Harper Collins Children has announced another new David Walliams book. This time, a murder mystery.
Last year for
@tortoise
I reported on his reputation as a kid's author, his long list of controversies, and the 'headaches' he's caused for his publisher.
My email's in my bio.
SWEET BOBBY, a new documentary based on the popular podcast series, is coming soon to Netflix!
The film tells the story of how broadcaster Kirat Assi became embroiled in a complex web of deception that lasted for over a decade and involved over 60 fabricated characters.
I’m still reporting on this story for
@tortoise
and keen to hear from anyone who has worked at HarperCollins or who would like to speak (in complete confidence). DMs open and my email is claudia
@tortoisemedia
.com.
David Walliams is undoubtedly a children’s writing phenomenon.
But his life and work have, at times, caused headaches for his publisher, HarperCollins.
So what do you do when your most lucrative author does things that might damage the brand?
🎧
This week I’m
@tortoise
celeb correspondent 🫡
We’re diving into the chaos of the Peltz-Beckham wedding and asking: what happens when you treat a gen-z super-wedding like a business deal?
It’s about fame, wealth, nepo-babies and nightmare group chats:
Anger. Intrigue. Rumours. In-fighting.
And it's about... sewing? In this week's
@tortoise
pod, I dared to investigate a century-old embroidery charity facing a financial crisis – and the needle-wielding women who are in revolt.
“One night, he got really freaked out and put pillows down the middle of the bed… I was just like: it’s a bit late for that NOW?”
From romantic PowerPoints to the future of polyamory, I wrote about finding love during lockdown for
@Tortoise
When Aaliyah Welton was 12, she started listening to a K-pop band. It was like discovering a whole new world. But when the other stans found out that she was black, the racism started.
What happens when you need to unstan?
I investigated for
@Tortoise
I am writing a piece for
@tortoise
about dating in lockdown and the FUTURE OF KISSING 💕 I would love to hear about your zoom date disasters / lockdown-breaking antics / social distancing dates / new-found commitment to celibacy / thoughts on What’s Next. DM me!
#journorequests
Sweet Bobby is one of
@ApplePodcasts
Editors' Picks of 2021!! Delighted to be in the company of some of the podcasts I've absolutely inhaled this year.
For
@tortoise
I went back in time to the 00s world of celebrity gossip, reality TV, footballers, WAGS… and the scandalous newsletter that charted it all:
@popbitch
.
All 4 parts of
@pcaruanagalizia
’s podcast about the murder of his mother are now available to download.
Paul and his family have fought tirelessly to uncover the truth about Daphne's assassination.
I put together a list of some of the ways you can help.
How many women are being killed, but not counted?
This week we’re publishing our
@Tortoise
investigation into the true scale of fatal domestic abuse. You can listen to the first 3 episodes in our series and access the whole project here:
By
@ladyhaja
: “We have questions for Coleen Rooney. Where is Lord Lucan? What is the true identity of the Zodiac killer? Does she count among her heroes the unsung female codebreakers of Bletchley Park?”
In April, the premier of the British Virgin Islands was arrested in a US drugs sting in Miami. Think: cocaine, cartels & private jets.
But what did then-foreign sec Liz Truss know about the operation?
@GWhittell
and I travelled to BVI to investigate:
Eps 1-3 of The Gas Man, my new
@tortoise
investigates series, are out now.
@chloehadj
and I set out to solve the mystery of how an international fugitive got away with his crimes and why he’s still on the run.
In Ep 3: he tells us himself.
** Exclusive in this weekend's Sunday Telegraph **
Laurence Fox enters City Hall race to fight Sadiq Khan to be the next Mayor of London
@LozzaFox
tells
@Telegraph
he wants to “offer a voice for those who are being dominated into silence”.
This week's
@tortoise
Slow Newscast is a deep dive into the murky, lucrative and anxiety-ridden world of fertility.
A world that balances on a tightrope between what's possible, what's ethical – and what's harmful.
My Mother’s Murder, a podcast series by
@pcaruanagalizia
, is remarkable. This conversation in particular stopped me in my tracks.
The first two episodes are available now on all platforms. The next episode is out on Thursday. Please listen.
Oh. Oh! Possibly my fav sister
@OliviaBromley
is longlisted for Best Soap Newcomer at the TV Choice Awards. It’s v exciting!!! Please vote for her here ⬇ so I have the chance to win by association 🌟
VOTING IS OPEN!
#TVChoiceAwards
📺😄✨
You can vote for your favourite shows and stars using the form in the latest issue of TV Choice or you can vote online here:
NEW:
@louisetickle
and I investigate the link between suicide/domestic abuse. We tell the story of Kellie Sutton & her family’s 6-year fight for a pioneering legal ruling: will a jury accept that someone who took her own life was actually killed?
@tortoise
Thank you to everyone who voted! 💕 So happy to have been shortlisted for ‘Best Newcomer’ for
#tvchoiceawards
! Voting is open again here until 5th July : (FINE, you can vote for
@AsanNjie
if you really have to 😂)
Local leaders interrupt live interviews to show Andy Burnham messages that appear to suggest Greater Manchester will be put into Tier 3 at 0001 Friday
Burnham was told the message said "£20m only and they're going to try to pick off individual councils"
Looking forward to co-hosting this later, joined by
@ProfJoyceHarper
@DrKylieBaldwin
and
@Nuffbioethics
.
We’ll be talking about egg freezing: does it even work / why do people it / should companies offer it / how should clinics promote? Join us!
What’s the deal with fertility preservation?
Join us in conversation tomorrow lunchtime for Sensemaker Live as we look into egg freezing and why it is the fastest growing fertility treatment in the UK.
Our
@tortoise
podcast series on Hidden Homicides is now on
@Spotify
/ all podcast platforms.
It's an investigation that started with simple question: how many women are killed each year by a current/ex partner? And it turns out... we simply don't know.
Two years after the assassination of
#DaphneCaruanaGalizia
, her son
@pcaruanagalizia
and his family continue to fight for justice. This podcast was recorded during an astonishing week of arrests and protests in Malta. It is heartbreaking and enraging.
In our latest podcast, we're in Malta following the investigation into the murder of
#DaphneCaruanaGalizia
. Her son
@pcaruanagalizia
, an editor at Tortoise, has been at the heart of unexpected and dramatic events. Listen here
So proud of the
@tortoise
team who worked on this, and endlessly grateful to the families who trusted us to tell their stories - and helped us draw attention to the domestic abuse deaths that continue to go uninvestigated and unreported.
In its eighth year,
#TheOrwellPrize
for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils, sponsored by
@jrf_uk
, remains committed to enhancing the public understanding of social problems and public policy in the UK. Each finalist on the shortlist embodies this commitment.
There's a lot going on. But if you have a sec, I've written for
@tortoise
about the NHS delays – and comp failure of services – forcing trans people to enter the lucky dip of crowdfunding just to access basic healthcare. And it's only going to increase:
In March, 200 people were left abandoned in a hotel in Mozambique – surrounded by insurgents.
This 3-part series is the story of their extraordinary, and tragic, escape. It's about bravery, greed and the betrayal of an entire region.
Listen here:
From Little Britain, to the President's Club, to the story pulled over accusations of racism... on and off the page, David Walliams has sometimes caused headaches for HarperCollins.
How do you keep a star kid's author from getting cancelled?
@tortoise
On the frontlines in Ukraine waves of Russian mercenaries and ex-prisoners fight like zombies, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Why has the once-secretive founder of the Wagner Group come out of the shadows now?
@tortoise
, ft
@alleyesonwagner
@EliotHiggins
I’m keen to speak with people who've paid for any type of private fertility treatment about their experience + how they financed things. It can be anon + will of course be sensitively handled. DMs open or email claudia
@tortoisemedia
.com. Thanks!
#journorequest
#journorequests
.
@samrenke
has proven that you don’t have to ‘fit the mould’ to make it. She’s starred in award-winning movies, won best actress at the LA Diversity Film Festival and much more.
Join us with Samantha on Thursday to discuss how to break down stereotypes.
How much does it cost to have a baby? It depends who you ask. So we did.
In a series of fertility Money Diaries for
@tortoise
I chatted to people about the part of assisted fertility we often gloss over: the cash.
Many many thanks to Aaliyah for speaking with such honesty about her experience, and to
@pennyb
,
@kdc
of
@TLF_Media
and
@ToHeckWithTech
for their expertise. And thank you Ida, Wadha, Sarah and everyone else interviewed telling me your stories.
Sweet Bobby, our new investigative podcast series
@tortoise
, is out now.
It’s an astonishing story about who we are online, digital coercion - and a 10-year catfishing scam that almost ruined a woman’s life.
Today's
@tortoise
Slow Newscast, with reporter
@poppysm
and music by Karla Patella.
It's about a school in China, a boy who died there, and an outburst of anger and anxiety that jumped from social media onto the streets.
Until it was shut down.
Today's
@tortoise
Sensemaker, on scrapping England's public health agency in the middle of a pandemic, the student barristers wearing adult nappies for their exams and the not-so-lost elephant shrew:
How benign is yoga, really?
In this week's
@tortoise
Slow Newscast we investigate whether it's being used by India’s government to push a nationalist agenda and drive communities apart.
Made with
@KatieGunning2
,
@CeriThomas01
and Karla Patella.
I’ve been saving episodes of Pig Iron so I can listen to it when I’m on a walk. It’s that kind of series. Stunning investigative journalism into the dark side of war reporting from
@basialcummings
@GaryJMarshall90
@jeremybliss
@XAMGreenwood
& more. Do listen if you haven’t.
Our new series, Pig Iron, is out wherever you get your podcasts.
It's an investigation into the death of a young war reporter, Christopher Allen, killed 5 years ago in South Sudan, and journey deep into the world of violence, war, and journalism.
Nice to see two recent
@tortoise
Slow Newscasts, as well as our Invaded: Voicemails from Ukraine series, included in this list of the top audio about Ukraine:
This ruling is a testament to
@louisetickle
's extraordinary tenacity as a reporter.
"...when an elected MP has been found in a court of law to have repeatedly raped and abused his wife while in office, the public has a right to know."
This is the story I’ve been fighting to publish for a year and 7 days - the story of a powerful man, an MP, a minister of state, who abused & raped his wife while in office… today, with incredible support from
@tortoise
, and
@familoo
as barrister, I won.
My flatmates are on Houseparty with their whole family singing “London’s Burning” in a round to a 7 month old baby. One of them just said “this is the highlight of my week”.
NEW: Ep 6 of The Gas Man with
@chloehadj
is out now.
In this episode, could a 40-year game of cat-and-mouse finally be coming to a close? Plus… a trainee Buddhist monk with the mantra “fuck human rights”
Today's
@tortoise
Sensemaker on coronavirus care home deaths & the government's failure to act.
Plus the unexpected baby news on everyone's lips: Gigi and Zayn.
"As the country’s 56th prime minister resigned, 20,000 people tuned in live... to watch the lettuce celebrating its victory with a Greggs sausage roll."
We say bye to Liz Truss in today's
@tortoise
Sensemaker with
@CatNeilan
@RebeccaHBM
@LewisVickers
We know what followed Truss and Kwarteng's mini-budget on 23 Sep: political chaos and economic collapse.
But how did they get there – and how did it happen in just 17 days? For this week's pod, a team of us
@tortoise
report on the making of a disaster:
For
@tortoise
,
@louisetickle
and I are investigating hidden homicides: sudden deaths in domestically abusive relationships that go uninvestigated by police / uncounted in statistics. If you think this happened to your loved one, pls get in touch. For more:
I'm keen to speak to anybody who has decided to unstan someone, for whatever reason (incl if it was brief & you restanned later). DM me or email claudia
@tortoisemedia
.com. Thanks!
#journorequests
#journorequest
Today's
@tortoise
Sensemaker podcast, made with
@CeriThomas01
and
@LewisVickers
, is about the release of Nazanin and Anoosheh, the debt the UK has finally paid – and the British hostages who still remain in Iran.
This week's Slow Newscast with
@poppysm
is about bride trafficking in China, and viral video that ignited a battle for truth between the people and the state.
Out now
@tortoise
and everywhere else Thurs:
This podcast is a short intro to our Hidden Homicides investigation.
It's about death of Susan Nicholson, dismissed by police as an accident. Susan's elderly parents were left to prove that their daughter was murdered.
They did.
(
@Spotify
/
@tortoise
)
Emily Whelan's family has today won a landmark lawsuit against the NHS trust that allowed her body to decompose to the extent that a forensic PM could not rule out third party involvement in her death.
The rush of exercising your democratic right yesterday got you hankering for more??? VOTE FOR
@OliviaBromley
in the TV Choice Awards. EU won’t regret it 🗳❤️
When your peers do well you have to flag it up,she’s always brilliant,but I have to say mostly these past three episodes
@OliviaBromley
@itv
@emmerdale
has been absolutely stunning,every single scene has had such impact on the audience. Well done babes MORE MORE PLEASE 🙏🏻😘🙏🏻😘🙏🏻
Today's
@tortoise
daily Sensemaker pod is about something I haven't shut up about for weeks: the Strictly scandal.
Featuring the always excellent
@scottygb
on why duty of care stories matter so much to audiences, the BBC's response & the show's future.
Kim Kardashian West has filed for divorce from Kanye West, bringing to a close one of the most famous celebrity unions of the 21st century. The two superstars, who built business empires from reality TV and music, married in 2014 and have four children.
Europe outsourcing responsibility is the real crisis, not people trying to cross the channel. NYT Opinion building on the v important work of
@ForensicArchi
.
As Europe outsources border patrol in the Mediterranean to a dubious partner, desperate migrants drown. Our investigation with
@ForensicArchi
spotlights the crisis.
I’m very proud to have worked on it with excellent colleagues:
@AlexiMostrous
,
@GaryJMarshall90
,
@basialcummings
and Karla Patella. And huge thanks to Kirat for trusting us to tell her story.
Ep1 is out now, and new eps will be published weekly.
@tortoise
members listen early.
I'm sad to say the other half of the stores shelf stacking, stock rotating team has had to stop for personal reasons (I blame the train service!). I've carved up the stores tasks a bit so there's some nice things for a new volunteer to take on. Could it be you?
Listen to her mother's extraordinary fight for justice in episode 3 of our
@tortoise
podcast series Hidden Homicides.
Caramella hasn't had chance to grieve her daughter yet – she's been too busy fighting. This lawsuit is testament to her determination.
Loved working on this episode with
@ellen_halliday
. It’s a journey into a world of book dealers, thieves, secrets and lost treasure - and an attempt to crack a 20-year mystery...
Out on
@tortoise
now and everywhere else Thursday.
Two notebooks, one sleuth, and a simple question: whodunnit?
For 20 years, two priceless manuscripts written by Charles Darwin were missing from Cambridge University Library. Until one day, they were returned.
In this week’s Slow Newscast,
@ellen_halliday
searches for answers.
3 years after the Trump administration was given 30 days to reunite families they separated at the US border, there are still 300 children whose parents can't be found.
For
@tortoise
: the families torn apart & the people fighting to reunite them.
Today's
@tortoise
piece on the billion-dollar fertility industry:
@gabyhinsliff
looks at the expensive and un-evidenced world of IVF "add ons" – and the people desperate to know they tried everything.
If a clinic's selling you hope, how can you say no?
Went to see a preview of
@LivingDeadLDN
last night and it was GLORIOUS. So funny, so silly and just a bloooooody good time (plus the v talented cast includes a beardless
@TamaPhethean
!!!). Go see it 🧠
It was a total joy to speak to
@frankcottrell_b
about children’s books for this episode. Do listen if you have time - it’s a conversation I’ve thought about a lot since.