The Slow Newsletter

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

Chained woman

In January this year a video went viral. It was of a woman in a rural village in China, chained by her neck to the wall of a ramshackle hut. It sparked a series of questions across Chinese social media about who she was and how she ended up in chains, with most people reaching the conclusion that she had been trafficked. But this wasn’t a view shared by the authorities, who the citizen journalists looking into the story soon found themselves in conflict with. This week’s story, reported by Poppy Sebag-Montefiore, is about how the Chinese state functions today, its relationship with its citizens and with social media. Listen to ‘Chained woman: China’s trade in brides’ in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts.

August break

We’re taking a break from ThinkIns over August, but we’ll be back in September with an exciting new lineup – expect plenty of civilised disagreement, provocative questions and fascinating guests. Keep an eye out in the Tortoise app and on our website for what’s on. And, while you wait, do go back and revisit some of our favourites from the past few months: Chris Patten on Hong Kong since the handover; whether it’s time to stop imprisoning women; Caroline Criado Perez on how to fix a world designed for men; and all of the sessions from our Democracy in Britain Summit, including ThinkIns with Gina Miller, Anand Menon and Darren McGarvey.

The victorious Lionesses

How long does it really make to affect change in any part of society?It won’t just be done with one story, or one week, and if we’re talking about persistence paying off, then the England Women’s European Championship triumph is a great example of it.Not only was the victory the culmination of joined up thinking from the Football Association and increased exposure to the game that has brought us to this moment. You can hear more about what the victory means for the future of the game in our?Sensemaker podcast from earlier this week.But what I thought was equally important was how they had reached the height of their sport, the England squad were immediately on the front foot in keeping those in power responsible so the legacy isn’t lost. In case you missed it,?they wrote an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss?asking to ensure girls are given more chances to play football in schools – a brilliant way to begin the legacy build.

The Tortoise Quarterly

And if you’re looking for a bit of summer reading, we’ll be publishing several pieces from the Tortoise Quarterly, our short book of long reads, online over the next few weeks. Do check out Paul Hayward’s reflection on the London 2012 Olympics and how, ten years on, it feels as if they took place in another country; and Simon Barnes on how humanity’s abuse of pangolins – the world’s most trafficked animals – may have brought us some rough justice. You can pick up the latest edition here in the Tortoise shop at a special member price.

That’s all for this week, have a great weekend.

Katie