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The Slow Newscast — News
The Slow Newscast

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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A daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a week

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Recipes for every occasion

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Copyright: © 2019-2020 Tortoise Media

Latest Episodes:

Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman | The lawsuit Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

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. Neil Gaiman continues to deny the allegations and says he has ‘never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.’

Reporter: Rachel Johnson

Producer: Katie Gunning

Sound design: Dominic Delargy

Artwork: Lola Williams

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Executive Producer for the Slow Newscast: Matt Russell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rwanda plan: How to waste £700m Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

F**k it, release ‘em all: Trump and the Jan 6ers Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goodbye mum: the ruthless fight for child custody Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

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 Jarrett and Tom Wall

Producer: Matt Russell

Artwork: Lola Williams

Editor: Jasper Corbett

An investigation by Tortoise in partnership with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rogue Russia: Nuclear poker Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rogue Russia: Agents of mayhem Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jordan Peterson and the making of man Jan 07, 2025

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding my voice Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The final bow: David Bowie's last act Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The immortality bros: The business of living forever Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

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 grants Minicircle regulatory freedom for medical experiments that are banned by the FDA in the US.

This is the story of biohacking… on steroids. What happens when you build a privately run, for-profit nation state? And what happens when that state becomes a playground for experimental medicine?

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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