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.
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content
Head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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.
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content
Head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Since May, almost 900 Palestinians are reported to have been killed in the vicinity of aid checkpoints. So what exactly has happened at these aid sites?
Reporter: Ruth Michaelson
Producer: Madeleine Parr
Artwork: Jon Jones & Lola Williams
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Editors: Jasper Corbett & Matt Russell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Unite was once the biggest trade union in Britain, and the largest funder of the Labour Party. In the past its reputation has come under scrutiny. Four years after its first female leader was elected on a promise of restoring trust… it remains mired by in-fighting.
Reporter: Jon Ungoed-Thomas
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Art work: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The week in culture, annotated. Writer and journalist Liv Little and Observer critic Miranda Sawyer get notes from editors all the time - now it’s their turn to hand them out. Every Wednesday morning, Liv and Miranda weigh in on the latest cultural happenings, from reality TV meltdowns and art house films, to gallery openings and TikTok trends. Smart, funny, and full of sharp observations. We Have Notes is culture with commentary.
Let’s chat! Send us your voice notes!
@WeHaveNotes_Pod on Instagram
@WeHaveNotes_Pod on TikTok
wehavenotes@observer.co.uk via email
Watch the full episode on YouTube - HERE
Hosts: Liv Little and Miranda Sawyer
Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore
Producer: Casey Magloire
Artwork: Lola Williams and Blythe Walker Sibthorp
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Insiders tell the story of how the US Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has hollowed out the Center for Disease Control putting the whole world at risk in the event of another pandemic.
Reporter: Stephen Armstrong
Producer: Ada Barumé
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Art work: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What happens when you get new blood and new DNA from a complete stranger? This is the story of a woman whose own features began to change following a stem cell transplant.
Reporter: Eva Wiseman
Producer: Matt Russell
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A city in Honduras is home to a start-up selling experimental gene therapies for $25,000 a dose. Now, those radical ideas are reaching the United States. What happens when biohacking leaves libertarian fringes… and reaches Capitol Hill?
Reporter: Patricia Clarke
Producer: Madeleine Parr
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lola Williams
Executive Producer: Matt Russell
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Anna Netrebko was the biggest opera star in a generation. Since the war, due to past support for Vladimir Putin, she has effectively been boycotted by theatres around the world. Except, this autumn, she’ll be headlining the Royal Opera House’s new season.
Reporters: Vanessa Thorpe, Nina Kuryata and Lauren Crosby Medlicott
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Executive Producer: Matt Russell
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For nearly a decade beekeepers around the world have been saying that there’s something very wrong with the honey industry. Prices are down, and so is production, but there’s more honey being sold than ever before. So what exactly is in that jar in your kitchen cupboard? An investigation by The Observer reveals a global honey fraud that begins in China and ends with allegations of adulterated jars on UK supermarkets shelves
Reporter: Jon Ungoed-Thomas
Producer: Ada Barumé
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Executive Producer: Matt Russell
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The number of teenage boys killed on our streets has more than doubled in a decade. This is the story of a mother trying to stop it, while dealing with grief and anger for her son.
Reporter: Francisco Garcia
Producer: Matt Russell
Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorp
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HS2 should have been a symbol of engineering excellence. Instead half of it has been scrapped and it's still running £50 billion over budget. This is the story of how Britain’s largest infrastructure project became its biggest scandal.
Reporter: Stephen Armstrong
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
This episode is sponsored by The Life of Chuck. Join us across the UK for a preview screening on Wednesday 13 August, before it hits cinemas nationwide on 20 August. Find the locations and book now at SEEITFIRST.COM and enter the code CHUCK.
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As a tax haven Jersey has a reputation for welcoming the wealthy with open arms, but how does it treat other kinds of immigrants? Jane Kiiti came from Kenya to work in Jersey’s hotels for more than twenty years. Her death raises questions about the conditions migrant workers face and whether the island is doing enough to prevent their exploitation.
This episode is sponsored by The Life of Chuck. Join us across the UK for a preview screening on Wednesday 13 August, before it hits cinemas nationwide on 20 August. Find the locations and book now at SEEITFIRST.COM and enter the code CHUCK.
Reporter: Orlando Crowcroft
Producer: Ada Barumé
Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorpe
Sound design: Dominic DeLargey
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. But the truth behind the hit memoir is very different.
Reporter: Chloe Hadjimatheou
Producer: Matt Russell
Field Producers: Leonie Thomas and Helen Clifton
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound design: Tom Burchell
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Kathleen Folbigg was known as ‘Australia's worst female serial killer’ - she’d lost all four of her infant children and was convicted for killing them.
Until, after spending decades in jail, a scientist working in a lab uncovered the truth behind the deaths.
The Lab detective is the story of a shocking miscarriage of justice, and an investigation into why Kathleen’s story might not be the last. To listen to more episodes of The Lab Detective, go to Tortoise Investigates.
Our thanks to The Francis Crick Institute for sharing recordings and insights.
Reporter: Rachel Sylvester
Producer: Gary Marshall
Music supervisor: Karla Patella
Sound design: Rowan Bishop
Podcast artwork: Lola Williams
Executive producer: Basia Cummings
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is the story of how and why a small Central European country became the epicenter of global conservatism. It’s the tale of two men…and what happens when we ignore the powerful forces behind a government.
Reporter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound Design: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is the story of how a boxing match helped solve a 50-year art world mystery. And how, when a man anmed Ted wades in to stop a mugging in Soho, it leads to a most unlikely life-altering friendship with an artist who makes him, or his picture, immortal.
Reporter: Stephen Smith
Producer: Katie Gunning
Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorpe
Sound Designer: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We are partnering with the podcast Drilled, to share something extra with you this week so that we can continue to bring our listeners brilliant investigations on The Slow Newscast and across The Observer audio network. You can discover more at https://observer.co.uk/listen.
This season, Drilled follows reporter Alleen Brown through a legal trial that will change the course of activism in the U.S. and beyond. Greenpeace, which was only tangentially involved in the Standing Rock protests, has been slapped with a $666 million bill for damages...despite the fact that the Dakota Access Pipeline was built, and has been making its builder, Energy Transfer, millions of dollars for years. How did we get here? Cody Hall, an Indigenous activist who was a key figure during the Standing Rock protests and was targeted in Energy Transfer's lawsuit, walks us through how things went down back in 2016, and where this suit began.
If you're hooked, you can find more Drilled episodes at https://push.fm/fl/drilled
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Liz Truss was the UK’s shortest serving prime minister, but since leaving office she’s continued to buck the trend. Post premiership, she’s become one of the most vocal among her peers.
What has driven her into the arms of the populist right? And what does it tell us about the state of the party she has left behind?
Reporter: Philip Collins
Producer: Ada Barumé
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound Designer: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the UK, a person is reported missing every 90 seconds. But how in a society of internet, phones and social media is it so easy to go missing? This is the story of two men...and how sometimes people don't even realise they've gone missing.
Reporter: Francisco Garcia
Producer: Matt Russell
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The police have an increasingly bad reputation when it comes to dealing with violence against women and girls. Forces in England and Wales say they’re trying to fix that, but its track record within its own ranks paints a very different picture. This is the story of three women with one shared experience- being a police officer whose own institution can’t help them escape the abuse of their partners.
Reporter: Eve Livingstone
Producer: Ada Barumé
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound Design: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
-Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk
-Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
-If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A bunker. A scenario. A group of former senior ministers, military chiefs and other experts. Russia knows our weaknesses – but do you?
Sky News' security and defence editor Deborah Haynes presents The Wargame. From Sky News and Tortoise, it imagines how a Russian attack on the UK could play out... and how military chiefs and politicians might try to defend the country.
Episodes will be released weekly - search for The Wargame wherever you listen to your podcasts.
To find out more about The Observer:
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
