The Lab DetectiveThe best of The Observer, from across our newsroom |
Basia Cummings and Brad Gray • Tuesday 22 July 2025 |
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I'm excited to introduce you to a new project we're launching here at The Observer today: a new investigative podcast series called The Lab Detective. It tells the extraordinary story of Kathleen Folbigg, an Australian woman whose four infant children died suddenly, one after another, over the span of a decade. Kathleen was arrested and convicted for killing them, and spent 20 years in prison. That is, until a scientist, Carola Vinuesa, began to investigate her case.
What's so striking about this story is what it reveals about the myths that haunt legal systems around the world. Reported by The Observer's political editor, Rachel Sylvester, and our narrative editor, Gary Marshall, the series takes apart the idea that multiple infant deaths in a family must point to murder. Instead, it finds a tidal wave of genetic advancements that help explain the sudden deaths of young children, as well as shocking miscarriages of justice.
One quote really stayed with me – from a Greek lawyer currently fighting to defend a mother convicted of killing her three children: "We cannot forgive the mistakes of a mum … we want to find the monsters around us in order not to see the monster inside." |
"The enemy of nonsense" – George Orwell |
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The honeymoon is over for Poland's Ukrainian refugees
Three years ago, following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Poland opened its borders – and its arms – to 1.4 million Ukrainians. "We will welcome all those in need," Polish president Andrzej Duda promised with solemn conviction in March 2022. But as Adam Hsakou reports, the mood is shifting. Stereotypes have endured, and radical far-right politicians have denounced a "Ukrainisation" of Polish society. Poland, with one of the lowest birth rates in the European Union, cannot afford to lose this workforce.
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'Measles is back. We need herd immunity, not herd instinct' by Heidi Thomas Call The Midwife screenwriter Heidi Thomas has often put real world issues from history into the hit BBC drama. In the show, the local GP Dr Turner is seen enthusiastically vaccinating against smallpox, tuberculosis, anthrax, polio and diphtheria. Art imitates life. Or is it the other way around? The issue of vaccination is more urgent than it has been in decades. Cases of measles are rising, and recently a child in Liverpool died from the preventable disease. Thomas argues: "The idea that others can take care of this while you abstain because of your lofty principles is not going to work in the long term."
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The illusion of understanding by David Robson How we communicate with one another has always been – and will always be – one of life's great questions. In a new essay, author David Robson writes: "On average, we need about 900 milliseconds to fully plan what we are going to say." As he states, this is "a luxury we're rarely afforded in everyday conversation". These in-the-moment decisions can leave us emotionally short. As humans, we learn very early on to recognise other people's perspectives when we speak with them, but, as Robson argues, just "because we have an ability does not mean that we will always use it". This can lead to rifts in relationships – personal, professional and geopolitical.
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Simple dishes to take you from breakfast to dinner by Nigel Slater Forget online delivery meal kits, they're so 2020. Nigel Slater's summer recipes are just as easy to rustle up in a modern kitchen. He says his eating follows different trends in this season, with meals that are "lighter, less dependent on carbs and dairy, and usually quicker to get on the table". If you want to know how to level up mushrooms on toast, fried courgettes or grilled fish – look no further.
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The News Meeting Gaza, water and MurdochWhy has Israel launched an attack on Deir al-Balah, where many international aid organisations are operating? Will plans to overhaul the water companies in England and Wales work? And why is Donald Trump suing Rupert Murdoch? Jasper Corbett is joined by The Observer's head of data and graphics, Katie Riley, senior researcher Serena Cesareo, and reporter Stephen Armstrong.
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Thanks for reading. We'll be back tomorrow. Basia Cummings Editor, digital The Observer
Brad Gray Production editor, newsletters The Observer
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