• 32 minutes 29 seconds
    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
    11 May 2026, 4:00 am
  • 31 minutes 1 second
    ‘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
    8 May 2026, 4:00 am
  • 42 minutes 29 seconds
    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 support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    6 May 2026, 4:00 am
  • 48 minutes 4 seconds
    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
    4 May 2026, 4:00 am
  • 50 minutes 29 seconds
    ‘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
    1 May 2026, 4:00 am
  • 1 hour 7 minutes
    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
    29 April 2026, 4:00 am
  • 43 minutes 25 seconds
    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
    27 April 2026, 4:00 am
  • 44 minutes 59 seconds
    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
    24 April 2026, 4:00 am
  • 38 minutes 38 seconds
    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 Abbott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    22 April 2026, 4:00 am
  • 39 minutes 10 seconds
    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
    20 April 2026, 4:00 am
  • 40 minutes 45 seconds
    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
    17 April 2026, 4:00 am
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