Giles grew up mainly in Africa, studied history and worked as a Times correspondent in LA, Moscow and Washington. He was the Times‘ chief leader-writer for three years before joining Tortoise in 2018. Along the way he’s written a few books including Spitfire Women of World War II, Bridge of Spies, and a biography of snow.
Giles Whittell
Deputy Editor

“No news organisation was able to anticipate or explain the great voter rebellions of 2016 — the Brexit vote in Britain and the election of Trump as president in the US. Tortoise was set up to try to do a better job of getting at the truth behind the news. That’s what we’re doing. Every day it feels worthwhile, and it’s great to see that more and more members feel the same way.”
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Wednesday 11 January 2023
13:00-14:00 GMTHow did small boats become such a big issue?
Join Tortoise as we explore how small boats in the Channel became such a big issue in Westminster.
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Tuesday 6 December 2022
18:15-21:15 GMTTortoise Lates: Christmas
Join us as we chat to Trevor Horn all about his memoir adventures, the secrets and the stories behind the greatest hits of all time.
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Monday 5 December 2022
13:30-14:30 GMTHow do you build a fairer world in an era of permacrisis?
This ThinkIn will pose the challenge of imagining a ‘new internationalism’.
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Thursday 17 November 2022
08:00-09:15 GMTCOP27 Debrief and R100 Index update
Join us in our newsroom or online for our debrief on Cop27
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Tuesday 8 November 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTThe £1billion Greensill swindle: how did it happen?
Join us for this ThinkIn which reveals how the grubby world of shadow banking really operates.
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Thursday 22 September 2022
18:30-19:30 BST200 days of war: can Ukraine still count on global support?
A special ThinkIn where we take stock of the international perspective and geopolitical realities on the war in Ukraine
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Thursday 28 July 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTMaking sense of cheap chicken, with Giles Whittell
How much should a chicken really cost?
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Wednesday 29 June 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTMaking sense of airport chaos, with Giles Whittell
What’s behind the disruption?
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Wednesday 15 June 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTMaking sense of batteries, with Giles Whittell
Is it time for democratic countries to form a western battery alliance?
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Tuesday 17 May 2022
10:00-11:00 BSTSlow News Cafe at the British Library
Bring your morning paper routine to the British Library, with a Tortoise Editor and special guests.
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Tuesday 10 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTDoes the UK have enough nukes?
Is renewing Trident worth it? Can we afford it?
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Thursday 28 April 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTIs NIMBYism killing the planet?
How and why are local objections killing windfarm projects?
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Monday 11 April 2022
18:30-19:30 BST40 years after the Falklands: what can the British armed forces still do?
Four decades after the Falklands War, how have the British armed forces changed, for better and worse?
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Thursday 17 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTDoes Britain really want Ukrainian refugees?
How can the government reconcile its pledge to impose tighter controls on immigration, with the need to respond to the refugee crisis caused by the invasion?
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Tuesday 8 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTRussia and Ukraine: a return to conventional warfare?
Are Nato forces better prepared than Russia’s military?
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Tuesday 1 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTPutin: How much opposition is there in Russia?
Is Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union and obsession with Ukraine shared by fellow Russians?
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Thursday 3 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTWelcome to Londongrad: why does London still attract so much dirty money?
Is it really such a bad thing if the world’s billionaires want to bring their money into the city?
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Tuesday 22 February 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTThe Iranian hostages: has Britain prolonged the crisis?
Following the broadcast of Nazanin, a Tortoise production on BBC Radio 4, Richard Ratcliffe, Sherry Izadi and others explore how a 1970s arms deal is impacting families today.
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Thursday 26 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BSTBeyond tobacco: is the end of cigarettes nigh?
Is a world without tobacco a real possibility?
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Monday 21 February 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTClimate backlash: are we bored of climate change?
Are there different ways to talk about fighting climate change and make sure everyone is on board, or are we in danger of losing sight of what’s important?
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Thursday 10 February 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTShould the UK return the ‘Elgin Marbles’?
Where is the line between fair claims of ownership and ‘heritage nationalism’?
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Thursday 27 January 2022
18:30-19:30 GMTDancing in Downing Street: Is the Gray report a moment of reckoning?
Will Sue Gray’s report be a moment of reckoning for Boris Johnsons’s government? How was the investigation conducted and did everyone cooperate?
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Tuesday 30 November 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTWhat will accelerate the UK’s EV transition?
The UK has made a good start in the shift to electric vehicles, introducing ambitious targets and incentives for EV adoption. We know that electric vehicles are the future: so what’s delaying the switch?
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Tuesday 23 November 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTAccelerating Net Zero: what we’ve learnt, and what next?
A special Accelerating Net Zero Open News meeting – the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference.
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Thursday 4 November 2021
08:30-09:30 GMTGoodbye Big Oil, hello Mega Oil?
A ThinkIn during Energy Day at Cop26 where we asked, what is to be done about the national oil companies (NOCs)? Are any of them serious about diversifying away from oil and gas?
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Monday 25 October 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTIs our dependence on technology sustainable?
Is technology an environmental saviour – or a threat?
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Friday 22 October 2021
08:30-09:30 BSTCan Asia kick its coal addiction?
A special Accelerating Net Zero ThinkIn in partnership with the Judith Neilson Institute, where we heard from experts, stakeholders and reporters across Asia on the state of play at the true coalface of the clean energy transition.
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Wednesday 6 October 2021
18:30-19:30 BSTWho are the biggest Covid profiteers?
What do we know about the ethics of major pharmaceutical companies before the pandemic, and how might this affect our understanding of what’s happened since?
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Thursday 11 November 2021
08:30-09:30 GMTHow do we kick start the renovation revolution?
A Cop26 series ThinkIn assessing household carbon emissions: who should front the retrofit costs of draughty windows, tired boilers and poorly insulated walls?
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Wednesday 10 November 2021
08:30-09:30 GMTToo slow, too many cars – can we change the electrification roadmap?
A Cop26 series ThinkIn about electric cars and their role in solving the climate emergency.
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Tuesday 9 November 2021
08:30-09:30 GMTTalk is cheap. What should CEOs actually do about the climate crisis?
A Cop26 series ThinkIn where we asked, 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?
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Monday 8 November 2021
08:30-09:30 GMTHow far can we go with the technology we already have?
A Cop26 series ThinkIn where we considered whether the technology we need to deliver our Net Zero commitments already exists.
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Wednesday 29 September 2021
17:00-18:00 BSTCan soil save the planet?
How we can optimise natural-based solutions to slow, or even halt, global warming.
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Wednesday 8 September 2021
17:00-18:00 BSTWhat are the economics of greening energy?
What is the financial cost and impact of a successful green transition? Join us to find out.
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Friday 2 July 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: How slimmed down should the royals be?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 16 July 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Can’t we just ditch social media and get along?
Why not just scrap the apps and use the phone for talking, or not getting lost?
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Friday 23 July 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Are the Olympics doomed?
Are the Olympics doomed, or are we just going through a grumpy patch?
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Friday 7 May 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Local elections – so what did we vote for?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 21 May 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: How can we vaccinate the world?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 14 May 2021
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Is Blair right about the future of Labour?
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Thursday 29 April 2021
08:30-15:15 BSTThe Tortoise Climate Summit: How can we accelerate net zero?
Join us to start writing a global to-do list before the world gathers in Glasgow to work out how to save itself.
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Friday 19 March 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: Can the police restore public trust?
Make sense of this weeks major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 12 March 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live – The Royals: are we done with the dynasty?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 5 March 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: Who will pay the bill for Covid?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Monday 1 March 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTAre we alone in the universe?
Join us for a ‘close encounter’ with Professor Avi Loeb.
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Friday 19 February 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: Back to school – should everyone take an extra year?
Make sense of this weeks major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Wednesday 10 February 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTNet Zero: From talk to action – what really works?
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Friday 12 February 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: Britain’s borders – what took so long?
Make sense of this weeks major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 5 February 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live – Does Gamestop change anything?
Make sense of this weeks major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 22 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: When are people going to stop dying of Covid?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors
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Friday 15 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: The great forgotten story of Brexit – what’s really happening with trade?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors
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Thursday 14 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTWhat are the glaciers telling us?
Join us for the first ThinkIn of our year long conversation on ‘Accelerating Net Zero’
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Friday 8 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: Operation vaccination – is the rollout plan working?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 13 November 2020
12:55-14:00 GMTSensemaker Live: What does Biden mean for Brexit?
How will the new president affect Brexit?
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Friday 2 October 2020
12:55-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Egg freezing – what’s the deal with fertility preservation?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 23 October 2020
12:55-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: America and Covid
Whatever happened to the country’s can-do spirit?
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Friday 16 October 2020
12:55-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: America and the world – beacon of nope?
We launch our series of special pre-election ThinkIns.
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Friday 9 October 2020
12:55-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live – Uni in isolation: grin and bear it, or your money back?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Tuesday 29 September 2020
07:55-09:00 BSTIs hydrogen the answer?
And if not, what is? Join us to investigate
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Friday 25 September 2020
13:00-14:10 BSTSensemaker Live: Who’s afraid of TikTok?
Examining this week’s biggest story.
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Friday 18 September 2020
12:50-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live: Will Brexit ever be reversed?
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Friday 11 September 2020
13:00-14:00 BSTThe death of Mercy Baguma: is the UK asylum system broken or just cruel?
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Friday 4 September 2020
13:00-14:00 BSTSensemaker Live – Cummings, Covid and the battle for government
Make sense of this week’s major news stories in a live editorial conference with Tortoise editors.
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Wednesday 1 February 2023
Sensemaker: Little big short
What just happened
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Tuesday 31 January 2023
Sensemaker: China’s long hello
What just happened
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Wednesday 25 January 2023
Sensemaker: Paper cuts
What just happened
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Tuesday 24 January 2023
Sensemaker: Cabinet shaker
What just happened
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Monday 23 January 2023
Sensemaker: Leopards’ leap
What just happened
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Thursday 19 January 2023
Sensemaker: Extreme continental
What just happened
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Thursday 12 January 2023
Sensemaker: Join the dots
What just happened
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Sunday 8 January 2023
Sensemaker: Westminster money trail
What just happened
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Wednesday 4 January 2023
Sensemaker: Talking about Kevin
What just happened
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Tuesday 3 January 2023
Sensemaker: Deeper and deeper
What just happened
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Wednesday 14 December 2022
Sensemaker: Starshot
What just happened
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Wednesday 7 December 2022
Sensemaker: Trump’s awful day
What just happened
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Tuesday 6 December 2022
Sensemaker: Phala Phala
What just happened
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Monday 5 December 2022
Sensemaker: Cap in hand
What just happened
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Tuesday 29 November 2022
Sensemaker: Revolutionary road
What just happened
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Thursday 24 November 2022
Sensemaker: Scottish neverendum
What just happened
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Wednesday 23 November 2022
Sensemaker: Darkbulb moment
What just happened
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Thursday 17 November 2022
The Responsibility100 Index: The findings
The Responsibility100 Index assesses FTSE 100 companies on their actions and commitments toward a more sustainable future. Here’s what we found in our 2022 update
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Tuesday 15 November 2022
Sensemaker: Sleepy Joe Mojo
What just happened
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Monday 14 November 2022
Sensemaker: Sam Bankrupt-Fried
What just happened
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Thursday 10 November 2022
Sensemaker: Rubicon, Rubicoff
What just happened
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Wednesday 9 November 2022
Sensemaker: Democracy’s big night
What just happened
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Wednesday 2 November 2022
Sensemaker: Marco Scholzo
What just happened
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Friday 28 October 2022
Sensemaker: Gas glut
What just happened
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Monday 24 October 2022
Sensemaker: Gov actually
What just happened
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Wednesday 19 October 2022
Sensemaker: Bone China
What just happened
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Thursday 13 October 2022
Sensemaker: Peak house
What just happened
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Monday 10 October 2022
Sensemaker: Bridge backlash
What just happened
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Friday 7 October 2022
Sensemaker: Proving Einstein wrong
What just happened
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Thursday 29 September 2022
Sensemaker: The abyss
What just happened
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Wednesday 28 September 2022
Sensemaker: It’s rates, stupid
What just happened
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Friday 23 September 2022
Sensemaker: Fearless in Iran
What just happened
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Thursday 22 September 2022
Sensemaker: Nuclear options
What just happened
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Wednesday 21 September 2022
Sensemaker: Russia on the edge
What just happened
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Tuesday 20 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Mourning has broken
What just happened
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Monday 19 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: 500 agendas and a funeral
What just happened
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Friday 16 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Standstill Britain
What just happened
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Thursday 15 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Pomp and happenstance
What just happened
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Tuesday 13 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: William’s big raise
What just happened
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Monday 12 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: King and country
What just happened
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Friday 9 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker Special: Spellbound
What just happened
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Thursday 8 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Winning v. malaria
What just happened
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Wednesday 7 September 2022
What will Britain’s new prime minister do?
If Liz Truss isn’t going to raise taxes to pay for all her borrowing, someone else will have to, and she would be wise to admit it
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Wednesday 7 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Ms Delivery
What just happened
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Monday 5 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Moonshot – not
What just happened
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Thursday 1 September 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Power to the people
What just happened
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Thursday 25 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Chinese crunch
What just happened
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Tuesday 23 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Losing Russia’s war
What just happened
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Thursday 18 August 2022
Who gets to choose?
The Conservative Party is running the election of the next prime minister in secret, with next to nothing revealed about its membership – which includes foreign nationals and underage voters – or what security checks are in place. Tortoise is calling for more transparency
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Thursday 18 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Who gets to choose?
What just happened
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Wednesday 17 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Meet William Ruto
What just happened
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Monday 15 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Double O Donald?
What just happened
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Thursday 11 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: A government of laws
What just happened
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Tuesday 9 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Leaderless in London
What just happened
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Friday 5 August 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: War games
What just happened
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Friday 29 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Long orbital goodbye
What just happened
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Thursday 28 July 2022
Trump’s noose tightens
Trump’s plan for fake electors to steal the 2020 election could get him criminally indicted. It’s the biggest call a US Attorney General will ever have to make, but the case is only getting stronger
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Thursday 28 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Trump’s noose tightens
What just happened
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Monday 25 July 2022
Trump dumped
Have Congress’s January 6 hearings served their purpose even if they don’t lead to an indictment?
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Monday 25 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Trump dumped
What just happened
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Thursday 7 July 2022
End of the affair
Boris Johnson has announced his resignation, leaving a personal legacy as a serial dissembler, a party reeling from scandals and a country hobbled by the Brexit that swept him to power
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Thursday 7 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: End of the affair
What just happened
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Wednesday 6 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Toasted Johnson
What just happened
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Monday 4 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Beijing’s engine trouble
What just happened
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Friday 1 July 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Man seeks plan
What just happened
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Friday 24 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Double whammy
What just happened
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Wednesday 22 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Rotherham whitewash
What just happened
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Monday 20 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: World War Four?
What just happened
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Friday 17 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Ulster bake-off
What just happened
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Wednesday 15 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The free speech fightback
What just happened
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Friday 10 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Golf washing
What just happened
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Wednesday 8 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: People minus power
What just happened
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Tuesday 7 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The selectorate
What just happened
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Monday 6 June 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Appeasement 101
What just happened
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Friday 27 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Stinkflation
What just happened
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Wednesday 25 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Uvalde
What just happened
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Tuesday 24 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Pants on fire
What just happened
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Monday 23 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Gobble gobble
What just happened
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Friday 20 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Not over Heard
What just happened
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Thursday 19 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Death spiral of the Lunatics
What just happened
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Monday 16 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Ukraine is winning
What just happened
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Friday 13 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The big picture
What just happened
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Wednesday 11 May 2022
Trump 2.0
If Elon Musk puts Trump back on Twitter it will make a second Trump presidency more likely
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Wednesday 11 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Trump 2.0
What just happened
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Friday 6 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Disunited Kingdom
What just happened
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Wednesday 4 May 2022
Alito aftershocks
The Republicans who want to ban abortion are going to have to deal with being outnumbered two to one by Americans who still believe in a woman’s right to choose
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Wednesday 4 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Alito aftershocks
What just happened
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Wednesday 27 April 2022
Afghanistan 8 months on
Eight months after the US-led withdrawal from Kabul, the man who led President Obama’s surge there a decade ago laments a “heartbreaking failureâ€
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Wednesday 27 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Afghanistan 8 months on
What just happened
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Monday 25 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Macron by a margin
What just happened
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Thursday 21 April 2022
Musk, Twitter, Trump
If Musk got hold of Twitter and let Trump back on, there’s no telling where the political ramifications would lead – but back to the White House is certainly a possibility
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Thursday 21 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Musk, Twitter, Trump
What just happened
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Wednesday 20 April 2022
World food failure
Russia’s war in Ukraine has played havoc on world food markets
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Wednesday 20 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: World food failure
What just happened
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Wednesday 13 April 2022
Spectre of Le Pen
Macron and Le Pen are courting the left as France tilts to the right
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Wednesday 13 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Spectre of Le Pen
What just happened
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Friday 8 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The collapse of Rishi Sunak
What just happened
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Thursday 7 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Steps not taken
What just happened
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Tuesday 5 April 2022
Through the looking glass
Defeating Russia on the Ukrainian battlefield is only the start. Cut off from the rest of the world, a nation of 144 million is being force-fed an alternative world view that most of the time is the inverse of reality.
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Tuesday 5 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Through the looking glass
What just happened
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Monday 4 April 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Hungary for more
What just happened
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Wednesday 30 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The Biden scorecard
What just happened
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Tuesday 29 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Spotlight out
What just happened
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Monday 28 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Soft power, hard power
What just happened
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Thursday 24 March 2022
Is Ukraine winning?
There is evidence Ukraine is actually winning this war. If so, the West’s role must be to give it everything it needs for a decisive victory, not just to prop up a plucky David against Goliath
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Thursday 24 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Is Ukraine winning?
What just happened
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Thursday 17 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The no no-fly zone strategy
What just happened
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Tuesday 15 March 2022
Truth to power
It is vital for Putin that a majority of Russians go on believing his lies. That is why it matters when a producer on a flagship state-run TV news bulletin runs onto the set with a placard denouncing them
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Tuesday 15 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Truth to power
What just happened
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Friday 11 March 2022
The rough goodbye
As Western capitalism shuts down in Russia and the state takes control, entrepreneurs and professionals flee the country
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Friday 11 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The rough goodbye
What just happened
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Wednesday 9 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Twist or bust?
What just happened
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Monday 7 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: From Russia with denial
What just happened
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Friday 4 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Funding Putin’s war
What just happened
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Thursday 3 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The attack on Kyiv
What just happened
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Tuesday 1 March 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: If Russia “winsâ€
What just happened
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Monday 28 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: German arms
What just happened
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Friday 25 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Target number one
What just happened
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Thursday 24 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Russia invades
What just happened
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Wednesday 23 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Money balks
What just happened
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Tuesday 22 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Crazy, or a fox?
What just happened
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Wednesday 16 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Abandoned in Myanmar
What just happened
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Tuesday 15 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Dump Trump bump
What just happened
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Friday 11 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Things could go crazy, quickly
What just happened
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Monday 7 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Crumbling African democracy
What just happened
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Friday 4 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Assad the survivor
What just happened
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Wednesday 2 February 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: EU and whose army?
What just happened
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Monday 31 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Back to work
What just happened
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Monday 24 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Gray report’s anatomy
What just happened
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Friday 21 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Gas and hot air
What just happened
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Wednesday 19 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Putin’s dream
What just happened
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Monday 17 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: New deal?
What just happened
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Friday 14 January 2022
10 minute readChequers
Sensemaker: Johnson’s second home
What just happened
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Thursday 13 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Case not dismissed
What just happened
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Wednesday 12 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Geneva showdown
What just happened
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Monday 10 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Peoples’ republics
What just happened
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Friday 7 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Steppe change
What just happened
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Thursday 6 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Insurrection reckoning
What just happened
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Tuesday 4 January 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: Happy New Year?
What just happened
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Friday 17 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Staring into space
What just happened
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Friday 17 December 2021
Let it snow – somewhere
Snow is surrendering to rain even in the coldest places on the planet, but it can still spring surprises. An unseasonal blizzard in Greenland this year showed how climate change can deliver enough snow in a few days to change the mass of an entire ice sheet
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Wednesday 15 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Monster of Minsk
What just happened
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Tuesday 14 December 2021
The cap fits
Imagine a world in which carbon cap and trade systems actually worked. Guess what? It’s happening.
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Monday 13 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Griffiths v Griffiths
What just happened
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Friday 10 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Sticker shock
What just happened
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Friday 10 December 2021
Boycott Beijing
At the very least, a diplomatic no-show at the Winter Olympics will signal to China that we are willing to use the levers we have
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Wednesday 8 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: French connections
What just happened
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Monday 6 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Really, Vladimir?
What just happened
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Sunday 5 December 2021
Cop26 in the rearview
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Friday 3 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker Special: Boosters vs vaccinating the world
What just happened
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Friday 3 December 2021
Don’t let them have it
In the great nuclear chess game, Iran has put the US in a position where it must make the next move. And it’s not a straightforward one
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Wednesday 1 December 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Taliban murders
What just happened
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Tuesday 30 November 2021
How to clean up
Natural and unnatural disasters can cut carbon emissions, but so can the right policies.
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Monday 29 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Vax v variant
What just happened
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Friday 26 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Channel quarrel
What just happened
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Friday 26 November 2021
The bear with no memory
Putin is trying to destroy a precious pillar of Russia’s collective recollection
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Thursday 25 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Channel drownings
What just happened
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Wednesday 24 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The Great Migration
What just happened
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Tuesday 23 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: No Bojo mojo
What just happened
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Monday 22 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: British police culture
What just happened
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Friday 19 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Biden’s Thanksgiving
What just happened
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Friday 19 November 2021
Cocooned
The super-rich are escaping to yachts and private jets in ever greater numbers. But they may be in for a rude awakening
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Tuesday 16 November 2021
Core Cop
Cop survives as a way to progress the fight against climate change but only because this year’s host spent a lot of energy on key deals outside the core agenda.
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Monday 15 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Warming by numbers
What just happened
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Friday 12 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Magic money
What just happened
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Friday 12 November 2021
The real world
The lesson of Cop is that it is open to a small number of key protagonists to save the planet. Will they?
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Monday 8 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Get serious week
What just happened
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Friday 5 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Covid in Europe
What just happened
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Friday 5 November 2021
Let the glaciers rise again
If we keep the promises made at Cop, many of these fading monuments of natural glacial beauty may yet survive
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Thursday 4 November 2021
Ultra super megabucks
On day three of Cop, three lanky men walk into a conference centre promising the world with trillions of other people’s dollars. Not everyone believes them.
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Tuesday 2 November 2021
Opening bids
Day one of Cop 26 got off to better than expected. But are we seeing enough action from the mega-polluters: India, US, Russia and China?
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Monday 1 November 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Don’t give up
What just happened
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Friday 29 October 2021
What Cop 26 is for
If the future of this Earth depended on the cajolery of the UN’s climate conference, we’d all be screwed. But the trillions of dollars poised for investment in the environment should give us hope
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Friday 29 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Biden and climate
What just happened
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Tuesday 26 October 2021
The C100 Special
Findings from Tortoise’s Responsibility 100 Index show that the UK’s biggest supermarket chains are failing basic transparency tests when reporting on their environmental impact.
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Monday 25 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The Turkey ten
What just happened
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Friday 22 October 2021
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
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Wednesday 20 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Bad neighbours
What just happened
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Tuesday 19 October 2021
Climate specifics
In advance of Cop 26, there remains a yawning gap between countries’ pledges and policy action. Britain is making a last-ditch effort to narrow it
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Monday 18 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Power down
What just happened
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Friday 15 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Cop flop?
What just happened
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Friday 15 October 2021
A five-point plan for Britain
The country needs rejuvenating. Here, at the start of a series, Giles Whittell introduces the five low-cost ideas that he’d like implementing – from EU membership to a new capital
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Tuesday 12 October 2021
Geared for take-off
Aviation talks a big game about reaching net zero. But to actually achieve it, the industry and customers face some tough choices.
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Monday 11 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Britain and Europe: red lines at dawn
What just happened
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Friday 8 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Gas and hot air
What just happened
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Friday 8 October 2021
We’re all Taiwanese now
China’s current bellicosity ought to worry us all. There’s the possibility of war – and of the triumph of authoritarianism over democracy
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Thursday 7 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Party of power?
What just happened
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Tuesday 5 October 2021
The soil carbon opportunity
Let the world’s farmlands breathe and come alive, and they might just steer the planet to net zero
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Monday 4 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Pandora’s cave
What just happened
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Friday 1 October 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Abortion in America
What just happened
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Friday 1 October 2021
Going down the Brexit hole
The petrol shortages are just the start of it. The government is going to have to do a lot more than issue temporary visas if they want to pull themselves – and us – out
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Tuesday 28 September 2021
Tortoise at Cop26
Join us at The New York Times Climate Hub as we discuss Cop26, and help build a practical to-do list to save the planet.
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Tuesday 21 September 2021
The Great Climate Exodus
Humans have always been a relentlessly mobile species. But climate change is accelerating the number of people fleeing drought and disaster. How will developed nations respond?
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Monday 20 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Submarine warfare
What just happened
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Friday 17 September 2021
Prince Charles, Inc.
Britain’s next king has constructed a strange charity-industrial complex around himself – and its financial dealings are extremely questionable. We have a right to ask: how much does he know?
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Thursday 16 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Long Johnson
What just happened
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Wednesday 15 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: News about news
What just happened
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Tuesday 14 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Taliban words and actions
What just happened
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Tuesday 14 September 2021
Not Desperately Cool
One of the central aims of Cop26 is to assemble a set of Nationally Determined Contributions towards global emissions reduction (NDCs). Are they ambitious enough?
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Monday 13 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Vaccinating teenagers
What just happened
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Friday 10 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Back to the big state
What just happened
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Friday 10 September 2021
Homelessness, a test of America and its leaders
In places like LA, it was bad before. It’s worse now. The question is: how willing and able are US politicians to take care of their own people?
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Wednesday 8 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: High tax Toryism
What just happened
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Tuesday 7 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Perfect storm
What just happened
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Tuesday 7 September 2021
Chinese challenge
John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, wishes China wouldn’t link climate change to global politics – he says it isn’t a geostrategic issue. China says: oh yes it is
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Monday 6 September 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Winning streak
What just happened
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Tuesday 31 August 2021
The great carbon clean-up
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Friday 27 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Afghan audit
What just happened
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Thursday 26 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Trucks and shelves
What just happened
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Wednesday 25 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: T minus six
What just happened
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Tuesday 24 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Zero Covid v Delta
What just happened
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Monday 23 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: It’s not over in Panjshir
What just happened
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Friday 6 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Stay at home! For now
What just happened
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Thursday 5 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Booster bust-up
What just happened
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Wednesday 4 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Dangerous sailing
What just happened
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Tuesday 3 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Polluters who prefer not to pay
What just happened
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Monday 2 August 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Access capitalism
What just happened
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Friday 30 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: French amber plus
What just happened
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Wednesday 28 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Chinese nukes and the Queen Elizabeth
What just happened
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Tuesday 27 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Pandemic pay hikes
What just happened
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Tuesday 27 July 2021
Coal hole
Step one towards Net Zero is funding alternatives to coal for countries that are hooked on it
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Friday 23 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The spy in your pocket
What just happened
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Wednesday 21 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Olympic nightmare
What just happened
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Tuesday 20 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: “Get Covid, live longer.â€
What just happened
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Tuesday 20 July 2021
Disaster response
The weather has never been more political. When will it actually change policy?
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Friday 16 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The “Kremlin†papers
What just happened
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Thursday 15 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Farewell Hong Kong
What just happened
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Wednesday 14 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: South Africa and Cuba
What just happened
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Tuesday 13 July 2021
Windfall v wind power
Renewables are growing fast, but fossil fuels need to shrink much faster
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Friday 9 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Four days a week
What just happened
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Wednesday 7 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: How to tax
What just happened
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Tuesday 6 July 2021
The real McCoy
Could undercover footage of Exxon lobbyist Keith McCoy be the juice that climate litigation needs?
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Monday 5 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Failure in Afghanistan
What just happened
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Friday 2 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Wally Funk is going to space
What just happened
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Thursday 1 July 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The first 100
What just happened
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Wednesday 30 June 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Dangerous to know
What just happened
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Tuesday 29 June 2021
CAP and land
The EU is finally putting serious money behind sustainable farming
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Monday 28 June 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Macron becalmed
What just happened
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Friday 28 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Hot peace
What just happened
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Thursday 27 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The Cummings questionnaire
What just happened
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Wednesday 26 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Postcard from Maricá
What just happened
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Wednesday 26 May 2021
Countdown to Net Zero: what’s the plan for the next 12 months?
At last week’s ThinkIn, we assessed what we should be doing at Tortoise over the next 12 months if we want to advance the net zero agenda
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Friday 21 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: A dreadful place to be
What just happened
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Wednesday 19 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Lessons from India
What just happened
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Tuesday 18 May 2021
The case for net zero
As John Kerry wades into the shark tank of net zero debate, this week’s Net Zero Sensemaker gets behind its name
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Monday 17 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Variant, schmariant
What just happened
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Friday 14 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The mad court of King Don
What just happened
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Wednesday 12 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: A third intifada?
What just happened
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Tuesday 11 May 2021
El Dorado on Tees
Will the Net Zero Teeside project, focused on carbon capture, usage and storage, amount to anything serious?
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Monday 10 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: When, not if, for Scotland
What just happened
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Friday 7 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Slow news fast
What just happened
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Wednesday 5 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Who lost Myanmar?
What just happened
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Tuesday 4 May 2021
Introducing the Net Zero Sensemaker
Your weekly update on what we’re doing – and what more we can do – to build an agenda for COP26 that makes a difference
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Wednesday 28 April 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: This time it’s different
What just happened
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Friday 9 April 2021
The Future of Cars: The Readout
At our Summit on 26 March, we invited guests and Tortoise members to discuss the big questions surrounding the future of humanity’s favourite vehicle
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Thursday 25 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Containing China
What just happened
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Thursday 25 March 2021
The future of cars depends on China
Powertrains are going electric – and Beijing controls the necessary raw materials
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Wednesday 24 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Greed, capitalism and drugs
What just happened
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Monday 22 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The vaccine gulf
What just happened
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Friday 19 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Batteries included
What just happened
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Thursday 18 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The blue touchpaper
What just happened
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Wednesday 17 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The big rejig
What just happened
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Monday 15 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Populism and protest
What just happened
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Friday 12 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Reclaiming the streets
What just happened
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Thursday 11 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The anti-coup
What just happened
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Monday 8 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Biden attacks poverty
What just happened
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Friday 5 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Covid in Brazil
What just happened
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Thursday 4 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Hawkeye Sunak
What just happened
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Thursday 4 March 2021
Giles Whittell: This Sceptred Aisle
The post-Brexit British supermarket bombards you with Union Jack product branding. But food nationalism – crude as it can be – is mostly a myth in a system of global supply chains
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Wednesday 3 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The EU has three problems
What just happened
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Monday 1 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The missing 300
What just happened
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Friday 26 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Elite embarrassment
What just happened
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Thursday 25 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Torture trial
What just happened
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Wednesday 24 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Liberté, Égalité, Vacciné?
What just happened
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Monday 22 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Optimism and truth
What just happened
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Friday 19 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Could a wealth tax pay for Covid?
What just happened
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Thursday 18 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Arctic Texas
What just happened
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Wednesday 17 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Way out
What just happened
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Monday 15 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Can the EU handle Hungary?
What just happened
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Friday 12 February 2021
Party at Headington Hall
Could a ribald evening thirty years ago shed light on the mindset of Ghislaine Maxwell?
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Friday 12 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Cut off
What just happened
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Thursday 11 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Women and MBS
What just happened
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Wednesday 10 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Case not closed
What just happened
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Monday 8 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The view from South Africa
What just happened
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Friday 5 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Seven year scratch
What just happened
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Thursday 4 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Dateline Brexit
What just happened
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Wednesday 3 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Science 3 – Covid 2
What just happened
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Monday 1 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Coup in Myanmar
What just happened
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Friday 29 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The meaning of Novavax
What just happened
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Thursday 28 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Scottish play
What just happened
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Wednesday 27 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Indian harvest
What just happened
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Monday 25 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Tesco’s awkward pay gap
What just happened
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Friday 22 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Tomorrow in Moscow
What just happened
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Thursday 21 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: New US management
What just happened
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Wednesday 20 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Changeover day
What just happened
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Tuesday 19 January 2021
The Trump hangover
Going down?
Meet the state prosecutors who are chasing after Trump – not because of the Capitol riot, but because of his past dealings
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Monday 18 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Bravest man alive
What just happened
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Friday 15 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The race is on
What just happened
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Thursday 14 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Trump vs. the rebels
What just happened
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Wednesday 13 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Scorched earth
What just happened
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Monday 11 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: The worst Covid in the world
What just happened
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Friday 8 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: DC: the post-mortem
What just happened
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Thursday 7 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: DC insurrection
What just happened
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Wednesday 6 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Democracy update
What just happened
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Monday 4 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Don Donald
What just happened
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Monday 28 December 2020
The good that happened in 2020: New Things
2020 wasn’t all bad. And it’s important that we remember that. This new series considers the heartening things that happened this year, according to each of Tortoise’s five main themes
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Friday 18 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: Covid
What just happened
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Thursday 17 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: The path
What just happened
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Wednesday 16 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: Brexit latest
What just happened
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Tuesday 15 December 2020
Covid Inquiry – The Verdict
No fit state
How a distracted government and weakened British institutions let Covid take control
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Monday 14 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: The extra mile
What just happened
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Friday 11 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: Endgame
What just happened
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Monday 7 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: End game in Brussels
What just happened
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Friday 4 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: Brexit: to diverge, or not?
What just happened
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Thursday 3 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: The Pfizer vaccine
What just happened