About Intrigue
Twenty-five years on from the deadliest terror attack in history, BBC investigative journalist Jane McMullen asks why thousands of grieving families are still fighting for answers. In early 2000, two young Saudis arrived in San Diego. They had never been to America, spoke almost no English, and had no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat. Within weeks they had done all of it. Twenty...
Intrigue episodeslatest 50
#1Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 1
· 22:55
The story of the mysterious murder which changed the course of Chinese politics. Carrie Gracie investigates the killing of a British man, Neil Heywood, in Chongqing in 2011, and explores his links to China's...
#2Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 2
· 23:17
We've met the mayor's wife. Now meet the mayor, the remarkable man who takes this story to the national stage. The continuing true story of death, sex and elite politics in China, presented by BBC's former China Editor...
#3Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 3
· 18:42
What really happened in the hotel suite in Chongqing? The British businessman and go-between Neil Heywood arrives in Chongqing, where an"iron-blooded" police chief holds sway. The continuing true story of sex, death and...
#4Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 4
· 21:53
A spectacular show trial exposes the lavish lifestyle of China's new elite. The continuing true story of sex, death and top-level Chinese poltiics, told by the BBC's former China Editor, Carrie Gracie. Producers: Maria...
#5Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 5
· 20:51
How the murder of British businessman and fixer Neil Heywood changed China. Concluding the true-life tale of sex, death and politics, told by the BBC's former China Editor Carrie Gracie. As we hear, however, the story...
#1Word of God: 1. In the Beginning Was the Word
· 28:53
In July 2017, Dr Jeff Kloha is preparing to start his dream job as Director of Collections at Washington DC's new Museum of the Bible when he discovers his new employer’s biggest donor has been caught up in a government...
#2Word of God: 2. Roberta Investigates
· 28:53
A threatening message leads a papyrologist into the shadowy world of online antiquities trading. On a September morning in 2017, Dr Roberta Mazza opens her WhatsApp to find menacing messages and warnings to "watch her...
#3Word of God: 3. Holy Grail
· 28:54
A biblical scholar's dramatic last-minute announcement at a packed debate hints at a fragment that could rewrite history. On a winter's night in 2012, an extraordinary claim electrifies a university auditorium in North...
#4Word of God: 4. You've Got Mail
· 28:45
Federal investigators uncover a shadowy scheme to smuggle ancient clay tablets into America. When customs officers in Memphis inspect a package labelled "tile samples" in January 2011, they discover something far more...
#5Word of God: 5. Revelations
· 28:35
In April 2019, Dr Roberta Mazza receives an email from an academic in charge of Research at the Museum of the Bible which leads to the exposure of one of the most extraordinary breaches of trust in biblical scholarship...
#6Word of God: 6. Higher Powers
· 28:55
A dark, cold morning in February 2025. Hundreds are filing into the Museum of the Bible - evangelical leaders, gospel singers, and over 30 members of Congress including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They've...
#1Ransom Man: 1. Naked
· 28:57
A shocking data breach at a Finnish psychotherapy service. Jenny Kleeman traces the story of a nation’s secrets held to ransom by a faceless hacker. We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine...
#2Ransom Man: 2. Whoopsie :D
· 28:26
After a shocking data breach at the Finnish psychotherapy service Vastaamo, a nation’s secrets are being held to ransom by a faceless hacker. Jenny Kleeman traces the story. After negotiations with Vastaamo fail...
#3Ransom Man: 3. For the LOLz
· 29:01
ransom_man’s final post contained clues to his identity. In those clues, former cybercrime detective Antti Kurittu recognises similarities to of the biggest hacker he ever investigated, a Finnish teenager called Julius...
#4Ransom Man: 4. The Zen Garden
· 28:13
Authorities think Julius Kivimäki could be responsible for the Vastaamo data breach and the leaking of patient records. They want to bring him in for questioning, but he’s disappeared. Kivimäki is known to brag about...
#5Ransom Man: 5. 635 Years of Suffering
· 28:56
Within a month of the Vastaamo data breach, Tomi Haustola, a Finnish stand up comedian, is on stage making jokes about it. But Tomi himself is one of the thousands of victims. He tells Jenny how he went to Vastaamo...
#6Ransom Man: 6. Nameless, Faceless People
· 29:00
Crossing the road between interviews, Jenny receives the opportunity she has been waiting for. A chance to meet Julius Kivimäki and finally seek answers from him. She heads to Turku prison in Western Finland, where...
#1To Catch a King: 1. Kardo
· 34:04
A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries. They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya...
#2To Catch a King: 2. The Bullet Train
· 33:43
Gangs exert power through fear, but where are they getting weapons from? A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the...
#3To Catch a King: 3. Stormy Weather
· 33:58
A pause in small boat crossings and a coincidence that reveals how boats are delivered. A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal...
#4To Catch a King: 4. The French Escort
· 33:46
A hidden location. Migrants awaiting a boat crossing. Who helps them to reach the UK? A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal...
#5To Catch a King: 5. Travel Agents
· 34:52
A Turkish smuggler and his money man reveal more about alliances between criminal gangs. A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal...
#6To Catch a King: 6. Ranya Boys
· 35:30
Sue and Rob head to the Iraqi town that’s become a hotbed of smuggling and the starting point for many migrant journeys – Ranya. There, they unravel what's happened to scores of missing boys taken hostage and tortured...
#7To Catch a King: 7. Boats, Trucks and Planes
· 34:20
A late night phone call: have Sue and Rob finally unmasked the people-smuggling king pin? A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal...
#8To Catch a King: 8. Return of the King
· 34:19
The search for a convicted people smuggler who put money in the UK planning for retirement. This investigation stems from a tip-off: a convicted smuggler once dubbed the most successful in history, is currently living...
#1Lockerbie: 1. The Bomb
· 29:28
Myles Bonnar pieces together the original police investigation. He goes back to the night of the explosion; tracking down three sources, each with unique insight into how the police investigation unfolded. From the very...
#2Lockerbie: 2. Made in Malta
· 30:00
In 1988, Dumfries and Galloway police is the smallest force in the UK: only 310 officers. Now they’re dealing with the world’s biggest crime scene. Detectives from all over Scotland are bussed into Lockerbie overnight...
#3Lockerbie: 3. Occam's Razor
· 32:49
A grieving father is convinced the police investigation into Lockerbie got it wrong. Myles Bonnar speaks with Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the explosion. He tells Myles he believes the real culprit is Iran...
#4Lockerbie: 4. Puzzle Piece
· 27:30
Secret agent or fantasist? Jim Swire first met David BenAryeah at a gathering of the Lockerbie relatives in 1989. BenAryeah soon began passing him secret files from classified sources. So where did he get this...
#5Lockerbie: 5. The Senussi Files
· 30:58
Secret documents are recovered from the wreckage of Libyan intelligence agency. Myles Bonnar is given access to copies of secret Libyan files which raise fresh questions about Megrahi and his alleged co-conspirators...
#6Lockerbie: 6. Chasing Ghosts
· 29:28
Despite a global investigation Megrahi’s conviction, and the failed appeals that followed, remain tainted- for some- by doubt and conspiracy theory. After almost four decades, a new Lockerbie trial. Abu Agila Masud is...
#1A 9/11 Story: 1. Neighbours
· 14:18
In early 2000, two young Saudis arrive in San Diego. They had never been to America, speak almost no English, and have no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat. But one Arabic-speaking neighbour offers help...
#2A 9/11 Story: 2. Mommy's Okay
· 16:07
With the phone to her ear and her eyes on the TV, Terry Strada is unable to comprehend how her life is about to change. Her husband is on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center and their...
#3A 9/11 Story: 3. The Helpful Man
· 14:06
After 9/11, FBI Special Agent Danny Gonzalez is chasing leads in San Diego, where two of the hijackers once lived. But another name keeps coming up. A BBC News Long Form Audio production. Host: Jane McMullen Series...
#4A 9/11 Story: 4. A Chance Meeting
· 14:17
Inside Britain's most secure interrogation room, Detective Constable David Campbell of Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch has just seven days to question the hijackers’ neighbour from San Diego. A BBC News Long Form...
#5A 9/11 Story: 5. Mosque and State
· 14:30
Terry Strada joins a lawsuit on behalf of 9/11 families, while Special Agent Danny Gonzalez and the FBI continue their investigation in secret. A BBC News Long Form Audio production. Host: Jane McMullen Series producer...
#6A 9/11 Story: 6. More Questions than Answers
· 14:19
The FBI’s Danny Gonzalez suffers setbacks professional and personal after British police release the man at the centre of his investigation: Omar Al-Bayoumi. And official inquiries fail to provide Terry Strada the...
#7A 9/11 Story: 7. Secret Weapon
· 14:10
To keep a promise to her kids, Terry Strada must master an unknown world and defy a president...all in uncomfortable shoes. She’s pounding the corridors of power in Washington, but a decisive moment comes at an opulent...
#8A 9/11 Story: 8. The Party
· 14:19
When one of Omar Al-Bayoumi’s home videos contains more than was first thought, FBI Special Agent Danny Gonzalez is shocked. Decades after he should have seen it, can it make a difference? A BBC News Long Form Audio...
#1The Ratline: 1. The Secrets in the Castle
· 19:49
Philippe Sands investigates the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi Otto Wachter, who was indicted for mass murder. The Ratline is a story of a curious death, political intrigue, spies, Nazi hunters, shadowy forces...
#2The Ratline: 2. Meet the Wachters
· 25:54
Otto and Charlotte Wachter climb to power, after Hitler annexes Austria, with Otto at his side. Otto's job takes the family to a palace in Krakow and on to Galicia, where his story collides with those of the family of...
#3The Ratline: 3. A Lot Going On in Lemberg
· 32:18
The criminal charge sheet against senior Nazi Otto Wachter. Whilst Charlotte Wachter and her children were spending the summer in Zell am See, Otto was in Lemberg overseeing the 'Grosse Aktion' - the mass deportation of...
#4The Ratline: 4. Where's Otto?
· 24:58
The war is over and Otto Wachter has disappeared. Whilst his friends are committing suicide or being tried for mass murder Otto has escaped high into the mountains with the help of a young SS soldier. Meanwhile his wife...
#5The Ratline: 5. La Forza del Destino
· 25:24
Midnight. Rome. 1949. Otto Wachter, a Nazi on the run, arrives in the Eternal City, penniless, homeless, searching for a way out to Argentina. He's also unwittingly found himself in the middle of a battle between East...
#6The Ratline: 6. The Men Who Murdered Nazis
· 21:39
Otto contracts a strange illness and Charlotte rushes to Rome to be by his side. Philippe talks to an old friend who was working for British intelligence in 1949 and explores who might have been hunting Otto in Rome and...
#7The Ratline: 7. The Nazi Bishop
· 25:34
Philippe Sands accesses the Vatican archives to find out about Otto's protector in Rome, the man who was by his side as he lay dying, Alois Hudal. Hudal's archivist reveals to the team something extraordinary. Producer...
#8The Ratline: 8. Nest of Spies
· 30:57
Philippe and the team work out the identity of the mysterious man Otto lunched with on Lake Albano, and discover he too is connected with the Nazi Bishop. They take a trip to the lake to meet the Priest who buried the...
#9The Ratline: 9. The Lucids
· 28:38
Philippe travels to Albuquerque to meet Tom Lucid Jnr, the son of the CIA agent who recruited Karl Hass, chief source on Project Los Angeles and the man Otto had lunch with on Lake Albano. How much does he know about...
#10The Ratline: 10. Persilschein
· 30:07
In the final episode of The Ratline, the Persilschein and denial continue. Charlotte Wachter finally brings Otto home. Philippe takes a forensic look at how Otto died and returns to Hagenberg to confront Horst with some...
#11The Ratline: Bonus: Stephen Fry meets Philippe Sands
· 20:12
In a bonus episode of Intrigue: The Ratline, Stephen Fry interviews Philippe Sands in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in London. They discuss a range of issues brought up by the series including historical...
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Frequently asked questions about Intrigue
How can I listen to Intrigue online for free?+
You can play Intrigue straight from this page: pick the episode you want and press play. There is no sign-up, no app to download and nothing to install.
How many episodes does Intrigue have?+
Intrigue has published 134 episodes so far. This page carries the 50 most recent, newest first.
Who presents Intrigue?+
Intrigue is presented by BBC Radio 4.
What is the latest episode of Intrigue?+
The most recent episode is "Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Episode 1", published on 17 Feb 2017. New episodes appear here as soon as they go out on the programme's feed.
Can I listen to Intrigue from outside the UK?+
Yes. Intrigue plays over the internet, so it works from any country with no location restrictions.