The reckless truth of Dave Chappelle
Matthew d’Ancona on why the comedian deserves to be labelled the Greatest Of All Time
Tortoise Quarterly
A short book of long reads
The best thing about slow news is that it doesn’t have a shelf life. Released four times a year, the Tortoise Quarterly is where we publish our long reads and essays. It’s part of our mission to build a journalism that lasts.
You can order any past edition in glorious, old-fashioned print below.
Latest edition
Anniversary 2023
Tortoise Quarterly | Edition 11
Non-member price: £15 + postage
Member price: £12 + postage
Tortoise is five, or is it four? Anyway, we are considering the anniversaries that fall in 2023. From the arrival of Pokemon to The Exorcist, the Oil Crisis of 1973 to the great Ukrainian famine of 1933, 150 years of denim and 60 of Doctor Who, it’s all in the latest edition of our quarterly short book of long stories.
ISBN 978-1-913323-15-8
Published March 2023
Soft cover
188 pages, full colour
Past editions
Tortoise Quarterly VI
Giants
Non-member price: £15
Member price: £12
Tortoise Quarterly V
Homemade
Non-member price: £15
Member price: £12
Read online
comics | quarterly X
My hunt for the person behind QAnon
Nicky Woolf writes about his year-long investigation into the conspiracy theory that’s become a cult – and how he identified the person he believes is behind it
The Curly Hill blues
Liz Moseley’s parents were true Thatcherites and hard-working with it. But shopkeeping and social climbing didn’t mix
News | Quarterly iX
Sex, lies and magazines
Liz Moseley had a long and passionate affair with magazines. There was love, sex, fashion, celebs – but then the gloss started to fade…
The media are failing disabled people
Lucy Webster explains why – and how they can do better
The news isn’t getting better
In the age of smartphones and social media, a quick scroll can give the impression that things are worse than ever before. But are they really?
festival | Quarterly viii
Isles of wonder?
The London Olympics seemed to promise a new beginning for Britain. Ten years on, Paul Hayward wonders what happened
Londongrad: How the Lebedevs partied their way to power
Paul Caruana Galizia’s investigation into the Lebedevs’ ascent to the top of London’s establishment reveals how easy it was for Britain to be bought
A short history of fidgeting
Fidget toys are booming. Hattie Garlick wonders why
anniversary | Quarterly vii
Watergate now
A minor burglary started the most famous political scandal of modern times. It still resonates
An empire strikes back
During the Falklands War, soldiers and photographers on both sides recorded their experiences on film. This is the conflict through their eyes
Last Tango In Paris in the age of #MeToo
Fifty years on, Kate Muir asks whether the film is a masterpiece or just monstrous
giants | Quarterly vi
Woman overboard
John Darwin famously took a canoe out to sea to fake his own death so that his life insurance could save him from bankruptcy. But his wife Anne took most of the blame. Hattie Garlick wonders why
Hunting the blues
Human action, or inaction, is helping blue whales recover. Our treatment of our biggest neighbour is hugely symbolic
A tale of two piers
Brighton’s Palace Pier, built in 1899, is still standing proud but the once regal West Pier is a different story, writes Paul Caruana Galizia