The president that should have been
Colin Powell’s decision not to run for the White House in 1996 was one of the most consequential moments in recent American history
Slow Views
The president that should have been
Colin Powell spent much of 1995 agonising over whether to run for the White House. He represented a moderate, inclusive American conservatism that is now desperately needed but hard to imagine – because he didn’t run.
aCCELERATING nET zero
Kicking coal
Reaching net zero means Asia needs to end its dependency on coal. To understand the challenge ahead, we’ve mapped the data over the last 50 years.
Filming the unfilmable
For over half a century, Frank Herbert’s Dune has defeated film-makers. Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptation finally does the novel justice.
Slow Views
Lessons for democracy
Sebastian Kurz resigned as Austria’s chancellor earlier this month, but his tenure has shown how fragile supposedly stable democracies truly are.
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Join us at Cop 26
Explore our programme of events, and book your place at a Cop 26 ThinkIn – either digitally or in-person in Glasgow – now.
sensemaker our daily roundup of the news that matters
Vaccine mandates
22 october 2021
- Human remains found in a Florida environmental park were confirmed to be those of Brian Laundrie, the missing fiancé of the murdered blogger Gabby Petito.
- The Queen spent Wednesday night in hospital for “preliminary investigations” after cancelling a trip to Northern Ireland.
- The actor and producer Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the movie set of Rust that killed his director of photography and injured his director, according to a law enforcement statement seen by CNN.
Most people would get two doses of a Covid jab for free, but Nick Rolovich couldn’t be tempted for $3.1 million. That was his salary as American football coach at Washington State University before he was fired on Monday after refusing to be vaccinated against Covid. Rolovich, the highest paid public official in Washington, defied a mandate requiring state workers to get jabbed.
Slow Views
The fall of Austria’s Sebastian Kurz has lessons for every democracy
Yet again, we are learning how fragile the systems and conventions of supposedly stable democratic systems truly are
“Now it’s a war”
The plight of Romania – suffering horrendously from Covid – shows that getting vaccine doses to the countries that need them is only start of the challenge
Pills don’t cure poverty
Official data shows that the prescription of antidepressants is highest in areas of deprivation. But medication can only mask the suffering that poor services, housing and health conditions cause. It is no solution.
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.
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Fact, fiction and football
In the TV hit Succession, a made-up media mogul accidentally buys Hearts FC. It’s turned into a real-life good news story.
Time for Covid Plan B
Covid cases are rising fast in the UK, and the government is under pressure to take steps to slow them down. Is it time for the government to turn to Plan B?
The great resignation
More workers than ever before are quitting their jobs. Why?
When will Newcastle win the league?
It’s one thing for Newcastle to get a lot of money to spend from their new Saudi owners. It’s another altogether to build a successful team with it.
Everyone can join
By offering sponsored membership to those who otherwise could not join Tortoise, we are truly an open and inclusive newsroom.
We’re not cutting emissions fast enough
In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, Tortoise – in collaboration with members and a network of coalition organisations – is running a programme of ThinkIns and journalism devoted to accelerating net zero.
By the time we get to the conference, we want to have an agenda with a difference.
Watch
Class, sexism and surviving Trump’s White House: A ThinkIn with Fiona Hill
We were joined by Fiona Hill for a wide-ranging conversation covering class, social mobility, being a feminist hero as a witness in the impeachment of President Trump, The Specials, and Russia.
The French Dispatch
Friend of Tortoise members joined us for a private preview screening of Wes Anderson’s latest movie The French Dispatch at Odeon Covent Garden.
King Richard
Friends of Tortoise members joined us for the headline Gala Screening of King Richard at this year’s London Film Festival.
Why is it still so hard to talk about mental ill-health?
As the first in a series of ThinkIns that seek to critically examine, and ultimately progress, the public conversation about mental health and wellbeing, we zeroed in on the elephant in the room: many people still don’t want – or know – how to talk about it.
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Countdown to Cop26 with Sir Dave Lewis
Join us for a special Open News meeting with Sir Dave Lewis, former CEO of Tesco and Chair of the WWF, to discuss the likely outcomes from Cop26.
Who should pay to save the rainforest?
Join us for a Cop26 series ThinkIn as we look at rainforest preservation and protection.
How far can we go with the technology we already have?
Join us for a Cop26 series ThinkIn as we consider whether the technology we need to deliver our Net Zero commitments already exists.
Talk is cheap. What should CEOs actually do about the climate crisis?
Join us for a Cop26 series ThinkIn as we ask, what is the CEO’s role in resolving the tension between the need for collective action to survive versus the need for competition to thrive?
covid Inquiry
Why wait until spring 2022?
That’s when the prime minister has said an independent inquiry into the government’s response to Covid will begin. Here at Tortoise, we felt the need was far more urgent – and so, last Autumn, we held our own.
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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.
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