The Audio Long Read
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.
From the archive: The end of Atlanticism: has Trump killed the ideology that won the cold war? – podcast
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: The foreign policy establishment has been lamenting its death for half a century. But Atlanticism has long been a convenient myth
By Madeleine Schwartz. Read by Kelly Burke
Signature moves: are we losing the ability to write by hand? – podcast
We are far more likely to use our hands to type or swipe than pick up a pen. But in the process we are in danger of losing cognitive skills, sensory experience – and a connection to history
By Christine Rosen. Read by Laurel Lefkow
From the archive: ‘In my 30 years as a GP, the profession has been horribly eroded’ – podcast
This week, from 2022: As I finished the final house calls of my long career in general practice, it struck me how detached I am from my patients now – and that it was not always like this. Where did we go wrong, and what can we do to fix it?
By Clare Gerada. Read by Lucy Scott
Massacre in the jungle: how an Indigenous man was made the public face of an atrocity – podcast
In 2004, 29 people were killed by members of the Cinta Larga tribe in Brazil’s Amazon basin. The story shocked the country – but the truth of what happened is still being fought over
By Alex Cuadros. Read by Felipe Pacheco
From the archive: One drug dealer, two corrupt cops and a risky FBI sting – podcast
This week, from 2017: Davon Mayer was a smalltime dealer in west Baltimore who made an illicit deal with local police. When they turned on him, he decided to get out – but escaping that life would not prove as easy as falling into it. By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee. Read by Lola Ogunyemi
Innit innit boys and Super Eagles: how Nigerian Londoners found their identity through football – podcast
For the children of the Nigerian diaspora, displaced by war and split between two worlds, footballers from John Fashanu to Jay-Jay Okocha were a first glimpse of themselves in Britain’s mainstream. Written and read by Aniefiok Ekpoudom
The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia – and then came to symbolise its moral decay – podcast
Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch
From the archive: The knackerman: the toughest job in British farming – podcast
This week, from 2021: Between accidents, disease and bad weather, farm animals are prey to so many disasters that dedicated professionals are called out to dispose of the casualties. It’s a grim task, and one that’s only getting more difficult. By Bella Bathurst. Read by Andrew McGregor
From the archive: The false positives scandal: how thousands of innocent Colombians were killed so soldiers could get more holiday – podcast
From 2020: When the Colombian army defeated the Farc guerrillas, ending decades of conflict, General Mario Montoya was hailed a national hero. But then it was revealed that thousands of ‘insurgents’ executed by the army were in fact innocent men. By Mariana Palau. Read by Lucy Scott
Endless work, little money, occasional UFOs: my father’s five decades driving Brazil’s roads – podcast
As a sociologist, my career couldn’t be further from that of my father, who spent his life on the road as a truck driver. It’s only in recent years, as illness has struck, that I’ve started to truly understand him. By José Henrique Bortoluci. Read by Felipe Pacheco
From the archive: How one man spent 34 years in prison after setting fire to a pair of curtains – podcast
This week, from 2020: David Blagdon’s long-term detention has been described as ‘barbaric’. Whatever his disastrous personal choices, the system failed him repeatedly. By Mark Olden. Read by Mo Ayoub
