Will SpaceX’s latest triumph mean Elon Musk will make it to Mars? Why will the price of Mounjaro weightless drugs go up? Benjamin Netanyahu called the IDF’s airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital a “tragic misstep" but so far 240 Palestinian journalists have died since the beginning of the conflict.

Giles Whittell is joined by the Observer’s International Editor, Steve Bloomfield, our Acting National News Editor, Rebecca Myers and reporter, James Tapper, as each try to pitch the top story of the day.

Links to the team’s Must Reads and recommendations here:

• Race Across the World
• ‘House of Earth and Blood’ by Sarah J. Maas

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Giles Whittell

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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An Essex council has been granted a High Court injunction to stop a local hotel from housing asylum seekers. What is behind the massive growth of Women’s Rugby and support for the Red Roses? Will a tax on tourists help boost local economies and support the arts?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Ceri Thomas, Vanessa Thorpe and Jessica Hayden, as each try to pitch the top story of the day.

Read more on today’s stories here:

• Ellie Kildunne: I was just a girl with a passion, a belief and a raw talent - HERE
• The Epping injunction is a gift to Labour’s opponents - HERE
• ‘It’s about restoring pride’: can Blackpool use its saucy image to win back the crowds? HERE

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

Producers: Casey Magloire

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore, Executive Producer

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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Will Zelensky find any success with Trump, in the wake of the Alaska Summit? What does the militarisation of Washington DC tell us about America’s political direction? And why are MPs making TikToks?

Rebecca Moore is joined by the Financial Times’ Working It Editor Isabel Berwick, Plus The

Observer’s Katie Riley and Stephen Armstrong, as each try to pitch the top story of the day.

Links to the team’s Must Reads and recommendations here:

• Does HR still need humans?
• What Happened When Mark Zuckerberg Moved In Next Door
• ANDREW NEIL: The world is being remade. And as the Alaska talks show all too clearly, Britain and Europe are now condemned to the status of mere observers

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Rebecca Moore, Executive Producer

Producers: Casey Magloire

Executive Producer: Matt Russell

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Will facial recognition technology change law enforcement forever? JD Vance has been wooing his British political allies in the Cotswolds, but will a new think-tank deepen US influence in right wing politics? Is the government at risk of losing public support after the Palestine Action arrests?

Giles Whittell is joined by the Observer’s Whitehall Editor Cat Neilan, News Reporter Jon Ungoed Thomas and Consulting Editor for Comment, Erica Wagner.

Links to the team’s Must Reads and recommendations here:

• Blackberry
• Violent, lawless, broken Britain? The facts tell a different story

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

Producers: Amalie Sortland and Poppy Bullard

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

What proof has Israel provided to support their claim that Anas al Sharif ran a Hamas cell in Gaza? Why has the partnership between Premier League Football and Stonewall ended? And will Putin’s visit to the US bring an end to the war in Ukraine?

Giles Whittell is joined by NPR’s International Correspondent, Lauren Frayer. Plus the Observer’s Serena Cesareo and Jessy Parker Humphreys, as they battle it out and pitch the top stories of the day.

Links to the team’s Must Reads and recommendations here:

• What It’s Like to Brainstorm with a Bot - HERE
• Dr. Phil’s Road From Oprah to ICE Raids - HERE
• Uber’s Festering Sexual Assault Problem - HERE
• A livestream of deep sea creatures transfixes Argentina and sparks calls for refunding science - HERE

More from Lauren’s NPR colleague Anas Baba reporting from Gaza

• For NPR’s Anas Baba, covering the war in Gaza also means living it - HERE
• The deadly risk of trying to reach food in Gaza - HERE

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

Producer: Casey Magloire

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett and Matt Russell

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Is it wrong for the government to ask police to release information on the ethnicity and immigration status of crime suspects? As countries gather for the UN plastics summit, just how much of our lives are contaminated by plastic? Who is the YouTuber behind the misinformation campaign targeting France’s First Lady?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Political Editor Rachel Sylvester, reporter Phoebe Davis and reporter James Tapper.

Links to the team’s Must Reads here:

• The Retrievals Series 2
• The Ezra Klein Show

Listen to Rachel’s series The Lab Detective HERE

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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.com

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

As the UK Parliament takes its summer break, has Reform seized the media spotlight and emerged as a viable third-party contender? What are the risks of uploading ID to age-restricted websites under the Online Safety Act? Will Trump impose his peace deal deadline on Russia if Putin refuses negotiations?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The New Statesman’s Associate Political Editor, Rachel Cunliffe. Plus the Observer’s Poppy Bullard and Patricia Clarke, as they battle it out and pitch the top stories of the day.

Links to the team’s Must Reads and recommendations here:

• Gen lay-Z: Why my generation doesn't care about work - HERE
• One year on, tensions still circle Britain’s asylum-seeker hotels - HERE
• Nathan For You (Season 4, Episode 8), Finding Frances.
• Trump’s relationship with Putin ‘at breaking point’ after Russia unleashes Kyiv blitz -
• HERE

We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Rebecca Moore, Executive Producer

Producer: Casey Magloire

Executive Producer: Matt Russell

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Are male novelists a dying breed? Can women trust apps with their personal data? Are tariffs the only way Donald Trump knows how to do diplomacy?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Home Affairs Editor John Simpson, Head of Data and Graphics Katie Riley and Consulting Editor for Comment, Erica Wagner.

Links to the team’s Must Reads here:

• What do tweens really want?
• DOGE-pilled

Read Erica’s piece on the Booker Prize longlist HERE

Follow us on Social Media:

• @ObserverUK on X
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore

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

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If 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.com

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