The Slow Newsletter from Tortoise

Good afternoon. Welcome back to Tortoise’s weekly Slow Newsletter.?

Moments of joy amongst a backdrop of horror

“Imagine the Black Sea with its blue-green water in the Odesa bay and its sandy or rocky beaches. It is summertime, the sun is shining brightly, and you can even see dolphins in the sea.”

Those are the words of Nina Kuryata, who grew up in Odesa, fled the war in Ukraine, and is now the newest recruit to the Tortoise newsroom in London.

This week, alongside my Tortoise co-founder James Harding and Xavier Greenwood, she painted a vivid, beautiful picture of her home city.?

But the situation and outlook is bleak –?before the Russian invasion, Ukraine supplied half the world’s sunflower oil, 15 per cent of its corn, and 12 per cent of its wheat, much of which feeds some of the world’s poorest countries –?and the vast silos where it is housed in Odesa has been blockaded by Russia.

This week’s Slow Newscast looks at the food crisis on the horizon – one that threatens famine for millions, and an exodus for millions more.??

On the road again

It was an absolute joy to take our ThinkIns back on the road again after a pandemic-induced hiatus.?

In the first ThinkIn of our series, ‘Does democracy work for you?’ we spent a brilliant hour wrestling with this question at the Common Room in Newcastle.

My colleague Matt d’Ancona started the evening saying: “We felt trapped not being able to get out on the road, because that’s what we do –?go out, meet people and listen to what they say.”?

You can watch the whole ThinkIn from Newcastle here.?

Hearing people’s stories and what they think on the biggest issues is at the heart of what we do at Tortoise, and we’re continuing to get out on the road in the coming months –?we have events in Birmingham and Bristol, so do join us in person if you can.?

Coming up at Tortoise...

We’re heading into an incredibly exciting time for Tortoise.

This Thursday, we launch our latest multi-part podcast series – Londongrad.

Paul Caruana Galizia continues his investigation into Russian money in London, telling the story of Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, and what Britain did to itself. Join Tortoise to listen to the first three episodes on Thursday 2 June.

We also have a stellar line-up of ThinkIns also around the corner –?Marina Hyde and Hadley Freeman are joining us to talk about their love of Top Gun, we’re asking whether the global order is out of control with Rory Stewart, and Caroline Criado-Perez will be accompanying her upcoming Tortoise podcast series with a special ThinkIn in our newsroom. I hope you can join us.

That’s all for this week. As ever, I’d love to invite you to become a Tortoise member – for half-priced membership, use my special invite code KATIE50 here. I hope I’ll see you soon.

Katie