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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

The Observer

The home of investigative podcasts from Tortoise, from Sweet Bobby to Hoaxed. Listen to the latest original series from Tortoise, including We call her Emma and The Mandelson files.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 for 50% off an annual digital subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • A daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a week
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Recipes for every occasion
 • Free tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for access to this series and ad-free listening to Observer podcasts.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

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

Who Trolled Amber? | Tortoise Investigates

When Peter Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the United States over his links with Jeffrey Epstein people wondered how he ever got appointed in the first place. 

Eventually Keir Starmer’s government was forced to publish more than a thousand pages of emails, messages and letters which reveal how Peter Mandelson was appointed, vetted and cleared to become the UK’s most influential diplomat. 

What emerges from those documents, is a story about who wields power in Britain today, how it works and how we conduct our politics. 

The Observer’s Ada Barumé tells the story of a political farce that begins with the appointment of Peter Mandelson and ends with the resignation of Keir Starmer. 

The Mandelson Files 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 and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Ada Barumé

Producer - Amalie Sortland

Sound design - Dominic Delargy

Podcast artwork - Lucy Stevenson

Executive producer - Jasper Corbett

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

A Flying Start | The Mandelson files Ep1

When Asma arrives in Syria, there’s a palpable sense of hope. People in the country and around the world dare to believe that she is a force for good. Chloe hears from people who worked with her in the early years who - despite everything that’s happened - still believe her intentions were genuine but that she became trapped by the regime.

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Field producer - Sarah Dadouch 

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

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

Diana of Damascus | We call her Emma Ep2

Emma is a high achieving, middle class woman from West London - she’s destined for a successful career and a comfortable British life. But in 2001 she makes a decision that will come to define her - she marries the son of a dictator and becomes Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria.

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Field producer - Sarah Dadouch 

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

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

The girl from Acton | We call her Emma Ep1

Emma is a high achieving, middle class girl from west London. She seems destined for a successful career in banking and a comfortable British life. Until she makes a decision that will come to define her. In 2001 Emma marries Bashar al-Assad - the now infamous dictator of Syria.

In the early days, people inside and out of Syria dared to hope. Alongside his beautiful, progressive wife, Bashar promised to modernise the country.

But when the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, Bashar's regime showed itself for what it really was: a brutal force, willing to capture and kill ordinary Syrians demanding change. And in all the years that a war raged on, Asma stood by her husband. She seemingly ignored the desperate pleas to stop her husband from killing his own people. 

But what did she really know about the atrocities her husband’s government was carrying out? And what choices did she really have? Some people allege that she actually assisted the regime and cashed in on the war, that she herself is a war criminal. Others say she tried to run away but was trapped, held hostage by a regime who threatened her life and her children. 

So, who is the real Emma?

We call her Emma is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Gary Marshall

Sound design - Karla Patella

Podcast artwork - Lola Williams & Eliza Bourner

Executive producers - Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings

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

Introducing...We call her Emma

Jess does a DNA test. And she and Lucy travel to visit a house where Jess’s birth mother once lived, and try and work out how nobody noticed a thing.

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

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

Under one roof | Foundling Ep 2

Journalist Lucy Greenwell goes in search of Jess following rumours and unanswered questions about where she was born and who gave birth to her. 

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

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

On the verge | Foundling Ep 1

On 6th October 1987, a newborn baby is found on the verge of a remote country lane in Suffolk. Police comb the area for clues and appeal for witnesses, but the mother is never found. The baby, Jess, is adopted. Journalist Lucy Greenwell has never forgotten the day when Jess was discovered. She was a child and lived nearby. For decades Lucy has wondered; what happened to Jess, and what could have driven a mother to leave her child in such an isolated place? When Lucy tracks Jess down, she finds a woman already deep in her own search for the truth, and a story far more tangled than either of them expected. What unfolds is a tale of long-held secrets and unintended consequences that spirals out of Jess’s control.

Foundling is a 6 part original series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer.

To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You'll get access to:

 • This series and all our podcasts before anyone else
 • Ad-free listening
 • Premium newsletters
 • Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword
 • Exclusive offers from our partners including Mubi and iescape
 • Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads. 

Reporter - Lucy Greenwell

Producer - Katie Gunning

Original theme music - Tom Kinsella

Sound design and additional music - Rowan Bishop

Podcast artwork - Blythe Walker Sibthorp

Narrative editor - Gary Marshall 

Editor - Jasper Corbett

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

Introducing... Foundling

The Salt Path was the supposed bestseller debut book by Raynor Winn, selling millions worldwide. So when two more sequels came along with increasingly bold claims on reversing a terminal illness, why did the publisher Penguin not question it more? Chloe also goes on the hunt for Raynor Winn’s fourth book…her true debut written years before The Salt Path.

Credits:

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Matt Russell

Artwork - Observer design with acknowledgements to Angela Harding

Music supervision - Karla Patella

Sound design - Tom Burchell

Executive Producer - Jasper Corbett

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

The Missing Book | The Walkers Ep7

At a motorway service station, Chloe meets someone close to Raynor Winn who’s nervous about coming forward. It turns out she’s another character from The Salt Path…and she’s Raynor Winn’s niece. And she’s not turned up empty handed…

Credits:

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Matt Russell

Artwork - Observer design with acknowledgements to Angela Harding

Music supervision and sound design - Karla Patella

Executive Producer - Jasper Corbett

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

The Letters | The Walkers Ep6

In the aftermath of her initial investigation, Chloe hears from a close family member of Moth’s. The story is one of deep divides…and another theft. But it takes her one step closer to understanding who Moth and Raynor Winn really are.

Credits: 

Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou

Producer - Matt Russell

Music supervision - Karla Patella

Sound design - Rowan Bishop

Executive Producer - Jasper Corbett

Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series.

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 

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

The girl from Acton | We call her Emma Ep1

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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