The Slow Newscast

Jordan Peterson is a controversial figure, but he is also a man with a long-standing appeal to a particular demographic. What does his popularity tell us about a possible crisis in young men today?Reporter: Stephen ArmstrongProducer: Matt RussellArtwork: Lola WilliamsSound design: Hannah VarrallEditor: Jasper CorbettTo 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 moreIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Xavier Greenwood’s childhood memories are dominated by a speech impediment and a thick accent. But was it all in his head?Reporter: Xavier GreenwoodSound design: Dominic DelargyArtwork: Lola WilliamsExecutive 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 moreIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Bowie's last months were spent fulfilling one final ambition: staging a musical based around his songs. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. Zelda Perkins not only met hers, she produced the musical he staged in his dying daysReporter: Zelda PerkinsArtwork: Emma O'NeilSound design: Dominic DelargyExecutive 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 moreIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.