The t-shirt ban
The Australian Open banned t-shirts about the missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, but then u-turned. What does it tell us about how sporting bodies deal with repressive regimes?
Slow newscast
China’s missing tennis player
In November last year, Peng Shuai, one of China’s top tennis players, accused a senior Communist party politician of sexual assault. Since then she’s disappeared not only from public life, but from public concern. Why has she – and China’s #MeToo movement – been silenced?
Watch
Can White Debt ever be repaid?
We held a ThinkIn to discuss Britain’s legacy of slavery – and why people are reluctant to engage with it.
ThinkIn with James Harding
Xinjiang: The China Problem
How should the West engage with China while also addressing its appalling treatment of the Uyghurs?
Creative Sensemaker
Animal spirits
The Royal Academy’s remarkable new Francis Bacon exhibition reframes the great modern artist in a fresh, sharply contemporary light.
Investigation
Chequers
Find everything we’ve published about the PM’s movements between Downing Street and Chequers in March 2020.
sensemaker our daily roundup of the news that matters
Voting rights and wrongs
27 january 2022
- Stephen Breyer’s retirement from the US Supreme Court started the formal search for his replacement, who President Biden has said will be a Black woman.
- Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer welcomed Prince Andrew’s demand for the claim that he sexually assaulted her to be tested at a jury trial in New York.
- Spotify removed Neil Young from its platform after he said it had to choose between him and the podcast host Joe Rogan (more below).
The world’s most powerful democracy has a problem – with democracy. As the US tries to impose its authority in Central Europe, Congress is at war with itself over voting rights and election security.
Listen
Rising disorder
Disorder increased after fans returned to matches. There are hopes it will naturally subside.
Policing partygate
How an investigation by the Metropolitan Police threatens Boris Johnson no matter what it finds.
Xinjiang: The China Problem
China stands accused of committing crimes against humanity, and possibly even genocide, against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. Yet Beijing compares its system of “re-education camps” to the West’s war on terror and says it’s entitled to protect its citizens from domestic terrorism. This is the sharp end of the China problem; exhibit A of Xi Jinping’s authoritarianism and the West’s impotence to defend human rights within China’s borders
A multi-part podcast series
Sweet Bobby
How well do you know the person you love?
Read
Matthew d’Ancona
Every Monday, Tortoise editor and award-winning commentator Matthew d’Ancona picks apart the political stories that matter with wit, flair and insider knowledge in his weekly column.
Boris Johnson’s final strategy: nobody gets out of here alive
There is almost nothing that this prime minister will stop at to cling on to power. Sue Gray’s report is only the next obstacle that lies in his increasingly destructive path
There’s only one leaving do that matters now
Boris Johnson’s time is up. But not even his potential successors know what can be rescued from the wreckage
Johnson vs the Tory rebels: shame they can’t both lose
The Conservative libertarians are absurdly out of pace with the challenges of the 21st Century. But the PM is too shambolic to offer a coherent alternative
We’re not cutting emissions fast enough.
Which is why we launched the Accelerating Net Zero Coalition last year: a group of partners determined to make progress towards net zero. With the help of these businesses we’re hosting solution-focused discussions on how to get there together.
Everyone can join
By offering sponsored membership to those who otherwise could not join Tortoise, we are truly an open and inclusive newsroom.
Campaign
We need to get the world vaccinated as fast as possible. We’re in an arms race: vaccines vs variants. That’s why we’ve launched our Vaccine Tracker along with a campaign to vaccinate the world by the end of next year.
Watch
The great global economic unlearning: is everything we’ve learned suddenly wrong?
How will responsible business leaders cope with the changing dynamics in global labour and finance markets?
Racial privilege: can White Debt ever be repaid?
Why are people still reluctant to engage in any meaningful way with the British legacy of slavery?
Would privatisation be good for Channel 4?
It looks like 2022 could be a year of decision for the broadcaster. But what would the real impact of a privatised Channel 4 be for viewers and the industry?
Open News Meeting
On Wednesday evenings, Tortoise journalists have a weekly news meeting to chew over the live news agenda.
Book
Simon Barnes wetland walk
Walk with Tortoise contributor, award winning author and nature enthusiast Simon Barnes on a guided tour of the London Wetland Centre. Bring your binoculars, wellies and a keen eye for a bird in this special Friends of Tortoise event.
Is hybrid working worse for women?
Flexible working offers greater freedom to those with caring responsibilities or disabilities to work from home – but what can we do to avoid unintended consequences of this freedom?
Should police officers be banned from social media?
A special Tortoise Investigates: Police and Misogyny ThinkIn. How should police use of digital communications platforms be moderated? Should serving officers be banned from Twitter?
How can responsible businesses ensure they approach AI the right way?
How can businesses ensure that they approach adoption in a way that protects stakeholders, observes regulation and puts value for their people at the centre of AI projects?
Policing INquiry
Are the police institutionally sexist?
We recently held the Tortoise Policing Inquiry to discover why policing goes wrong, and whether it can be fixed.
Our members like
Edith
We’re building a different type of newsroom, for a slower, wiser news.
Members are at the heart of what we do
Our members bring a diverse range of voices into our newsroom to inform our journalism.
Taking the time to get it right
News has become noise. We sort through it all and crunch the data to call out what really matters.
A fresh approach to journalism
We use infographics, absorbing audio and stunning photography to make complex stories clear and enjoyable.
