Intrigue

Latest Episodes:

The Immortals: 1. Dracula Sep 04, 2023

Show notes

Over the last 100 years, we’ve seen global life expectancy double. Could it happen again?

Technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.

Can they? Should they?

Bryan Johnson is a technology success story. In 2013, he sold his company to PayPal for $400 million, and now spends his time - and $2m annually - on the search for eternal life. He believes he has found the secret - or, at least, can find it in the thousands of scientific articles he and his team sift through for their protocol of treatments. The most unusual of which is infusing Bryan’s veins with the plasma of young people.

Has he discovered the fountain of youth?

A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4

New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W

The Immortals: Trailer Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Over the last 100 years, we’ve seen global life expectancy double. Could it happen again? In The Immortals, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers.

They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions they've ushered in the world that we live in today. Some of them now want to solve the problem of aging - or even death itself - and they are making bigger strides than we may think. Can they? Should they?

A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4

Burning Sun: 6. The Reckoning Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

The K-pop stars are jailed for their crimes and some women hope this and other sex abuse scandals might finally spark a real social change. Instead, all it does is fan the growing divisions between men and women. Then the gender war goes mainstream and plays out during the recent presidential election.

For the first time, we give the definitive account of the sex scandals that brought down some of Korea’s biggest K-pop stars. It’s a tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of wholesome pop music.

Co-creator, presenter and writer: Chloe Hadjimatheou Local Producer: Lee Hyun Choi Assistant Producer and researcher: Loonie Park and Jeong-One Park Translator and researcher: Jinny Yeon Music: Tom Haines at Brain Audio Sound Design: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio Co-creator and executive producer: Kavita Puri

ACTORS Kang Kyung-Yoon: Julee Cerda Goo Hoin: Jun Noh Choi In-Ho: Je Seung Lee Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: 5. An Extreme Decision Jul 24, 2023

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Journalist Kang receives a surprising call from K-pop royalty Goo-Hara, who wants to help her with her investigation, as some of the people in the chatroom were her friends. Goo Hara, like many South Korean women is a victim of digital sex crime. Her very public battle in taking a stand against it, receives enormous coverage into her private life and she is mercilessly trolled. It’s too much for her, and will end in tragedy.

For the first time, we give the definitive account of the sex scandals that brought down some of Korea's biggest K-pop stars. It’s a tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of wholesome pop music.

ACTORS Kang Kyung-Yoon: Julee Cerda Goo Hoin: Jun Noh Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: 4. Consent Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

The scandals are making headlines around the world ánd K-pop fans react. Jung’s superfan watches as one after another K-pop star is arrested. She has had enough and becomes part of a feminist movement for change against spy cam crimes and misogyny. The woman who made the original allegation against Jung says she regrets not pursuing it. She was viciously trolled after her accusation, and she campaigns to make sure this never happens again to another woman who dares to speak out.

ACTORS Kang Kyung-Yoon: Julee Cerda Oh Se-Yeon: Rosa Escoda Ryu Ho-Jeong: Tina Chiang Kyung-Mi: Pricilla Chung Jung Joon-Yung: J Sebastian Lee Kakao chat voices: Jun Noh, Wontek Woo, Je Seung Lee Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: 3. The Nightclub Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

A rival broadcaster reveals a shocking scandal at the exclusive Burning Sun nightclub, co-owned by Seungri – one of the members of Big Bang, and a global K-pop star. There are disturbing accounts emerging of underground rooms where women are taken, and the police investigate. And Journalist Kang is about to drop a bombshell.

ACTORS Kang Kyung-Yoon: Julee Cerda Seungri: Je Seung Lee Black Pink: Pricilla Chung, Eden Jun MD Cho: J Sebastian Lee MD Lee: Winson Ting Jin-Ah: Eden Jun Radio Presenters: Winson Ting, J Sebastian Lee Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: 2. Kakao Talk Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

Someone is holding popstar Jung’s phone in their hands. And what they see on it is shocking. Another journalist Kang Kyung-Yoon gets a tip-off and starts investigating the chat-rooms, and is overwhelmed by the crimes she sees. Sex videos being shared by well-known celebrities, and in some the women are unconscious and being sexually assaulted. She tracks down some of the victims, and the more she digs, the more she uncovers.

ACTORS Joh: Pricilla Chung Kang Kyung-Yoon: Julee Cerda Jung Joon-Yung: J Sebastian Lee Kakao chat voices: Jun Noh, Wontek Woo, Je Seung Lee Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: 1. The Phone Call Jun 26, 2023

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“I had no idea how big it was going to be….”

Journalist Park Hyo-sil gets a tip off that music and TV star, Jung Joon-young, is being investigated by police for secretly filming a woman during sex. We find out about Jung, his wholesome, attractive personality and wide popularity. And we meet one of his superfans whose whole life revolves around him. She, like many others, don’t want to believe the accusations against Jung. So when Park publishes her story she encounters an extraordinary backlash. And it gets worse after the woman who made the allegation against Jung withdraws it and the police drop the case. Jung’s career goes from strength to strength. Except, someone has seen what’s on Jung’s phone…and it’s far worse than just one secret sex video. The contents of that phone will shake the K-pop world and South Korea.

ACTORS Park Hyo-Sil: Julie Yoonnyung Lee Oh Se-Yeon: Rosa Escoda Jung’s accuser: Pricilla Chung Jung Joon-Yung: J Sebastian Lee Drama director: Anne Isger

Burning Sun: Trailer Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

The sex scandals that brought down some of the world’s biggest K-pop Stars. A tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of wholesome pop music. In 2019 some of the world’s biggest music stars were found guilty of sharing secretly filmed sex videos, others of rape. Korean heart-throbs, used to being mobbed by adoring female fans, had been videoing themselves committing acts of terrible abuse and sharing them on group chats with each other. When all this came to light, these super-stars wound up in jail, and their global fans were left in shock. For the first time, we give the definitive account of the scandal, how it came to light and the explosive fallout, told by the people who were at the heart of uncovering the story. We explore how the case highlighted an ‘epidemic’ of spy-cam crimes, where women are filmed without their consent walking up metro stairs, in public toilets and during sex. And how this abuse and misogyny has driven a wedge between many men and women, so deep that some believe it’s causing an existential crisis for South Korea.

Co-creator, presenter and writer: Chloe Hadjimatheou Location Producer: Lee Hyun Choi Assistant Producer and researcher: Jeong-One Park Translator and researcher: Jinny Yeon Music: Tom Haines at Brain Audio Sound Design: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio Co-creator and executive producer: Kavita Puri

Mayday: The Evidence Gatherers Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

In a secret location in a European city is an archive that contains over a million documents. It’s run by a tough-talking Canadian, Bill Wiley, who set up an evidence-gathering organisation funded by Western governments.

Using undercover criminal investigators operating inside a war zone, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) has spent the last eight years extracting official documents from Syria. Wiley says that evidence will prove that the Assad regime has been responsible for a campaign of torture and murder against its own people.

CIJA's documents are being used right now in a criminal case in the West to prosecute members of the Syrian regime. But there are those who would discredit the evidence and the people who gather it. These include a group of respected academics here in the UK who are accused of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the war, twisting the narrative so that the Syrian regime becomes the victim and the British government bears responsibility for war crimes.

It is a new kind of warfare being fought not on the ground but on the internet. Who will win?

Writer, producer and presenter Chloe Hadjimatheou Editor Emma Rippon Researchers Orla O’Brien and Lara Al Gibaly Executive producer Maggie Latham Sound design and mix Neil Churchill Mark Fleischman played the role of Prof Paul McKeigue and the role of Ivan Commissioner for Radio 4 Richard Knight

Correction: We stated that Feras Fayyad won an Oscar - instead his films were nominated on two occasions for an Oscar but did not win.

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