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The Slow Newscast

The Observerobserver.co.uk

The Slow Newscast from The Observer takes the news slowly. We investigate, and every week we focus on stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. From wars in Ukraine and Gaza through to true crime and injustice and real life mysteries, The Slow Newscast team is devoted to narrative investigations covering some of the biggest topics of the day.


Who are the people biohacking themselves in a quest for immortality? Or the man taking on an entire nation in the high seas to protect whales? And what happened when humanity's most distant messenger fell silent? From a newsroom with a different approach to journalism these are the stories we tell.


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Episodes

Eight years' hard Labour

This is the inside story of two revolutions in the Labour party in eight short years. From the takeover by the far left under Jeremy Corbyn to the election of Keir Starmer who set about erasing all traces of his predecessor. To listen to the full series subscribe to the feed. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow ...

Nov 28, 202338 minSeason 1Ep. 238

Walter's War: An English gentleman

To listen to the full series subscribe to the Tortoise Investigates feed. It’s London, 2012. Oliver is a dashing diplomat. Charlie is a young graduate trying to find her feet in the world. They meet online and she falls in love. A few months into the relationship, and with his encouragement, Charlie applies for a job in British intelligence. She's feeling optimistic, the interview goes well. Then, she receives a text message that turns her life - and her relationship - upside down. 10 years late...

Nov 21, 202332 minSeason 1Ep. 237

Sneakered: Adidas, Yeezy & Kanye

The deal between Kanye West and Adidas was no ordinary celebrity endorsement. Now under renewed scrutiny after West’s outrageous behaviour, how can one rapper’s departure cause such chaos at a multinational sportswear brand? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of new...

Nov 14, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 236

The lottery winner

Paul Caruana Galizia investigates how a lucrative contract to run the UK’s National Lottery was awarded to a company whose Czech billionaire owner retains links with Russia. Note: Clive Efford MP referred to “a Gazprom owned oil storage unit in the Czech Republic”. It was in fact a “Gazprom owned gas storage unit”. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts...

Nov 07, 202346 minSeason 1Ep. 235

The shadow: Hamas's hidden commander

Mohammed Deif – thought to be the mastermind behind Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th - hasn’t been seen for 20 years and no one’s even sure if he’s still alive. When the enemy is more of an idea than a person, who do you end up fighting? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a di...

Oct 31, 202341 minSeason 1Ep. 234

Dr Anti-Vax: The fall

A British doctor sparks a global health panic about the safety of vaccines. But even though his work is discredited, he lights a fire that becomes the modern anti-vax movement. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at torto...

Oct 24, 202329 minSeason 1Ep. 233

Mr Right: Paul Marshall and the battle for The Telegraph

The Telegraph is for sale for the first time in a generation. The new owner will become one of the most influential people on the right in Britain. Who will win the race? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemed...

Oct 17, 202332 minSeason 1Ep. 232

Killer mountain: Abandoned on K2

It’s been a dangerous year in the world of extreme mountaineering. Has the focus on record-breaking gone too far? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investi...

Oct 10, 202347 minSeason 1Ep. 231

Trump and Rudy: A bare-knuckle romance - episode 3

Twenty years ago, Rudy Giuliani was “America’s mayor”. Now he’s been indicted, along with Donald Trump, for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Will Rudy die in jail for The Don? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider ...

Oct 06, 202341 minSeason 1Ep. 230

Trump and Rudy: A bare-knuckle romance - episode 2

Twenty years ago, Rudy Giuliani was “America’s mayor”. Now he’s been indicted, along with Donald Trump, for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Will Rudy die in jail for The Don? For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and ex...

Oct 05, 202330 minSeason 1Ep. 229

Trump and Rudy: A bare-knuckle romance - episode 1

Twenty years ago, Rudy Giuliani was “America’s mayor”. Now he’s been indicted, along with Donald Trump, for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Will Rudy die in jail for The Don? For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and ex...

Oct 02, 202339 minSeason 1Ep. 228

Blue light: one woman's story of policing on the frontline

For years, Claire McEnery was the most senior woman in the Lancashire police force. With that seniority came exposure to the best – and worst – of life, but also to the best and worst of the police. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donatin...

Sep 26, 202335 minSeason 1Ep. 227

Introducing... Trendy

Welcome to Trendy, the new weekly show from Tortoise. Britain’s top pollster, Sir John Curtice, and former Downing Street advisor, Rachel Wolf, explore the key political, social and economic trends that help shape what voters think and what politicians do. Follow the feed here so you don't miss an episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 21, 20236 min

William and Murdoch: the prince and the press baron

Earlier this year, when the media went into a frenzy about the rift between the royal brothers and the publication of Harry's book Spare Paul Caruana Galizia started looking into a different aspect of the story. One that wasn't getting much attention: Prince Harry’s legal battles with the press. Then in April a new story emerged from that fight. It attracted a brief flurry of interest before seeming to drop out of sight. It was just a line in Prince Harry's court filings, but an extraordinary on...

Sep 19, 202331 minSeason 1Ep. 226

Boris’s Baroness: The mysterious rise of Charlotte Owen

From intern to baroness in seven years, Charlotte Owen’s entry to the House of Lords has left even friends scratching their heads in wonder. Her elevation might be hard to explain, but it tells us volumes about the way British democracy works. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a di...

Sep 12, 202337 minSeason 1Ep. 225

Attack of the Killer Whales

Humans think of themselves as the world’s apex predator. But what happens when another powerful carnivore threatens us in a place where they are the masters? Killer whales have been attacking - and sometimes sinking - sailboats off the coast of Spain and Portugal. This is the story of the changing relationship between humanity and the world’s biggest predator. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free a...

Sep 05, 202328 minSeason 1Ep. 224

Putin v Prigozhin: A story of mutiny and death

In late June, Yevgeny Prigozhin marched on Moscow with a small army of mercenaries. Exactly two months later, he was dead. This is the story of what really happened on the road to Moscow. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Torto...

Aug 29, 202332 minSeason 1Ep. 223

Spotted: snooker’s fight against match fixing

In June a scandal erupted that threatened the future of snooker after ten elite players were banned for match fixing. It all starts in a small snooker hall in Sheffield, but ends on a journey through a several hundred billion dollar a year black market in south-east Asia. This is how snooker uncovered the biggest British match fixing scandal in over a decade. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free ac...

Aug 22, 202336 minSeason 1Ep. 222

Sick river: saving the Brent

Cities are where the battle to save planet earth will be won and lost. But it is not the urban environment that matters, but our relationship with nature within it. What can the story of one dying river, plagued by sewage and indifference, and the campaign to save it, teach us about how to reconnect with and value nature? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple ...

Aug 15, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 221

Johnny Depp: the great uncancelling

In 2017 the MeToo movement swept through Hollywood. Some men, such as Harvey Weinstein, went to prison. Others who were accused of sexual misconduct and assault were ostracised and struggled to find parts in big movies. But six years on some of these same people are back on the red carpets. Is Hollywood trying to rewrite history? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ o...

Aug 08, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 220

The death of Kellie Sutton

A family's six-year fight for a pioneering legal decision. Will an inquest jury conclude, for the first time, that a woman who took her own life was actually killed? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.c...

Jul 31, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 219

Genocide hunters: on the trail of a mass murderer

For almost three decades, one of the world's most wanted men had stayed at large. Earlier this year, he was finally caught. This is the story of how a small band of genocide hunters caught him in a world riddled with secrets, espionage and a $5 million bounty. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and ...

Jul 25, 202340 minSeason 1Ep. 218

Three doors down

In May this year David Boyd was found guilty of the brutal murder of seven year-old Nikki Allan in 1992. Why did it take the police thirty years to find Boyd and get a conviction? This is the story of Nikki’s mother, Sharon Henderson, who has spent thirty years searching for her daughter’s murderer to have him put on trial. Today we're publishing this new series so that listeners of the Slow Newscast can listen early but if you like what you hear and you want to listen to episode two straight aw...

Jul 18, 202326 minSeason 1Ep. 217

The News Meeting with Basia

Slow Newscast host Basia Cummings is in the editor's chair for this episode of The News Meeting. The podcast where three journalists each pitch the one story they think matters most and the editor decides which one should lead the news. In it, we open up the conversations we have all the time in our newsroom about what’s important and why, and what should lead the news. The very kinds of conversations that ultimately decide what stories we tell on the Slow Newscast. In this episode Basia is join...

Jul 14, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 216

Modern family: I had my dead son’s baby at 68

Spanish celebrity Ana Obregón shocked the world when she announced that she had a child via surrogate, using a donor egg and the sperm of her deceased son. Her story takes us to the new frontiers of fertility, where technology challenges our ideas of family, motherhood and the law. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further suppor...

Jul 11, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 215

Crispin Odey: The Octopus’s world

Crispin Odey was one of the most powerful hedge funders in London. He’s been dismissed from his own company which is being wound up after he was accused of assaulting more than a dozen women over many decades. Why did so many institutions apparently turn a blind eye and do nothing for so long - even though these allegations had trailed him for years? For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, sub...

Jul 04, 202337 minSeason 1Ep. 214

Into The Dirt

Rob Moore had a successful career in television until one day he ran out of ideas. After a stint as a gardener, a more enticing door was opened for him. He was offered a job in the shadowy world of corporate intelligence - he became a spy. Tasked with working undercover to extract information from an environmental campaign group, Rob Moore says he eventually became sympathetic to the campaigners’ aims. He decided to turn on his employers and support the group he was meant to be infiltrating. Onl...

Jun 27, 202340 minSeason 1Ep. 213

Gender GP: inside the world of private trans healthcare

Last year journalist Polly Curtis spent months trying to understand what went wrong at the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service for young people. You can hear her Tortoise podcast series: Inside the Tavistock here . In the reporting of that series one thing kept coming up: some young people who couldn’t - for whatever reason - access the Tavistock - the only NHS service in England for young people with gender dysphoria, were going down the private healthcare route. So what happens if ...

Jun 20, 202347 minSeason 1Ep. 212

Epstein's moneymen episode 4: the prey

Bill Gates was the golden philanthropist at the top of the billionaire's league - he was also Epstein's way back into society For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us . Your contributions allow...

Jun 19, 202321 minSeason 1Ep. 211

Epstein's moneymen episode 3: master of the universe

Leon Black was the aggressive private equity billionaire at the top of New York society - he also bankrolled Epstein For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app . For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us . Your contributions allow us to in...

Jun 16, 202325 minSeason 1Ep. 210
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