midwife or doctor present.
Such is the concern over free births that the State’s directors of midwifery have warned the HSE that such births are linked with “perinatal and maternal mortality and severe morbidity”.

So what is driving this choice? How are home births different from free births? What role do online free birth influencers play in this dangerous movement? And how has Naomi’s family coped since her tragic death?

Irish Times reporter Ellen Coyne investigated free births in Ireland, and the people advocating them.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

This episode was originally published in September 2024. In July 2026 Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida. They are currently detained in prison, awaiting extradition to the UK on charges of rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

In the summer of 2022, journalists Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin were in Romania filming a documentary about Andrew Tate and his social media influence.

Tate, who had made a name for himself spouting misogynistic content online appeared invincible, but his empire was about to crumble.

As concern about his content began to mount, the controversial influencer was banned from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for violating community guidelines on dangerous individuals and hate speech.
But a social media ban was the least of his problems. Back home in London, as Shea and Tahsin continued their investigation into Tate and his business operations, the sinister truth about his webcam industry and his ‘War Room’ began to reveal itself.

In June 2023, Tate and his brother Tristan, along with two Romanian women were formally charged with rape, sex trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He is currently under house arrest in his compound in Bucharest.

In this episode, (part two), Shea tells Bernice Harrison about the women from Tate’s past who decided to speak out against him and how his fans have reacted to his latest string of charges.

Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere is out now.

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