North Korean troops are in combat, likely for the first time since the Korean war in the 1950s. Not in Korea, but in Europe. Because last summer Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in Kursk, Russia. Since then, Russia have retaken most of the land taken. To do so, Russia looked towards North Korea. This is the story of Kursk...and how North Korea came to play a potentially key role in the war. Reporter: Claudia Williams Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola William...
Apr 22, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 332
Manchester United is a club used to success. But it is languishing in the league and saddled with debt. This is the story of how one of the world's most successful football clubs fell apart. Reporter: Xavier Greenwood Producer: Xavier Greenwood Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 15, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 331
Earlier this year the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, wrote about a group of people he called zealots. And he identified one man in particular who the Prime Minister claimed was costing the country its future. But maybe he's saving it? This is the story of that man, the so-called zealots, and a prime minister who wants to take them on. Reporter: Katie Gunning Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download...
Apr 08, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 330
Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and corporate America has supposedly followed suit. But this has someone else's fingerprints all over it. This is the story of how one man tried to kill an idea. Reporter: Stephen Armstrong Producer: Ada Barumé Sound design: Karla Patella Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalis...
Apr 01, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 329
Memecoins started as a fad. A niche but fun way to bet on the longevity of internet trends. But then, days before his second inauguration, Donald Trump launched his own, $TRUMP… and changed the game. The value soared as supporters piled in, before crashing when his wife, Melania Trump, also released one. Amid the mayhem, one early buyer of the coin walked away with $109 million. The path to finding out who profited from $TRUMP goes through Argentina, where a young and naive entrepreneur called H...
Mar 25, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 328
Surfing’s ultimate barrier is the 100 foot wave. In Dec 23-year-old Alo Slebir is rumoured to have surfed a 108 foot wave. The problem is no one can agree how big the wave actually was. Reporter: Claudia Williams Producer: Ada Barumé Sound design: Karla Patella Artwork: Lola Williams Executive Producer: Matt Russell Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our jo...
Mar 18, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 327
Donald Trump promised to release classified files about extraterrestrials. But even if they disappoint the millions of people hoping to find proof of existence of aliens, there is a growing belief in the scientific community that it is only a matter of time before proof of life outside our solar system is found. Reporter: Giles Whittell Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – f...
Mar 11, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 326
A week before Donald Trump's inauguration, a real estate mogul flew to Jerusalem to meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Within days, a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was agreed. What happened that weekend and how influential was the businessman in the diplomatic negotiations? Reporter: Donald Macintyre Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Tom Burchell Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Dow...
Mar 04, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 325
Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the damage it’s caused him. But his story is not straight forward. Reported and produced by: Chloe Hadjimatheou and Gary Marshall Sound design: Hannah Varrall Podcast artwork: Lola Williams Executive producer: Basia Cummings You can find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a liste...
Feb 25, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 324
Last year we published a podcast series called Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman. Five women accused the best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman of sexually assaulting them. Neil Gaiman denied the allegations. It was a complicated and difficult story which shone a light on the nature of consent within an existing relationship. Now, one of those women has filed a lawsuit in the United States against both Neil Gaiman and his estranged wife, Amanda Palmer. She explains why. Ne...
Feb 18, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 323
The flagship policy for several Prime Ministers became the Rwanda plan. But three years, four Prime Ministers and £715 million later, the policy is dead and never really got off the ground. This is how so much money was spent on so little. Reporter: Catherine Neilan Producer: Ada Barume Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience c...
Feb 11, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 322
For more than two years, Special Counsel Jack Smith investigated allegations of President Trump’s election fraud. His investigation ended last month – not with a trial, but a dense report. Why has nobody paid attention? Reporter: Stephen Armstrong Producer: Claudia Williams Executive producer: Matt Russell Editor: Jasper Corbett Artwork: Lola Williams To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple...
Feb 04, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 321
One of the most difficult questions facing a judge in the family court is which parent should have custody of a child. To help them answer that, judges rely on independent experts to provide an impartial voice in the court. But what happens when the objectivity of those experts is questioned? This is the story of how the family courts have failed some of the children it exists to protect. Reporters: Louise Tickle and Hannah Summers Additional reporting: Paul Bradshaw, Serena Cesaro, William Jarr...
Jan 30, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 320
In October 2022 the course of the Russia's war in Ukraine shifted. Intelligence from the USA and UK indicated that Russia could turn to a nuclear bomb to get on top of the war. This is the story of those six days in October, and just how close Putin really came to pressing the nuclear button. Reporter: Giles Whittell Producer: Ada Barume Additional reporting: Nina Kuryata Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To...
Jan 21, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 319
Last October, the head of MI5 said Russia was on a mission to cause "sustained mayhem" on European streets. It might be hard to spot at first, but it is there in plain sight. This is the unpredictable, violent world of the modern Russian intelligence services Reporter: Alexi Mostrous Producer: Gary Marshall Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a l...
Jan 14, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 318
Jordan Peterson is a controversial figure, but he is also a man with a long-standing appeal to a particular demographic. What does his popularity tell us about a possible crisis in young men today? Reporter: Stephen Armstrong Producer: Matt Russell Artwork: Lola Williams Sound design: Hannah Varrall Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and...
Jan 07, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 317
Xavier Greenwood’s childhood memories are dominated by a speech impediment and a thick accent. But was it all in his head? Reporter: Xavier Greenwood Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offer...
Dec 31, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 316
David Bowie's last months were spent fulfilling one final ambition: staging a musical based around his songs. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. Zelda Perkins not only met hers, she produced the musical he staged in his dying days Reporter: Zelda Perkins Artwork: Emma O'Neil Sound design: Dominic Delargy Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts...
Dec 24, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 315
The tech millionaire Bryan Johnson once went viral for infusing himself with a litre of his 17-year-old son’s blood plasma. That experiment failed, but it hasn’t distracted him from his life’s mission: reversing ageing. Now, the self-declared professional guinea pig has travelled to a libertarian free zone on a remote Caribbean island, to receive experimental gene therapy administered by a company called Minicircle. In the crypto city of Próspera, Roatán, the Honduran government gran...
Dec 17, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 314
The fall of Assad in Syria is a disaster for Iran, so much so that people are beginning to ask if this might finally be the moment when Iran’s pro-democracy movement breaks through. This is the story of one activist’s 25 year fight against the Islamic regime in Iran, a story of courage and despair. Reporter: Ceri Thomas Producer: Katie Gunning Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Jon Hill Show's Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a...
Dec 10, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 313
In June 2024, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore went into space. It was expected to last just over a week. Instead, by the time they'll return, it'll have been more than eight months. This is the story of how two great American institutions - Boeing and NASA - failed them. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to...
Dec 03, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 312
Eugenia Kuyda thinks she can solve an “epidemic” of loneliness. Her app, Replika, is “the AI companion who cares”, a chatbot that can text you, flirt with you, and promises to love you unconditionally. But Replika is fraught with ethical concerns – and risks. In 2021 19-year-old Jaswant Chail told Replika: “I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen.” The chatbot replied that this was “very wise”. A few days later, Chail broke into Windsor Castle with a crossbow. Patricia ...
Nov 26, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 311
Out on the high seas, Paul Watson became a hero and pariah of the environmental movement. Now he sits in a remote prison. How should we treat the radicals willing to go to extremes to protect the planet? Reported by: Basia Cummings and Xavier Greenwood Produced by: Xavier Greenwood Sound design by: Hannah Varrall and Dominic Delargy Edited by: Gary Marshall and Matt Russell Podcast artwork by: Jon Hill Image credit: Mirco Taliercio/laif/ Camera Press To find out more about Tortoise: Download the...
Nov 19, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 310
When Donald Trump declared victory in the US presidential election, he told an adoring crowd that "a star is born". He was referring to Elon Musk. After months of reporting on the billionaire's use of private investigators, Alexi Mostrous asks whether the insights he gained from that investigation reveal how Musk will operate in his new political era, and what that means for everything in his orbit. Reported and produced by: Alexi Mostrous, Gary Marshall, Matt Russell & Patricia Clarke. ...
Nov 12, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 309
This is a story of stigma, uncomfortable truths and allegations of an attempted cover up at Britain's biggest army base. As the UK army rapidly modernises its approach towards mental health, an old cultural problem persists at Catterick Garrison where a series of repeated, systemic errors have been uncovered. Reporters: Claudia Williams and Angela Walker To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Ap...
Nov 05, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 308
The Fury family bridge the gladiatorial old world of boxing and the very new world of influencer culture. This is the story of how one family built a multi-million pound empire with their fists. Reporter: Claudia Williams Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Hannah Varrall Exec: Basia Cummings To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a mem...
Oct 29, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 307
For thirty years, Sean "Diddy" Combs was hailed as the kingmaker of hip-hop. But now he's in jail, facing three federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and interstate transportation for prostitution, as well as over 140 civil lawsuits. One of America's biggest cultural superstars is perhaps on the cusp of a spectacular fall from grace. How could a life lived in the glare of the spotlight allegedly conceal so many dark secrets? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the To...
Oct 22, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 306
Whether Trump wins or loses the US election, he has a political heir: his 40-year-old running mate JD Vance. Beyond the made-up stories about Haitian immigrants eating pets, Vance is deadly serious and he has a plan. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If yo...
Oct 15, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 305
This is episode one of three. You can binge the entire series today by subscribing to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or by downloading the Tortoise app. Elon Musk is one of the most powerful men in the world. He's a billionaire, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla and more. To his followers, he's a hero; to his critics, a far-right rabble rouser. But for someone so public, there’s one part of his life that’s less well known. Elon’s Spies investigates how this free-speech champion uses pri...
Oct 08, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 304
Iran is at an inflection point both on the international stage and at home. Uncertainty, unrest and war have shaken it, and there are questions over how long their 85 year old leader will be able to carry on. So who rules Iran when Ayatollah Khamenei dies? And what will that reveal about a deeply opaque country? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free c...
Oct 01, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 303
