There’s only one leaving do that matters now
Boris Johnson’s time is up. But not even his potential successors know what can be rescued from the wreckage
Slow down, wise up
What’s different about Tortoise is slow news. Not breaking news, but what’s driving it.
Our award-winning team doesn’t cover every story but takes the time to reveal just one a week. Calm, clear reporting on the stories that matter most.
sensemaker our daily roundup of the news that matters
Vaccine mandates
20 JANUARY 2022
ella hill
- President Biden said he expected Vladimir Putin to “move in” to Ukraine, and that an invasion would be “disastrous” for Russia.
- A Conservative MP who defected to Labour prompted a rethink among Tory rebels plotting to oust Boris Johnson as the UK’s prime minister.
- Jamaica’s four-man bobsled team qualified for the Winter Olympics for the first time in 24 years.
Vaccines work – but do vaccine mandates? The question is timely because the evidence is overwhelming that high vaccination rates are the best route out of the pandemic…
our big five
wealth
Trump assets
Did Donald Trump lie to banks and tax officials about his finances? That has been the premise of years…
new things
our planet
100-year life
4th dose doubts
Governments moving to give fourth vaccine doses may want to keep an eye on Israel…
Belonging
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Matthew d’Ancona
Every Monday, Tortoise editor and award-winning commentator Matthew d’Ancona picks apart the political stories that matter with wit, flair and insider knowledge in his weekly column.
Johnson vs the Tory rebels: shame they can’t both lose
The Conservative libertarians are absurdly out of pace with the challenges of the 21st Century. But the PM is too shambolic to offer a coherent alternative
Twenty-four hour party people
Just when we need a proper government to fight Omicron, we have a gang of rule-breaking revellers far worse than the “elites” they sought to supplant
Campaign
We need to get the world vaccinated as fast as possible. We’re in an arms race: vaccines vs variants. That’s why we’ve launched our Vaccine Tracker along with a campaign to vaccinate the world by the end of next year.
The Slow Newscast
Our biggest stories given voice
Virginia
17 January 2022
42 minutes
Twenty years ago, Prince Andrew’s attacks on Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s credibility may have proved fatal to her case. Now, the power has shifted
A finding of rape
How a former government minister abused the secrecy of the family courts in an attempt to hide the truth
CoolSculpting
How a lucrative fantasy collided with the reality of the body
2021: Our year in stories
As 2021 draws to a close, Basia Cummings looks back over a year of Slow Newscasts with her colleagues James Harding, the co-founder of Tortoise, and Ceri Thomas. What’s changed in the way we think about podcasts at Tortoise? And are there any you’ve missed which you might want to catch up on over the Christmas break?
School 49: An explosion in China’s high-pressure education system
China’s transformation into an economic powerhouse has come at a cost to its children, under enormous pressure to succeed. Now the country is wondering if the price has been too high
Newsletter
Net Zero Sensemaker
Your weekly update on how we can build an agenda for climate action following Cop26.
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More of our stories from 2021
the pandemic
Everything you need to know about Covid-19
For a year now, one story has dominated the news cycle above all others. We’ve aimed to take the long-view of Covid-19: we’ve investigated the catastrophe of the test and trace system, the crisis in care homes, and the extended after-effects of the disease.
Some of our biggest stories from 2020
Trans Rights
Earlier this year, JK Rowling stepped into one of the fiercest debates of our time – gender and trans rights. Why?
Campus justice
We have spent months examining the handling of rape and sexual assault cases on campus at UK universities.
Tech States: Amazon
The tech giants have as much money and influence as nation states. What if we reported on these companies like countries?
Feminism Inc.
The Wing was the perfect haven for professional women – until it wasn’t. Here’s what happens when corporate feminism turns sour
Meet the editor
“In my recent journalism, I’ve been digging into the dysfunction at the heart of the UK government. Here’s an example, along with some other recent Tortoise articles I’ve enjoyed.”
Matt d’Ancona
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Photo essays
Our friends in the North
Xiomara Bender
29 June 2019
Bitter harvest
Mariano Silletti
16 November 2019
The wee muckers
Toby Binder
12 October 2019
Circus Love
Stephanie Gengotti
02 August 2019
Line in the sand
Pascal Maitre
7 February 2020
Life at the top
Kadir van Lohuizen and Yuri Kozyrev
27 April 2019
No agua, no vida
John Trotter
30 November 2019
Isolated from the world
Jordi Ruiz Cirera
10 March 2019
Europe’s last pastoral
Rena Effendi
16 March 2019
Crunching the numbers
Discovering stories in big datasets.
Responsibility 100 Index
A ranking of the FTSE 100 companies on their contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, measuring their commitment to key social, environmental and ethical objectives such as carbon reduction, gender equality and good business practices.
The Global AI Index
Which countries are winning the race for the future?
Coronashock
The pandemic didn’t affect all of Britain equally.
Accelerating Net Zero
Tortoise members have been working on how to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Fighting for justice
Hidden Homicides
How many women are killed – but not counted? In the UK, we’re told that two women a week are killed by a current or former partner. But these are just the killings we know about…
My mother’s murder
In October 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by a car bomb in Malta where she lived and worked. She was a prolific reporter, juggling dozens of stories at the same time.
Happy the elephant
A judge will decide whether Happy is unlawfully detained and can leave her zoo for an elephant sanctuary. It is a milestone case – not least for our relationship with animals.
Campus justice
We have spent months examining the handling of rape and sexual assault cases on campus at UK universities.
The reckoning
As Britain begins to reopen, there is a need for a reckoning: what has happened during this pandemic; how have decisions been taken; and what must be done differently?
Arts and culture
Slow Reviews
Our new series focuses on the cultural artefacts – books, movies, albums – that really made their mark
Trans Rights
Earlier this year, JK Rowling stepped into one of the fiercest debates of our time – gender and trans rights. Why?
Policing black music
How Drill – the sound of Chicago’s streets – rewrote the rules of the music business
The Future of History
What should history look like today – as a subject of study, but also an area of action and protest?
Creative Sensemaker
Our weekly guide to all that’s best in culture and the arts – movies, streaming, books, music, galleries and much else.
Bright side of the road
Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast succeeds precisely because it juxtaposes the violence of the Troubles with the warm normality of everyday family life
Laughter in the dark
The final season of After Life seals the reputation of Ricky Gervais as a master of comic observation and a valiant defender of irony
It’s about time
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza is a comic masterpiece – and much more than an exercise in cinematic nostalgia
Edith
Big five
The forces changing our world
The 100 year life
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Our planet
environment. natural resources. geopolitics.
New things
technology. science. engineering.
Belonging
society. identity. countries. beliefs. arts.
Wealth
investment. fairness. prosperity.
