The Slow Newscast

The Chancellor has delivered the first budget of Andy Burnham's premiership. But what does it reveal about their vision for the UK? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When The Observer’s Technology Editor, Patricia Clarke began investigating a new phenomenon initially dubbed ‘AI psychosis’, she found lives upended by long, intimate conversations with chatbots. But as she followed the evidence from a psychiatric ward in Bristol to the safety teams in Silicon Valley, a far darker story emerged. Guided by AI industry whistleblowers, grieving families and hundreds of pages of chatbot transcripts, Spiral exposes how big tech is running an unprecedented experiment on the human mind.This is episode one of Spiral, a six-part series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network.Reported by Patricia ClarkeProduced by Katie GunningSound design by Hannah VarrallDevelopment production by Jess Swinburne and Owen ThomasArtwork by Jon Hill and Michelle ThompsonNarrative editor is Gary MarshallExecutive producers are Jasper Corbett and Basia CummingsSpiral is a 4 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer.Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, a group of West Bank settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and veteran Washington Post photographer, Heidi Levine, who was there to cover the annual olive harvest. The assault left Levine in hospital with broken bones, but she is not the first foreigner to be caught in the middle of increasingly violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.Basia Cummings speaks to the Observer's Ruth Michaelson who is in Tel Aviv covering the upcoming elections, about what happened and whether it'll impact the outcome of the vote.Producer: Ada BarumeExec: Matt Russell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In September 2025, religious leaders in the UK got a shock: protests at Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally were carrying crosses, and waving signs with Christian slogans. On stage, pastors led the crowd in song and prayer. One of those pastors is Rikki Doolan, who says he converted Tommy Robinson while he was in prison. This is the story of how the far-right found God. Reporter: Kart MathiesonReporter/producer: Poppy BullardSound design: Dominic DelargyArtwork: Lucy StevensonEditor: Jasper Corbett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For decades, Paul Skalnik made a living telling police and prosecutors that other prisoners had confessed to crimes. The former police turned con artist and jailhouse informant helped send a man called Jim Dailey to death row for the murder of a teenage girl.Basia Cummings speaks to investigative journalist and author Pamela Colloff who spent years uncovering his deceptions, and his story exposes a criminal justice system prioritising winning convictions over the truth.Producer: Amalie SortlandExec: Matt Russell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.