The Audio Long Read
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.
Episodes
What training my chaotic dog taught me about power, control – and human beings
Our lovable yet unruly boxer Dusty forced me to wonder: if a dog has no morals, how do you teach it to be ‘good’? By William Davies. Read by John Robins. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Pinker’s progress: the celebrity scientist at the centre of the culture wars
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: How the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker became one of the world’s most contentious thinkers By Alex Blasdel. Read by Christopher Ragland • The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order. Help support our indep
Saint Levant: the pop star from Gaza caught between passionate fandom and bitter disapproval
His detractors say he shouldn’t be making pop music in times of war and destruction. His millions of fans say he has given them permission to celebrate their culture and their cause Written and read by Nesrine Malik. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI
Since 2017, Iason Gabriel has worked at the tech giant, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, can ethicists make any difference? By Robert P Baird. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wight
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: When a US businessman took over a beloved garden a decade ago, he decided on a radical new approach, all in the name of sustainability. But angry critics claim it’s just plain neglect By Mark O’Connell. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our
‘Navigating the unknown together’: me and my idiot AI boyfriend
I believe that chatbots have no place in a decent society, and am repelled by the topic of AI in general. But could I be seduced? By Lauren Oyler. Read by Kate Handford. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘He liked that people were scared of him’: my year unpicking fantasy and reality with a veteran of Italy’s football ultras
I’ve met many hardcore, violent fans, but the hostage-negotiating, cocaine-smuggling, Marxist-Leninist Alessandro Casolari still stood out By Tobias Jones. Read by Bert Seymour. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Leave no trace: how a teenage hacker lost himself online
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: Edwin Robbe had a troubled life, but found excitement and purpose by joining an audacious community of hackers. Then the real world caught up with his online activities By Huib Modderkolk. Read by Aaron Vodovoz. Help support our independent
How did Mexico’s president become the world’s most popular leftwing leader?
Claudia Sheinbaum started as an activist. Now she is Mexico’s president. Has she stayed true to her ideals? By Rachel Nolan. Read by Gemma Acosta. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began
My friends and I wanted to tell the story of Cuban life, without interference. Before long, I was being isolated, monitored and interrogated By Abraham Jiménez Enoa. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros A version of this essay was previously published in the Dial under the title The Sneeze. Translation by Lily Meyer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Flour power: meet the bread heads baking a better loaf
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 days of the mass-produced pappy white British supermarket loaf may be numbered. Meet the bread heads revolutionising the way we eat By Wendell Steavenson. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/lo
‘They take you out of life, out of time’: a journey into Spain’s astonishing cave paintings
For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty. One of the world’s leading experts took me up close Written and read by Stephen Phelan. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Ping-pong sponges, ‘black smokers’ and floating somethings: the secrets of the deep sea
The bottom of the ocean has barely been explored, but every journey to the deep reveals wondrous new lifeforms. As underwater mining gains momentum, we risk destroying one of Earth’s last great wildernesses By Jacob Mikanowski. Read by Lincoln Conway. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: No coach, no agent, no ego: the incredible story of the ‘Lionel Messi of cliff diving’
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: 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 Ri
‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant
No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘The devil’s child’: the rise and fall of the only female yakuza
Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her By Sean Williams. Read by Ami Okumura Jones. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK
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: They fought for the Iranian revolution – and then for Saddam Hussein. The US and UK once condemned them. But now their opposition to Tehran has made them favourites of Trump White House hardliners By Arron Merat. Read by Lucy Scott. Help su
As a Ukrainian journalist, I’ve covered the US for 20 years. I find it increasingly shocking
My country has been under occupation, dogged by corruption and war. Yet even I’ve been bewildered by the way the US seems to be fracturing By Nataliya Gumenyuk. Read by Inna Bagoli. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil
As new settlers clear their forest habitat, the apes are coming into conflict with humans. But simply moving them to another part of the forest may not be the answer By Sally Williams. Read by Saskia Reeves. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Sold to the Trump family: one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean
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 2025: 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 c
Prisoner number 804: the plot to erase Imran Khan
It’s one thing to remove a PM from office, as happened to the former cricketer in 2022. But it’s another thing to try to eradicate the most famous person in Pakistan’s history By Osman Samiuddin. Read By Aaron Neil. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed
After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blame By Marta Zaraska. Read by Lucy Bromilow. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery
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: Elvira and her brothers, Ricard and Ramón, were left at a train station in Barcelona aged two, four and five. As an adult, when Elvira decided to look for her parents, she discovered a family history wilder than anything she had imagined By
After a hard-fought victory to legalise medical cannabis in the UK, why is it still so hard to access?
Two mothers fought British bureaucracy to obtain lifesaving cannabis medicines for their children. But most patients are having to go private – at huge cost Written and read by Kojo Koram. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Asian mothers, bad feelings: notes on an all-conquering stereotype
A certain image of the tiger mom – strict, cold and demanding – is ubiquitous in popular culture. Why? By Rebecca Liu. Read by Ginnia Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive:‘I feel like I’m selling my soul’: inside the crisis at Juventus
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: a series of financial scandals have rocked Italy’s most glamorous club. But is the trouble at Juventus symptomatic of a deeper rot in world football? By Tobias Jones. Read by Daniel Alexander. Help support our independent journalism at theg
‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship
When Putin invaded Ukraine, he raised murder to the level of national policy. I felt guilt by association. And I had to act Written and read by Sergey Radchenko. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife
One way to pay for wildlife conservation is to allow the rich to bag a few animals for high prices. But critics see this approach as an exercise in neocolonialism Written and read by Cal Flyn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Putin, Trump, Ukraine: how Timothy Snyder became the leading interpreter of our dark times
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: historians aren’t supposed to make predictions, but Yale professor Timothy Snyder has become known for his dire warnings – and many of them have been proved correct By Robert P Baird. Read by Christopher Ragland. Help support our independen
How to survive the information crisis: ‘We once talked about fake news – now reality itself feels fake’
In this age of crisis, technology is pulling us apart. At its best, journalism can bring us together again. Written and read by the Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’
The US supreme court demolished the 1965 Voting Rights Act when they ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states can’t consider race in redistricting. Southern states from Tennessee to Alabama have rushed to erase majority Black districts, sparking chaos for the midterm elections. Kai Wright talks with Stacey Abrams, the voting rights activist and former Georgia house minority leader, about
‘Lawrence is karma’: the gangster who became an icon of Modi’s India
Lawrence Bishnoi has been in high-security custody for more than a decade. During that time, he has been linked to multiple high-profile killings, both in India and as far afield as Canada. What explains his seemingly undimmed power? By Atul Dev. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: How western travel influencers got tangled up in Pakistan’s politics
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. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
The impossible promise: are we witnessing the return of fascism?
Some of today’s far right is openly violent and undemocratic – and even in its less extreme forms, far-right populism is a profound threat. But that doesn’t mean it is just a re-run of history By Daniel Trilling. Read by Sami Abu Wardeh. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK
Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt By Samira Shackle. Read by Dinita Gohil. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: No cults, no politics, no ghouls: how China censors the video game world
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: China’s video game market is the world’s biggest. International developers want in on it – but its rules on what is acceptable are growing increasingly harsh. Is it worth the compromise? By Oliver Holmes. Read by Jordan Erica Webber. Help s
Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother
Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation By Dan Fox. Read by Matt Addis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
‘Any other child would have died’: the miraculous survival of Nada Itrab
After a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and taken from Spain to Bolivia, authorities feared the worst. They found her in the rainforest nine months later – but that wasn’t the end of her ordeal By Giles Tremlett. Read by Norah Lopez Holden. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: the impossible job: inside the world of Premier League referees
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: players, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season – but is that fair? By William Ralston. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Inside China’s robotics revolution
How close are we to the sci-fi vision of autonomous humanoid robots? I visited 11 companies in five Chinese cities to find out By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
Endo dreams of sushi: a trip around Japan with one of the world’s greatest chefs
Endo Kazutoshi spent decades climbing to the top of the culinary world, only for a devastating fire to threaten it all. I joined him in the aftermath as he travelled around his homeland, visiting the people that helped make him Written and read by Kieran Morris. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: The high cost of living in a disabling world
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 all the advances that have been made in recent decades, disabled people cannot yet participate in society ‘on an equal basis’ with others – and the pandemic has led to many protections being cruelly eroded By Jan Grue. Read by Giles Abb
Teacher v chatbot: my journey into the classroom in the age of AI
I was a newcomer, negotiating all of the usual classroom difficulties for the first time. Throwing AI into the mix felt like downing a coffee in the middle of a panic attack By Peter C Baker. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
35,000 pints of stolen Guinness, 950 wheels of pilfered cheese: can the UK’s cargo theft crisis be stopped?
It costs the UK economy £700m a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates By Stuart McGurk. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Foreign mothers, foreign tongues: ‘In another universe, she could have been my friend’
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: Having grown up in different cultures with different expectations, my mother and I have often clashed. But as my daughter grows older, I have come to see our relationship in a different light Written and read by Dina Nayeri. Help support ou
How the US far right bought into the myth of white South Africa’s persecution
When Trump granted white South Africans refugee status, he was echoing a falsehood about Black people taking revenge for years of brutality. But no one flourishes in a repressive police state By Eve Fairbanks. Read by Katherine Fenton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
AI got the blame for the Iran school bombing. The truth is far more worrying
LLMs-gone-rogue dominated coverage, but had nothing to do with the targeting. Instead, it was choices made by human beings, over many years, that gave us this atrocity By Kevin T Baker. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
From the archive: Freedom without constraints: how the US squandered its cold war victory
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 US believed the American way of life was humankind’s ultimate destiny. But unrestrained greed has led to an era of injustice and division. By Andrew Bacevich. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.c
My maddening battle with chronic fatigue syndrome: ‘On my worst days, it feels almost demonic’
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
Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong
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
From the archive: the butcher’s shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)
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 T
‘I felt betrayed, naked’: did a prize-winning novelist steal a woman’s life story?
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
What was Doge? How Elon Musk tried to gamify government
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
From the archive: Are we really prisoners of geography?
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
Power without a throne: how Khalifa Haftar controls Libya
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
Off Duty: The Crime
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 th
‘The children are not safe here’: the Nigerian couple fighting infanticide
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
From the archive: ‘Parents are frightened for themselves and for their children’: an inspirational school in impossible times
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 j
Access denied: why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’
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
Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war
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
From the archive: ‘Iran was our Hogwarts’: my childhood between Tehran and Essex
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/lon
‘Pretty birds and silly moos’: the women behind the Sex Discrimination Act
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
‘What I see in clinic is never a set of labels’: are we in danger of overdiagnosing mental illness? -podcast
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
From the archive: China’s troll king: how a tabloid editor became the voice of Chinese nationalism
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. Hel
I used to report from the West Bank. Twenty years after my last visit, I was shocked by how much worse it is today
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
Out of the ruins: will Aleppo ever be rebuilt?
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
From the archive: Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more?
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
A century in the Siberian wilderness: the Old Believers who time forgot
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
Inside voice: what can our thoughts reveal about the nature of consciousness?
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
From the archive: ‘Who remembers proper binmen?’ The nostalgia memes that help explain Britain today
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 journali
What technology takes from us – and how to take it back
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
The crisis whisperer: how Adam Tooze makes sense of our bewildering age
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
From the archive: Do we need a new theory of evolution?
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 And
Walking into disaster: the narcotrafficking scandal that blew up the BVI
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
Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian: ‘The goal is to reframe the entire culture of the US’
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
From the archive: the free speech panic: how the right concocted a crisis
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 journa
‘We hate it. It’s desecration’: the real cost of HS2
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
Death on the inside: as a prison officer, I saw how the system perpetuates violence
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
From the archive: The King of Kowloon: my search for the cult graffiti prophet of Hong Kong
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
We published explosive stories about the president of El Salvador. Now we can’t go home
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
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