The Slow Newscast

By The ObserverSociety & Culture Documentary News News Commentary

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The Slow Newscast episodes

October 20 Christ is King: the far right and God
In September 2025, religious leaders in the UK got a shock: protests at Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally were carrying crosses, and waving signs with Christian slogans. On stage, pastors led the crowd in song and prayer. One of those pastors is Rikki Doolan, who says he converted Tommy Robinson while he was in prison. This is the story of how the far-right found God.

Reporter: Kart Mathieson

Reporter/producer: Poppy Bullard

Sound design: Dominic Delargy

Artwork: Lucy Stevenson

Editor: Jasper Corbett
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36 min
October 16 How an innocent man was put on death row
For decades, Paul Skalnik made a living telling police and prosecutors that other prisoners had confessed to crimes. The former police turned con artist and jailhouse informant helped send a man called Jim Dailey to death row for the murder of a teenage girl.

Basia Cummings speaks to investigative journalist and author Pamela Colloff who spent years uncovering his deceptions, and his story exposes a criminal justice system prioritising winning convictions over the truth.

Producer: Amalie Sortland
Exec: Matt Russell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28 min
October 13 Bones and all: the trade in human remains
Britain’s cultural institutions are wrestling with what to do with the human remains in their collections. But as they reckon with the ethical ramifications the sale of body parts remains largely unregulated. Who are the people selling? And why is it easier than ever to buy human remains?

Reporter: Evan Moffitt
Producer: Ada Barumé
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorp
Exec producer: Matt Russell
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32 min
October 09 The Fixer: The life of Len McCluskey | Ep 2
The former Unite boss says the police investigation into alleged corruption during his tenure will clear his name after years of accusations. But whether it can erase this dark episode in British trade unionism is another matter. So will the reputation of someone who was one of the UK's most influential power brokers stand the test of time?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28 min
October 06 The Fixer: The life of Len McCluskey | Ep 1
The former Unite boss says the police investigation into alleged corruption during his tenure will clear his name after years of accusations. But whether it can erase this dark episode in British trade unionism is another matter. So will the reputation of someone who was one of the UK's most influential power brokers stand the test of time?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
24 min
October 02 The rivalry that spawned the weight-loss jab race
James Tapper, The Observer's Science editor and a weight-loss jab user, tells the story of his journey using the weight-loss drugs. A journey that along with lost kilograms, led him to the godfather of these drugs: a man who discovered the hormone that led to the development of GLP-1s and who reveals his concerns about their widespread use.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34 min
September 29 Duped and deployed: the Kenyans fighting for Russia
Kenyan men are leaving their country for work – and ending up on the frontlines of Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is the story of the recruiters, the promises and the poverty that keeps the pipeline moving.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44 min
September 25 How I fell in love with a Russian spy
Stephanie Arcanjo spent three years building a life with her boyfriend, Eric. One day he vanished, and the police came knocking. Only then would she learn his true identity, and that their life together was a lie.

Basia Cummings speaks to Sao Paolo based reporter Oliver Basciano about Stephanie and hears her side of the story.

Oliver Basciano's reporting can be found at https://observer.co.uk/contributor/oliver-basciano
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
25 min
September 22 Careless
Nkechi Simms is a successful actor who’s had parts in Top Boy and BBC comedy PRU. Outwardly life is good and at 26 she’s got everything going for her. But this hasn’t always been the case. When she was 12 Nkechi’s mother handed her over to Camden Council and she was placed in foster care. Now she wants to find out what happened to her and why. The only way she can do this is by getting hold of her care records. But that’s easier said than done. And will those records answer her questions?

Careless is a 4 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.
To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer.
Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reported by Ashley John-Baptiste and Madeleine Parr
Produced and written by Madeleine Parr
Sound design by Simon Panayi
Artwork by Jon Hill
The editor is Jasper Corbett

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44 min
September 18 How Ivanka Trump enraged all of Albania
What links a rare breed of flamingo and government corruption? In Albania, plans to redevelop Sazan, the country's biggest island, and disrupt the wildlife that lives there, caused protests. When it emerged that it was Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka who was behind the development, the protests became about not just than just wildlife, but about the way the country is run. Andrew Anthony visited the country to find out more.

Host: Basia Cummings
Reporter: Andrew Anthony
Producer: Poppy Bullard
Executive Producer: Matt Russell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
23 min

About The Slow Newscast

From the publisher's feed

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…