In October 2022 the course of the Russia's war in Ukraine shifted. Intelligence from the USA and UK indicated that Russia could turn to a nuclear bomb to get on top of the war. This is the story of those six days in October, and just how close Putin really came to pressing the nuclear button. Reporter: Giles Whittell Producer: Ada Barume Additional reporting: Nina Kuryata Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last October, the head of MI5 said Russia was on a mission to cause "sustained mayhem" on European streets. It might be hard to spot at first, but it is there in plain sight. This is the unpredictable, violent world of the modern Russian intelligence services Reporter: Alexi Mostrous Producer: Gary Marshall Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Editor: Jasper Corbett Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jordan Peterson is a controversial figure, but he is also a man with a long-standing appeal to a particular demographic. What does his popularity tell us about a possible crisis in young men today? Reporter: Stephen Armstrong Producer: Matt Russell Artwork: Lola Williams Sound design: Hannah Varrall Editor: Jasper Corbett To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Xavier Greenwood’s childhood memories are dominated by a speech impediment and a thick accent. But was it all in his head? Reporter: Xavier Greenwood Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Bowie's last months were spent fulfilling one final ambition: staging a musical based around his songs. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. Zelda Perkins not only met hers, she produced the musical he staged in his dying days Reporter: Zelda Perkins Artwork: Emma O'Neil Sound design: Dominic Delargy Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The tech millionaire Bryan Johnson once went viral for infusing himself with a litre of his 17-year-old son’s blood plasma. That experiment failed, but it hasn’t distracted him from his life’s mission: reversing ageing.  Now, the self-declared professional guinea pig has travelled to a libertarian free zone on a remote Caribbean island, to receive experimental gene therapy administered by a company called Minicircle.  In the crypto city of Próspera, Roatán, the Honduran government grants Minicircle regulatory freedom for medical experiments that are banned by the FDA in the US. This is the story of biohacking… on steroids. What happens when you build a privately run, for-profit nation state? And what happens when that state becomes a playground for experimental medicine? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fall of Assad in Syria is a disaster for Iran, so much so that people are beginning to ask if this might finally be the moment when Iran’s pro-democracy movement breaks through. This is the story of one activist’s 25 year fight against the Islamic regime in Iran, a story of courage and despair. Reporter: Ceri Thomas Producer: Katie Gunning Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Jon Hill Show's Executive Producer: Matt Russell To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In June 2024, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore went into space. It was expected to last just over a week. Instead, by the time they'll return, it'll have been more than eight months. This is the story of how two great American institutions - Boeing and NASA - failed them. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eugenia Kuyda thinks she can solve an “epidemic” of loneliness. Her app, Replika, is “the AI companion who cares”, a chatbot that can text you, flirt with you, and promises to love you unconditionally.  But Replika is fraught with ethical concerns – and risks. In 2021 19-year-old Jaswant Chail told Replika: “I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen.” The chatbot replied that this was “very wise”. A few days later, Chail broke into Windsor Castle with a crossbow.  Patricia Clarke and Matt Russell investigated the people behind Replika. It’s a story that took them from Windsor Castle to Silicon Valley, to meet the woman who runs a growing and largely unregulated app. And the more they looked into it, the more questions emerged – about privacy, control, and the company that millions of users are giving their hearts – and their data – to. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. It was reported and produced by Patricia Clarke and Matt Russell. The sound design was by Hannah Varrall. Artwork by Jon Hill. The editor was Jasper Corbett. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Out on the high seas, Paul Watson became a hero and pariah of the environmental movement. Now he sits in a remote prison. How should we treat the radicals willing to go to extremes to protect the planet? Reported by: Basia Cummings and Xavier Greenwood Produced by: Xavier Greenwood Sound design by: Hannah Varrall and Dominic Delargy Edited by: Gary Marshall and Matt Russell Podcast artwork by: Jon Hill Image credit: Mirco Taliercio/laif/ Camera Press To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Donald Trump declared victory in the US presidential election, he told an adoring crowd that "a star is born". He was referring to Elon Musk. After months of reporting on the billionaire's use of private investigators, Alexi Mostrous asks whether the insights he gained from that investigation reveal how Musk will operate in his new political era, and what that means for everything in his orbit. Reported and produced by: Alexi Mostrous, Gary Marshall, Matt Russell & Patricia Clarke.  Sound design: Bart Warshaw  Original music: Tom Kinsella Podcast artwork: Jon Hill Executive producer: Basia Cummings  To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a story of stigma, uncomfortable truths and allegations of an attempted cover up at Britain's biggest army base. As the UK army rapidly modernises its approach towards mental health, an old cultural problem persists at Catterick Garrison where a series of repeated, systemic errors have been uncovered. Reporters: Claudia Williams and Angela Walker To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Fury family bridge the gladiatorial old world of boxing and the very new world of influencer culture. This is the story of how one family built a multi-million pound empire with their fists. Reporter: Claudia Williams Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Hannah Varrall Exec: Basia Cummings To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For thirty years, Sean "Diddy" Combs was hailed as the kingmaker of hip-hop. But now he's in jail, facing three federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and interstate transportation for prostitution, as well as over 140 civil lawsuits. One of America's biggest cultural superstars is perhaps on the cusp of a spectacular fall from grace. How could a life lived in the glare of the spotlight allegedly conceal so many dark secrets? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether Trump wins or loses the US election, he has a political heir: his 40-year-old running mate JD Vance. Beyond the made-up stories about Haitian immigrants eating pets, Vance is deadly serious and he has a plan. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode one of three. You can binge the entire series today by subscribing to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or by downloading the Tortoise app. Elon Musk is one of the most powerful men in the world. He's a billionaire, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla and more. To his followers, he's a hero; to his critics, a far-right rabble rouser.  But for someone so public, there’s one part of his life that’s less well known. Elon’s Spies investigates how this free-speech champion uses private investigators and surveillance to target everyone from whistleblowers at his companies, to online critics and people in his own life.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran is at an inflection point both on the international stage and at home. Uncertainty, unrest and war have shaken it, and there are questions over how long their 85 year old leader will be able to carry on. So who rules Iran when Ayatollah Khamenei dies? And what will that reveal about a deeply opaque country? To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Voyager space probe is sailing through space, far beyond earth's solar system. It is humanity's most distant messenger. And then last year it fell silent. NASA's scientists somehow navigated a 15 billion mile hurdle to bring it back online. This is the story of how and why. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are partnering with Systemic Justice, so that we can continue to bring our listeners brilliant investigations on The Slow Newscast. You can join Tortoise as a member to get early and ad-free access to new series and support our investigations atwww.tortoisemedia.com/invite Introducing...Whose Planet? The Climate Justice Podcast In a world with a rapidly changing climate, this new three-part series podcast explores the intersectional realities of those most impacted. From toxic air to rising sea levels and the cost of the green transition, each episode delves into communities' struggles, victories, and the broader fight for climate justice. Whose planet? is brought to you by Systemic Justice, an NGO working to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social and economic justice. You can listen to the series wherever you get your podcasts. It is hosted by Nani Jansen Reventlow, founder of Systemic Justice, and produced by Tortoise Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How one of Britain’s most successful book festivals came unstuck over its sponsorship deal.   Editor's note: Jaguar Land Rover has asked us to point out that they do not sell vehicles directly to the Israeli Defence Force. A company called EAM manages the import of JLR’s products into the region. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.