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About our audio

Slow news stories designed for listening

Tortoise’s podcasts are focused on untold stories. In the face of information overload, incremental news-gathering and perishable scoops, we take time to investigate human stories that we think offer a deeper, longer-lasting understanding of what’s happening in the world.

The Slow Newscast
Our biggest stories, given voice

Detained in Modi’s India: A British citizen’s story

20 March 2023
32 minutes

For five years a British citizen has been locked up in an Indian prison, and the British state hasn’t been willing – or not strong enough – to stand up for him.

More episodes


new series

Real Money

The hunt for Tether’s billions

For a year, Tortoise has been investigating Tether, a cryptocurrency which underpins the entire crypto market. It’s raised suspicions about its trustworthiness by refusing ever to be audited or publish accounts. How could a company managing more than $70 billion get away with that?


Multi-part series

Pitch us a story

If you have an idea for a podcast, we’d love to hear from you.

More series

The News Meeting

Each week, three Tortoise journalists pitch the story they think should lead the news.

The Backstory

with Andrew Neil

A series of in-depth conversations with people in power and those trying to influence them, hosted by the UK’s most formidable interviewer.

Visible Women

with Caroline Criado Perez

How can we fix the gender data gap – and build a world that works for everyone?

The Second Elizabethan Age

with Richard Lambert

A reflection on the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II and how society changed under her rule.

Life, changing

Early childhood in the UK is radically different to how it used to be. Across three cities, we’re speaking to parents and children about their lives, worries, and dreams, and – with the help of the Nuffield Foundation – uncovering the hidden stories behind these seismic changes.

Inside the energy transition

Is a fair transition to 100 per cent clean energy the stuff of dreams, or a genuine possibility?

Editor’s Voicemail

What’s on Tortoise editor James Harding’s mind.

Sensemaker Daily

One story every day to make sense of the world.

tHINKIN WITH JAMES HARDING

The China Problem

“What we’re going to do in this series of podcasts is take a big idea and look for the moments that shine a light on it.”


Audio essays

Matthew d’Ancona investigates

Over the last two years, Tortoise editor Matthew d’Ancona has been investigating the UK government and, among other things, its management – and mismanagement – of the pandemic.

The people vs Harvey Proctor

Pariah

What lessons does the story of Harvey Proctor – the twice-disgraced former Conservative MP with extreme anti-immigration views – hold about the way society deems it acceptable to treat those who we cast as hate figures?

a four-part podcast series

Hidden homicides

How many women are killed – but not counted?

Left to die

When Islamist insurgents attacked a town in Mozambique in March, civilians and foreign contractors raced to a local hotel for safety. Over three agonising days, they waited for a rescue. But no one came.

My Mother’s murder

An investigation by Paul Caruana Galizia into the life and killing of his mother, the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.