I suffered with my mystery illness for decades before gaining a diagnosis. Could retraining my brain be the answer? By Hermione Hoby. Read by Alby Baldwin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive? By Marcus Haraldsson. Read by Diana Bermudez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Frank Fisher, now 90, was a traditional high street butcher his whole working life – as were three generations of his family before him. How does a man dedicated to serving his community decide when it’s time to hang up his white coat? By Tom Lamont. Read by Jonathan Andrew Hume. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

His novel was praised for giving a voice to the victims of Algeria’s brutal civil war. But one woman has accused Kamel Daoud of having stolen her story – and the ensuing legal battle has become about much more than literary ethics By Madeleine Schwartz. Read by Kate Handford. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Steeped in gaming and rightwing culture wars, Musk and his team of teenage coders set out to defeat the enemy of the United States: its people By Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: A wave of bestselling authors claim that global affairs are still ultimately governed by the immutable facts of geography – mountains, oceans, rivers, resources. But the world has changed more than they realise By Daniel Immerwahr. Read by Christopher Ragland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When Nato helped overthrow Gaddafi in 2011, there were hopes of a new beginning. More than a decade later, a former CIA asset runs the country – and Libya has become yet another lesson in the unintended consequences of foreign intervention By Anas El Gomati. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they didn’t do it. But that didn’t seem to matter. This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a few isolated communities in central Nigeria, some babies are believed to be bad omens. Olusola and Chinwe Stevens run a thriving home for babies at risk. But what happens when the families want them back? By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. Read by Nneka Okoye. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Austerity, the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis have left many schools in a parlous state. How hard do staff have to work to give kids the chances they deserve? By Aida Edemariam. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Innocent people are being frozen out of basic banking services – and it all traces back to reforms rushed through after 9/11 By Oliver Bullough. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In spring 2003, exuberance at the fall of Saddam was swiftly followed by a descent into deadly chaos. Whether moving independently or embedded with troops, Guardian reporters witnessed the violence on the ground By Ian Mayes. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Growing up in Essex, my summers in Iran felt like magical interludes from reality – but it was a spell that always had to be broken By Arianne Shahvisi. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the 50 years since equal rights for women were enshrined in UK law, the campaigners have been reduced to caricatures, or forgotten. But their struggle is worth remembering By Susanna Rustin. Read by Carlyss Peer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Our current approach to mental health labelling and diagnosis has brought benefits. But as a practising doctor, I am concerned that it may be doing more harm than good By Gavin Francis. Read by Noof Ousellam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Hu Xijin is China’s most famous propagandist. At the Global Times, he helped establish a chest-thumping new tone for China on the world stage – but can he keep up with the forces he has unleashed? By Han Zhang. Read by Emily Woo Zeller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Among the many people I met, there was a pervasive feeling of hopelessness and a sense that resistance is slowly becoming a memory By Ewen MacAskill. Read by Greg Stylianou-Burns. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Years of civil war have turned whole areas of the city into rows of empty husks. But after the fall of Assad, Syrians have returned to their old homes determined to rebuild By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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’s not about foreign trolls, filter bubbles or fake news. Technology encourages us to believe we can all have first-hand access to the ‘real’ facts – and now we can’t stop fighting about it By William Davies. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 1978, Soviet scientists stumbled upon a family living in a remote part of Russia. They hadn’t interacted with outsiders for decades. Almost half a century later, one of them is still there By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Scientists and philosophers studying the mind have discovered how little we know about our inner experiences Written and read by Michael Pollan. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Idealising the past is nothing new, but there is something peculiarly revealing about the way a certain generation of Facebook users look back fondly on tougher times By Dan Hancox. Read by Dermot Daly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collective effort By Rebecca Solnit. Read by Laurel Lefkow. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Whether it’s the financial crash, the climate emergency or the breakdown of the international order, historian Adam Tooze has become the go-to guide to the radical new world we’ve entered By Robert P Baird. Read by James Sobol Kelly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of biology By Stephen Buranyi. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When the new premier of the British Virgin Islands said he needed an armed security detail, his chief of police knew trouble was on its way By Edward Siddons. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The president has vowed to kill off ‘woke’ in his second term in office, and the venerable cultural institution a few blocks from the White House is in his sights By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Evelyn Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2018: snowflake students have become the target of a new rightwing crusade. But exaggerated claims of censorship reveal a deeper anxiety at the core of modern conservatism By William Davies. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Ten years after I first followed the proposed route, I retraced my steps to see what life was like along the world’s most expensive, heavily delayed railway line By Patrick Barkham. Read by Dermot Daly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A rise of murders is traumatising inmates and staff, and making life harder for staff. But even in prison, violence isn’t inevitable Written and read by Alex South. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: For years Tsang Tsou-choi daubed his eccentric demands around Hong Kong, and the authorities raced to cover them up. But as the city’s protest movements bloomed, his words mysteriously reappeared Written and read by Louisa Lim. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Days before we ran interviews with gang leaders describing their alleged ties to Nayib Bukele’s government, we left the country to avoid arrest. We fear our exile will never end This story, republished with permission, was originally run by El Faro English By Óscar Martínez and Carlos Martínez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

During the conflict, the Damascus suburb became a killing field. But some of Assad’s henchmen are still around – and even working with the new government By Melvyn Ingleby. Read by Selva Rasalingam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: one of Britain’s most influential scholars has spent a lifetime trying to convince people to take race and racism seriously. Are we finally ready to listen? By Yohann Koshy. Read by Dermot Daly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The author has been explaining Sichuan cuisine to westerners for decades. But ‘Fu Xia’, as she’s known, has had a profound effect on food lovers in China, too By Leslie T Chang. Read by Ginnia Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Still largely viewed as a peaceful philosophy, across much of south-east Asia, the religion has been weaponised to serve nationalist goals By Sonia Faleiro. Read by Dinita Gohil. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: the Strava app offers community, training data and motivation to millions of athletes. Even runners who dislike tech can’t bear to be without it By Rose George. Read by Rhiannon Edwards. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Twenty-five years after I revealed the practices of the industrial food giants, the profits – and dangers – of mass producing meat and milk have only grown Written and read by Eric Schlosser. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

After I was paralysed in a climbing accident, I discovered how inconsiderate, illogical and incompetent many wheelchair providers can be By Paul Sagar. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: In a country known for its liberal drugs policies, organised crime operated for years under the public’s nose – until a series of shocking killings revealed how deep the problem went By Jessica Loudis. Read by Alice Arnold. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The leftist party exploded out of Spain’s anti-austerity protests in 2011 and upended Spain’s entrenched two-party system. I was instantly captivated – and for the next decade, I worked for the party. But I ended up quitting politics in disappointment. What happened? By Lilith Verstrynge. Read by Norah Lopez Holden. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From July: how did the daughter of an aristocrat end up at the Old Bailey with her partner, charged with killing their two-week-old baby? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From October: Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From October: From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order By Tom Lamont. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: with sea levels rising, much of the nation’s population is confronting the prospect that their home may soon cease to exist. Where are they going to go? By Atul Dev. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From April: The Black Swan follows a repentant master criminal as she sets up corrupt clients in front of hidden cameras. But is she really reformed – and is the director up to his own tricks? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by David Bateson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Each week for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From July: the Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidarum – until now By Abi Stephenson. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has vowed to spend his remaining years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empire By Jim Waterson. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Tired of a two-day commute to see her overworked doctor, my mother turned to tech for help with her kidney disease. She bonded with the bot so much I was scared she would refuse to see a real medic By Viola Zhou. Read by Vivian Full This essay was originally published on Rest of world. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: as the world faces the worst debt crisis in decades, the need for a global lender of last resort is clearer than ever. But many nations view the IMF as overbearing, or even neocolonial – and are now looking elsewhere for help By Jamie Martin. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the police and courts continue to struggle with the legacy of austerity, many people are seeking alternative routes to justice – but it could be making matters worse By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Rebecca Trehearn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I knew he was running away from something. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the truth Written and read by Pamela Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: what’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack? By Tom Lamont. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpected By Mara Kardas-Nelson. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world By Rose George. Read by Rosalie Craig. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: as violence, drug use and suicide at HMP Nottingham reached shocking new levels, the prison became a symbol of a system crumbling into crisis By Isobel Thompson. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit? By Snigdha Poonam. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Saudi Arabia’s investment in Twitter increased its influence in Silicon Valley while being used at home to shut down critics of the regime By Jacob Silverman.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: to eat in the modern world is often to eat in a state of profound sensory disengagement. It shouldn’t have to be this way By Bee Wilson. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work? By Philip Oltermann. Read by Daniela Denby Ashe. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Economic insecurity, race riots, incendiary media … Claude McKay was one of the few Black journalists covering a turbulent period that sounds all too familiar to us today By Yvonne Singh. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: the arrest of a Tibetan New York city cop on spying charges plays into the community’s long-held suspicions that the People’s Republic is watching them By Lauren Hilgers. Read by Emily Woo Zeller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

To celebrate the launch of the new Guardian Long Read magazine this week, join the long read editor David Wolf in discussion with regular contributors Charlotte Higgins and Hettie O’Brien. The Guardian long read magazine is available to order at theguardian.com/longreadmag In this issue, you’ll find pieces on how MrBeast became the world’s biggest YouTube star, how Emmanuel Macron deals with Donald Trump, and shocking revelations at the British Museum. Plus: what’s behind our rampant steroid use?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Before Peter Betts died in 2023, he wanted to pass on what he had learned over many years of negotiating at Cops – including how Paris 2015 was saved at the last bell By Peter Betts. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A colossal volcanic eruption in January 2022 ripped apart the underwater cables that connect Tonga to the world – and exposed the fragility of 21st-century life By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Kenya’s great lakes are flooding, in a devastating and long-ignored environmental disaster that is displacing hundreds of thousands of people By Carey Baraka. Read by Reice Weathers. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Once a stalwart of Hong Kong’s journalism scene, Wang Jian has found a new audience on YouTube, dissecting global politics and US-China relations since the pandemic. To his fans, he’s part newscaster, part professor, part friend By Lauren Hilgers. Read by G Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order By Tom Lamont. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: forensic scientist Angela Gallop has helped to crack many of the UK’s most notorious murder cases. But today she fears the whole field – and justice itself – is at risk By Imogen West-Knights. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

If the first term of Donald Trump provoked anxiety over the fate of objective knowledge, the second has led to claims we live in a world-historical age of stupid, accelerated by big tech. But might there be a way out? By William Davies. Read by Dan Starkey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the 1970s, the radical leftwing German terrorist organisation may have spread fear through public acts of violence – but its inner workings were characterised by vanity and incompetence By Jason Burke. Read by Noof Ousellam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Thanks to a savvy California lawyer, Albert Einstein has earned far more posthumously than he ever did in his lifetime. But is that what the great scientist would have wanted? By Simon Parkin. Read by Ruth Lass. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the early years, American Jewish support for Israel was a fraught issue. The turning point was the six-day war of 1967, which solidified a strength of feeling that has only recently begun to fracture By Mark Mazower. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: I assumed I would be part of the first generation to have full agency over my reproduction – but I was wrong By Edna Bonhomme. Read by Nerissa Bradley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisation By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o with introduction by Aminatta Forna. Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Aminatta Forna. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: the giant asset management firm used to target places where people worked and shopped. Then it started buying up people’s homes. In one country, the backlash was ferocious By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Evelyn Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster By Kate Marvel. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Kirsten Smith was 19 when she first tried heroin; within a few years she was in prison. She says she willingly made bad choices and wants society to stop treating addiction as a disease By Xi Chen. Read by Katherine Fenton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Josh and Jack used to interrogate life via absurdist jokes and sketches. But the questions they had just kept getting bigger – and led them both to embark upon a profound transformation By Lamorna Ash. Read by Katie Lyons. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying By Peter Brannen. Read by Lincoln Conway. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When the streaming giant began making films guided by data that aimed to please a vast audience, the results were often generic, forgettable, artless affairs. But is there a happy ending? By Phil Hoad. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the whole world afraid of the atomic bomb – even those who might launch one. Today that fear has mostly passed out of living memory, and with it we may have lost a crucial safeguard By Daniel Immerwahr. Read by Christopher Ragland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On a small ledge in the Swiss mountains, 200 people were enjoying a summer football tournament. As night fell, they had no idea what was coming By Jonah Goodman. Read by Evelyn Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

With sea levels rising, much of the nation’s population is confronting the prospect that their home may soon cease to exist. Where are they going to go? By Atul Dev. Read by Mikhail Sen Check out Between Moon Tides documentary at theguardian.com. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nation’s waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will anything be done? By Oliver Bullough. Read by Peter Searles. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When Ian Foxley found evidence of corruption while working at a British company in Riyadh, he alerted the MoD. He didn’t know he’d stumbled upon one of its most closely guarded secrets By David Pegg. Read by Shane Zaza. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality. By Sam Edwards. Read by Sid Sagar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas. So why did it happen? By Patrick Wintour. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Karin Kneissl made headlines around the world when she invited the Russian president to her wedding in 2018. Five years later, she moved to St Petersburg. The scandal revealed a dark truth about the ties between Vienna and Moscow By Amanda Coakley. Read by Avena Mansergh-Wallace. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidarum – until now. By Abi Stephenson. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: From ultra-processed junk to failing supply chains and rocketing food poverty, there are serious problems with the way the UK eats. Will the government ever act? By Bee Wilson. Read by Elinor Coleman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Philippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated By Barbara Speed. Read by Robyn Addison. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: he’s spent 24 hours immersed in slime, two days buried alive – and showered vast amounts of cash on lucky participants. But are MrBeast’s videos simply very savvy clickbait – or acts of avant garde genius? Written and read by Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But when so few survive, are we putting them through needless suffering? By Sophie McBain. Read by Chloe Pirrie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The tiny, astonishingly wealthy country has become a major player on the world stage, trying to solve some of the most intractable conflicts. What’s driving this project? By Nesrine Malik. Read by Sulin Hasso. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: with his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from April: a violent fanatic and pioneer in bigotry, Meir Kahane died a political outcast 35 years ago. Today, his ideas influence the very highest levels of government By Joshua Leifer. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed By Daniel Trilling. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: over 50 years, she has become one of the most revered writers in Australia. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognition? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from May: for the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Once upon a time, Pakistanis scorned raw fish. Now sushi is everywhere from Ramadan meals to wedding buffets – and it all started with one man and a dream By Sanam Maher. Read by Amina Zia The Oath documentary: to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel’s healthcare system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: beset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s No 1 museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation? By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Diveen Henry. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria. By Tess McClure. Read by Sara Lynam The Oath documentary: www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/jul/30/the-oath-to-be-a-palestinian-doctor-in-israels-healthcare-system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Deeply unpopular in France, President Macron relishes the international stage, where he projects himself as the leader best placed to handle Trump. Seven years after our last encounter, I joined him as he prepared for battle By Emmanuel Carrère. Read by David Sibley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A growing number of scholars and lawyers are losing faith in the current system. Others say the law is not to blame, but the states that are supposed to uphold it By Linda Kinstler. Read by Rachel Handshaw. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: every year, thousands of bikes are tossed into rivers, ponds, lakes and canals. What’s behind this mass drowning? By Jody Rosen. Read by Masud Milas. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When a small Swedish town discovered their drinking water contained extremely high levels of Pfas, they had no idea what it would mean for their health and their children’s future. By Marta Zaraska. Read by Myanna Buring. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

How did the daughter of an aristocrat end up at the Old Bailey with her partner, charged with killing their two-week-old baby? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: listening to the women who alleged abuse, and fighting to get their stories heard, helped change the treatment of victims by the media and the justice system By Poppy Sebag-Montefiore. Read by Caroline Wildi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter argument that followed has consumed the lives of scholars ever since By Scott Sayare. Read by Bert Seymour. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Gabrielle Drolet had always dreamed of being a writer. But when disability closed down most of her opportunities, a strange career began By Gabrielle Drolet. Read by Kate Handford. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: when a Romanian businessman returned to his hometown and found a city blighted by mining waste, he hatched a plan to restore it to its former glory. He became a local hero, but now prosecutors accuse of him a running a multimillion dollar fraud By Alexander Clapp. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have spent more than $1bn on an Albanian island that will be a luxury resort – once the unexploded ordnance has been removed By Marzio Mian. Read by Mo Ayoub For more on US politics and the Trump family check out Politics Weekly America. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

British progressives have suffered major setbacks in recent years, in both public opinion and court rulings. Was a backlash inevitable, and are new tactics needed? By Gaby Hinsliff. Read by Carlyss Peer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: the closure of John Lewis’s store in Sheffield after almost 60 years was a bitter blow. As debate rages over what to do with the huge empty site, the city is becoming a test case for where Britain’s urban centres may be heading Written and read by John Harris. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In my 40s, I found myself with a life that didn’t look like it was ‘supposed’ to. What was I doing? On trips to South Korea with my mother, an answer began to emerge By E Tammy Kim. Read by Jennifer J Kim. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But if the worst should happen, would they actually work? By Jessi Jezewska Stevens. Read by Rachel Handshaw. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: new technology was supposed to make umpiring easy. It hasn’t worked out that way By William Ralston. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I was told my husband would never talk again, while physiotherapy was dismissed entirely. My son was failed in similar ways, but for the brilliance of some medical staff who refuse to believe a stroke is the end By Sheila Hale. Read by Phyllida Nash. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

He’s spent 24 hours immersed in slime, two days buried alive – and showered vast amounts of cash on lucky participants. But are MrBeast’s videos simply very savvy clickbait – or acts of avant garde genius? Written and read by Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: at the Oxford university debating society in the 80s, a generation of aspiring politicians honed the art of winning using jokes, rather than facts By Simon Kuper. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

President Trump’s tariffs have plunged the world economy into chaos. But history counsels against despair – and the left should seize on capitalism’s crisis of legitimacy By John Cassidy. Read by Chris Reilly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Football coverage no longer stops after the final whistle. And in this new era, the former Liverpool defender reigns supreme By Kieran Morris. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Nina Gladitz dedicated her life to proving the Triumph of the Will director’s complicity with the horrors of nazism. In the end, she succeeded – but at a cost Written and read by Kate Connolly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a Danish palliative care unit, the alternative to assisted dying is not striving to cure – offering relief and comfort to patients and their families By Line Vaaben. Read by Freya Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

With his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2023: The Kenyan novelist’s life and work has intersected with many of the biggest events of the past century. At 85, he reflects on his long, uncompromising life in writing Written and read by Carey Baraka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As they pass through different hands, cooking utensils can magically connect us to loved ones who are no longer with us By Bee Wilson. Read by Colleen Prendergast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for “Missing in the Amazon”. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Guardian journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert were killed while investigating the impact of deforestation. In this extract from the book Phillips was writing at the time of his death, he reflects on his encounters with the rainforest and its people – and why it is so vital to save this precious place By Dom Phillips. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2016: For decades, Alan Yentob was the dominant creative force at the BBC – behind everything from Adam Curtis to Strictly Come Dancing. He was a towering figure in British culture – so why did many applaud his very public slide from power? Written and read by Sam Knight. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

During the decade-long conflicts, the major powers dithered as Serb militias carried out their brutal campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Guardian reporters became more passionate and more outspoken in their condemnation, attracting praise and criticism By Ian Mayes. Read by Owen McDonnell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true? By Manvir Singh. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When a no-nonsense lecturer set up a radical solution to help free the wrongfully convicted in the UK, he was hopeful he could change the justice system. But what started as a revolution ended in acrimony By Francisco Garcia. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action By Samira Shackle. Read by Díana Bermudez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections Written and read by Harry Shukman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous collective began to investigate his past By Scott Sayare. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Online dissent is a serious crime in China. So why did a Weibo censor help me publish posts critical of the Communist party? By Murong Xuecun. Read by Zhang Wang Li. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On a summer morning in 1990, the body of a young woman appeared in a small town close to the frontier. For those who saw her, finding her identity became an obsession that would last 30 years By Giles Tremlett. Read by Luis Soto. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The artist Jeremy Deller can’t really draw or paint. Instead of making things, he makes things happen. And later this year, he is planning to unleash a bacchanalian festival that will be his most daring public artwork yet By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Richard Coyle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Black Panthers shook America awake before the party was eviscerated by the US government. Their children paid a steep price, but also emerged with unassailable pride and burning lessons for today By Ed Pilkington. Read by Chiké Okonkwo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Five million payphone calls are still made each year in the UK. Who is making them – and why? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Emma Powell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Each year, hundreds of potentially world-changing treatments are discarded because scientists run out of cash. But where big pharma or altruists fear to tread, my friend and I have a solution. It’s repugnant, but it will work By Alexander Masters. Read by Tom Andrews. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects By Sean Williams. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: As the fighters advanced on Kabul, it was civilians who mobilised to help with the evacuation. In the absence of a plan, the hardest decisions fell on inexperienced volunteers, and the stress began to tell By Zarlasht Halaimzai. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Black Swan follows a repentant master criminal as she sets up corrupt clients in front of hidden cameras. But is she really reformed – and is the director up to his own tricks? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by David Bateson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A violent fanatic and pioneer in bigotry, Meir Kahane died a political outcast 35 years ago. Today, his ideas influence the very highest levels of government By Joshua Leifer. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: After 32 years of establishment lies, media smears, inquests, trials and retrials, the families of the Hillsborough dead have yet to see anyone held accountable By David Conn. Read by Gavin Skelhorn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

She spent her life in northern France doing exhausting, back-breaking work – and yet she turned her anger against people who had done no wrongs to her. But as much as I couldn’t stand her rants, I was forced to accept her as she was By Didier Eribon. Read by Mark Noble. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad’s fighters could get him killed By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: The generational divide is deforming democracy. But there is a solution By David Runciman. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Under Arnolds Field, tonnes of illegally dumped waste have been burning for years, spewing pollution over the area. Locals fear for their health – and despair that no one seems willing to help By William Ralston. Read by Sam Swainsbury. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Meteorite falls are extremely rare and offer a glimpse of the processes that formed our world billions of years ago. When a space rock came to an English market town in 2021, scientists raced to find as much out as they could By Helen Gordon. Read by Sasha Frost. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: In northern Norway, trees are rapidly taking over the tundra and threatening an ancient way of life that depends on snow and ice By Ben Rawlence. Read by Christien Anholt. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

At the rural orphanage where I volunteered, the place resembled a Dickensian workhouse. The staff’s main tools were antipsychotics and violence. The experience gave me a window into Putin’s Russia By Howard Amos. Read by Harry Lloyd. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Over 50 years, she has become one of the most revered writers in Australia. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognition? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Despite Thatcher and Reagan’s best efforts, there is and has always been such a thing as society. The question is not whether it exists, but what shape it must take in a post-pandemic world By Jill Lepore. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When details about a scientific study in the 1960s became public, there was shock, outrage and anxiety. But exactly what happened? By Samira Shackle. Read by Dinita Gohil. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I saw first hand how prisons are having to use segregation units for acutely mentally ill inmates who should not be in prison at all Written and read by Alex South. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: For the hardline conservatives ruling Poland and Hungary, the transition from communism to liberal democracy was a mirage. They fervently believe a more decisive break with the past is needed to achieve national liberation By Nicholas Mulder. Read by Tanya Cubric. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Beset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s No 1 museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation? By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Diveen Henry. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When China stopped receiving the world’s waste, Turkey became Europe’s recycling hotspot. The problem is, most plastics can’t be recycled. And what remains are toxic heaps of trash By Alexander Clapp. Read by Philip Arditti. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2018: The foreign policy establishment has been lamenting its death for half a century. But Atlanticism has long been a convenient myth By Madeleine Schwartz. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are far more likely to use our hands to type or swipe than pick up a pen. But in the process we are in danger of losing cognitive skills, sensory experience – and a connection to history By Christine Rosen. Read by Laurel Lefkow. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Inspired by Che Guevara, Jean Ziegler has spent the past 60 years exposing how Switzerland enabled global wrongdoing. His enemies accuse him of treason By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: As I finished the final house calls of my long career in general practice, it struck me how detached I am from my patients now – and that it was not always like this. Where did we go wrong, and what can we do to fix it? By Clare Gerada. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2004, 29 people were killed by members of the Cinta Larga tribe in Brazil’s Amazon basin. The story shocked the country – but the truth of what happened is still being fought over By Alex Cuadros. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Germany embraced Israel to atone for its wartime guilt. But was this in part a way to avoid truly confronting its past? By Pankaj Mishra. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2017: Davon Mayer was a smalltime dealer in west Baltimore who made an illicit deal with local police. When they turned on him, he decided to get out – but escaping that life would not prove as easy as falling into it. By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee. Read by Lola Ogunyemi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For the children of the Nigerian diaspora, displaced by war and split between two worlds, footballers from John Fashanu to Jay-Jay Okocha were a first glimpse of themselves in Britain’s mainstream. Written and read by Aniefiok Ekpoudom. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: To understand the tragedy of this war, it is worth going back beyond the last few weeks and months, and even beyond Vladimir Putin. By Keith Gessen. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The old model of political debate is over, and spectacle beats argument every time. How did we get here? By Chris Hayes. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

At the last minute, Zoë decided to call off her euthanasia. But how do you start over after you’ve said all of your goodbyes? By Stephanie Bakker. Read by Micky Overman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Between accidents, disease and bad weather, farm animals are prey to so many disasters that dedicated professionals are called out to dispose of the casualties. It’s a grim task, and one that’s only getting more difficult. By Bella Bathurst. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump’s political careers were shaped by their formative experiences in the 1980s – and, above all, their encounters with Japan. By Andrew Liu. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Tokyo remains, in the world’s imagination, a place of sophistication and wealth. But with economic revival forever distant, ‘tourism pollution’ seems the only viable plan. By Dylan Levi King. Read by Kenichiro Thomson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 the Colombian army defeated the Farc guerrillas, ending decades of conflict, General Mario Montoya was hailed a national hero. But then it was revealed that thousands of ‘insurgents’ executed by the army were in fact innocent men. By Mariana Palau. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria. By Tess McClure. Read by Sara Lynam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As a sociologist, my career couldn’t be further from that of my father, who spent his life on the road as a truck driver. It’s only in recent years, as illness has struck, that I’ve started to truly understand him. By José Henrique Bortoluci. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: David Blagdon’s long-term detention has been described as ‘barbaric’. Whatever his disastrous personal choices, the system failed him repeatedly. By Mark Olden. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Li Jianxiong was a highflying marketing executive in Beijing until a breakdown sent him to the west on a wellness voyage of discovery – just as his peers were losing faith in the Chinese Dream. By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Since the 1970s, Humphrey Smith has acquired scores of pubs and historic properties around the UK. But time after time, he has left the buildings empty. Why has he allowed his empire to moulder? By Mark Blacklock. Read by Joe Layton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2016: Jeffrey Karp is at the forefront of a new generation of scientists using nature’s blueprints to create breakthrough medical technologies. Can bioinspiration help to solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems? By Laura Parker. Read by Adetomiwa Edun. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But when so few survive, are we putting them through needless suffering? By Sophie McBain. Read by Chloe Pirrie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Canonisation has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its image. The Vatican is preparing to anoint its first millennial saint, but how does it decide who is worthy? By Linda Kinstler. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Despite the rise of headline-grabbing megafires, fewer fires are burning worldwide now than at any time since antiquity. But this isn’t good news – in banishing fire from sight, we have made its dangers stranger and less predictable. By Daniel Immerwahr. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection had to protect it from fire, rodents – and hunger. By Simon Parkin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

John Calhoun designed an apartment complex for mice to examine the effects of overcrowding. It was hailed as a groundbreaking study of social breakdown, but is largely forgotten. So what happened? By Lee Alan Dugatkin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: After a painful breakup and the death of her father, one writer retreated to the coast of Brittany in winter where she tested the powerful effects of a daily swim in the icy sea. By Wendell Steavenson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In postwar Warsaw, my grandmother Zosia fixed the teeth of prisoners and spies. In doing so, she came into contact with the hidden history of her times in a way few others could. By Jacob Mikanowski. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Using cutting-edge methods, Alexandra Morton-Hayward is cracking the secrets of ancient brains – even as hers betrays her. By Kermit Pattison. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Caffeine makes us more energetic, efficient and faster. But we have become so dependent that we need it just to get to our baseline. By Michael Pollan. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

John Burton was just 27 when he was put in charge of creating Thorpe Park’s biggest-ever project. Once too scared to go on rides himself, how did he become the architect of so many daredevils’ dreams? By Tom Lamont. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From July: In 2024, libraries are unofficial creches, homeless shelters, language schools and asylum support providers – filling the gaps left by a state that has reneged on its responsibilities. By Aida Edemariam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: Indeterminate sentences are devastating to mental health, but prisoners with mental illness are less likely to be released. The result is a vicious cycle whereby the most vulnerable inmates often have the least chance of getting out – as John’s case shows. By Sophie Atkinson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From August: By the time my wife got a diagnosis, her long and harrowing deterioration had already begun. By the end, I was in awe of her. By Michael Aylwin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: Every year, hundreds of Kenyans head off to study at elite universities in the US and UK. On graduating, many find themselves in a strange position: unable to fit in abroad, but no longer feeling like they belong back home. By Carey Baraka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

My poems were written in anger after Tiananmen Square. But what motivates most prison writing is a fear of forgetting. Today I am free, but the regime has never stopped its war on words. By Liao Yiwu Because of industrial action taking place by members of the National Union of Journalists at the Guardian and Observer this week, we are re-running an episode from earlier in the year. For more information please head to theguardian.com. We’ll be back with new episodes soon.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2024: When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could. By Charlotte Higgins. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2023: Since Sudan’s capital was engulfed by violence in April, life there has been all but destroyed. As we tried to get family members to safety, the ruination of my former home became hard to fathom. By Nesrine Malik. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

With Putin’s threats in Ukraine, China’s accelerated weapons programme and the US’s desire for superiority, what will it take for leaders to step back from the brink? By Jessica T Mathews. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Alarmed by the rising tide of waste we are all creating, my family and I decided to try to make do with much less. But while individual behaviour is important, real change will require action on a far bigger scale. By Chip Colwell Because of industrial action taking place by members of the National Union of Journalists at the Guardian and Observer this week, we are re-running an episode from earlier in the year. For more information please head to theguardian.com. We’ll be back with new episodes soon.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every informed observer agrees that food waste and loss must be reduced if we are to feed all humans. What’s stopping us? By Julian Baggini. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

After his wife and two of his children were killed in Gaza, Al Jazeera journalist Wael al-Dahdouh became famous around the world for his decision to keep reporting. But this was just the start of his heartbreaking journey. By Nesrine Malik. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2022: In October 2020 an emergency call was received from a ship in British waters. After a full-scale commando raid, seven Nigerians were taken off in handcuffs – but no one was ever charged. What really happened on board? By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Scientist James Lovelock gave humanity new ways to think about our home planet – but some of his biggest ideas were the fruit of a passionate collaboration. By Jonathan Watts. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astounding. By Jenny Kleeman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2021: Last year, three cryptocurrency enthusiasts bought a cruise ship. They named it the Satoshi, and dreamed of starting a floating libertarian utopia. It didn’t work out. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The French cement giant started operating in Syria just before the civil war erupted. When Islamic State took over the region, Lafarge paid them protection money so it could keep trading. The consequences are still playing out. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin’s wars. Then, in 2022, he was arrested on suspicion of espionage. Many former associates now believe that he betrayed them. By Shaun Walker. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2020: After decades among the hidden homeless, Dominic Van Allen dug himself a bunker beneath a public park. But his life would get even more precarious. By Tom Lamont. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Over the past 20 years, the symbol of remembrance for the war dead has become increasingly ubiquitous – and a culture of poppy policing has grown with it. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From football clubs to water companies, music catalogues to care homes, private equity has infiltrated almost every facet of modern life in its endless search to maximise profits. By Alex Blasdel. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, 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

As generative AI advances, it is easy to see it as yet another area where machines are taking over – but humans remain at the centre of AI art, just in ways we might not expect. By Rachel Ossip. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

It used to be that Britons would complain about Americanisms diluting the English language. But in fact it’s a two-way street. By Ben Yagoda. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2018: How an extreme libertarian tract predicting the collapse of liberal democracies – written by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s father – inspired the likes of Peter Thiel to buy up property across the Pacific. By Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From razor-wire fences and crumbling cells to no windows and overcrowding, conditions in most jails mean rehabilitation is a nonstarter. Here’s how we can create better spaces for prisoners. By Yvonne Jewkes. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As leader of the AfD’s most radical faction, he is infamous in Germany and his critics have long accused him of using language that echoes the Nazis. This year, a court put that question to the test. By Alex Dziadosz. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2017: The world-beating British sandwich industry is worth £8bn a year. It transformed the way we eat lunch, then did the same for breakfast – and now it’s coming for dinner. By Sam Knight. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I spoke to dozens of people – from ‘donors’ to brokers – to find out how this exploitative trade thrives on chaos and desperation. By Seán Columb. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

It began as a routine investigation into a multinational called ENRC. It became a decade-long saga that has rocked the UK’s financial crime agency. Now new documents illuminate a case that has rewritten UK law and is set to end with a huge bill handed to taxpayers. By Tom Burgis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2016: Rats spread disease, decimate crops and very occasionally eat people alive. For centuries, we have struggled to find an effective way of controlling their numbers. Until now… By Jordan Kisner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Our twins spent two years at primary school in Chengdu. Their lessons featured alarming cautionary tales and stories of Chinese superiority, but there was fun and irreverence, too. By Peter Hessler. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she has won over many heads of Europe, including the UK prime minister. Should we be worried? By Alexander Stille. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2015: After 12 years in the US, Gary Younge is preparing to depart – as the country’s racial frictions seem certain to spark another summer of conflict. By Gary Younge. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Colombian drug lord’s exotic menagerie fell apart after his death, and now wild hippos are breeding out of control. By Joshua Hammer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

My commitment to breastfeeding exclusively was related to shame. If I couldn’t do it, I felt I would be letting the baby down. By Niamh Campbell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2014: A shared history of 300 years could be washed away if Scotland votes for independence. What was the complex identity the United Kingdom created – and should we mourn its loss? by Ian Jack. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

To celebrate 10 years of The Long Read we gathered together the team who launched it to take you behind the scenes. Helen Pidd is joined by editor David Wolf, deputy editor Clare Longrigg, and former editor and founder of the Long Read Jonathan Shainin.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Without plankton, the modern ocean ecosystem – the very idea of the ocean as we understand it – would collapse. Earth would have no complex life of any kind. By Ferris Jabr. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked a panic about computers gaining power over humankind. But the real threat comes from falling for the hype. By Navneet Alang. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot. By Siddhartha Deb. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I took a cruise with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out how this much-mocked rock band became so beloved. By Luke Winkie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment. By Xiaolu Guo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could. By Charlotte Higgins. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

This summer, one of my lectures was protested by far-right students. Their rhetoric brought to mind some of the darkest moments of 20th-century history – and overlapped with mainstream Israeli views to a shocking degree. By Omer Bartov. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Countries around the world are making it easier to choose the time and manner of your death. But doctors in the world’s euthanasia capital are starting to worry about the consequences. By Christopher de Bellaigue. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For children with ADHD, getting the help they need depends on being correctly diagnosed. As a doctor, I have seen how tricky and frustrating a process that can be. By Jack Goulder. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some notable pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Five years after the fire that killed 72, the inquiry is nearing a close. Over 300 days of evidence, what have we learned about the failings that led to disaster? By Robert Booth. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the 1970s, David Duke was grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In the 80s, he was elected to Louisiana’s house of representatives – and the kinds of ideas he stood for have not gone away. By John Ganz. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As a young man, Partha Banerjee was on course to become a senior member of the RSS, the organisation that has pushed Indian politics towards extreme religious nationalism. Then, after decades within its ranks, he quit. Why? By Rahul Bhatia. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from May: Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

By the time my wife got a diagnosis, her long and harrowing deterioration had already begun. By the end, I was in awe of her. By Michael Aylwin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: Ever since the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, many have been living in dejection and squalor in camps like Shatila in Beirut. Is this the grim future the people of Gaza could now be facing? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Working in food aid delivery, I have seen the benefits of embracing new technologies. But some problems need to be solved between humans. By Jean-Martin Bauer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: In 2005, Glasgow council offered to compensate women for historic pay inequality. But it sold them short again – and soon workers all over the UK started fighting for what they were owed. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

My father did terrible things during the second world war, and my other relatives were equally unrepentant. But it wasn’t until I was in my late 50s that I started to confront this dark past. By Martin Pollack. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats. By Jonathan Nunn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Since its discovery in the 18th century, nitrous oxide has gone from vaudeville gimmick to pioneering anaesthetic to modern party drug. By Mark Miodownik. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When Abiy Ahmed took power in Ethiopia, he was feted at home and abroad as a great unifier and reformer. Two years later, terrible violence was raging. How did people get him so wrong? By Tom Gardner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2018: Nina Gold’s role is invisible, and yet her taste has shaped much of what we watch on film and TV. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The cases heard at the Old Bailey offer a vivid, often grim portrait of England and Wales today. What happens when there is no one left to tell these stories? By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I was once Ireland’s No 1 player, and tried for years to climb the global ranks. But life at the bottom of the top can be brutal. By Conor Niland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: I’ve long nursed vague plans of moving back to China for a few years, to solidify my place there. But with each year that passes in the US, such a move gets harder and harder to make. By Cleo Qian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2024, libraries are unofficial creches, homeless shelters, language schools and asylum support providers – filling the gaps left by a state that has reneged on its responsibilities. By Aida Edemariam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The true number of black people who have died after contact with the police has been hidden, while their families are faced with delays and denials. By Raekha Prasad. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Dumba has spent her life performing in circuses around Europe, but in recent years animal rights activists have been campaigning to rescue her. When it looked like they might succeed, Dumba and her owners disappeared. By Laura Spinney. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Having created a watchdog for the environment, the government took its teeth out and muzzled it. Can public outrage rouse the Environment Agency to action? By Hettie O’Brien. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The spread of the avocado is a story of greed, ambition, corruption, water shortages, cartel battles and, in a number of towns and villages, a fierce fightback. By Alexander Sammon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: After growing up in a Zimbabwe convulsed by the legacy of colonialism, when I got to Oxford I realised how many British people still failed to see how empire had shaped lives like mine – as well as their own. By Simukai Chigudu. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Gardens could be part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis. But what are we doing? Disappearing them beneath plastic and paving. By Kate Bradbury. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Over the past 14 years, the Conservative dream of a free market in higher education has collided with the harsh reality of austerity and the cultural resentment of the radical right – driving some institutions close to bankruptcy. By William Davies. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: It’s easy to despair at the climate crisis, or to decide it’s already too late – but it’s not. Here’s how to keep the fight alive. By Rebecca Solnit. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Once upon a time, it was only hardcore bodybuilders who pumped themselves up with testosterone. Today it is no longer niche. But how dangerous is it? By Stephen Buranyi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every year, hundreds of Kenyans head off to study at elite universities in the US and UK. On graduating, many find themselves in a strange position: unable to fit in abroad, but no longer feeling like they belong back home. By Carey Baraka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: The BBL is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery in the world, despite the mounting number of deaths resulting from the procedure. What is driving its astonishing rise? By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

My poems were written in anger after Tiananmen Square. But what motivates most prison writing is a fear of forgetting. Today I am free, but the regime has never stopped its war on words. By Liao Yiwu. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Indeterminate sentences are devastating to mental health, but prisoners with mental illness are less likely to be released. The result is a vicious cycle whereby the most vulnerable inmates often have the least chance of getting out – as John’s case shows. By Sophie Atkinson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: With 850 million children worldwide shut out of schools, tech evangelists claim now is the time for AI education. But as the technology’s power grows, so too do the dangers that come with it. By Alex Beard. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Stuart Potts is an unlikely do-gooder – a former crack addict who has hit rock bottom more than once. But since 2020, he has offered hundreds of homeless people a bed in his small flat – and for many of them, it has been life-changing. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When I heard that a boy from my primary school had been convicted of trafficking, I had to find out what had happened to make him fall so far. By Francisco Garcia. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Much progress has been made in attitudes towards sexual equality and gender identity – but in many places a dramatic backlash by conservative forces has followed. By Mark Gevisser. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 20 years, this Essex club has tumbled down the leagues and seen its ground fall apart. Is a revival finally coming – or will hopes be dashed again? By Tim Burrows. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

He has published more than 100 novels, gives his work away, and his surrealist books have a massive cult following. Now Argentina’s favourite rule-breaker is tipped for the Nobel prize. By Alejandro Chacoff. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: They used to look like quagmires, ice rinks or dustbowls, depending on the time of year. But as big money entered football, pristine pitches became crucial to the sport’s image – and groundskeepers became stars. By William Ralston. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the past 10 years the idea that trees communicate with and look after each other has gained widespread currency. But have these claims outstripped the evidence? By Daniel Immerwahr. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Britain’s first black female MP faced hostility from the media and political establishment from the start. Nearly 40 years on, she is still not giving up. By Andy Beckett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: During the second world war, Chinese merchant seamen helped keep Britain fed, fuelled and safe – and many gave their lives doing so. But from late 1945, hundreds of them who had settled in Liverpool suddenly disappeared. Now their children are piecing together the truth. By Dan Hancox. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For 40 years, Amit Shah has been at Narendra Modi’s side – his confidant, consigliere and enforcer. Today he is India’s second-most powerful man, and he is reshaping the country in radical ways. By Atul Dev. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From the 1960s, baby brokers persuaded often Indigenous Mayan women to give up newborns while kidnappers ‘disappeared’ babies. Now, international adoption is being called out as a way of covering up war crimes. By Rachel Nolan. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Early in Trump’s presidency, emboldened neo-Nazi and fascist groups came out into the open but were met with widespread revulsion. So the tactics of the far right changed, becoming more insidious – and much more successful. By Brendan O’Connor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Going public after I was attacked was hard, but it helped me overcome the shame that so many victims feel. By Rena Effendi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

It is taking fast fashion to ever faster and ever cheaper extremes, and making billions from it. Why is the whole world shopping at Shein? By Nicole Lipman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2023: Steve Albini was long synonymous with the indie underground, playing in revered bands and recording albums by the Pixies, PJ Harvey and Nirvana. He also often seemed determined to offend as many people as possible. What led him to reassess his past? By Jeremy Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

While much has changed since 7 October, the horrific events of the past six months are not unique, and do not stand outside history. By Rashid Khalidi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Seven years ago, El Salvador banned all mining for metals to protect its water supply. But now the government seems to be making moves to reverse the ban – and environmental activists are in the firing line. By Danielle Mackey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: In an era of bewildering upheaval, how will the past decade be remembered? By Andy Beckett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Despite promises of reform, exploitation remains endemic in India’s sandstone industry, with children doing dangerous work for low pay – often to decorate driveways and gardens thousands of miles away. By Romita Saluja. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 was once a widely accepted way of explaining why some children struggled to read and write. But in recent years, some experts have begun to question the existence of dyslexia itself. By Sirin Kale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

New research into the dying brain suggests the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought. By Alex Blasdel. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Organising is a kind of alchemy: it turns alienation into connection, despair into dedication, and oppression into strength. By Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: For seven decades, India has been held together by its constitution, which promises equality to all. But Narendra Modi’s BJP is remaking the nation into one where some people count as more Indian than others. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

How Israeli, Palestinian and US political actors understand Hamas is not merely a theoretical question – it will determine what kind of agreement can be reached to end the current war, and what the future of Gaza will look like. By Joshua Leifer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As the author of a book about a pivotal uprising in 18th-century Jamaica, Vincent Brown was enlisted in a campaign to make its leader a national hero. But when he arrived in Jamaica, he started to wonder what he had got himself into. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Flordelis grew up in a Rio favela, but rose to fame after adopting more than 50 children, becoming a hugely successful gospel singer and winning a seat in congress. And now she is on trial for murder. By Tom Phillips. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Four years on from the start of the pandemic, the drama may have subsided but the lingering effects go on. Are we suffering from political long Covid? By David Runciman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Linguistic diversity on Earth is far more profound and fundamental than previously imagined. But it’s also crumbling fast. By Ross Perlin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: A drone sighting caused the airport to close for two days in 2018, but despite a lengthy police investigation, no culprit was ever found. So what exactly did people see in the Sussex sky? By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The prevalence of sickle cell disease is changing how Nigerians date, marry and plan their lives. And as genetic testing becomes more common, prospective parents across the world will face similar questions. By Krithika Varagur. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The ocean’s depths are not some remote alien realm, but are in fact intimately entangled with every other part of the planet. We should treat them that way. By James Bradley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: In 2019, the body of a man fell from a passenger plane into a garden in south London. Who was he? by Sirin Kale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Pet food is a £120bn industry, with vast resources spent on working out how best to nourish and delight our beloved charges. But how do we know if we’re getting it right? By Vivian Ho. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Datacentres are part of Ireland’s vision of itself as a tech hub. There are now more than 80, using vast amounts of electricity. Have we entrusted our memories to a system that might destroy them? By Jessica Traynor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Jake Haendel spent months trapped in his body, silent and unmoving but fully conscious. Most people never emerge from ‘locked-in syndrome’, but as a doctor told him, everything about his case is bizarre. By Josh Wilbur. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

More people have been imprisoned for rioting during a single day in Bristol in 2021 than in any other protest-related disorder since at least the 1980s. What was behind this push to prosecute so harshly? By Tom Wall. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We give things up when we believe we can change; we give up when we believe we can’t. By Adam Phillips. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: During the 1970s and 80s, eight US-backed military dictatorships jointly plotted the cross-border kidnap, torture, rape and murder of hundreds of their political opponents. Now some of the perpetrators are finally facing justice. By Giles Tremlett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From the generic hipster cafe to the ‘Instagram wall’, the internet has pushed us towards a kind of global ubiquity – and this phenomenon is only going to intensify. By Kyle Chayka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Utilitarian as they may be, some civic projects are so monumental they approach the sublime. And one of the most elegant is hidden inside a mountain in Wales. By Deb Chachra. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Travel bloggers have flocked to Pakistan in recent years – but have some of them become too close to the authorities? By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

To see how easy it is for the wealthy to buy political access and influence, consider the story of the Tory donor Mohamed Amersi. By Tom Burgis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For many Black gay men in 1980s and 90s Britain, nightlife was community, family and lifeline – but its history is in danger of disappearing. By Jason Okundaye. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: The unmasking of the Salisbury poisoning suspects by a new digital journalism outfit was an embarrassment for Putin – and evidence that Russian spies are not what they once were. By Luke Harding. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A year and a half ago, Hindus and Muslims clashed in the streets of one of Britain’s most diverse cities. What lay behind the violence? By Yohann Koshy. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We wanted to bring you this episode from our new series, Black Box. In it, Michael Safi explores seven stories and the thread that ties them together: artificial intelligence. In this prologue, Hannah (not her real name) has met Noah and he has changed her life for the better. So why does she have concerns about him? If you like what you hear, make sure to search and subscribe to Black Box, with new episodes every Monday and Thursday.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Jérémie Heitz has pushed freeriding to breathtaking, beautiful new extremes. But as the risks get bigger, the questions do, too. By Simon Akam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: A handful of radical nature lovers are secretly breeding endangered species and releasing them into the wild. Many are prepared to break the law and risk the fury of the scientific establishment to save the animals they love. By Patrick Barkham. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a moment of crisis for the industry, Heather Wildman tours the country helping farmers face up to the toughest of questions – not just about the future of their business, but about their family, their identity and even their mortality. By Bella Bathurst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Everyone likes to support an underdog, especially if it’s winning. But it’s one thing to win a battle, it’s quite another to win the war. And Ukraine cannot win without international support. By Olesya Khromeychuk. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Few places have seen such turbocharged luxury development as Nine Elms in London. So why are prices tumbling, investors melting away and promises turning to dust? By Oliver Wainwright. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Ever since the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, many have been living in dejection and squalor in camps like Shatila in Beirut. Is this the grim future the people of Gaza could now be facing? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2005, Glasgow council offered to compensate women for historic pay inequality. But it sold them short again – and soon workers all over the UK started fighting for what they were owed. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: The warmer it gets, the more we use air conditioning. The more we use air conditioning, the warmer it gets. Is there any way out of this trap? By Stephen Buranyi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats. By Jonathan Nunn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Before I fled south, I spent years as an aspiring fiction writer in the hermit kingdom. I worked hard – but literary glory kept eluding me. By Kim Ju-sŏng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: I first encountered TB Joshua as a teenager, when his preaching captivated my evangelical Christian community in Hampshire. Many of my friends became his ardent disciples and followed him to Lagos. How did he have such a hold over people? By Matthew McNaught. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Just like the war on drugs and the war on terror, efforts at stopping population movement by force often just fuel the problem. But for many claiming to confront the perceived threat, that suits all too well. By Ruben Andersson and David Keen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The cost of growing up in a low-level police state. By Darran Anderson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: Whitechapel Bell Foundry dates back to 1570, and was the factory in which Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were made. But it shut in 2017, and a fight for its future has been raging ever since. By Hettie O’Brien. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When the great apes at Furuvik Zoo broke free from their enclosure last winter, the keepers faced a terrible choice. This is the story of the most dramatic 72 hours of their lives. By Imogen West-Knights. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Andrew Wylie is agent to an extraordinary number of the planet’s biggest authors. His knack for making highbrow writers very rich helped to define a literary era – but is his reign now coming to an end? By Alex Blasdel. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2021: At two months old, Maria Diemar was flown to Sweden to be adopted. Years later, she tracked down her birth mother, who said her baby had been taken against her will. Now investigations are showing that she was one of thousands stolen from their parents. By Aaron Nelson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2005, Palestinians called on the world to boycott Israel until it complied with international law. What if we had listened? By Naomi Klein. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the official telling, fears of malevolent spirits are a vestige of old, unenlightened village ways. But today urban China is rife with superstition about death. Why? By Andrew Kipnis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: In February, a gang of armed men took a North Korean official hostage and demanded that he defect. When he refused, their plan fell apart, and they fled. Who were they, and why did they risk everything on this wild plot? By Giles Tremlett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Migrants from the Philippines make up a huge percentage of domestic workers around the world. But when their employers are abusive, visa restrictions force them to choose between enduring more suffering or becoming illegal. By Margaret Simons. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For more than a decade, people have been saying that the era of US dominance is coming to an end. But in reality there are still no other global players to rival it. By Tom Stevenson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Nestlé’s sleek, chic capsule system changed the way we drink coffee. But in an age when everyone’s a coffee snob and waste is wickedness, can it survive? By Ed Cumming. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a time of death and isolation, a new tradition was born. As the UK struggled with Covid and a renewed fight for racial justice, I turned to two wheels to get by. By Aniefiok Ekpoudom. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Alarmed by the rising tide of waste we are all creating, my family and I decided to try to make do with much less. But while individual behaviour is important, real change will require action on a far bigger scale. By Chip Colwell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Demand for ‘healing’ crystals is soaring – but many are mined in deadly conditions in one of the world’s poorest countries. And there is little evidence that this billion-dollar industry is cleaning up its act. By Tess McClure. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Mary and Derek weren’t the first couple to get together at Easterlea Rest Home. But those other relationships had been more like friendships – and this was something else entirely. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From October: A decade after Maixabel Lasa’s husband was shot by Basque separatists, she received a message from one of his killers. He wanted to meet her. By Giles Tremlett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From March: Gary Hunt is an enigma. He trains with the intensity of a modern athlete, but relaxes like a sportsman of a bygone era. He is fiercely competitive but unbelievably laid-back. How did he become the greatest cliff diver of all time? By Xan Rice. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: For more than half a century, one organisation has been cataloguing all of life’s superlatives. But has it gone from being about the pursuit of knowledge to simply another big business? By Imogen West-Knights. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From January: Nothing is produced at Sellafield any more. But making safe what is left behind is an almost unimaginably expensive and complex task that requires us to think not on a human timescale, but a planetary one. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: In search of a half-remembered passage among the French writer’s voluminous work, I turned to AI to help me find it. The results were instructive – just not about Proust. By Elif Batuman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: The Clipper round the world yacht race was created for amateurs seeking the ultimate challenge. But did they underestimate the risks? By Sally Williams. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2019, a looming crisis over pollution led the Dutch government to crack down on farm emissions. The response was furious – and offers a warning to other countries about protecting the environment without losing public trust. By Paul Tullis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: French food was the envy of the world – before it became trapped by its own history. Can a new school of traditionalists revive its glories?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I was 10 years old in 1992 when Kabul was bombarded by warring forces, and life became a cycle of hunger, fear and horror. Then as now, children bear the brunt of war. By Zarlasht Halaimzai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Paula Cooper was 15 when she murdered 77-year-old Ruth Pelke in her Indiana home, and was sentenced to death. But a campaign for her life came from an unexpected quarter. By Alex Mar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: The noisy dispute over the meaning of populism is more than just an academic squabble – it’s a crucial argument about what we expect from democracy. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

He first became prime minister in 1996, and has been pushing the country further right ever since. Most agree his political days are numbered – but the approach he established will prove very difficult to shift. By Joshua Leifer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

What started out as a small protest escalated into a decade-long struggle between the council and hundreds of ordinary people who decided to take radical action to save their city’s trees. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2018: Two killings in Paris, one year apart, have inflamed the bitter French debate over antisemitism, race and religion. By James McAuley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As a victim of one of the NHS’s worst failures, I campaigned for years for an investigation into what led to so many people becoming infected with deadly viruses. Finally we got an inquiry – but did we get answers?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Once the site of legendary parties, the Intercontinental in Kabul is still a potent symbol of who rules Afghanistan – and what its future might hold. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

To celebrate the launch of the new Guardian Long Read magazine this week, join the Long Read editor David Wolf in discussion with regular contributors Sophie Elmhirst and Samanth Subramanian • The Guardian Long Read magazine is available to order now. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod