HS2 should have been a symbol of engineering excellence. Instead half of it has been scrapped and it's still running £50 billion over budget. This is the story of how Britain’s largest infrastructure project became its biggest scandal.

Reporter: Stephen Armstrong

Producer: Jonathan Lewis

Artwork: Lola Williams

Sound design: Dominic Delargy

Editor: Jasper Corbett

This episode is sponsored by The Life of Chuck. Join us across the UK for a preview screening on Wednesday 13 August, before it hits cinemas nationwide on 20 August. Find the locations and book now at SEEITFIRST.COM and enter the code CHUCK.

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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As a tax haven Jersey has a reputation for welcoming the wealthy with open arms, but how does it treat other kinds of immigrants? Jane Kiiti came from Kenya to work in Jersey’s hotels for more than twenty years. Her death raises questions about the conditions migrant workers face and whether the island is doing enough to prevent their exploitation.

You can read Orlando Crowcroft's article 'The never-ending fear that haunts Jersey's troubled migrant workers' here.

Reporter: Orlando Crowcroft

Producer: Ada Barumé

Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorpe

Sound design: Dominic Delargy

Editor: Jasper Corbett

This episode is sponsored by The Life of Chuck. Join us across the UK for a preview screening on Wednesday 13 August, before it hits cinemas nationwide on 20 August. Find the locations and book now at SEEITFIRST.COM and enter the code CHUCK.

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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

Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. But the truth behind the hit memoir is very different.

Reporter: Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer: Matt Russell

Field Producers: Leonie Thomas and Helen Clifton

Artwork: Lola Williams

Sound design: Tom Burchell

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original article

The News Meeting

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Kathleen Folbigg was known as ‘Australia's worst female serial killer’ - she’d lost all four of her infant children and was convicted for killing them.

Until, after spending decades in jail, a scientist working in a lab uncovered the truth behind the deaths.

The Lab detective is the story of a shocking miscarriage of justice, and an investigation into why Kathleen’s story might not be the last. To listen to more episodes of The Lab Detective, go to Tortoise Investigates.

Our thanks to The Francis Crick Institute for sharing recordings and insights.

Reporter: Rachel Sylvester

Producer: Gary Marshall

Music supervisor: Karla Patella

Sound design: Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork: Lola Williams

Executive producer: Basia Cummings

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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

This is the story of how and why a small Central European country became the epicenter of global conservatism. It’s the tale of two men…and what happens when we ignore the powerful forces behind a government.

Reporter: David Aaronovitch

Producer: Jonathan Lewis

Artwork: Lola Williams

Sound Design: Dominic Delargy

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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

This is the story of how a boxing match helped solve a 50-year art world mystery. And how, when a man named Ted wades in to stop a mugging in Soho, it leads to a most unlikely life-altering friendship with an artist who makes him, or his picture, immortal.

Reporter: Stephen Smith

Producer: Katie Gunning

Artwork: Blythe Walker Sibthorpe

Sound Designer: Dominic Delargy

Editor: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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

We are partnering with the podcast Drilled, to share something extra with you this week so that we can continue to bring our listeners brilliant investigations on The Slow Newscast and across The Observer audio network. You can discover more at https://observer.co.uk/listen.

This season, Drilled follows reporter Alleen Brown through a legal trial that will change the course of activism in the U.S. and beyond. Greenpeace, which was only tangentially involved in the Standing Rock protests, has been slapped with a $666 million bill for damages...despite the fact that the Dakota Access Pipeline was built, and has been making its builder, Energy Transfer, millions of dollars for years. How did we get here? Cody Hall, an Indigenous activist who was a key figure during the Standing Rock protests and was targeted in Energy Transfer's lawsuit, walks us through how things went down back in 2016, and where this suit began.

If you're hooked, you can find more Drilled episodes at https://push.fm/fl/drilled

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

Liz Truss was the UK’s shortest serving prime minister, but since leaving office she’s continued to buck the trend. Post premiership, she’s become one of the most vocal among her peers.

What has driven her into the arms of the populist right? And what does it tell us about the state of the party she has left behind?

Reporter: Philip Collins

Producer: Ada Barumé

Artwork: Lola Williams

Sound Designer: Dominic Delargy

Editor: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content head to our website observer.co.uk

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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 hello@tortoisemedia.com

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