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Deep Water | Tortoise Investigates
Introducing ... Deep Water
Season 17, Ep. 0
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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.
Episode 1 will be available to listen to on Tuesday 18th November.
Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series on Tuesday 18th November.
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
Reporter - Lydia Gard
Producer - Gary Marshall.
Music supervision and sound design - Karla Patella
Sound design - Rowan Bishop
Podcast artwork - Lola Williams
Fact checking - Poppy Bullard, Katie Gunning, Amalie Sortland, Madeleine Parr & Jess Swinburne
Executive producer - Basia Cummings
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Introducing ... Tortoise Investigates
01:02||Season 0, Ep. 0Welcome to Tortoise Investigates, where we curate the best of our chart-topping investigative series in one place. Over the last three years we’ve covered everything from extraordinary tales of deception to suspicious deaths to one mother’s decades-long fight against the police. There's Sweet Bobby, Hoaxed, Pig Iron and more. Keep an eye on the feed, we’ll be updating it regularly with all of our best and most ambitious stories.
Introducing: Sweet Bobby
01:29||Season 1How much do you know about the person you love? Sweet Bobby is the #1 award-winning investigative series in search of the world's most sophisticated catfishers. All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
1. Sliding doors | Sweet Bobby Ep 1
31:11||Season 1, Ep. 1Kirat is a successful marketer and radio presenter. Online, she’s contacted by a man she vaguely knows called Bobby, and they start chatting. Slowly, they become close… and she’s reeled in to a scam of epic proportions. All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
2. Witness protection | Sweet Bobby Ep 2
41:32||Season 1, Ep. 2Bobby finds his way back into Kirat's life, and their relationship grows closer – with devastating consequences. Meanwhile, Alexi investigates the sophistication of the catfishing scam. All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
3. Confession | Sweet Bobby Ep 3
43:37||Season 1, Ep. 3Bobby is now closer than ever – and yet he keeps slipping through Kirat's grasp. After being pushed to breaking point, she makes the life changing decision to confront him – and discovers the truth...All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
4. Dark triads | Sweet Bobby Ep 4
40:01||Season 1, Ep. 4Kirat deals with the fallout from the confession. Alexi’s investigation reveals the startling true beginnings of the scam, as he tries to unravel the catfisher's motivation.All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
5. (In)justice | Sweet Bobby Ep 5
33:30||Season 1, Ep. 5After the confession, Kirat goes to the police. But their reaction to her case isn’t what she’s expecting. Plus: Alexi tries a new approach with the catfisher...All 6 episodes are available to listen now.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
6. Motive | Sweet Bobby Ep 6
43:24||Season 1, Ep. 6In the final episode of Sweet Bobby, Kirat’s case against the catfisher takes an unexpected turn. As Alexi is putting the finishing touches to the series, he gets a phone call that changes everything.To get exclusive access to the bonus episode, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.To find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf 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.comHost and reporter: Alexi MostrousProducer: Gary MarshallAssistant producer and reporter: Claudia WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia CummingsSound design: Karla PatellaArtwork: Jon Hill
Introducing: Hoaxed
01:18||Season 2, Ep. 0In 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. From the team who brought you Sweet Bobby, 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. Listen to the full series today. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access to all our investigative series and daily and weekly shows, 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.