Untold: Opus Dei

Opus Dei, Ep. 2: Formation

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Opus Dei’s founder taught his followers that spiritual formation is a continual development of character. But some find that the views spread by Opus Dei do not always match the Church’s official teaching – particularly its attitudes towards women and homosexuality. Insiders describe a complex youth recruitment network that offers some clues to the kind of person Opus Dei molds – and what kind of person it is interested in.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Opus Dei, Ep. 1: Whistling

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

We meet Sarah – a young girl drawn to Opus Dei’s message that professional work can be a path to holiness. At 18, Sarah says goodbye to her family and moves into an Opus Dei centre to learn how to make her work an offering to God. But what she experiences there feels different to the organisation she thought she knew. Sarah chafes at unexpected rules, unquestioning obedience and dehumanising treatment.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Introducing Untold: Opus Dei

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Introducing Opus Dei, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission. The first episode of Untold: Opus Dei launches on March 25. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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FT long read: The Broker

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:00:48 GMT

In this special bonus episode from The Financial Times, "The Broker" tells the story of how a failed baseball hopeful and disgraced stockbroker reinvented himself as one of America’s most consequential modern arms dealers.

From a family-run warehouse in Virginia Beach, Will Somerindyke built his company into a crucial conduit in the Pentagon’s covert supply chains — sourcing Soviet-era weapons for wars in Syria and Yemen before emerging as a central player in Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

As artillery shells became the most sought-after commodity of the war, he placed a multimillion-dollar bet on reviving crumbling Cold War factories in the Balkans, transforming himself from middleman to manufacturer.

Based on months of reporting, The Broker traces Somerindyke’s rise through the shadow world of privatised warfare — where geopolitics, profit and personal ambition collide — and reveals how modern conflicts are sustained not only by soldiers on the front lines, but by entrepreneurs who move the weapons behind the scenes.

This piece, written by the FT’s Miles Johnson, host of Hot Money Season 2: The New Narcos, was originally printed in FT Weekend.

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Tech Tonic: Defying death

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

How much do we really know about ageing? For decades, scientists have been trying to understand the biology of the ageing process - what happens to our bodies as we get older? And is it possible to slow that process down or even stop it all together?

In this series of Tech Tonic, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel look into the past, present and future of longevity - the wellness movement focused on extending and bettering your quality of life. Episode 1 follows Hannah as she speaks with UCL professor David Gems about the history of ageing research, and then with longevity researcher Matt Kaeberlein to discuss how the industry has developed - including current drugs that could have anti-ageing effects. Plus, Michael visits the Reviv clinic in London where he experiences, first hand, the growing consumer interest in the longevity craze.

To listen to the rest of the series, find Tech Tonic on your favourite podcast platform by clicking here!

Clips: @DaveAspreyBPR, @drjoshaxe, @HealthCoachKait, Hevolution, Pom, Purina, Garnier, 4G antioxidants, @ChrisWillx, @lexfridman, ABC News, C-Span, CBS, ITV This Morning, Wired UK, The Dissenter, Will Tennyson

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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Swamp Notes: The Bethlehem Project

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Swamp Notes: The Bethlehem Project is a new FT podcast series that tackles some of the US’s biggest political and economic issues through the lens of one city: Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The city is a politically divided area in a critical swing state, and reflects a lot of conversations happening nationally. The first episode tackles what happens when immigration enforcement comes to town, and the second episode explore what it's like growing up in Donald Trump's America.

Subscribe to Swamp Notes here.

Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts

This is a repeat of episodes published on Swamp Notes, a sister podcast of Untold, on Nov. 10 and Dec. 17, 2025 respectively.

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Toxic Legacy, Ep. 3: The Whisper and Scream

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMT

A toddler in Leeds died from lead poisoning. Laura Hughes speaks to doctors in the UK to learn what must be done to prevent it from happening again. She learns that truly addressing the problem will be a massive undertaking. It would require a complete overhaul of the housing, environmental and food standards systems. But first, we need to find out where the lead is.

Learn more about Untold: Toxic Legacy.

For more information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Toxic Legacy, Ep. 2: Painted Over

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:11:44 GMT

The UK has some of the oldest housing in the world. Although the use of lead paint is banned, what happens to the paint already on your walls? Laura Hughes speaks to families fighting for answers and the children poisoned by their own homes. She learns that it’s not only old homes that pose a serious risk.

For more information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Toxic Legacy, Ep. 1: Silent Danger

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Laura Hughes receives a tip that horses are dropping dead in Wales. As she investigates, she finds decades of academic studies researching the problem. She learns these aren’t isolated incidents. Something is spreading across the countryside. It’s undetectable to humans, nobody knows it’s there — until they fall ill.

For more information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Introducing Toxic Legacy, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Laura Hughes uncovers a lead poisoning epidemic across the UK. You might be living with lead and not know it: the toxin is often invisible to the human eye, but wreaks havoc on our bodies once we’re exposed. The first episode of Untold: Toxic Legacy launches October 22.

For information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

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Vote for The Retreat in the Signal Awards!

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 04:00:40 GMT

The Retreat has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Health and Wellness category! It's a listener choice award, which means we need your help. If you enjoyed The Retreat, please vote for the show to win here. We appreciate your support!

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The Retreat, Ep. 5: The Insiders

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 04:00:09 GMT

Since the podcast published earlier this year, Madison’s inbox has been filled with emails. Some were from former volunteers at the Goenka network who wished to speak out. In this bonus episode of The Retreat, they pull back the curtain on why they believe some people are not being supported when they come on retreats and find themselves psychologically unraveling.

Translations of Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s discourses from Daniel M Stuart and Swe Swe Mon can be found in the paper: Local Cure, Global Chant: Perfomring Theravedic Awakening in the Footsteps of Ledi Sayadaw.

For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.

If you are in need of urgent mental health support, please contact your local emergency services or reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US, or Samaritans in the UK.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Power for Sale, Ep. 4: Business as Usual

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 04:01:07 GMT

With elections just weeks away, and news of more foreign interference scandals in the European parliament, the reporting team gives an accounting of where the investigation and the suspects are to date.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Power for Sale, Ep. 3: Belgiangate

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 04:00:59 GMT

It seemed like the Belgians had everything they needed to bring a case against the people involved with Qatargate, but the investigation hit a wall. Valentina and the reporting team speak to the prosecution side to find out why.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Power for Sale, Ep. 2: Ocean’s Eleven

Wed, 29 May 2024 04:01:28 GMT

Through wiretap transcripts and surveillance footage, captured by Belgian intelligence, Valentina and the investigative reporting team learn just who is involved with this scandal and how it all worked.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Power for Sale, Ep. 1: 'Bags full of money'

Wed, 29 May 2024 04:00:33 GMT

Valentina learns of raids and arrests at the European parliament and a scandal unfolds. They talk to the face of the scandal, Eva Kaili, and hear about the day of the raids through her eyes.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Introducing Untold: Power for Sale

Thu, 16 May 2024 04:10:00 GMT

Introducing Power for Sale, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. In Untold: Power for Sale, host Valentina Pop and a team of FT correspondents from all over Europe investigate what happened in the Qatargate scandal, where EU lawmakers were accused of accepting payments from Qatar to whitewash its image.

Untold: Power for Sale airs May 29. Follow wherever you listen.

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The Retreat, Ep. 4: Another Death

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 05:00:56 GMT

Madison Marriage hears of another death, one that happened five years before Jaqui’s. Was the Goenka network aware of the dangers of intensive meditation? Marriage asks what the organisation is doing, if anything, to protect people from harm.

For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The Retreat, Ep. 3: Jaqui’s Story

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:00:15 GMT

Jaqui was 22 when she signed up to a 10-day Goenka retreat. It was the last known thing she did before she died. This is Jaqui’s story.

For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The Retreat, Ep. 2: Ten Long Days

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 05:01:37 GMT

Emily’s twin sister spirals after going on a Goenka retreat, and she’s not the only one. Madison Marriage hears multiple accounts of terror, hallucinations and psychosis. Was meditation just the catalyst that unleashed psychological problems? Or did this network of silent meditation retreats actually cause their suffering?

For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.

We also spoke to Miguel Farias and Jonny Say to corroborate claims in the podcast about adverse meditation experiences. You can find out more about Farias’s work here, and Say’s here.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The Retreat, Ep. 1: Dear Madison

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 05:00:39 GMT

Madison Marriage receives an email from a desperate father named Stephen. Over the past five years, he says, his twin daughters have changed drastically. They were bright and outgoing, with exciting plans for their future. But over their early twenties, they became increasingly distressed, struggling to eat or sleep and disassociating from normal life. Stephen believes the root of his daughters’ problems is a particular network of intensive meditation retreats.

For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.

Note: This podcast previously included a YouTube clip that described a Vipassana meditation retreat that was not linked to the Goenka network, as originally implied.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Introducing Untold: The Retreat

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 16:42:50 GMT

Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality. And on the other side, they’re not themselves anymore. Untold: The Retreat launches Jan. 24.

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