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.

  • 39 minutes 32 seconds
    From the archive: Is the IMF fit for purpose?
    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: As the world faces the worst debt crisis in decades, the need for a global lender of last resort is clearer than ever. But many nations view the IMF as overbearing, or even neocolonial – and are now looking elsewhere for help By Jamie Martin. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    10 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 33 minutes 27 seconds
    ‘The police weren’t interested’: what’s driving the rise in private prosecutions?
    As the police and courts continue to struggle with the legacy of austerity, many people are seeking alternative routes to justice – but it could be making matters worse By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Rebecca Trehearn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    8 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 31 minutes 29 seconds
    When I met Craig he was 13 and homeless. I still thought his life might turn around. I was tragically wrong
    I knew he was running away from something. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the truth Written and read by Pamela Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    5 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 31 minutes 48 seconds
    Money talks: the deep ties between Twitter and Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia’s investment in Twitter increased its influence in Silicon Valley while being used at home to shut down critics of the regime By Jacob Silverman.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    4 December 2025, 1:33 pm
  • 47 minutes 46 seconds
    From the archive: A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the 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 2022: what’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack? By Tom Lamont. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    3 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 41 minutes 29 seconds
    ‘They take the money and go’: why not everyone is mourning the end of USAID
    When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpected By Mara Kardas-Nelson. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    1 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 28 minutes 20 seconds
    ‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose
    When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world By Rose George. Read by Rosalie Craig. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    28 November 2025, 5:00 am
  • 50 minutes 8 seconds
    From the archive: ‘If you decide to cut staff, people die’: how Nottingham prison descended into chaos
    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: as violence, drug use and suicide at HMP Nottingham reached shocking new levels, the prison became a symbol of a system crumbling into crisis By Isobel Thompson. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    26 November 2025, 5:00 am
  • 41 minutes 11 seconds
    ‘Scamming became the new farming’: inside India’s cybercrime villages
    How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit? By Snigdha Poonam. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    24 November 2025, 5:00 am
  • 35 minutes 36 seconds
    From the archive: how we lost our sensory connection with food – and how to restore it
    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: to eat in the modern world is often to eat in a state of profound sensory disengagement. It shouldn’t have to be this way By Bee Wilson. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    19 November 2025, 5:00 am
  • 40 minutes
    The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist
    Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work? By Philip Oltermann. Read by Daniela Denby Ashe. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
    17 November 2025, 5:00 am
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