Tortoise Investigates - Podcast Rankings and reviews

Very thorough, great interviews, and overall a very good job of WHY some of the texts seemed to the perpetrator seemed different than those to their friends and their experiences.

As a woman, I’ve been through this— the biggest concern after a sexual assault or a coercive encounter where there is a power dynamic is fear you will upset the man. I wrote texts to placate and try to make sure I didn’t upset the person. I wanted to act normal and hope they still liked me because it makes you feel vulnerable when you go through something like that, and angry men or men who feel like you “didn’t enjoy it” treat you badly or put your job, life at risk.

It’s a sick dynamic, but as vulnerable young women with men in power who take advantage and put you in a position where you fear for your job, your comfort, your future, you don’t ever want to make them mad, or even make them hate you for not being “grateful” — a powerful man’s ego is like a toxic plant that has to be constantly cared for, watered, spoken to gently. This is far worse when it is a famous person and a huge age gap.

I’m so happy I discovered this podcast, it’s one of the best shows I’ve followed in a while. The stories they cover are all really interesting. The storytelling is well paced and episodes don’t drag on. Highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys investigative journalism

These seasons choose topics people are generally too scared to talk about. Responsible, thorough, thoughtful, and interesting. Good balance of fact finding and humanity

Gareth’s story is heartbreaking. Even if it was a “different” time and may seem harmless to some the effects of this relationship with an obvious power dynamic and age gap are long lasting. I’m happy that Gareth got the justice he deserves and hopefully is able to slowly start to put this behind him. What happened to him was wrong even if he was too young at the time to realize it. Great storytelling.

To the season 4 host - you did so much virtue signaling to avoid acknowledgment of your transphobia in this season, but it was still very obvious and harmful. You treated the transphobic sources with kindness and compassion, but you were critical and deliberately lacking in understanding with those speaking up for trans rights. Why would you amplify such hateful sources? You claimed rounded journalism as your motivation, but you clearly started with and further leaned into transphobia throughout the episodes. Is transphobia just ok to you? What other kinds of oppression are you willing to amplify? Please do some self reflection.

Lucky Boy: gave it a charitable listen. Liked 50% of it but the compassion of the narrator for Gareth is contradicted by the terms she uses. At one point in Ep 3, the narrator calls him Bowen’s “15 year-old lover.” Gross. Also, it’s not sex, it’s statutory rape of a minor. Even *with* consent. The narrator problematizes the consent by talking about Garett not understanding his desires and being taken advantage of. A good amount of time is spent on how it traumatized him, while simultaneously not calling it rape. If it were a 15 year-old girl and a teacher, she would not be called a lover.