The Tortoise Interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

Join us for a special Tortoise Interview where pulses race and hearts skip, as we explore, celebrate and potentially swoon over stories of love and romance

Do we expect too much from love?

Join us as we discuss if our expectations of love and our partners are too high?

How to be a man

How can we have a better conversation about what masculinity means today?

Tortoise Lates: Modern Love

Join us at a special evening talking all about burning passion, broken hearts and modern romance.

Tortoise Lates: Masculinity

An evening that tries to make sense of masculinity: what it looks like, how it works, the problems it causes and why we need it.

A history of the British Isles in Just a Minute

Join us for a romp through British history with a series of 60-second stories.

Inside the Big Interview

Sam gives us a backstage pass and a ringside seat to some of the most unforgettable TV moments of our times, with her stories of mind-blowing secrets, outlandish requests, crazy riders and near-misses

What’s the scariest horror movie ever made?

With our expert panel of film critics, authors and horror fans – we decide once and for all: what’s the scariest movie of all time

Tortoise 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.

The Tortoise Interview: Nick Hornby

On the genius of Charles Dickens and Prince

Reporting family courts: what’s the state of play?

Join our panel and audience of journalists, editors and lawyers who have battled to shine a line on the inner workings of the family courts, to discuss what next for greater transparency – how will the reporting pilot work and does it go far enough?

Tortoise Lates: Fear

An evening of real and imaginary horrors in the Tortoise Studio. With terrifying ghost stories, the scariest movies and an exploration of the frightening things happening at the top of government

The Review

Join us at our fortnightly breakfast event that helps Tortoise members and friends make sense of current world affairs, the breaking news and latest scoops.

Tortoise Lates: Power and the Press

Tortoise Lates: Power and the Press edition will be an evening of conversations exploring the interplay of power, politics and the press.

Tortoise Lates: History

Tortoise Lates: the History edition will bring together well-known historians, best-selling authors, Tortoise editors and a bona fide national treasure to explore history in a new way.

On reflection: the death of the Queen

A reflection on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II.

Public mourning, private grief: how do we cope with loss?

How can we, individually and as a nation, process the passing of the Queen.

Making sense of Pride, with Liz Moseley

Is Pride a protest, parade, or just a month of pinkwashing?

In conversation with Caroline Criado-Perez

How can we close the gender data gap and design a world that works for everyone?

Making sense of dating apps, with Liz Moseley

Do dating apps care about safety?

Should any woman be put in prison?

Does incarceration of women do more harm than good for society, and if so – what’s the alternative?

Should we ban private schools?

Is elitism really that bad when it comes to education?

Do faith schools have a place in modern education?

Why are faith schools so popular — what do they offer that non-faith school don’t?

Unspiked: what did we learn from the “epidemic” that never was?

Is there more to the needle spiking story?

Systemic change in the workplace: Is the answer allyship?

How can we tell active allyship apart from performative allyship, and how do we call it out when we do?

How can we be happier? A ThinkIn with Will Young

How can we better understand our emotions and where they come from?

The broken influencer economy: who’s to blame?

Is our digital rat race costing us too much? And who falls victim?

The banter backlash: is ‘political correctness’ holding back police reform?

Some insist that ‘banter’ is a harmless and critical part of police culture, and others simply object to yet another set of guidelines over what is and isn’t OK to say. Who’s right?

After Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Peter Connelly and Victoria Climbié: what should social workers do?

It falls on social workers to support families, identify abuse, and marshall the care system. It’s one of the hardest jobs in the world. Is there a different way social workers could do it?

Should police officers be banned from social media?

A special Tortoise Investigates: Police and Misogyny ThinkIn. How should police use of digital communications platforms be moderated? Should serving officers be banned from Twitter?

2022 Predictions: what’s coming next?

Making confident predictions about what will happen in 2022 is preposterous. Preposterous, but good fun. Who are the people, teams and organisations to watch in 2022?

What does it mean to work well?

Has progress been made to support those who struggle with their mental wellbeing? What should we be doing to create healthy habits in the workplace?

Christmas DrinkIn

Don your Santa hat and crack open the chocolate orange, we’ve made it to the final ThinkIn of 2021!

Sweet Bobby: could any of us be catfished?

A special Sweet Bobby ThinkIn, delving into what this story says about trust, relationships, and our online lives.

Is hybrid working worse for women?

Flexible working offers greater freedom to those with caring responsibilities or disabilities to work from home – but what can we do to avoid unintended consequences of this freedom?

The hardest word: what are we prepared to forgive?

Today, lives can be ripped apart and reputations ruined forever in a heartbeat, but who governs the rules of redemption and are they equally applied to everyone?

Why do so many people with autism die young?

Public awareness of issues relating to neurodiversity in general has improved in recent years, but has all that awareness translated into meaningful change, especially in terms of medical treatment, for autistic people and their families?

What’s so funny about anxiety? In conversation with Georgia Pritchett

A frank and funny conversation with Georgia about learning to cope with anxiety – and hamsters, the Queen, budgies, questionable fashion choices and Jimmy Osman.

The great food swindle: are the ‘health claims’ a con?

At this ThinkIn, in partnership with Biteback, we discussed food companies that target young people with products that tap into ‘superfood’ fads, the impact this has on young people’s health, and what can be done about it?

Open News Meeting

The Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference.

Life after Angela: what has Merkel meant to Germany, Europe and us?

The German elections will mark the departure of Angela Merkel, seen by many to be the last great statesperson of our time. What are her greatest achievements? What will be her lasting legacy?

Open News Meeting

The Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference.

Open News Meeting

At this Open News meeting we were joined by the campaigning group Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA), and Richard Angell from the Terrence Higgins Trust to discuss the HIV Action Plan.

Charles, charities and the Russian donor: should the Met investigate?

Prince Charles’s recent financial dealings with a donor to one of his charities has led to calls for a criminal investigation. Is it warranted? Is it essential?

Open News Meeting

Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives.Have your say.

The Tortoise Summer DrinkIn

Join the Tortoise team for a joyous summer DrinkIn before the holidays kick off.

Are gay people better off without Stonewall?

Has Stonewall outlived its usefulness, or would its disintegration be a dangerous step towards unravelling LGBT rights? Have your say.

The Gateses, the Bezoses and you: is this the beginning of the end of marriage?

Is a genuinely happy marriage even possible anymore? Tell us what you think.

The Tortoise Education Summit

Schooling after the virus: can we build back better?

In conversation with Anya Hindmarch

Join Anya Hindmarch in conversation with Liz Moseley at a special edition of Tortoise’s business breakfast ThinkIns.

MeToo Part Three: is rape culture rife in schools?

What is the scale of sexual misconduct in our schools, and what can we do about it?

Bucks Fizzle: can the UK ever win Eurovision again?

Fancy dress optional for a ThinkIn on the role of Eurovision on the world cultural stage.

The Future of Work Summit

What does the future of work really look like?

A ThinkIn with Tracey Thorn

Join Liz Moseley in conversation with Tracey Thorn on her new book, My Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend

Caroline Flack: what have we learned?

Caroline Flack’s death last year sparked public debate about how we treat people with mental illnesses. But what have we learned?

DrinkIn: Happy 2nd Birthday Tortoise

Share a (virtual) cocktail with us to celebrate our second birthday.

Who can save England’s rivers?

Who should be held responsible for cleaning up our rivers?

The Joy of LEGO, with Emma Kennedy

Join us to celebrate the joy of LEGO with Emma Kennedy

Has the UK government’s Covid-19 response discriminated against women?

A ThinkIn for International Women’s Day.

Open News

Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.

Open News

Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.

Can depression be cured?

Can you really cure depression? We ask the experts.

The Future of Money Summit

Join us an invited experts to discuss the big questions about the future of money

A ThinkIn with Ashley Audrain on The Push

Join Tortoise Editor Liz Moseley in conversation with Ashley Audrain to discuss her record-breaking debut novel, The Push

Open News

Add your voice to the Tortoise editors’ weekly news conference. Bring story ideas and perspectives. Have your say.

Communicating the vaccine: how do we get the story right?

Now the vaccine is here, we ask the experts how we should be spreading the good news

2021 Predictions: what’s coming next?

Look into the crystal ball with us to predict what we should expect in 2021

Festive DrinkIn and Quiz of the Year

A virtual members’ DrinkIn – this time with quiz questions! Santa hats and cheating optional.

A ThinkIn with Nicola Adams

The greatest ever female boxer turned Strictly sensation on breaking boundaries and the future of women’s sport.

The Global AI Summit

On 3rd December, second Global AI Summit will imagine a world with AI at its core.

Greatest albums revisited: does music need a new canon?

Join Pete Paphides and British musicians, as we decide which albums should go down in history as some of the greatest ever.

Digital doctors: is healthtech better news for private companies and practitioners than for patients?

JK Rowling and the ‘TERF’ war: how did we get here?

The debate between gender critical feminists and those in support of trans rights has become increasingly unforgiving. How did we get here?

Can we overcome imposter syndrome?

ThinkIn Doc 2020 Q2 ThinkIn Doc 2020 Q2 100% 8 Reign in your self-sabotaging inner critic with the help of successful people who’ve managed to shake off their own imposter syndrome. Screen reader support enabled. Reign in your self-sabotaging inner critic with the help of successful people who’ve managed to shake off their own imposter syndrome.

In conversation with Stephanie Yeboah

Stephanie Yeboah tells it like is, on body positivity, intersectionality, mental health and more.

How to love the skin you’re in with influencer Flo Simpson

Super-influencer Flo Simpson tells it all on body positivity, going viral, self care and troll beating.

A ThinkIn with David Lammy MP