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The Audio Long Read

Author: The Guardian

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The Audio Long Read podcast is a selection of the Guardian’s long reads, giving you the opportunity to get on with your day while listening to some of the finest longform journalism the Guardian has to offer, including in-depth writing from around the world on current affairs, climate change, global warming, immigration, crime, business, the arts and much more. The podcast explores a range of subjects and news across business, global politics (including Trump, Israel, Palestine and Gaza), money, philosophy, science, internet culture, modern life, war, climate change, current affairs, music and trends, and seeks to answer key questions around them through in depth interviews explainers, and analysis with quality Guardian reporting. Through first person accounts, narrative audio storytelling and investigative reporting, the Audio Long Read seeks to dive deep, debunk myths and uncover hidden histories. In previous episodes we have asked questions like: do we need a new theory of evolution? Whether Trump can win the US presidency or not? Why can't we stop quantifying our lives? Why have our nuclear fears faded? Why do so many bikes end up underwater? How did Germany get hooked on Russian energy? Are we all prisoners of geography? How was London's Olympic legacy sold out? Who owns Einstein? Is free will an illusion? What lies beghind the Arctic's Indigenous suicide crisis? What is the mystery of India's deadly exam scam? Who is the man who built his own cathedral? And, how did the world get hooked on palm oil? Other topics range from: history including empire to politics, conflict, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, philosophy, science, psychology, health and finance. Audio Long Read journalists include Samira Shackle, Tom Lamont, Sophie Elmhirst, Samanth Subramanian, Imogen West-Knights, Sirin Kale, Daniel Trilling and Giles Tremlett.
1147 Episodes
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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
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
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Comments (100)

Mustafa Thunder

listening in 2024 ... wrenched my heart to hear all the optimistic predictions that Iran never even came close to.

Oct 31st
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W South

If this guy thinks there are no nazis in Ukraine he has rocks in his head

Sep 13th
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Emily Sweden

is this an AI generated narrator?

Aug 13th
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MaPepa

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.

Apr 6th
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Fiona MacArthur

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?

Apr 5th
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Peter

One of the weakest GLRs I've heard. Irritating and uninsightful.

Jan 17th
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Vlad Levitsky

One of my favourite podcasts recently. Great journalism, fascinating diverse stories and excellent production. Well done, The Guardian.

Oct 14th
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A

Very half-baked theories based on no facts, can't believe this got printed!

Oct 3rd
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Anemone

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.

Aug 16th
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Paul Towning

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

Jun 10th
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Wonder MacHingura

the #LieDetector & how we are led to believe that it's accurate but I'm not surprised.

Apr 20th
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Gordon Wilson

Well, that was a level of ignorance, distortion, and low-end propaganda that I didn't expect from the Guardian.

Apr 19th
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Andrew Browne

#whyweluvcommunism by the Guardian

Apr 14th
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Peter

One of the worst GLRs I've heard.

Apr 9th
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Andrew Browne

what a gobshite

Feb 25th
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Meihua Zheng

thank u! this is the funniest thing i've read since the war begun!

Jan 13th
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Gigutsa Buchashvili

thank you so much 🥰

Dec 25th
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Lee Gregory

⁰01

Sep 30th
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Peter

The sound design is getting increasingly worse on these long reads. It's like a CBBC show now.

Sep 22nd
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