A lively imagination and a bright and breezy copy style led Mark into a brief journalism career writing about nightlife, alcohol and advertising. After working in PR and communications for some of the world’s biggest media brands, he moved into event curation, working on national and international events around the world. Mark loves talking to people and hearing about their lives, work and passions, which is a perfect fit for his role as Head of Programming at Tortoise. It’s his job to help find the right speakers for our ThinkIns, and he’s always eager to hear ideas from our members about the guests they’d like to see.
Mark St Andrew
Head of ThinkIns
“The best thing about Tortoise is that it focuses on stories and people, rather than spin and noise. Slower, wiser news that is well researched and thoughtfully told broadens the mind, and nourishes the soul.”
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Thursday 23 March 2023
09:00-10:00 GMT
The Review
Join us at our fortnightly breakfast event that helps Tortoise members and friends make sense of what’s going on in the world, from breaking news and the latest scoops, to the slow burn stories we should be keeping an eye on.
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Thursday 9 March 2023
09:00-10:00 GMT
The Review
Join us at our fortnightly breakfast event that helps Tortoise members and friends make sense of what’s going on in the world, from breaking news and the latest scoops, to the slow burn stories we should be keeping an eye on.
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Monday 30 January 2023
20:30-21:15 GMT
The Tortoise Interview with Richard Herring
Join Richard for a candid conversation about his personal story, and what defines masculinity and maleness today.
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Thursday 26 January 2023
18:15-21:30 GMT
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.
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Tuesday 11 October 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Baldness: the science and the stress
Join us for a special ThinkIn where we talk candidly about baldness and its relationship to masculinity, status and society.
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Wednesday 21 July 2021
18:30-19:30 BST
Trainers: How much can a shoe really mean?
Join us, with designers, collectors & enthusiasts, for a ThinkIn to explore why what we put on our feet says so much about who we are.
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Thursday 9 March 2023
Coronation chicken
Is the Coronation Concert an opportunity to celebrate new British music?
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Thursday 16 February 2023
The himbo’s last dance
Magic Mike’s Last Dance brings the trilogy that saw Channing Tatum take to the stage as a male stripper to a close. But it could also be the last hurrah for a particular kind of leading man: the broad, muscly, good-looking hero known as the “himbo”
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Wednesday 22 September 2021
In a class of our own
The government is right to identify the “Britishness” of certain television shows – but wrong to claim that this elusive combination of wit, class consciousness, camp and generosity of spirit can be produced by design
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Friday 27 August 2021
I don’t want to be called “queer” – much less a year celebrating the word
Those calling for 2022 to be the “Year of Queer” are profoundly insensitive to the term’s past use as a homophobic slur, and its association with brutal violence
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Friday 17 March 2023
Cladding crackdown, the collapse of SVB and Xi Jinping
Former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton is this week’s guest host. He’s joined by Tortoise journalists Mark St Andrew, Patricia Clarke and Cat Neilan who pitch the story they think mattered most this week.
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Friday 10 March 2023
Stanley Johnson’s knighthood, river rights and another Met apology
Former cabinet minister and Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls is in the editor’s chair. He’s joined by Tortoise journalists Liz Moseley, Claudia Williams and Mark St Andrew who pitch the story they think mattered most this week.
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Friday 3 March 2023
Hancock’s WhatsApps, Fox News and bird flu
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding. In this episode James is joined by Tortoise editors Liz Mosely, Mark St Andrew and Cat Neilan.
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Friday 17 February 2023
Nicola Sturgeon, Ford cuts jobs and BBC offices raided in India
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to guest editor Sonia Sodha, who is chief leader writer and columnist at the Observer. She is joined by Tortoise’s climate editor Jeevan Vasagar, head of live events Mark St Andrew and Jane Bruton, former deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph.
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Friday 3 February 2023
Dominic Raab, Adani vs. Hindenburg and the British Army
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding. In this episode James is joined by Tortoise reporter Claudia Williams, head of programming Mark St Andrew and investigations editor Alexi Mostrous
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Friday 27 January 2023
German tanks, Dartmoor and Chinese infrastructure
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding. In this episode James is joined by Tortoise’s climate editor Jeevan Vasagar, news editor Jess Winch and head of programming Mark St Andrew
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Friday 6 January 2023
NHS crisis, Congress chaos, Parthenon marbles
In the first episode of 2023 James Harding is joined by Liz Moseley, Dave Taylor and Mark St Andrew to discuss the stories they think mattered most this week