The Slow Newscast
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. Subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription: Early access, bonus content and ad-free listening to our podcasts A daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a week Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword Recipes for every occasion Free tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
After a 2025 mass shooting on Florida State University’s campus, investigators found a year’s worth of chat history between the shooter and ChatGPT. MotherJones’ Mark Follman has been investigating what the chat log reveals about the shooter and the chatbot and examines how AI responds when faced with severe warning signs and where the responsibility lies when something goes wrong.
Note: This story discusses su...
Rupert Lowe is the MP for Great Yarmouth, and the leader of Restore Britain, a right-wing political party which launched in February this year. So, how did the leader of such a young, fringe party end up appearing as a guest on the world’s most popular podcast? And what does it tell us about how the far-right works?
Reporter: Poppy Bullard
Producers: Amalie Sortland and Ada Barume
Sound Design: Dominic Delargy
<...Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Peter Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the United States over his links with Jeffrey Epstein people wondered how he ever got appointed in the first place.
Eventually Keir Starmer’s government was forced to publish more than a thousand pages of emails, messages and letters which reveal how Peter Mandelson was appointed, vetted and cleared to become the UK’s most influential diplomat.
What e...
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When World Cup Winner Phil Vickery retired in 2010, he thought his toughest physical battles were behind him. Today, like hundreds of former players, he lives with memory loss and the looming threat of brain trauma – and he’s demanding answers. And across the world, more and more people are looking towards one man in particular.
Reporters: Ben Coles and Jonathan Lewis
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Artwork: Lucy Stevenson
So...
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How a mislaid phone led to a nightmare of fake reviews and claims of antisemitism. When Ali, a restaurateur, realised his mobile’s security had been breached and that random things were missing from his flat, he began to feel uneasy. Was he being targeted for his politics or his personal life? And more importantly, who could stop it?
Credits:
Reporter - Eva Wiseman
Producer - Matt Russell
Sound design - Dominic Delargy
In early 2025, Reform hosts a fundraiser at private member’s club Oswald’s. In attendance are many of the men whose deep pockets line the party’s accounts.
Reporter - Cat Neilan
Series Reporter/Producer - Poppy Bullard
Narrative Producer - Matt Russell
Sound Design - Dominic Delargy
Artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorpe
Producer for Goalhanger - India Dunkley
Executive Producer for Goalhanger - To...
In 2019, Nigel Farage leads the Brexit Party to victory in the European Elections. But there’s a mystery at the heart of the party’s accounts.
Reporter - Cat Neilan
Series Reporter/Producer - Poppy Bullard
Narrative Producer - Matt Russell
Sound Design - Dominic Delargy
Artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorpe
Producer for Goalhanger - India Dunkley
Executive Producer for Goalhanger - Tom Whiter
E...
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Ademola Adedeji was wrongfully identified as a gang member and jailed for conspiracy to commit GBH. This is the story of how a nine second clip from a rap video upended his life.
Reporter: Ciaran Tracey
Producer: Matt Russell
Artwork: Lucy Stevenson
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Caesar and Sami risked everything to show the world what was truly going on in Syria after the 2011 revolution. The Caesar files are a collection of tens of thousands of photos documenting human rights abuses and torture in Syria under the dictator Bashar al-Assad. They have become the cornerstone of Syrian war crime prosecutions around the world.
This is the story of the one of the most remarkable and daring collections and the...
When the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, Bashar al-Assad's regime showed itself for what it really was: a brutal force, willing to capture and kill ordinary Syrians demanding change. And in all the years that a war raged on, Asma stood by her husband. She seemingly ignored the desperate pleas to stop her husband from killing his own people.
But what did she really know about the atrocities her husband’s government...
The US celebrates 250 years of independence from the British Crown on 4th July. Accusations have flown that Trump has used the anniversary to celebrate himself, not the country. So what does it tell us about Trump’s place within America…and is it really that unusual?
Ada Barumé is joined by the Observer’s Americans, Erica Wagner and Evan Moffitt to discuss this moment in US history.
Criminal gangs have turned Britain's waste system into a goldmine and transformed pockets of the countryside into toxic wastelands. But how do you hide an 11,000 tonne illegal dump in plain sight?
Reporters: Jeevan Vasagar and Jonathan Lewis
Producer: Jonathan Lewis
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lucy Stevenson
Executive producer: Matt Russell
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Each year new temperature records are threatened to be broken. But the UK seems to respond not with innovative adaptation, but with shock. Why?
Ada Barumé is joined by academic meteorologist Rob Thomson and Dimple Rana, who is the Heat Resilience Leader at Arup, to discuss how we got here and where we go next.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week we’re speaking to Frank Cottrell Boyce, the children’s laureate, who has spent two years visiting schools, libraries, and communities to discover what it means to grow up in Britain today.
He’s written about it in a new book ‘A British Childhood: How our children live now’
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Ordinary people are turning to illegally produced peptides in the hopes of a beauty quick fix. How are these shady black market drugs slipping through the regulatory gaps?
Reporters: Stephen Armstrong and Madeleine Parr
Producers: Madeleine Parr, Matt Russell and Amalie Sortland
Sound Design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Harmony Blaise
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Clips: ITV News, Channel 4 News, 5 News, Loreal ...
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