The Slow Newscast from Tortoise takes the news slowly. We investigate, and every week we focus on stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. Fro...
The immortality bros: The business of living forever
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 journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome 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.
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Killing hope: Iran's mind wars
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 ThomasProducer: Katie GunningSound design: Dominic DelargyArtwork: Jon HillShow's Executive Producer: Matt RussellTo find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome 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.
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Stuck in space
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 journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome 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.
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My AI girlfriend: a cure for loneliness
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 journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome 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.
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Operation Asshole: Paul Watson's whale war
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 GreenwoodProduced by: Xavier GreenwoodSound design by: Hannah Varrall and Dominic DelargyEdited by: Gary Marshall and Matt RussellPodcast artwork by: Jon HillImage credit: Mirco Taliercio/laif/ Camera PressTo find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome 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 Slow Newscast from Tortoise takes the news slowly. We investigate, and every week we focus on stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. From the war in Ukraine, the downfall of Boris Johnson, to true crime and injustice and real life mysteries, The Slow Newscast team is devoted to narrative investigations. From a startup newsroom with a different approach to journalism.For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app.For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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