Studied archaeology and anthropology, focusing on West African culture and society, and went on to join a number of teaching organisations in the UK. Before joining Tortoise I was a staff writer, and Q&A analyst, alongside work on a social gaming company.
Luke Gbedemah
Data Reporter
“As an anthropology and archaeological studies graduate, and someone with a keen interest in stories – both classic and contemporary – I’m interested in the myths we tell and retell ourselves. Mostly about the process of becoming and belonging. More recently exploring the power of data to tell, and challenge these stories. Tortoise is the perfect place to do this.”
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Thursday 27 October 2022
20:30-21:30 BST
Once upon a time… live spooky storytime for grown ups
A very special closing scene of our Fright Night programme, a live horror Story told by Vanessa Woolf. Followed by a discussion on the science behind why we get scared.
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Wednesday 7 December 2022
09:30-13:30 GMT
The Responsible Quantum Summit
Conversation around shared languages, national security, global economy and Quantum supremacy with special guests
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Thursday 27 October 2022
18:15-21:30 BST
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
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Tuesday 27 September 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Ballooning panic: the truth about nitrous oxide
Join us for a digital ThinkIn where we’ll explore the rising use of nitrous
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Thursday 20 October 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
A home of one’s own: what can we do about the housing crisis?
As cities expand and rents rise, what does it really mean to have a home?
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Wednesday 22 June 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Making sense of consciousness, with Luke Gbedemah
What is it, and who has it?
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Wednesday 25 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Making sense of Web3, with Luke Gbedemah
Does anyone really know what it is?
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Tuesday 3 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Is Elon Musk a good billionaire?
Is there even such a thing?
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Tuesday 31 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Should we legalise drugs?
Is there a sensible case for legalisation, and how would that even work?
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Tuesday 26 April 2022
14:00-15:00 BST
Building trust: how do we ensure AI is deployed responsibly?
Whose job is it to ensure the AI we are deploying is safe and ethical?
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Tuesday 15 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMT
Are NFTs a pyramid scheme?
Is digital art that doesn’t exist and which nobody owns really worth it?
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Thursday 10 March 2022
18:30-19:30 GMT
What is the metaverse?
A ThinkIn David J. Chalmers, author of Reality+, as we get metaphysical about the metaverse.
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Tuesday 15 February 2022
18:30-19:30 GMT
Is Bitcoin a ‘good’ investment?
The cryptocurrency market is now worth more than $3 trillion. But it’s volatile. It’s a high-risk, high-reward investment, but at what cost?
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Thursday 24 February 2022
18:30-19:30 GMT
The modern male: Does the men’s rights movement have a point?
Are society’s expectations and traditional gender roles stopping men from seeking help?
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Monday 17 January 2022
18:30-19:30 GMT
Is Instagram bad for you?
How have the real impacts of Instagram on young people, mental health and body image escaped scrutiny for so long?
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Tuesday 16 November 2021
18:30-19:30 GMT
Tech States: what we’ve learnt, and what next?
A Tech States Open News special. How will Meta, otherwise known as Facebook, shape 2022 and beyond?
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Thursday 28 January 2021
18:30-19:30 GMT
Pack it in: is it time to ban rugby?
Can more be done to keep rugby safe, or do we need to ban it altogether?
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Wednesday 14 December 2022
Twitter Two
Elon Musk is marshalling Twitter down a nakedly political path – something no major platform CEO has done before. Can an ideological social network be anything other than a bust?
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Wednesday 7 December 2022
Percentage-based punishment
The Tech States have gotten used to paying fines, which to them are a drop in the bucket. Could new percentage-based penalties, like those proposed by incoming legislation, force big tech to shape up?
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Friday 2 December 2022
Sensemaker: Bit of a mess
What just happened
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Wednesday 30 November 2022
Apple stumble
Chaos at Apple’s key manufacturer, Foxconn, has shed light on the structural issues with iPhone supply
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Wednesday 23 November 2022
Post-Twitter
Is Elon Musk’s Twitter dying or just getting started?
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Friday 18 November 2022
Rugby’s red flag
Rugby is caught in a bind – its referees are penalising players more frequently, but concussions are still occurring at an historic rate
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Wednesday 16 November 2022
Trial by recession
Amazon and others have joined Meta in announcing thousands of job cuts as they shrink to fit a new set of economic norms.
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Wednesday 9 November 2022
Brands bail
The boycotting of Twitter by major advertisers poses an existential threat to the platform. Elon Musk needs to make an ethical and economic case to entice them back
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Wednesday 2 November 2022
Free bird
After seven months of dithering and legal jousting, Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last Friday.
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Wednesday 26 October 2022
Defeat in Coventry
Amazon has narrowly avoided a reckoning.
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Wednesday 19 October 2022
A recommended reckoning
The $1 billion judgement against Alex Jones has drawn attention back to Section 230 – a law that protects social media platforms from liability for the content they host. Another case – Gonzalez v. Google LLC – stands to change that law forever, and with it the nature of the internet.
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Wednesday 12 October 2022
The bot issue
Should all platforms have to measure and disclose data on how many of their users aren’t real? None of them do.
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Wednesday 5 October 2022
Can Instagram do less harm?
A UK coroner has found that social media played a role in the death, from self-harm, of 14 year-old Molly Russell.
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Wednesday 28 September 2022
Why big tech is breaking into healthcare
Since the pandemic began, the tech states have accelerated their investment in healthcare – developing wearables, driving breakthroughs and acquiring whole businesses.
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Wednesday 21 September 2022
The endless scrolls and the battle for short-form video
Last week Facebook reassigned its “product experimentation†division to focus exclusively on one thing: short-form video.Â
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Wednesday 14 September 2022
Non-fungible abuse material – the “disaster situation†for NFTs
The NFT space is rife with harmful and explicit content, which – as per the function of NFTs – can never be deleted. While Microsoft bans them, Meta embraces them.
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Wednesday 7 September 2022
Conflict chips – what’s Tencent’s role in the semiconductor war?
Control of the design and manufacturing of artificial intelligence chips could be a prelude to full-blown tech war between the US and China
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Wednesday 31 August 2022
Captured data and mobile carriers
Major mobile phone carriers harvest user data, retain it and provide it to brokers as well as the police
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Wednesday 24 August 2022
Tencent’s trouble
China’s largest tech company faces an uncertain future
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Wednesday 17 August 2022
Is Meta collapsing?
It’s not looking good for Mark Zuckerberg’s company
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Wednesday 10 August 2022
Amazon dreams of robotic households
Amazon’s recent acquisitions point to where the company’s next frontier will be – your health, and your home
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Wednesday 3 August 2022
A decade in the shade?
For the first time ever, the combined revenue of major technology companies is falling. Could this be the beginning of the end for some of the tech states?
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Wednesday 27 July 2022
The beauty and the waste
The beauty of Apple’s design is at risk – it has lost a legendary designer and is locked in battle over unsightly charging cables
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Wednesday 20 July 2022
A test of leadership: The Online Safety Bill
With various candidates jostling to become the next prime minister, the government’s Online Safety Bill is up in the air
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Thursday 14 July 2022
10 minute read
Sensemaker: Musk vs Twitter
What just happened
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Wednesday 13 July 2022
The crisis of Meta’s left behind languages
Facebook has left many languages behind in the past, particularly in Asia and Africa. Could a new language model change that?
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Wednesday 6 July 2022
Prime before Pride
In the wake of Pride month, Amazon’s relations with countries in the Middle East threaten to undermine its stance on LGBTQ+ rights
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Wednesday 29 June 2022
Is platform transparency going backwards?
Meta plans to shut down CrowdTangle, a tool for tracking the spread of content on Facebook
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Wednesday 22 June 2022
Is Google facing a retail downturn?
Google’s Ad and Search business made hay during the pandemic. Could it all come crashing down?
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Wednesday 15 June 2022
I am Lamda
Is Google’s AI starting to think like a human?
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Wednesday 8 June 2022
The Big Tech Short: for how long can investors win on big losses?
Some bold investors have bet against Big Tech. Are they in for a windfall?
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Wednesday 1 June 2022
The Notorious N.A.D
Nadine Dorries, the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has taken to TikTok with a “rap†message about forthcoming legislation
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Wednesday 25 May 2022
Is Amazon in trouble?
The online retail giant’s stock price is dropping as inflation bites
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Wednesday 18 May 2022
Streaming extremism
The horrific massacre in Buffalo, NY, at the weekend raises disturbing questions about the responsibility of tech companies when it comes to online hate
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Wednesday 11 May 2022
How will big tech navigate the end of Roe v. Wade?
America is on the brink of stripping away half a century of abortion rights. The decision will present major challenges for the tech states
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Wednesday 4 May 2022
Downturn dawning
The age of infinite optimism in the stocks of the world’s largest technology companies may be drawing to an end
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Wednesday 27 April 2022
Musk’s Twitter revolution
Elon Musk has just bought Twitter. What happens now?
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Thursday 21 April 2022
The future of trust in artificial intelligence:
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Wednesday 20 April 2022
Battle in Staten Island
Amazon is trying to stop its workers unionising. Why?
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Wednesday 13 April 2022
Banning big money
In the US, politicians are big on investing in big tech. That might be about to change
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Wednesday 6 April 2022
Meta “astroturfed†TikTok
Is Meta’s campaign to disparage TikTok a legitimate public affairs strategy? Or an unethical smear campaign, typical of Meta’s playbook for dealing with rivals?
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Wednesday 30 March 2022
The EU busts its tech borders
If you’re a citizen of Apple’s ecosystem, it’s not easy to travel to neighbouring Google – or vice versa
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Wednesday 23 March 2022
The online safety build up
Five years after the Online Safety Bill was first proposed, it’s beginning the last leg of its legislative journey, having been formally introduced to parliament last week
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Wednesday 16 March 2022
The Russian splinternet
Russia is closing its internet off from the rest of the world. How far will its tech isolationism go?
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Wednesday 9 March 2022
Can Ukraine be a proving ground for Clegg’s Meta?
Will Meta’s new President of Global Affairs be able to guide Facebook through one of the most significant of global affairs – war?
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Wednesday 2 March 2022
Tech during wartime
The world has moved to isolate Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine – and the tech states have joined in
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Wednesday 23 February 2022
“Hey Google, are you unstoppable?â€
Is the search engine’s dominant streak set to last?
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Wednesday 16 February 2022
The Hatecast
Spotify’s Joe Rogan controversy last month has lifted the lid on how podcasts are moderated on major tech platforms – or, rather, how they aren’t
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Wednesday 9 February 2022
Is Meta’s party over?
Last week, Facebook turned 18. It should have been a celebration for the world’s biggest social network
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Wednesday 2 February 2022
Regulating your best life
The influencer economy is growing rapidly – and is proving a challenge for regulators
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Wednesday 26 January 2022
Are regulators game for Microsoft’s big new deal?
Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a seriously big deal – if lawmakers let it go ahead
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Wednesday 19 January 2022
Meta’s morning suit
The tech states’ ability to freely harvest and then profit from their users’ data has always been key to their power. But could that all be coming to an end?
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Wednesday 12 January 2022
Is it time for Tesla?
Attention turns to Tesla’s controversial showroom in Xinjiang. Does Elon Musk’s company now act like a state unto itself?
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Wednesday 15 December 2021
Tech States 2021. Wrapped
As the year draws to a close, here’s our roundup of the Tech States stories that mattered the most in 2021
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Wednesday 8 December 2021
NFT… Metaverse… scam!
People in the US lost nearly $3.5bn to scams this year, many of them centred around buzzwords: metaverse, cryptocurrency and NFTs
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Wednesday 1 December 2021
Unfairly labelled
A hidden workforce of labellers props up innovation in the tech states. While the demand for data labelling grows, is enough being done to protect labour rights and dignity?
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Wednesday 24 November 2021
Credit card declined
Amazon has announced it will no longer be accepting Visa credit cards on its platform. It’s a decision which may result in more than a little inconvenience at checkout
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Wednesday 17 November 2021
Age appropriation
Meta have announced that they’re limiting companies’ power to target children on their platforms. But they’re keeping that power for themselves
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Wednesday 10 November 2021
Killing Cop
Climate misinformation is rife online – and it’s particularly bad on Meta (formerly Facebook). Is the tech state doing enough to combat it?
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Wednesday 3 November 2021
Not so Dear Anonymous…
Nadine Dorries has claimed that the UK’s new Online Safety Bill will bring an end to anonymous online abuse. Will it really?
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Wednesday 27 October 2021
Inside Project “Jedi Blueâ€
Two tech states control more than half of the world’s online advertising market; Google and Facebook
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Wednesday 20 October 2021
The extremes of Facebook’s “Hate Curveâ€
The more time you spend on Facebook, the more likely you are to see extreme and potentially harmful posts
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Thursday 14 October 2021
The Modern Slavery Act isn’t fit for purpose
Companies are encouraged to make statements against exploitation – but not to end it. Politicians must amend the Act so that it has meaning and force
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Wednesday 13 October 2021
Digital Defence Department
State-sponsored cyber attacks are on the rise, and while there are numerous perpetrators, there’s one which sponsors the attacks more than any other – Russia. Is Microsoft the first, best line of defence?
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Monday 11 October 2021
The punishing price of mental health support
One hour of private therapy costs more than half a household’s daily budget. The government must boost the NHS’ capacity to tackle Britain’s mental health crisis
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Wednesday 6 October 2021
Big tech, big carbon?
Several of the Tech States talk a good game when it comes to climate action. But their lobbying activity and carbon emissions tell a different story
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Wednesday 29 September 2021
The safest place in the world to be online…
The tech states could find themselves on the wrong end of the UK’s Online Safety Bill
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Wednesday 22 September 2021
Water off a Zuck’s back…
How will Zuckerberg’s tech state survive the Facebook Files?
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Wednesday 15 September 2021
The black hole of cybersecurity spending
Cybersecurity is becoming more and more expensive, but the quality of protection isn’t getting any better
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Wednesday 8 September 2021
The Tech States’ “Me Too†moment
How is Big Tech handling its employee revolution?
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Wednesday 1 September 2021
Is China playing with its e-sports future?
China’s young gamers will have to hang up their headsets, as new restrictions block gaming during much of the week. What does this mean for their prospects in the fast growing and extremely lucrative e-sports scene; where most players start young, and play for hours on end?
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Wednesday 25 August 2021
How should big tech treat the Taliban?
When a violent extremist group takes over a country, how should social media platforms respond?
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Wednesday 18 August 2021
China’s techlash explained
China’s tech sector is hemorrhaging share value as the country undergoes its own big techlash. As the power of its internet giants is curbed by aggressive legislation; we take a look inside the crackdown as it’s unfolding, and ask the question on every commentator’s mind: why?
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Wednesday 28 July 2021
Enter the race to the metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg wants to take the internet beyond the confines of mobile devices and create his own life-like digital world. He’s not the only one…
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Wednesday 21 July 2021
Huge spyware leak raises questions for Big Tech
Recent leaked data revealing the widespread use of the NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus spyware raises serious questions for the tech states – and their role in the cyber-surveillance ecosystem
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Wednesday 14 July 2021
Surveillance for sale
Facial recognition technology is becoming a point of contention between tech states in China, and those in the US
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Wednesday 7 July 2021
The rise and rise of data politics
Tension is building between China and technology companies. Increasingly, the source of it is data privacy
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Wednesday 30 June 2021
Language in the age of big tech
Internet abbreviations are nothing new, but recently a greater shift has started to take place online, one that’s more about how new forms of language are going to be interpreted. Could we be witnessing the online democratisation of language?
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Wednesday 23 June 2021
Microsoft, censorship and China
Walking the tightrope between the West and China is becoming increasingly difficult for big tech – just ask Microsoft
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Wednesday 16 June 2021
Does Amazon raise prices?
The e-commerce giant’s days avoiding antitrust regulation may soon be over
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Wednesday 9 June 2021
Facebook’s busy week
As Zuckerberg moves to cement Facebook’s role as a publisher with its new audio and newsletter products, his company has come under pressure, both from foreign regulators, and from its own oversight board
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Wednesday 2 June 2021
Can AI be independent from big tech?
AI technology is becoming increasingly powerful, and, with much of the funding coming from the Tech States, several scientists have raised the alarm about the role corporate interests play in its development. How worried should we be?
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Wednesday 26 May 2021
How to fix the internet (by Nick Clegg)
In an op-ed for CNBC, Facebook’s Sir Nick Clegg has set out the company’s vision for internet reform. But is there more to the former deputy prime minister’s proposals than meets the eye?
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Wednesday 19 May 2021
Is the tech-lash faltering?
Welcome to Tech Nations Sensemaker – a weekly newsletter dedicated exclusively to covering the tech giants
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Tuesday 18 May 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: FTSE silent on disability
What just happened
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Wednesday 12 May 2021
Grocery wars
Welcome to Tech Nations Sensemaker – a weekly newsletter dedicated exclusively to covering the tech giants
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Wednesday 5 May 2021
Big Tech gets bigger
Welcome to Tech Nations Sensemaker – a weekly newsletter dedicated exclusively to covering the tech giants
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Thursday 29 April 2021
Nine FTSE 100 companies stopped reporting on gender pay last year
During the pandemic, the government changed the law so that companies no longer had to publicly disclose the difference between what they pay men and women. The latest update of Tortoise’s Responsibility100 Index reveals how 2020 changed the FTSE 100
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Wednesday 28 April 2021
10 minute read
Introducing the Tech States Sensemaker
Welcome to Tech Nations Sensemaker – a weekly newsletter dedicated exclusively to covering the tech giants
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Friday 5 March 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Covid in Brazil
What just happened
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Thursday 4 February 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Dateline Brexit
What just happened
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Thursday 28 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Scottish play
What just happened
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Thursday 21 January 2021
The Trump hangover
Could it happen again?
We investigate not just whether Trump might run again – but how. This is what his 2024 campaign might look like
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Friday 8 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: DC: the post-mortem
What just happened
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Wednesday 6 January 2021
10 minute readSensemaker: Democracy update
What just happened
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Wednesday 16 December 2020
10 minute readSensemaker: Brexit latest
What just happened
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Tuesday 1 December 2020
The Prime Minister
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Monday 16 November 2020
Inside the NHS: part one
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Thursday 12 November 2020
Chinese Capitalism
Squashing the Ant
Ant Group, after a meteoric rise to international corporate stardom, has fallen back to earth. Or perhaps even been buried, by new regulations on fintech in China. What is Ant Group, and what was going on in the biggest IPO that never happened?
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Friday 6 November 2020
10 minute read
Sensemaker: Neck and neck
What just happened
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Tuesday 3 November 2020
Trans Rights
JK Rowling and the missing numbers
Data journalist Luke Gbedemah reports on the dearth of reliable data about trans people, which has become a major complication in the fierce row over trans rights
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Wednesday 28 October 2020
10 minute read
Sensemaker, 28 October 2020
What just happened
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Thursday 8 October 2020
10 minute read
Sensemaker, 8 October 2020
What just happened
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Monday 17 October 2022
The robot artist
Ai-Da made history when she became the first robot to give evidence to the House of Lords. The hearing was an important examination of the role of artificial intelligence in the arts.
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Friday 15 July 2022
Musk ditches Twitter deal
Elon Musk has decided not to buy Twitter and now the social media platform is suing him. What is he up to and what can Twitter do about it?
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Friday 17 June 2022
I am Lamda
Claims that Google’s AI has become sentient raise questions about the possibility of machine consciousness, and the threat of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence.
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Tuesday 31 May 2022
Cryptocrash
Two crypto tokens collapsed leaving one man looking a bit silly. What can we learn from the demise of Terra and Luna?
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Tuesday 19 April 2022
Elon Musk vs. Twitter
Elon Musk’s relationship with Twitter has gone from prolific tweeter to becoming its largest shareholder, nearly joining its board and then launching a hostile takeover bid. What is he trying to do?
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Monday 7 March 2022
Russian warship, go f*** yourself
We thought the Russians were masters of the information war; that they’d sweep Ukraine aside. Why is it not turning out that way?
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Wednesday 9 February 2022
An influential kid
Ryan Kaji is one of the highest paid ‘child influencers’ on the planet, but internet success stories like his pose a challenge to regulators.