The Slow Newscast

The Observer

The Slow Newscast from The Observer takes the news slowly. We investigate, and every week we focus on stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. From wars in Ukraine and Gaza through to true crime and injustice and real life mysteries, The Slow Newscast team is devoted to narrative investigations covering some of the biggest topics of the day.

Who are the people biohacking themselves in a quest for immortality? Or the man taking on an entire nation in the high seas to protect whales? And what happened when humanity's most distant messenger fell silent? From a newsroom with a different approach to journalism these are the stories we tell.

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427 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes427

Newest first

May 20, 2021 · 30 min
The neo-Nazis next door
In the German city of Chemnitz, political extremists aren’t just present – they’re organised. And they’re trying to spread their creed from ramshackle buildings to the rest of the country
May 12, 2021 · 44 min
The white gold rush
The story of a dying lake, a forgotten community and the hunt for a green future. Host Basia Cummings is joined by reporters Miranda Green and Lucy Sherriff to investigate.
May 6, 2021 · 47 min
What happened to Shukri Abdi?
When A 12-year-old Somali refugee drowned in the River Irwell in 2019, suspicion and rumour soon followed. In this episode, Basia is joined by reporter Nimo Omer to investigate what happened to Shukri Abdi.
Apr 29, 2021 · 40 min
Pariah - episode 4
A life like Harvey Proctor’s has lessons for the police and the media. And for all of us: what are we prepared to do to people we turn into hate figures?
Apr 29, 2021 · 39 min
Pariah - episode 3
Harvey Proctor was caught in the middle of a deadly serious police investigation, Operation Midland. How could he fight it?
Apr 29, 2021 · 45 min
Pariah - episode 2
It’s tough to survive one huge, public scandal in your life. Two is almost unheard of. But that was about to happen to Harvey Proctor.
Apr 29, 2021 · 47 min
Pariah - episode 1
Harvey Proctor was a Conservative MP, notorious in the 1980s for his right-wing views. Until he was entrapped by a newspaper in a ‘gay sex scandal’ and his life started to unravel.
Apr 21, 2021 · 44 min
Lost at sea
The mysterious story of Gulf Livestock 1, a 12,000-tonne ship carrying 6,000 cows that disappeared without a trace in the Pacific Ocean.
Apr 15, 2021 · 57 min
The battle for truth
We're launching a brand new podcast from Tortoise called ThinkIn with James Harding. In this week's Slow Newscast, a preview.
Apr 7, 2021 · 41 min
What the RFK Jr?!
This week we introduce a new podcast, and re-up an episode from our archive on the hero lawyer turned anti-vaxxer who has spent the pandemic spreading medical misinformation.
Mar 31, 2021 · 38 min
Cross stitch
How an embroidery charity – beloved by its members – tore itself apart at the seams.
Mar 25, 2021 · 49 min
The Reasonable Case of Keir Rodney Starmer
Who is Keir Starmer? There’s the basic answer: he’s the leader of Britain’s Labour party. But beyond that? We investigate his past.
Mar 18, 2021 · 48 min
Disaster at Camp 3
Reaching the summit of K2 in winter had never been done before. In January, a group of mountaineers – professionals, amateurs, social media adventurers – attempted it. It ended in triumph… and tragedy.
Mar 11, 2021 · 36 min
The Navalny Show
As he returned to Moscow after months recovering from a nerve agent attack, Alexei Navalny released a remarkable YouTube video – and with it, sowed the seeds for a new Russian revolution by meme.
Mar 4, 2021 · 49 min
March of the mutants
Covid-19 may be losing the vaccine battle, but as the virus evolves fast to form new variants, the war is most definitely not over...
Feb 25, 2021 · 43 min
A Very British Business
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is one of Britain's richest men. Since Brexit he's made a show of his patriotism. Is it for real?
Feb 18, 2021 · 39 min
A fairy tale on Wall St
The myth of Gamestop was that it was a David and Goliath struggle. The truth was very different.
Feb 11, 2021 · 41 min
306 days
Geoffrey Woolf spent longer in hospital after Covid-19 than almost anyone - 306 days. His son Nicky tells the story of what he went through, and how it changed everything.
Feb 4, 2021 · 59 min
Corinna & the king: The money hunt
Power, greed, and a $65m 'gift': the story of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Corinna, his lover
Jan 28, 2021 · 30 min
Hidden Homicides - episode 4
The final episode of our special series. How do you fix a fatal problem no one is properly measuring?To learn more, go to tortoisemedia.com/hiddenhomicides