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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.
1160 Episodes
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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
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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
Reply

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
Reply