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.
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
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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.
What happens when the business interests and private passions of one of the world’s richest men collide with the world’s most powerful man?
Reporter: Stephen Armstrong
Producer: Katie Gunning
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
AD: To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan, go to https://nordvpn.com/newscast. Our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.
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After thirteen years, Jamie Vardy is leaving Leicester City. His time at the club is an example of not one, but two underdogs succeeding against the odds. Could anything like this happen again in the Premier League?
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
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
AD: To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan, go to https://nordvpn.com/newscast. Our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tesla saw their stock price soar with President Trump's election. But since January, it has come plummeting back down. Has Musk crashed Tesla?
Reporter: Giles Whittell
Producer: Matt Russell
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
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.
The radical climate protest group Just Stop Oil delighted supporters and infuriated opponents in equal measure. But then the government began to crack down on them. So where are they now?
Reporter: David Taylor
Producer: Matt Russell
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
To find out more about The Observer:
Ad: Go to www.incogni.com/slownewscast for your exclusive discount.
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 brutal circumstances of Sara Sharif’s death were described by the judge that sent her killers to prison as torture. But when it emerged that the two adults who murdered her were granted parental responsibility by a family court judge four years earlier, the finger of blame began to wander. Who could have saved Sarah Sharif?
Reporter: Louise Tickle
Producer: Ada Barumé
Artwork: Lola Williams
Sound Design: Dominic Delargy
Editor: Jasper Corbett
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.
Police officers aren’t allowed to strike or join a trade union. They rely instead on an organisation called the Police Federation to represent their interests. It’s a surprisingly powerful body that ultimately affects the way all of us are policed. This is the story of how it lost its way.
Reporter: John Simpson
Producer: Katie Gunning
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
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
Ad: Go to www.incogni.com/slownewscast for your exclusive discount.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett and Ceri Thomas
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 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
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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
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