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
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 is our daily roundup of the news that matters
Britain’s Conservatives want fewer immigrants and need more. It’s a problem
26 may 2023
jess winch
- Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, received an 18-year jail sentence for helping plan the January 6th Washington insurrection.
- Alexander Lukashenko said Russia had started moving nuclear weapons into Belarus.
- Scientists discovered 5,000 new species in an area of the Pacific pegged for deep-sea mining.
New figures released yesterday showed net migration to the UK last year hit a record 606,000. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, said: “Numbers are too high. It’s as simple as that.” But he can’t put a number on what the right levels would be.
our big five
capital
Recession bites and coalition partners squabble
technology
Clean energy investment has overtaken fossil fuels
100-year life
America’s top court cuts clean water protections
our planet
Two Sherpas compete for bragging rights on Everest, as historians argue over the first assent
culture
Rwandan genocide suspect arrested after 30 years
sensemaker daily | catchup
Tortoise Quarterly
We publish four editions of our short book of long reads each year. Have a browse of some of our favourite pieces.
A short history of fidgeting
Fidget toys are booming. Hattie Garlick wonders why
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…
What Serena Williams taught me
Haji Mohamed Dawjee explains what the tennis star’s success meant to a young woman growing up in South Africa
Newsletter
Daily Sensemaker
The world can feel pretty confusing at times. Let’s make sense of it together.
The Daily Sensemaker is our daily news briefing on everything that matters. Delivered to your inbox every day.
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Photo essays
The siege of Mariupol
Jon Jones
25 April 2022
Evgeny Lebedev: In pictures
Jon Jones
28 February 2022
The Zone
Pierpaolo Mittica
15 December 2021
The bigger, worse picture
Jon Jones
8 July 2021
Solo, not alone
Harry Borden
17 June 2021
These are the disappearing nations
Vlad Sokhin
11 May 2021
Newsletter
Net Zero Sensemaker
Your weekly update on how we can build an agenda for climate action.
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Newsletter
Tech States Sensemaker
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tencent.
The Tech States Sensemaker is our weekly newsletter dedicated exclusively to covering these six tech giants.
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Fighting for justice
A finding of rape
How a former government minister abused the secrecy of the family courts in an attempt to hide the truth
Campus Justice II
Universities everywhere are failing to respond to widespread allegations of sexual assault and harassment
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.
Newsletter
Weekend Sensemaker
The Weekend Sensemaker is the latest addition to the Sensemaker family, making sense of who and what is shaping culture every week.
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Newsletter
Boardroom Sensemaker
a weekly insight into today’s boardrooms
An exclusive newsletter with the latest information on what’s driving the UK and global business community.
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The big five
The forces changing our world
The 100-year life
health. education. Government.
Our planet
Climate. geopolitics.
Technology
AI. science. New Things.
Culture
society. identity. Belonging.
Capital
Economy. Business. Finance.
Global AI Index
Tortoise Intelligence
One way that Tortoise examines what drives the news is by measuring the different aspects of complex, underlying forces using big datasets.