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 NewscastLeft to die - episode 1
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…
The Slow NewscastThe missing note
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…
- The Slow Newscast
A death at Lancaster Lodge
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…
- The Slow Newscast
Inside Downing Street: the second couple
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…
- The Slow Newscast
Hunt for the porn king
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…
- The Slow Newscast
The neo-Nazis next door
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…
- The Slow Newscast
The white gold rush
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…
- The Slow Newscast
What happened to Shukri Abdi?
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…
- The Slow Newscast
Pariah - episode 4
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?…
- The Slow Newscast
Pariah - episode 3
Harvey Proctor was caught in the middle of a deadly serious police investigation, Operation Midland. How could he fight it? Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
Pariah - episode 2
It’s tough to survive one huge, public scandal in your life. Two is almost unheard of. But that was about to happen to Harvey Proctor. Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
Pariah - episode 1
Harvey Proctor was a Conservative MP, notorious in the 1980s for his right-wing views. Until he was entrapped by a newspaper in a ‘gay sex scandal’ and his…
- The Slow Newscast
Lost at sea
The mysterious story of Gulf Livestock 1, a 12,000-tonne ship carrying 6,000 cows that disappeared without a trace in the Pacific Ocean. Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
The battle for truth
We're launching a brand new podcast from Tortoise called ThinkIn with James Harding. In this week's Slow Newscast, a preview. Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
What the RFK Jr?!
This week we introduce a new podcast, and re-up an episode from our archive on the hero lawyer turned anti-vaxxer who has spent the pandemic spreading medical…
- The Slow Newscast
Cross stitch
An unlikely scandal... in the world of embroidery. How a highly-paid male CEO went to war with a group of embroidery-loving women, who decided to get together…
- The Slow Newscast
The Reasonable Case of Keir Rodney Starmer
Who is Keir Starmer? There’s the basic answer: he’s the leader of Britain’s Labour party. But beyond that? We investigate his past. Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
Disaster at Camp 3
Reaching the summit of K2 in winter had never been done before. In January, a group of mountaineers – professionals, amateurs, social media adventurers –…
- The Slow Newscast
The Navalny Show
As he returned to Moscow after months recovering from a nerve agent attack, Alexei Navalny released a remarkable YouTube video – and with it, sowed the seeds…
- The Slow Newscast
March of the mutants
Covid-19 may be losing the vaccine battle, but as the virus evolves fast to form new variants, the war is most definitely not over... Hosted on Acast. See…
- The Slow Newscast
A Very British Business
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is one of Britain's richest men. Since Brexit he's made a show of his patriotism. Is it for real? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for…
- The Slow Newscast
A fairy tale on Wall St
The myth of Gamestop was that it was a David and Goliath struggle. The truth was very different. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- The Slow Newscast
306 days
Geoffrey Woolf spent longer in hospital after Covid-19 than almost anyone - 306 days. His son Nicky tells the story of what he went through, and how it changed…
- The Slow Newscast
Corinna & the king: The money hunt
Power, greed, and a $65m 'gift': the story of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Corinna, his lover. They occupied a world of high-rolling hunting parties and…
- The Slow Newscast
Hidden Homicides - episode 4
The final episode of our special series. How do you fix a fatal problem no one is properly measuring? To learn more, go to tortoisemedia.com/hiddenhomicides…
- The Slow Newscast
Hidden Homicides - episode 3
The astonishing case of Emily Whelan, and decisions and delays that cannot be undone. The third episode in our special series on the deaths that may be going…
- The Slow Newscast
Hidden Homicides - episode 2
The second part of our new series, Hidden Homicides: the story of a killer twice missed. When Susan Nicholson died suddenly, her parents were immediately…
- The Slow Newscast
Hidden Homicides - episode 1
In a new series by Tortoise, we tell the shocking stories of women whose possible homicides go unrecognised, and uncounted, by police. In episode 1: the life…
- The Slow Newscast
This was a coup
What was really going on when President Trump's supporters invaded the Capitol? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- The Slow Newscast
Shot in the dark
Coronavirus vaccines are a triumph for science, and an enormous gamble for the UK. They're all we've got left: our only hope of getting out of the Covid…
The Slow NewscastCrossing the Channel
A former army base in Folkstone, Kent, is now the controversial epicentre of the Britain's immigration debate – a debate that hasn’t gone away with Brexit…
The Slow NewscastDid it have to be this bad?
Britain has one of the worst records in the world at dealing with the coronavirus. The country's death toll, and the economic damage it suffers, will be worse…
The Slow NewscastIs Covid cover for corruption?
The British government has spent billions tackling the coronavirus, and some of it has gone to friends and family of people in high places. Contracts for…
The Slow NewscastThe rise & fall of The Wing
The Wing was part co-working space, part feminist haven - a high-concept, big-money chain of women-only spaces, the brainchild of super-smart, ultra-connected…
The Slow NewscastThe split
A story centuries in the making that is building an unstoppable momentum. This week we are going north of the wall and asking: is Scotland on a march to…
The Slow NewscastBoris Johnson's horror show
On Saturday October 31st, the British government was forced to announce a second national coronavirus lockdown. We know the announcement itself was mishandled…
The Slow NewscastChina takes down a superstar
Jack Ma set up the Chinese online giant Alibaba. It made him hugely rich, and perhaps too powerful for comfort for China's ruling elite. Last week his plan for…
The Slow NewscastJK Rowling and the Unfinished Business
In June 2020, JK Rowling sent a Tweet which took her to the heart of the bitter debate about trans rights and women's rights. A few days later, with an online…
The Slow NewscastThe (un)Christian president
From the first moment of his presidency, Donald Trump has courted - and largely won - the votes of white, Evangelical Christians. For a famously profane and…
The Slow NewscastRecession 2021
It's not that our economies haven't already taken a hit because of the coronavirus, it's that what's coming may be much worse. Politicians, and people in…
The Slow NewscastHappy - the elephant in the courtroom: episode 3
If animals share many qualities with humans - if they're self-aware, if they communicate, and grieve for their dead, as we know they do - do they deserve…
The Slow NewscastHappy - the elephant in the courtroom: episode 2
If animals share many qualities with humans - if they're self-aware, if they communicate, and grieve for their dead, as we know they do - do they deserve…
The Slow NewscastHappy - the elephant in the courtroom: episode 1
If animals share many qualities with humans - if they're self-aware, if they communicate, and grieve for their dead, as we know they do - do they deserve…
The Slow NewscastTested: How test and trace became a national disaster
The serial failures of the UK's test and trace system will never be a footnote in the coronavirus crisis. In fact, they're the headline. Matthew d'Ancona…
The Slow NewscastThe golden egg
The fertility industry is booming, but there is a tightrope to walk between what is possible, ethical and harmful. Reporter Claudia Williams and host Basia…
The Slow NewscastThe endless virus
Coronavirus can kill, or pass through a body unnoticed. Its effects in the short term are wildly unpredictable. But as we learn to live with this new virus…
The Slow NewscastFlorida: The punchline state
We went to the perennial swing state where Trump won narrowly in 2016. Four years later, is Florida ready to flip again? Will it be an election about Covid and…
The Slow NewscastInside Evin
Evin Prison is one of the most secretive places on earth; the heart of Iran's oppression of its own people. We've spent months getting inside its walls through…
The Slow NewscastBeat police
Drill music styles itself as a tough and uncompromising representation of life in poor communities in cities like Chicago and London. Police forces have…
The Slow NewscastHow the world filled a hole - and saved itself
Something which is now almost unimaginable happened between 1974 and 1989. The world spotted a massive problem; the fix required action by consumers…
The Slow NewscastTrailblazer
Michaela Coel's TV drama I May Destroy You has just finished playing on the BBC and HBO. Based partly on her own experience it's an unsettling, sometimes…
The Slow NewscastThe slaver who stayed put
The story of the toppling of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol became a prominent chapter in the global response to the murder of George Floyd and the Black…
The Slow NewscastWhat the RFK Jr?! From Camelot to conspiracies
How a member of the Kennedy political dynasty has become the most prolific super-spreader of conspiracies connecting anti-vaxxers, 5G and coronavirus Hosted on…
The Slow NewscastThe hopeful Chancellor: is Rishi Sunak the right man for the job?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is diligent and decent, but is he really the right man for the job of saving the British economy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy…
The Slow NewscastSilenced in China: the price of protest
As president Xi uses the pandemic to crack down again, we speak to Dr Teng Biao and Simon Cheng about their treatment in China's battle to control its people…
The Slow Newscast"How are you?" Mental health in lockdown
"How are you?" used to be a throwaway question, but the pandemic has given it new meaning. Former spin-doctor Alastair Campbell, now a prominent mental health…
The Slow NewscastDeath at the ministry: a very British injustice
Late every evening in London at the Ministry of Justice, dozens of poorly-paid workers slip into the offices to begin their night-time cleaning jobs. Many -…
The Slow NewscastUncommon wealth: money and the British Crown
The royal family's finances are mysterious, and the strange formula which calculates the money they get from the taxpayer is badly understood. Tortoise has…
The Slow NewscastTogether, with Jurgen Klopp
Like a handful of football managers before him, Jurgen Klopp is fascinating as a leader. His ability to motivate people around him would be exceptional in any…
The Slow NewscastThe sick man: Boris Johnson, Britain and the virus
Boris Johnson could have died from coronavirus. He recovered, but the costs to the country of his illness were huge. Government was paralysed without him and…