The Slow Newscast

What does the story of Alexei Navalny and wife Yulia Navalnaya tell us about Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the state of opposition?Tortoise is a news start-up devoted to slow journalism. We take news slowly. We tell stories that really matter, and take time to see the full picture.If you want more slow and considered journalism, you can become a member of Tortoise and get access to more of our stories, contribute to our journalism and join us at events in our newsroom, in person and online. Just go to tortoisemedia.com/friend and use the code Slow50 for membership for just £50 per year.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine being blind but thanks to the wonders of technology being able to see again. How would you then feel if that sight was taken away?Tortoise is a news start-up devoted to slow journalism. We take news slowly. We tell stories that really matter, and take time to see the full picture.If you want more slow and considered journalism, you can become a member of Tortoise and get access to more of our stories, contribute to our journalism and join us at events in our newsroom, in person and online. Just go to tortoisemedia.com/friend and use the code Slow50 for membership for just £50 per year.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political wisdom says the Russian invasion of Ukraine saved Boris Johnson’s skin. But the really successful operation to rescue the prime minister started long before and involved three men who you've probably never heard of. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We thought the Russians were masters of the information war; that they’d sweep Ukraine aside. It's not turning out that way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Door after door in Britain has been opened for Evgeny Lebedev, all the way to a seat in the House of Lords. Who has opened the doors, and why? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ‘epidemic’ of spiking with needles in clubs and at parties in autumn 2021 revealed something important about women’s lives in Britain. But it wasn’t what we thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The brilliance of populist politicians often lies in creating subtle dividing lines on apparently innocuous issues. What could be more innocuous than yoga? But India’s prime minister Narendra Modi – arguably the world’s most successful populist – has seized hold of yoga and weaponised it. In this week’s Slow Newscast, Warrior Pose, Claudia Williams reports on how a harmless pursuit has been transformed into a political wedge.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a courtroom in west Germany, a man called Anwar Raslan stands accused of torturing Syrian civilians. He faces life in prison. But why does Germany care? These were far-away crimes. The answer lies in a remarkable story about the idea of justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 2020 the prime minister told the country to stay at home. He then did the opposite and travelled to Chequers. This the story of one crucial fortnight in March 2020, and how the prime minister’s instinct to lie and treat the rules with contempt has corroded the institutions around him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In November, athlete Peng Shuai accused a senior Chinese politician of sexual assault. Then, she vanished. In this episode, we investigate her disappearance – and the silencing of China’s #MeToo movement Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who is Virginia Roberts Giuffre? She was only 17 years old when she appeared in a now-famous photo, taken in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London mews house. Maxwell is behind her, grinning. Jeffrey Epstein, the multi-millionaire paedophile, is taking the photo. And to Virginia’s right, smilingly sheepishly, is Prince Andrew. Twenty years later, Epstein is dead, Ghislaine is a convicted sex trafficker, and Andrew has been stripped of his royal titles. How is it that Virginia, someone who started with almost no power, is now in the strongest position of all? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How a former government minister used the secrecy of the family courts in an attempt to hide the truth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Linda Evangelista’s beauty made her a super-brand in the 1990s. But then, she disappeared. Until September 2021, when she revealed on Instagram details of a lawsuit. She claimed that a procedure called CoolSculpting, promising to freeze away unwanted fat, had instead multiplied it into “masses”. And she isn’t the only one… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our final episode of the year, we look back on our best stories of 2021. Basia is joined by Tortoise editor-in-chief James Harding, and colleague Ceri Thomas, to chat through what we've learned as journalists, and storytellers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s transformation into an economic powerhouse has come at a cost to its children, under enormous pressure to succeed. Now the country is wondering if the price has been too high. Reporter Poppy Sebag-Montefiore, producer Claudia Williams, sound design by Karla Patella. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London's courts play host to some of the world's most high-profile divorces. In the sorry case of Akhmedov vs Akhmedova, a family feud turned into a costly game of hide and seek... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a story about a boy called Elliott – trapped in time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Kabul, the Taliban’s takeover was assured. In London, an ignominious retreat, and the betrayal of former comrades in the Afghan army, was more than a group of ex-soldiers, now MPs, could stomach... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over a handful of chaotic days this summer, Western forces withdrew from Afghanistan. The legacy of the decision to leave after 20 years has been wretched for many Afghan people, and a brutal lesson for the UK. In this two-part Slow Newscast, Matthew d'Ancona charts events as they unfolded. Part 1: As the Taliban closed in on Kabul, Britain found itself frozen out of decision making and incapable of influencing events. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who are the people behind a spate of multi-million dollar ransomware attacks on financial institutions, schools and hospitals? When Nicky Woolf began to investigate the highest-profile ransomware outfit, REvil, it was almost completely hidden from view. But then... the cyber-police started to uncover its secrets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2016, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held hostage in Iran. Ceri Thomas investigates how a long-forgotten debt could be the real reason behind her incarceration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The reputation of Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai has been tarnished beyond repair by the way he treated his wife Haya and daughter Latifa. At least we know about what they went through. There's another daughter - Shamsa - who was the first to try to escape the Sheikh's clutches. She, and her story, have almost vanished. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sweet Bobby is a new series by Tortoise. Kirat is a successful local radio presenter. Online she’s contacted by a man she vaguely knows called Bobby, and they start chatting. Slowly, they become close… and she’s reeled in to a scam of epic proportions... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a young woman travelling across the US disappeared, an army of digital detectives and citizen journalists jumped on the case. When she was found murdered, they went into overdrive. In this week’s Slow Newscast, we examine a true crime story happening in real time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It started with a high-pitched noise. Then, American diplomats started getting sick. Nausea, dizziness, confusion. Across the world, this strange syndrome is spreading. Is it an attack? A sophisticated weapon? In this episode, we investigate the mystery of the immaculate concussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 20 years after emptying the Russian state treasure of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds and gold, Andrei Kozlenok breaks his silence with an even more extraordinary tale. But why? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Communism collapsed, a young man was tasked with selling Russia’s diamonds to the highest bidder. Then, he went on the run with $600m. He was missing for more than 20 years, until reporter Giles Whittell found him, last year. This is the riotous story of Golden Ada – the origin story of Russia's kleptocracy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been said often enough: the pandemic has been like a war. Economically, on civil liberties and the deaths it has caused, it’s hard to find a better comparison. And just like a war it places responsibilities on companies that make vital supplies which are different from peacetime – to profit, but not to profiteer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plenty of people take wrong turns in their lives. But so too can justice systems. John Crilly and hundreds more have been the victims of the legal doctrine of Joint Enterprise and how it has been applied for the past 30 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Biden’s life has been marked by grief, most recently at the death of his beloved son, Beau. And Beau Biden’s legacy isn’t only personal, it’s political, too.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Donald Trump's America, thousands of children who crossed the border from Mexico were separated from their parents. It's now clear that some of those families - perhaps hundreds - may never be reunited. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year ago, journalist Joshi Herrmann got an anonymous tip. It sent him to a website claiming to have evidence of serious corruption, grooming gangs and “cartels” operating in Oldham. From there, Joshi stumbled across a remarkable story about how online conspiracies are poisoning local politics, spilling out from paranoid corners of the internet all the way to the ballot box. And at the heart of it all is on one rather angry man, who calls himself “the recusant”... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The remarkable story of Rohullah Yakobi, a daring escape, and a 20-year war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over 20 years, a simple email newsletter has reshaped celebrity culture. In a special edition of the Slow Newscast, Claudia Williams tells the story of Popbitch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With human rights groups demanding a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, we look back to Moscow 1980, and ask what’s the lesson of the most notorious Olympic boycott in modern times? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the internet age, anyone with a camera can make and sell porn. But what happens when a shoot goes wrong? In the second episode in our Porn Planet series investigating online pornography, we look into the world of porn production Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The truth of an origin story has never mattered more: did Covid cross to humans from an animal, or did it escape from a laboratory? The arguments have only grown fiercer. And in the fog of war, the World Health Organisation lost its way Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the richest nations on the planet promised to vaccinate every adult, everywhere, against Covid. They failed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a story about one student, one case, and a serious sexual assault. It takes place at Cambridge University, but the case – of a botched process that lets a young woman down – could have happened almost anywhere... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of Left to die: Nick Alexander tells the story of his torturous escape from the convoy – and the question left lying in the dust of the attack: who, really, abandoned them all? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 2 of our series investigating what happened at the Amarula Hotel: the story of Wesley and his brother Adrian, who escape in a car and are ambushed by insurgents as they race to safety. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March, Islamist militants attacked the town of Palma, in northern Mozambique – the site of a $20bn gas project. They besieged a hotel, where more than 200 civilians were taking shelter, waiting to be rescued. But help never came. In our new three-part series, we investigate why these men, women and children were abandoned.Ep1: An Islamist insurgency hits. Nick and Wes, two South African contractors, race to the Amarula Hotel. Over three horrifying days, it becomes clear: no one is coming to help. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In little more than a year - the year of the pandemic - Anand Menon lost his mother, father, brother and sister, but not to Covid. Grief and loss have been a part of so many lives this year, but none more so than Anand's. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Bennett took her own life in a care facility that was crumbling around her. Paul Caruana Galizia and Chris Cook investigate what went wrong at a charity led by a famous mental health pioneer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ wedding, there are now two powerful married couples in Number 10. Meet the other: Munira and Dougie... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As dozens of women accuse the world’s largest porn company of profiting from their abuse, listen to the full story of how we traced its secretive owner to his London mansion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the German city of Chemnitz, political extremists aren’t just present – they’re organised. And they’re trying to spread their creed from ramshackle buildings to the rest of the country Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of a dying lake, a forgotten community and the hunt for a green future. Host Basia Cummings is joined by reporters Miranda Green and Lucy Sherriff to investigate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When A 12-year-old Somali refugee drowned in the River Irwell in 2019, suspicion and rumour soon followed. In this episode, Basia is joined by reporter Nimo Omer to investigate what happened to Shukri Abdi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A life like Harvey Proctor’s has lessons for the police and the media. And for all of us: what are we prepared to do to people we turn into hate figures? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.