Nkechi Simms is a successful actor who’s had parts in Top Boy and the BBC comedy PRU. Outwardly life is good and 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 Nkechi 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? 

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.

For the last three weeks, reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou has been following the trial of Sally Anne Bowen, the teacher at the centre of Tortoise Investigates’ podcast series Lucky Boy, first released in 2025. Following the jury’s verdict, Chloe calls producer Gary Marshall to break the news.

Lucky Boy is an original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer, originally published in 2025.

Episodes one is available for all listeners. To access the rest of the series, ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or subscribe to The Observer for access to all our podcasts and newsletters seven days a week, plus puzzles, recipes and Culture Club. Use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Sound design - Hannah Varrall

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams

Executive producer - Basia Cummings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the damage it’s caused him. But his story is not straight forward. 

Episodes one is available for all listeners. To access the rest of the series, ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or subscribe to The Observer for access to all our podcasts and newsletters seven days a week, plus puzzles, recipes and Culture Club. Use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Sound design - Hannah Varrall

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams

Executive producer - Basia Cummings

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 emerges from those documents, is a story about who wields power in Britain today, how it works and how we conduct our politics.   

The Observer’s Ada Barumé tells the story of a political farce that begins with the appointment of Peter Mandelson and ends with the resignation of Keir Starmer. 

The Mandelson Files 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 and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

• This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
• Ad-free listening
• Premium newsletters
• Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
• Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
• Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Ada Barumé

Producer - Amalie Sortland

Sound design - Dominic Delargy

Podcast artwork - Lucy Stevenson

Executive producer - Jasper Corbett

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Asma arrives in Syria, there’s a palpable sense of hope. People in the country and around the world dare to believe that she is a force for good. Chloe hears from people who worked with her in the early years who - despite everything that’s happened - still believe her intentions were genuine but that she became trapped by the regime.

Episodes one and two are available to all listeners. To access the rest of the series, ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or subscribe to The Observer for access to all our podcasts and newsletters seven days a week, plus puzzles, recipes and Culture Club. Use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Field producer - Sarah Dadouch

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma is a high achieving, middle class woman from West London - she’s destined for a successful career and a comfortable British life. But in 2001 she makes a decision that will come to define her - she marries the son of a dictator and becomes Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria.

Episodes one and two are available to all listeners. To access the rest of the series, ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or subscribe to The Observer for access to all our podcasts and newsletters seven days a week, plus puzzles, recipes and Culture Club. Use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Field producer - Sarah Dadouch

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma is a high achieving, middle class girl from west London. She seems destined for a successful career in banking and a comfortable British life. Until she makes a decision that will come to define her. In 2001 Emma marries Bashar al-Assad - the now infamous dictator of Syria.

In the early days, people inside and out of Syria dared to hope. Alongside his beautiful, progressive wife, Bashar promised to modernise the country.

But when the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, Bashar'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 was carrying out? And what choices did she really have? Some people allege that she actually assisted the regime and cashed in on the war, that she herself is a war criminal. Others say she tried to run away but was trapped, held hostage by a regime who threatened her life and her children. 

So, who is the real Emma?

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

• This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
• Ad-free listening
• Premium newsletters
• Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
• Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
• Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jess does a DNA test. And she and Lucy travel to visit a house where Jess’s birth mother once lived, and try and work out how nobody noticed a thing.

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

• This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
• Ad-free listening
• Premium newsletters
• Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
• Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
• Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist Lucy Greenwell goes in search of Jess following rumours and unanswered questions about where she was born and who gave birth to her. 

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

• This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
• Ad-free listening
• Premium newsletters
• Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
• Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
• Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 6th October 1987, a newborn baby is found on the verge of a remote country lane in Suffolk. Police comb the area for clues and appeal for witnesses, but the mother is never found. The baby, Jess, is adopted. Journalist Lucy Greenwell has never forgotten the day when Jess was discovered. She was a child and lived nearby. For decades Lucy has wondered; what happened to Jess, and what could have driven a mother to leave her child in such an isolated place? When Lucy tracks Jess down, she finds a woman already deep in her own search for the truth, and a story far more tangled than either of them expected. What unfolds is a tale of long-held secrets and unintended consequences that spirals out of Jess’s control.

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

• This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
• Ad-free listening
• Premium newsletters
• Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
• Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
• Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.