James joined Tortoise straight after finishing his masters’ at Bristol University.
James Wilson
Assistant News Editor

“There’s a real need for journalism that allows you to take a deep-dive into the big topics and trends without leaving you feeling overwhelmed. This is what Tortoise does best.”
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Wednesday 18 May 2022
The world at war
If the world’s democracies are having a crisis of confidence they should get over it. Russia’s war in Ukraine is a reminder they are vastly richer, stronger and more innovative than the police states that think it’s OK to redraw maps by force
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Wednesday 18 May 2022
10 minute readSensemaker: The world at war
What just happened
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Thursday 5 May 2022
Trump treads the boards
The 47th, Mike Bartlett’s new play about the 2024 US election, raises important questions about the future of American democracy
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Thursday 24 March 2022
Untested assumptions
Nato’s Article 5 is supposed to be the clear red line that keeps the West safe. What if it blurred?
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Tuesday 15 March 2022
Macron’s Metternich moment
All eyes are understandably on Ukraine. But the conflict comes at a crucial time for another country: France
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Thursday 24 February 2022
The agony of choice
Cat Burglar, Charlie Brooker’s new animated heist, requires the viewer to make choices to progress the storyline. Is it a winning format?
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Thursday 10 February 2022
The making of a jeen-yuhs
In its two-decade exploration of Kanye West’s life, Netflix’s new documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy perfectly showcases what makes the rapper so captivating
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Friday 17 December 2021
Will a government review make online gambling regulation more effective? All bets are off
Since the Gambling Act 2005, various gambling-like features have appeared in online games. The government’s white paper due next year could be a chance to reign them in
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Thursday 23 September 2021
From capital punishment to feline Facebook: 10 years of parliamentary petitions
The e-petition site set up by the coalition government is ten years old. To mark the occasion, we’ve sifted through its earliest, biggest and strangest petitions to discover… does it make a difference?
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Friday 9 April 2021
Slow Reviews Part III
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72
James Wilson on a book that saw the future of America and of political reportage
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Wednesday 25 March 2020
Injury time
Even before C-19, many English football clubs faced financial catastrophe. A new fund may help them through the next few weeks – but what happens after that?
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Friday 20 May 2022
Grimsby’s proud East Marshians
The East Marsh estate in Grimsby is one of the UK’s most deprived communities. But a charity is trying to change that – one house purchase at a time
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Monday 21 March 2022
Putin: what do we know about him?
Western leaders are trying to predict the Russian president’s next move. Some believe he has become isolated. What do we know about Vladimir Putin’s life?