9 episodes
Into The Dirt Tortoise
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- News
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3.8 • 34 Ratings
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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.
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Episode one - The truth
Three years ago a former private spy came to our newsroom at Tortoise. He told an incredible story about infiltrating a campaign group, deceiving people for years but all the while being a 'double agent', before his world fell apart. And it all played out in the opaque world of corporate intelligence.
Since then, journalist Ceri Thomas has been asking who Rob Moore really is and what his motivations were.
This is a six-part series from Tortoise with new episodes being released every Tuesday and Thursday. To get early access to the first 5 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. -
Episode two - Project Spring
It’s 2012 and Rob Moore goes 'into the dirt', undercover, to infiltrate a group of campaigners fighting for a ban on deadly asbestos. None of them knew they had a private spy in the camp. But it's hard to stay hidden forever.
This is a six-part series from Tortoise with new episodes being released every Tuesday and Thursday. To get early access to the first 5 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. -
Episode three - Poison into medicine
Rob Moore says he can justify going undercover among anti-asbestos campaigners because he was following a Buddhist principle, turning poison into medicine. To this day he believes that if the people he infiltrated would really listen to his story they'd understand him differently. But does his story really stand up to scrutiny?
This is a six-part series from Tortoise with new episodes being released every Tuesday and Thursday. To get early access to the first 5 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. -
Episode four - Chicken feed
Rob is adamant that in all the years he was undercover, he never sent information back to his spymasters that harmed the campaigners. But when you're the only one in control of the decisions, can you always get it right?
This is a six-part series from Tortoise with new episodes being released every Tuesday and Thursday. To listen to all episodes today, 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. -
Episode five - The verge
When Global Witness out Rob in 2015, things quickly fall apart. He loses everything that matters to him but to this day he believes that if his voice had been heard, it would have all worked out differently.
This is a six-part series from Tortoise with new episodes being released every Tuesday and Thursday. 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. -
Episode six - The whole truth
In the final episode, Ceri travels to meet Rob in a peaceful garden in rural Wiltshire. What unfolds is a heated exchange about what Rob's story really is and what adds up to the whole truth.
Our next investigation: Three doors down launches on Tuesday 18th July. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access to Three doors down and our other investigative series, 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.
Customer Reviews
Intriguing story but with some gaps
Overall I enjoyed this series a lot. I learned about corporate espionage, asbestos, and appreciated the nuanced exploration of what truth is. The one aspect I felt this series fell short is delving further into Rob’s side of the story. I didn’t really get to hear the perspectives of people who view Rob positively, such as his Buddhist friends. Unless I missed it, there didn’t seem to be any explanation for what Rob thought he actually uncovered (what was his theory, even if it’s a conspiracy theory). The narrative seems to be that Rob is deluding himself on the importance and impact of his actions, but I would’ve appreciated being given more specific details of what is it that he thought he achieved to decide for myself if he’s claims hold water.
Another gem
Everything these people produce is excellent.
Some missed opportunities
I’m a big fan of Tortoise but I had some issues with this show. I found the first several episodes very hard to follow. I also wish there had been an explanation for how Tortoise was able to publish this podcast if Rob Moore withdrew his consent partway through.
Finally, and in my view, the biggest missed opportunity was having some sort of conversation/expertise introduced about Mr. Moore’s mental health. For nearly the whole show, I found myself thinking that there is likely some (undiagnosed?) mental health issue(s) that’s creating an inability to have true empathy for the impact of his actions as well as an inability to reconsider his perception of himself.
I wish him peace. You can hear how distressed he is by the experience of doing this podcast, especially in the last couple episodes.
Lots of ethical dilemmas here, in both the original story and the choice to tell this story.