The Audio Long Read podcast is a selection of the Guardian’s long reads, giving you the opportunity to get on with your day while listening to some of the finest longform journalism the Guardian has to offer, including in-depth writing from around the world on current affairs, climate change, global warming, immigration, crime, business, the arts and much more. The podcast explores a range of subjects and news across business, global politics (including Trump, Israel, Palestine and Gaza), money, philosophy, science, internet culture, modern life, war, climate change, current affairs, music and trends, and seeks to answer key questions around them through in depth interviews explainers, and analysis with quality Guardian reporting. Through first person accounts, narrative audio storytelling and investigative reporting, the Audio Long Read seeks to dive deep, debunk myths and uncover hidden histories. In previous episodes we have asked questions like: do we need a new theory of evolution? Whether Trump can win the US presidency or not? Why can't we stop quantifying our lives? Why have our nuclear fears faded? Why do so many bikes end up underwater? How did Germany get hooked on Russian energy? Are we all prisoners of geography? How was London's Olympic legacy sold out? Who owns Einstein? Is free will an illusion? What lies beghind the Arctic's Indigenous suicide crisis? What is the mystery of India's deadly exam scam? Who is the man who built his own cathedral? And, how did the world get hooked on palm oil? Other topics range from: history including empire to politics, conflict, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, philosophy, science, psychology, health and finance. Audio Long Read journalists include Samira Shackle, Tom Lamont, Sophie Elmhirst, Samanth Subramanian, Imogen West-Knights, Sirin Kale, Daniel Trilling and Giles Tremlett.
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2020: My life seemed to be getting busier, faster: I felt constantly short of time – so I stepped outside it for a day and a night and did nothing. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 24, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Our two-year investigation suggests that the tech giant Meta is struggling to prevent criminals from using its platforms to buy and sell children for sex More from this series: Rights and freedom Content warning – the following article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 22, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast
A series of financial scandals have rocked Italy’s most glamorous club. But is the trouble at Juventus symptomatic of a deeper rot in world football?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 19, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2020: It’s cheap, attractive and convenient, and we eat it every day – it’s difficult not to. But is ultra-processed food making us ill and driving the global obesity crisis?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 17, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Some organisms truck along slowly for aeons before suddenly surging into dominance – and something similar often happens with human inventions, too. But why?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 15, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast
The civilians of Sudan have been trying to throw off military rule for decades, but now find themselves caught in the middle of a deadly power struggle between former allies turned bitter opponents. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 12, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2020: When I grew up there, Fleetwood was a tough but proud fishing port. It’s taken some knocks in the years since, but not everyone has given up on it.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 10, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast
The rationalist in me knows that coincidences are inevitable, mundane, meaningless. But I can’t deny there is something strange and magical in them, too.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 08, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Liam Holden went to prison for 17 years on the basis of a confession he made after being tortured by British soldiers in 1972. Now the government is making it harder for people like him to get justice. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 05, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2019: How the Italian mafia makes millions by exploiting migrants. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 03, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast
The race is on to develop a battery-powered aircraft. But not everyone’s convinced it will bring us closer to net-zero flight. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
May 01, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast
From her shimmering novels to her ‘living autobiographies’, Deborah Levy’s work inspires a devotion few literary authors ever achieve. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 28, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are exploring the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2020: After losing four pregnancies, Jennie Agg set out to unravel the science of miscarriage. Then, a few months in, she found out she was pregnant again – just as the coronavirus pandemic hit. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 26, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Historians aren’t supposed to make predictions, but Yale professor Timothy Snyder has become known for his dire warnings – and many of them have been proved correct. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 24, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Players, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season – but is that fair?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: AI and brain-scanning technology could soon make it possible to reliably detect when people are lying. But do we really want to know?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 19, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Elvira and her brothers, Ricard and Ramón, were left at a train station in Barcelona aged two, four and five. As an adult, when Elvira decided to look for her parents, she discovered a family history wilder than anything she had imagined. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 17, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast
In the 1980s, South African libertarians set up a deregulated zone that they sold to the world as ‘Africa’s Switzerland’. It was a sham, but with its clusters of sweatshops, it was very modern – and in some ways it anticipated the world we live in today. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 14, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2020: Not long after Antarctica recorded some its highest-ever temperatures, I joined a group of scientists studying how human activity is transforming the continent. It wasn’t what we saw that was most astonishing – but what we heard. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod...
Apr 12, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast
The horrors of this conflict, and the lives it has taken, must not be kept hidden. As the bombs continue to fall around us, I have gathered these witness testimonies as a memory against forgetting. By Bushra al-Maqtari. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 10, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Artificial intelligence in its current form is based on the wholesale appropriation of existing culture, and the notion that it is actually intelligent could be actively dangerous. By James Bridle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 07, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2019: On 15 September 1981, 10-year-old Ursula Herrmann headed home by bike from her cousin’s house. She never arrived. So began one of Germany’s most notorious postwar criminal cases, which remains contentious to this day. By Xan Rice. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod...
Apr 05, 2023•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast
For centuries, fictional narratives have used outer difference to telegraph inner monstrosity. As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned you can’t just edit out a few slurs or bad words to fix this – it’s often baked deep into the story. By Jan Grue. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Apr 03, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Having grown up in different cultures with different expectations, my mother and I have often clashed. But as my daughter grows older, I have come to see our relationship in a different light. By Dina Nayeri. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 31, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2019: It has left the beige-tinted margins and become social media’s most glamorous look. But why does veganism still provoke so much anger?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 29, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast
Nisar Ahmed was almost killed in the Delhi riots. But when he became a witness in court cases against the alleged perpetrators, he realised that was only the start of his troubles. By Rahul Bhatia. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 27, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast
For the past two years, Betsy Stanko has been leading an unprecedented investigation into why the police have been failing so badly to tackle sexual violence. But is there any chance of fixing a system that seems so broken? By Melissa Denes. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 24, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast
We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2019: For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 22, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast
When I was 28, the US arrived in Baghdad. The soldiers were announced as liberators, and their leaders talked of democracy. I watched the regime and Saddam’s statues fall, chaos reign and a sectarian war unfold. By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 20, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast
What do you say to someone whose wife prefers photographs of deceased authors to him? By Dasha Kiper. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Mar 17, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast