The Slow Newscast

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. Reporter...

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 Del...

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 E...

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...

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 earl...

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...

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 c...

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...

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 t...

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...

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...

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 orbi...

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 t...

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 jo...

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 th...

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-fre...

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...

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 experienc...

The Voyager space probe is sailing through space, far beyond earth's solar system. It is humanity's most distant messenger. And then last year it fell silent. NASA's scientists somehow navigated a 15 billion mile hurdle to bring it back online. This is the story of how and why. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscr...

How one of Britain’s most successful book festivals came unstuck over its sponsorship deal.   Editor's note: Jaguar Land Rover has asked us to point out that they do not sell vehicles directly to the Israeli Defence Force. A company called EAM manages the import of JLR’s products into the region. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app  - for a listening experienc...

The story of Lucy Letby’s trial is, in part, the story of how important expert witnesses have become critical in criminal cases where hard evidence is in short supply. They can be spectacularly insightful or spectacularly, catastrophically wrong. How is a jury supposed to know which of those versions it’s listening to? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app  - for a listen...

Ten years ago, nude images of dozens of A-list celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kirsten Dunst were leaked online following an iCloud hack.  They’re still all over the internet. Lawrence’s hacker went to jail, but her intimate images can be found on dedicated sites – sites that are making a profit.  This week, Eleanor Biggs and Patricia Clarke dive headlong into the myster...

A fifth woman has come forward with allegations against the author Neil Gaiman. 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...

Following a disastrous live debate against Donald Trump, the Democrats were at panic stations. It looked like Joe Biden was going to lose the election, and he was refusing to step aside. This is how George Clooney rewrote the election script, and how the Democrats went from despair to hope. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journ...

Taylor Swift is performing more concerts in London than anywhere else in the world. The city’s had a tangible impact on her music, her career and her personal life. So what does London tell us about one of the world's biggest stars? 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 a...