Tortoise Investigates
Hosted by Chloe Hadjimatheou and Ashley John-Baptiste and Madeleine Parr and Patricia Clarke · The Observer
4.7from 13,359 ratings
- 152
- Episodes
- 89
- Transcribed
- 13,359
- Ratings
- Weekly
- Cadence
- 2021
- First episode
About Tortoise Investigates
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. To binge listen to all episodes today, ad-free, subscribe to The Observer (https://observer.co.uk/subscribe/audio) 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
- Publisher
- The Observer
- Category
- society & culture · true crime
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 18 Oct 2021
- Latest episode
- 3 Nov 2026
Latest episodes
89 of 152 episodes have a transcript.
3 Nov 2026TRANSCRIPT
Model behaviour | Spiral Ep 2
27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Introducing... Spiral - Video Trailer
27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
The dials of belief | Spiral Ep 1
Inside a recent episode
Model behaviour | Spiral Ep 2
Published 3 Nov 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And you'll get 10 points if you choose the good output. And I'll bop you on the head three times if you choose the bad output. And the model is trained to optimize not to get bopped on the head and to get as many points as possible. Human raters are not just marking answers as factually right or wrong. […]
Read the full transcript with a Pod Engine plan.
See plansWho has been a guest on Tortoise Investigates
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
- Rachel de Souza
- Nkechi Simms
- Lola Young
- Gary Marshall
- Ada Barumé
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.5 / 5
- 3,535 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.7 / 5
- 9,824 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 54
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 0
- Engagement
- 100
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Questions about Tortoise Investigates
Who hosts Tortoise Investigates?
Chloe Hadjimatheou and Ashley John-Baptiste and Madeleine Parr and Patricia Clarke host the show. Published by The Observer.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Where can I read transcripts?
89 of 152 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
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