James was Director of BBC News and before that was Editor of The Times.
James Harding
Co-founder & Editor
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Wednesday 20 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTGoodbye Donald: end of an era, or start of the sequel?
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Tuesday 26 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTFeeding the world sustainably after Covid: how will we do it?
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Thursday 25 February 2021
08:30-14:00 GMTThe Future of Money Summit
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Tuesday 19 January 2021
08:00-09:00 GMTIn conversation with Anne Boden, CEO Starling Bank
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Tuesday 26 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
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Tuesday 19 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
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Monday 18 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTTrans kids: what has been happening inside the Tavistock?
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Tuesday 12 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Tuesday 12 January 2021
08:00-09:00 GMTAre business leaders stalling over disability inclusion?
Join us to ask why disability inclusion still isn’t on the boardroom table
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Wednesday 6 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMTDoes Britain have an answer to immigration now?
Freedom of movement is over, but what does that really mean for Britain?
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Tuesday 5 January 2021
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Tuesday 8 December 2020
08:00-09:00 GMTA ThinkIn with Gavin Patterson, President and Chief Revenue Officer of Salesforce
Salesforce’s President and Chief Revenue Officer, Gavin Patterson, in conversation with James Harding
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Tuesday 15 December 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News Special: what did we learn in 2020?
What really happened this year? Which stories mattered, and what did we miss?
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Wednesday 9 December 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTA ThinkIn with Ed Miliband
The former Labour leader in conversation with James Harding.
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Tuesday 1 December 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Thursday 3 December 2020
08:30-14:00 GMTThe Global AI Summit
On 3rd December, second Global AI Summit will imagine a world with AI at its core.
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Tuesday 20 October 2020
07:55-09:00 GMTWhat can smart machines do for humankind and for you?
What role will robots play in society? And how best can they serve humanity?
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Wednesday 4 November 2020
18:25-20:00 GMTUS Election: The Result – what now?
As the votes were still being counted, we discussed the US election – why it played out in the way that it did, and what the outcome will mean for America and the world.
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Tuesday 24 November 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTHow do we radically decarbonise our world, while meeting vital human needs?
How can we ensure that people and our planet can coexist harmoniously, and sustainably?
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Tuesday 10 November 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Tuesday 10 November 2020
07:55-09:00 GMTIs Jack Ma the world’s greatest entrepreneur?
How powerful is Jack Ma?
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Monday 30 November 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTIn conversation with P.J. O’Rourke on the state of the United States
Join James Harding in conversation with satirist P.J. O’Rourke.
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Wednesday 25 November 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTSettled but not resolved: what next for the opioid crisis?
We return to our first ever story, and investigate the opioid crisis in the context of the pandemic.
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Monday 16 November 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTWhat is the job of scientists? with Jim Al-Khalili
Have we misunderstood what science can and can’t do?
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Monday 9 November 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTIn conversation with Lionel Barber: inside the corridors of power
Lionel Barber on the powerful and damned.
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Monday 19 October 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTMembers’ Open House
We want you to know how we’re doing, what’s changing in Tortoise, and to hear your feedback directly.
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Wednesday 21 October 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTBritain and slavery: Who profited and what should they do now?
What should companies that profited from slavery do now to make amends?
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Wednesday 28 October 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTHow will the climate crisis transform the Middle East?
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Tuesday 27 October 2020
12:55-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Tuesday 20 October 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Wednesday 14 October 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTWill Nicola Sturgeon lead Scotland to independence?
Have the twin pressures of Brexit and Covid gifted independence to the SNP?
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Tuesday 13 October 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Monday 12 October 2020
18:25-19:30 GMTHow do we live with loneliness?
Why is the 21st century the loneliest ever, and what can we do about it?
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Tuesday 29 September 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.
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Tuesday 15 September 2020
07:50-09:00 GMTWhy isn’t the ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory?
How can we make sure more companies commit to reporting on the ethnicity pay gap?
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Tuesday 8 September 2020
08:00-09:00 GMTIn other news, Brexit: what’s happening?
Has Covid 19 scuppered the UK’s chances of landing a deal, or could the government still pull it off?
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Monday 7 September 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTLiving Better: In conversation with Alastair Campbell on mental health
Listen to Alastair Campbell’s intensely personal story about coping with depression.
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Tuesday 1 September 2020
13:00-14:00 GMTOpen News
Join the Tortoise editors and members from all over the world as, together, we grapple with the evolving live news agenda.
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Wednesday 22 July 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTHow do we get 2m under 25s into work?
Under-25s were two and half times more likely than others to have been working in the parts of the economy that shut-down in March.
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Monday 15 June 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTDigital ThinkIn – Is there such a thing as a fair trial?
Is our justice system still fit for purpose or is wholesale judicial reform long overdue?
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Friday 15 May 2020
15:00-15:45 GMTSovereignty & surveillance: In conversation with Shoshana Zuboff
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Wednesday 22 April 2020
18:30-19:30 GMTCrisis Leadership – Tony Blair
The UK’s former prime minister in conversation with James Harding.
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Tuesday 28 January 2020
08:00-09:00 GMTWhat does Dominic Cummings think?
In the week of Brexit, we looked at what the PM’s chief advisor – the highly influential Dominic Cummings – means for investment in the north, defence procurement, the future of education; decision-making in government and more.
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Monday 11 January 2021
This week in Tortoise: The vaccine
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Monday 4 January 2021
This week in Tortoise: Immigration after Brexit
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Monday 28 December 2020
This week in Tortoise: The good parts of 2020
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Monday 21 December 2020
This week in Tortoise: Slow Reviews, Part II
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Monday 14 December 2020
This week in Tortoise: The Covid Inquiry
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Monday 7 December 2020
This week in Tortoise: Year of the Screen
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Monday 30 November 2020
This week in Tortoise: Feminism Inc.
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Monday 23 November 2020
This week in Tortoise: Scottish independence
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Monday 16 November 2020
This week in Tortoise: Halloween 2020
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Saturday 14 November 2020
Behind the News, 14 November 2020
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Friday 13 November 2020
Donald Trump, importantly pathetic
The 45th president’s refusal to concede is laughable – but we ought to remember it
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Friday 25 September 2020
Harry Evans: restless, romantic… and relentless
Sir Harold Evans, Britain’s greatest newspaper editor, has died. In 14 years on The Sunday Times, he redefined the possibilities of journalism and inspired a generation – among them Tortoise editor James Harding
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Friday 31 July 2020
Unemployment
The hopeful Chancellor: transcript
Read James Harding’s analysis of Rishi Sunak – is he really the right person to save the British economy?
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Monday 15 June 2020
The government is unwell
Britain’s disease
Coronavirus is a vicious illness which has brutally exposed the weakness of the British government. The UK stands alone, suffering damage which is almost without parallel
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Thursday 9 January 2020
Tech Nations: Apple
The new superpowers: Apple
The big technology corporations are more than companies, they’re global powers. It’s time we treated them that way
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Wednesday 13 January 2021
Parliaments not plutocrats
The parameters of truth and free speech should not be set by self-interested social media platforms. It’s time the lawmakers stepped in
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Wednesday 6 January 2021
The upper house stoops lower
Offering a peerage to Peter Cruddas doesn’t just make a mockery of the House of Lords – it’s indicative of Boris Johnson’s entire attitude towards the country he governs
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Saturday 19 December 2020
Episode 11: Covidcasting
Talking about viruses used to be a niche pursuit. In 2020, it went mainstream – as did the podcasts doing it
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Friday 18 December 2020
Exposed
Johnson and the British state have failed the test of Covid
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Monday 14 December 2020
Episode 10: Cultural influence
Is the government filling the UK’s cultural institutions with people it believes will do its bidding? And, even if it is, is this anything new?
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Friday 11 December 2020
What’s missing
2020 has been a year of lost encounters, and lost encounters mean lost stories
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Saturday 5 December 2020
The Tavistock ruling
This week’s high court judgement on puberty blockers has huge implications. It also raises questions about where the debate goes next, outside of the courtroom
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Saturday 5 December 2020
Episode 9: Clause Corbyn
Labour has once again descended into civil war. What does the decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn say about the direction of the party and its leader, Keir Starmer?
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Saturday 28 November 2020
Episode 8: What’s the deal?
Securing a trade agreement with the EU has proved harder than initially suggested. Is politics in its current form equipped to deal with the complex reality of globalisation?
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Friday 27 November 2020
Pause for thought
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision to take sabbatical isn’t, as some are suggesting, an abdication of responsibility. In fact, it’s an act of leadership
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Saturday 21 November 2020
Episode 7: Our Covid Inquiry
There are urgent questions to ask – of the government and the public sector. But also of ourselves – the media.
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Friday 20 November 2020
Good COP
A lot must be achieved at the postponed climate summit in Glasgow next year. Is David Cameron the man for the job?
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Saturday 14 November 2020
Episode 6: Truth to power
Were US news networks right to cut away from Donald Trump when he made baseless claims of voter fraud?
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Friday 13 November 2020
Donald Trump, importantly pathetic
The 45th president’s refusal to concede is laughable – but we ought to remember it
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Friday 6 November 2020
Episode 5: The State of the States
In the wake of a messy election, what do the results tell us about the US today? Is America really as divided as everyone says?
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Friday 6 November 2020
What Sunak should do now
Britain’s finance minister has been running behind the pandemic. Here’s how he can get ahead
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Friday 30 October 2020
Go Ngozi
Who will be the next director general of the World Trade Organisation? Who cares? But, in truth, these are the sorts of leaders who could guide us out of the current mess
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Friday 30 October 2020
Episode 4: Vaccines
This week on Behind the News, the podcast that takes you inside our newsroom, we check in with Matt d’Ancona, who’s working on an audio essay on coronavirus vaccines and the big political decisions they’ll require.
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Friday 23 October 2020
A shrinking country
With No.10 representing just England, the Union really is at risk of breaking up
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Friday 23 October 2020
Episode 3: It’s complicated
This week on Behind the News, the podcast that takes you inside our newsroom, we’re taking a deeper look at the contracts the government has rushed through during the pandemic; and we try to make sense of JK Rowling’s intervention in the gender identity debate.
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Monday 19 October 2020
Recession 2021
Alistair Darling and Mervyn King, who were both at the centre of the 2008 crisis, talk to James Harding about what’s coming next
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Friday 16 October 2020
Just the start
Mark Zuckerberg’s choice to ban Holocaust denial on Facebook is undoubtedly the right one. But who adjudicates for such decisions in parts of the world where he doesn’t know or understand the issues? What about the untruths and conspiracy theories that don’t cross his radar?
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Friday 16 October 2020
Episode 2: Beyond 2020
This week on Behind The News, the podcast that takes you inside the Tortoise newsroom, we’re starting to think about stories on the other side of the US election and into 2021. James chats to Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff under Obama who’s plugged into Biden’s transition team, and Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6.
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Friday 9 October 2020
Episode 1: Welcome to our newsroom
This week, we talk to Louise Tickle about an investigation we have just begun into hidden homicides; two great economic thinkers – Larry Summers at Harvard and Torsten Bell at the Resolution Foundation – tell us why governments need to keep borrowing and spending.
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Friday 9 October 2020
Chumocracy Inc.
There are echoes of 2008 in the arguments about the reputation of business
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Friday 2 October 2020
The prime minister’s veil
We know startlingly little about Boris Johnson’s state of health or the health of his finances – much less than Americans have come to expect they should know about their President. In the week when President Trump’s tax returns finally saw the light of day it’s time we looked again. What’s legitimately private for a British prime minister, and what does the public interest demand that we should see?