Shows / The Slow Newscast
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…
Episodes
The Slow NewscastChina’s shadow war: Ice picks in suburbia | Episode Three
A businessman from Tunbridge Wells is accused of leading a double life. He’s secretly recorded planning a brutal attack with ice picks on behalf of the Chinese…
The Slow NewscastChina’s shadow war: The Americans | Episode Two
American citizens are recruited to carry out Beijing’s dirty work on home soil. A Florida correctional officer poses as an art dealer, exposing the murky world…
The Slow NewscastChina’s shadow war: The dissidents | Episode One
Alexi goes in search of the “long arm” of the Chinese state following a series of attacks and bounties on British soil. He uncovers a coordinated campaign of…
The Slow NewscastWhy do mothers abandon babies?
Every year babies are abandoned by their parents. Following a long reporting project exploring the story of one foundling on a search for her biological…
The Slow NewscastFoundling
Foundling is a six-part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer. This is episode 1 - On the verge Journalist Lucy Greenwell goes in search…
The Slow NewscastCan AI write good literature?
Last week, the New York Times ran an experiment that has far-reaching implications, especially for book lovers. It asked readers to compare five pairs of…
The Slow NewscastKill talk: Pete Hegseth and the language of war
America's war against Iran has revealed plenty of gunslinging, provocative rhetoric from the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth. But is there much to learn…
The Slow NewscastYour best baby
Genetic testing start ups are a booming industry in America. Behind the headlines of 'designer babies' are companies tapping into disputed science, facing…
The Slow NewscastRogue Brits: The Orthobros
Alexi sits down with the reporter of this week’s Slow Newscast, Francisco Garcia, to talk about one stop in particular on the road to Putin’s frontline, the…
The Slow NewscastRogue Brits: Fighting for Putin
Jay Fraser was born and raised in Dunblane. Then, after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he signed up to fight...for Russia, not Ukraine. Now he and others who…
The Slow NewscastStephen Miller’s America
Stephen Miller is the United States Homeland Security Advisor. But the vague sounding title belies his immense influence with Donald Trump behind the scenes…
The Slow Newscast“My best pal”: Mandelson and Epstein
The Epstein Files are wreaking havoc across British institutions; first the Royal family and now, the government. Peter Mandelson was sacked as US Ambassador…
The Slow NewscastMismatch: Bumble vs the men’s rights activists
The dating app Bumble built its identity on a promise: women make the first move. In this episode, The Observer uncovers a legal campaign by men’s rights…
The Slow NewscastRussia's shadow war at sea
There are over a thousand oil tankers at sea that are helping finance Russia's war in Ukraine in plain sight. And they're not just trading in sanctioned oil…
The Slow NewscastThe God complex: Part 2
Rachel hears the shocking story of “Patient A”, who explains that patients are at risk too. Her testimony raises more questions about the way sexual misconduct…
The Slow NewscastArchive: Peltz-Beckham: A super-wedding gone wrong
This week Brooklyn Beckham publicly cut ties with his parents David and Victoria Beckham. Its exposed a rift in the family that seemingly dates back at least…
The Slow NewscastThe God complex: Part 1
When an esteemed transplant surgeon is found to have sexually harassed a number of his female colleagues — sometimes in the middle of operations — the General…
The Slow NewscastIntroducing the new host of the Slow Newscast
From next week, our Investigations Editor Alexi Mostrous – the man behind Sweet Bobby, Who Trolled Amber and Elon’s Spies – will take over as the new host of…
The Slow NewscastThe Walkers: The real Salt Path
In a small town in north Wales, an alleged theft at a local estate agents plants the seeds for a global blockbuster. To listen to episode two, just search for…
The Slow NewscastDonald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene: The MAGA divorce
Donald Trump is facing an unexpected fallout as one of his most loyal supporters has resigned from Congress and turned against him. With divisions widening…
The Slow NewscastSycamore Gap: felling of a tree
One of the stories in 2025 that seemed to capture the British public's attention was the trial for the men accused of cutting down the iconic Sycamore Gap…
The Slow NewscastA reckoning at the Guildhall School of Music
Like many public institutions across the UK, the Guildhall school of music has had to reckon with a past where abuse by staff was either ignored or dismissed…
The Slow NewscastArchive: Beastly: The stories of David Walliams
David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher over alleged ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. A spokesperson for Walliams said that the author had never been…
The Slow NewscastKilling time: Part 2
In October reporter Hilary Andersson was selected to witness an execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma. Her assignment led her to the case of Tremane Wood…
The Slow NewscastKilling time: Part 1
In October reporter Hilary Andersson was selected to witness an execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma. Her assignment led her to the case of Tremane Wood…
The Slow NewscastMy boy Gianni Infantino and Trump
Gianni Infantino is the most powerful man in world football but in the run up to the 2026 men's World Cup, his relationship with US president Donald Trump has…
The Slow NewscastInside the Treasury
The chancellor’s budget was supposed to be a gamechanger, but turned out to be an exercise in political survival. This is the story of how Keir Starmer and…
The Slow NewscastWhat's Left?
When Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana announced a new political party this summer, it had all the ingredients to be a big success. But a summer of disarray has…
The Slow NewscastDeep Water
Three years ago, travel writer Lydia Gard discovered freediving. An extreme and beautiful sport defined by one objective: to dive as deep as you can on one…
The Slow NewscastWilliam: The reluctant prince
With Prince Harry in effective exile and Andrew disgraced, the Royal family is smaller than ever before and at a potential crisis point. Prince William has…
The Slow NewscastEpping: A very English uprising
Over the summer, Epping, a small town on the outskirts of London became the scene of mass protests. featuring hundreds of people. Noisy and occasionally…
The Slow NewscastAmong the settlers on Gaza's border
Just outside Gaza is a small settlement of Israelis hoping to enter and settle inside Gaza. They may be a fringe movement, but their voice holds a powerful…
The Slow NewscastTrolled: Brigitte Macron
The French President and the First Lady of France are taking American right wing commentator Candace Owens to court in Delaware over bizarre claims the First…
The Slow NewscastThe shakedown: Donald Trump vs the media
Donald Trump has launched four lawsuits against major media organisations for up to $15 billion over the past year. This is the story of Trump's war on the…
The Slow NewscastGaza's Deadly Aid
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?…
The Slow NewscastAn uncivil war inside Unite
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…
The Slow NewscastIntroducing ... We Have Notes
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…
The Slow NewscastContagion: RFK Jr’s war on public health
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 Slow NewscastThe match: My sister and her new DNA
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…
The Slow NewscastThe immortality bros: the new frontiers of health
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…
The Slow NewscastThe diva and the dictator: opera at war
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…
The Slow NewscastThe great British honey scandal
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…
The Slow NewscastThe mother and the gangs
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…
The Slow NewscastSignal failure: Who killed HS2?
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…
The Slow NewscastA lonely death on Jersey
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…
The Slow NewscastThe real Salt Path
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…
The Slow NewscastThe Lab Detective
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…
The Slow NewscastIlliberal land: Hungary’s empire of ideas
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…
The Slow NewscastThe mystery of Francis Bacon's minder
This is the story of how a boxing match helped solve a 50-year art world mystery. And how, when a man named Ted wades in to stop a mugging in Soho, it leads to…
The Slow NewscastIntroducing...Drilled
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…
The Slow NewscastLiz UnTrussed
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…
The Slow NewscastHow to disappear
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…
The Slow NewscastBrute force: domestic abuse in the ranks
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…
The Slow NewscastThe Wargame
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…
The Slow NewscastJeff and Donald
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? This is the story…
The Slow NewscastJamie Vardy: The last underdog
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…
The Slow NewscastCar crash: Musk and Tesla
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…
The Slow NewscastJust Stop TurmOil
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…
The Slow NewscastSara Sharif: one judge, three court cases and a murder
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…
The Slow NewscastBroken ranks: civil war in the police fed
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…