The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

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.

  • 38 minutes 38 seconds
    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/longreadpod
    11 March 2026, 5:00 am
  • 29 minutes 34 seconds
    ‘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
    9 March 2026, 5:00 am
  • 26 minutes 24 seconds
    ‘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
    6 March 2026, 5:00 am
  • 39 minutes 1 second
    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. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    4 March 2026, 5:00 am
  • 37 minutes 1 second
    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
    2 March 2026, 5:00 am
  • 27 minutes 36 seconds
    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
    27 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 35 minutes 8 seconds
    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 support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    25 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 26 minutes 54 seconds
    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
    23 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 31 minutes 31 seconds
    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
    20 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 38 minutes 33 seconds
    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 journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    18 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 37 minutes 52 seconds
    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
    16 February 2026, 5:00 am
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