Off Duty | The Guardian Investigates | The Guardian

A long and bitter legal battle between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman has culminated in victory for the OpenAI boss. Musk has vowed to appeal the verdict. But what did the trial reveal about big tech and the global AI race. Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian US tech and power reporter Nick Robins-Early - watch on YouTube

It has been nearly three weeks since the first reports that a rare hantavirus had spread through a cruise ship, killing three people and infecting others. And now, the World Health Organization has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic ‌of Congo and Uganda a ‘public health emergency of international concern’.

While these outbreaks are unconnected and remain low risk for Australia, questions are being asked about how prepared authorities are for another global outbreak.

Medical editor Melissa Davey speaks to Nour Haydar about the two viruses causing health authorities to reexamine their pandemic plans

Read more: What is Ebola and why is WHO treating outbreak as global health emergency?

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Marva Kreel to review the 2025-26 WSL season

On today’s pod: as the WSL season comes to an end, the panel reviews each team as Manchester City officially lift the Barclays WSL trophy after ending their 10-year wait for a league title. The panel reflects on Andrée Jeglertz’s instant impact, Bunny Shaw’s remarkable season and what the summer could hold amid uncertainty surrounding her future.

Elsewhere, Arsenal secure second place and automatic Champions League qualification but, after another trophyless domestic campaign, the panel assesses where things fell short for Renée Slegers’ side and what the departures of Beth Mead and Katie McCabe mean for the club moving forward.

Anna Isaac on Nigel Farage’s response to the Guardian revelation that he was given an undisclosed £5m gift from a crypto billionaire in 2024

Just weeks before Nigel Farage decided to run as an MP in the 2024 general election, he accepted a £5m gift from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

“When MPs become members of parliament, they are given a copy of the code of conduct,” the Guardian’s City editor, Anna Isaac, tells Annie Kelly. “These are the rules that every MP has to adhere to. And in that code of conduct it says that you need to declare benefits and financial interests. So within 28 days of becoming an MP, you need to go back through your books, through your finances for 12 months beforehand.”

All month, people all over the world have been nervously watching as the Hantavirus spread aboard a cruise ship called the MV Hondius. Three people from the ship died and as the virus spread to other passengers, people wondered – is this the next pandemic? It isn't. But as Guardian health correspondent Melody Schreiber tells host Kai Wright, the outbreak revealed how Trump's cuts to government funding for public health and a climate of rampant misinformation have affected our readiness for the next pandemic.

An outbreak of Ebola has emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, leading to nearly 400 confirmed cases and more than 100 deaths. To find out how the outbreak might have begun, what authorities can do to contain it and why this outbreak is causing particular concern, Ian Sample hears from Daniela Manno, a clinical epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Of all the hearings Alex Villa had been through in nearly 11 years, Jennifer knew this could be the one.

In her possession was the disc with the FBI cellphone map – evidence that prosecutors had never turned over. But in a system that had fought Alex at every turn, would it finally be enough to set him free?

This is the final episode of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Alex was in prison for life, and Jennifer and Eric discovered they’d become captives to the case, too – the ‘termites’ digging in at every level of their lives. For the first time, they thought about giving up. But then they got their hands on a disc they’d never seen before.

This is episode six of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Raul Palma, the video game repair specialist who found the evidence that could break open Alex’s case, had gone missing. Again.

As Jennifer and Eric worry that Raul has been spooked, they must face the prosecutors in a ‘bone-crushing’ courtroom battle for Alex’s life.

This is episode five of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Since the day he was arrested, Tyrone Clay had been asking police to look at his PlayStation. He said he had been playing NBA 2K11 on the night of the murder. For years, the console sat in an evidence room gathering dust while the FBI claimed it was broken beyond repair. That’s until the attorney Eric Bisby came along.

This is episode four of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Unlike the other suspects, Alex Villa refused to confess. He was released after 48 hours, but the police weren’t done with him. Not by a long shot. To build their case, the state relied on three people who claimed they overheard Alex saying he did it. But do their stories check out?

This is episode three of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Within 72 hours, three men confessed to having murdered Officer Clifton Lewis. But in time, they all recanted, insisting they never had anything to do with the murder. So if they didn’t do it, why did they say they did?

This is episode two of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they didn’t do it. But that didn’t seem to matter.

This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

In 2011, a Chicago police officer is murdered. Police find four suspects. Three confess. But the fourth refuses to break. He’ll embark on a 12-year battle to prove his innocence, against a system that refuses to admit it might be wrong. The latest podcast series from Guardian Investigates. Coming soon

A backlash against FBS grows and Emilee and Yolande respond to the growing crisis. This is episode six of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

The Guardian is able to do this kind of work because it has no billionaire owner. But it takes time. To help fund our journalism, consider supporting us at support.theguardian.com.

Thank you for listening to The Birth Keepers.

Emilee and Yolande had grown an ideology and seeded it globally. A reach investigative reporters Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne could not have fathomed when they started reporting on the story. They set out to see just how far FBS has spread. This is episode five of a year-long investigation

Within months of the death of Lorren’s baby, Journey Moon, and the public backlash against the Free Birth Society that followed, Emilee Saldaya took the FBS membership private, turning the business into a global multimillion dollar empire. This is episode four of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

When Lorren Holliday got pregnant in 2018, she joined Emilee Saldaya’s Facebook group and quickly became hooked on the Free Birth Society podcasts. It was a decision that led to tragedy. This is episode three of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

Who is Emilee Saldaya, the woman behind the Free Birth Society movement? And how did she meet her business partner Yolande Norris-Clark? Do either woman have the credentials they are claiming? This is episode two of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

At 13, Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The novel’s capitalist underpinnings promote the idea that people should strive to be their best industrial selves. In this episode, we explore how these values are playing out in Rinehart’s life today, including her proposal to build a coalmine in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. And we hear how author and environmental campaigner Tim Winton views her efforts to prevent an overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws

Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, is well known as a pioneer of Australia’s iron ore industry but few realise Hancock started his mining career on a smaller scale and digging for a different substance – blue asbestos. Hancock and his partner started the mining operation at Wittenoom in the 1940s before selling it to CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with the tragedy that unfolded for the thousands who lived and worked there after exposure to asbestos fibres. In this episode of Gina, we interrogate some of the stories her family chooses to celebrate – and others they don’t

In the previous episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Now, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, speaks publicly for the first time

It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see? This episode is about power and control, and the colonial history of Australia. It contains references to outdated offensive language and events that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may find distressing. It also contains the names of Indigenous Australians who have died

Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with her fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire

We unpack the bitter rivalries, court battles and family conflicts behind the Hancock fortune, and consider a fundamental question: is Rinehart a mining heiress or is she a self-made mining magnate? We look at her crowning achievement to date in her time at the helm of Hancock Prospecting – owning and operating her own iron mine at Roy Hill, something her father was never able to do