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Three times a week, The Audio Long Read podcast brings you the Guardian’s exceptional longform journalism in audio form. Covering topics from politics and culture to philosophy and sport, as well as investigations and current affairs.
1335 Episodes
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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
1Still 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
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Excellent commentary on the 2010s, now I need a retrospective on the 20s in light of it.
I dunno why but I listened to this one twice.
please stop promoting "comfort eating". This is a form of self-harm, like comfort-drinking! Obesity is a huge problem and is often caused by "comfort-eating"
comfort eating is dysfunctional self-harm
Funny, all the fuss about towels and air-dryers, when we inoculate our hands on the toilet door handle when we leave the toilets.
I really don't want to hear Grace Dent promoting "comfort eating". As though that is a good thing!
Bringing change is so difficult. A professor of mine said extremists move the public opinion to roughly average of the two extremes (i.e. it's needed). Though personally I hate when people alienate others as it ultimately doesn't help the cause - I agree with the thoughts of this author! I've done a lot of work on framing and it is so, so important.
Why the accent???
mostly talks about his father's cancer. not an easy listen
listening in 2024 ... wrenched my heart to hear all the optimistic predictions that Iran never even came close to.
If this guy thinks there are no nazis in Ukraine he has rocks in his head
is this an AI generated narrator?
Galapagos is a province of Ecuador. Stating that something was found between the former and the latter is equivalent to misguiding listeners by citing the Midlands and England as two separate entities.
I really loved this episode, which pays tribute to Nichola Saunders - a largely forgotten figure who gave the UK so much. But I found it incredibly distracting to hear reasonably well known words mispronounced: cherubim, artisanal, homogeneous (it has 5 syllables not 4) or US pronunciations of words (cedre) by an obviously British reader why don't the editors correct these mispronunciations, as they would misspellings in a written article?
One of the weakest GLRs I've heard. Irritating and uninsightful.
One of my favourite podcasts recently. Great journalism, fascinating diverse stories and excellent production. Well done, The Guardian.
Very half-baked theories based on no facts, can't believe this got printed!
One of the sadest episodes I've ever heard. The whole thing is a piece of spoken word poetry, from the reading to the writing, it's beautiful and gut wrenching.
While JK is very difficult to eradicate, we have had great success in controling it's spread and massively reducing its prevalence in our part of East Ayrshire along the River Annick. Work done more than ten years ago within the Ayrshire Rivers Trust, the body tasked with control of the big 3 in non native invasive plant species, (JK, GH and HB) showed that spraying once with glyphosate (Roundup) in the approximately six week period between the appearance of the flowers and the first hard frost gave a very high (95% plus) reduction in the reappearance of JK stems the following spring. The ART funded SEPA accredited spraying training for volunteer groups to enable safe spraying operations along sensitive watercourses, and provided equipment, herbicide and appropriate PPE. They got much more bang for their buck this way than by using commercial spraying firms, but it is dependent on a volunteer labour force willing to undertake training and supply their labour in this most effective six
an idea: https://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/eating-japanese-knotweed/