Three years ago travel writer Lydia Gard discovered freediving almost by accident. It’s an extreme and beautiful sport defined by one simple objective: to dive as deep as you can on one single breath. Record holders are now routinely diving to more than 120 metres, pushing the sport and their bodies to find out what’s humanly possible. Through her coach, Lydia was drawn into a small but fanatical community of competition athletes all united in their drive for depth, and that’s where she stumbled on a darker side of the sport. Rumours swirled that a group of top divers were doping to get deeper, faster. As the community began to turn on each other over the allegations, one prominent diver decided to take the law into his own hands. A secret sting operation was meant to put an end to the problem by bringing the alleged dopers out of the dark, and into the light. But the issue hasn't gone away. And now, a lot of people who’ve been too scared to speak up, are ready to talk. Episodes 1-4 are available to listen now. Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series today. Subscribe to The Observer today and get access to: Our podcasts before anyone elseA daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a weekPuzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crosswordRecipes for every occasionFree tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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DOCUMENTARY
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 through to true crime and injustice and real life mysteries, The Slow Newscast team is devoted to narrative investigations covering some of the biggest topics of the day. Who are the people biohacking themselves in a quest for immortality? Or the man taking on an entire nation in the high seas to protect whales? And what happened when humanity's most distant messenger fell silent? From a newsroom with a different approach to journalism these are the stories we tell. Subscribe to The Observer today and get access to: Our podcasts before anyone elseA daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a weekPuzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crosswordRecipes for every occasionFree tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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DOCUMENTARY
The week in culture, annotated. Writer and journalist Liv Little and Observer critic Miranda Sawyer get notes from editors all the time - now it’s their turn to hand them out. Every Wednesday morning, Liv and Miranda weigh in on the latest cultural happenings, from reality TV meltdowns and art house films, to gallery openings and TikTok trends. Smart, funny, and full of sharp observations. We Have Notes is culture with commentary. Let’s chat! Send us your voice notes! @WeHaveNotes_Pod on Instagram@WeHaveNotes_Pod on TikTokwehavenotes@observer.co.uk via email Hosts: Liv Little and Miranda Sawyer Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore Producer: Casey Magloire Artwork: Lola Williams and Blythe Walker Sibthorp Subscribe to The Observer today and get access to: Our podcasts before anyone elseA daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a weekPuzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crosswordRecipes for every occasionFree tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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SOCIETY & CULTURE
Harvey Proctor was a dark political star who burned brightly in the 1980s, until a tabloid sting brought him down. 25 years later he found himself facing another vicious scandal. What had he done - and what had we done - to bring him to that moment? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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DOCUMENTARY
Introducing... Hoaxed, the new series from Alexi Mostrous and Tortoise, who brought you Sweet Bobby. In 2014, two children told police a shocking story: that they were being abused by a Satanic cult; a cult headed by their father and by parents and teachers at their school in the wealthy London suburb of Hampstead. The story was a lie. But on the internet, that didn't matter. Hoaxed is an investigation into one of Britain's most serious-ever conspiracy theories. A story about a modern-day Satanic panic; about the victims whose lives were destroyed and about the conspiracists who spread the lie around the world. Oh, and it's about our hunt for the perpetrators - the people who forced the kids to lie - the ones who started it all. All 6 episodes are available now to listen for free. You can listen to the full series ad-free and get access to exclusive bonus content by downloading the Tortoise audio app or subscribing to Tortoise+ on Apple podcasts. Or join Tortoise as a member, where you can access more of our reporting, live events and support our work. Just visit the Tortoise website and use the code Alexi50 for half price membership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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DOCUMENTARY
Listen to all six episodes today. Rob Moore had a successful career in television until one day he ran out of ideas. After a stint as a gardener, a more enticing door was opened for him. He was offered a job in the shadowy world of corporate intelligence - he became a spy. Tasked with working undercover to extract information from an environmental campaign group, Rob Moore says he eventually became sympathetic to the campaigners’ aims. He decided to turn on his employers and support the group he was meant to be infiltrating. Only it wasn’t that straightforward. He never told the campaigners who he really was and he never told his spymasters what he was really doing. Neither side knew the whole truth. That was until 2016, when after years of being in control of these two disparate worlds he was unexpectedly outed. Now, the campaigners see him as a traitor who betrayed their trust. He sees himself as a misunderstood whistleblower. From the team that brought you Sweet Bobby, and over three years in the making, Into The Dirt is a story about truth, spies and the stories we tell ourselves The six-part series launches Tuesday 27th June. To get early access to the first 3 episodes and for the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Observer is the home of original reporting, narrative investigations and independent thinking.
If you’re new to The Observer audio, we release new podcast episodes every weekday. Our daily podcast The Sensemaker tells one story every day to make sense of the world. The Slow Newscast is our weekly investigative podcast focusing on the stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. Every Monday and Friday you can hear Observer journalists and special guests battle it out to see whose story should lead the news and why in The News Meeting. You can also listen to our award winning investigative series on Tortoise Investigates including hit podcasts Sweet Bobby, Hoaxed, Dangerous Memories and Lucky Boy.
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