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.
Latest episodes
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51 min
Fixer, financier, spymaster: how the UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon is setting his sights on AI dominance
The Emirati royal is increasingly influential on the world stage. Some see him as a visionary. Others compare him to a Bond villain. Who is he? By Jack Shenker. Read by Selva Rasal…
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47 min
“Culture is stagnant, so politics is stuck” – playwright James Graham | Radical Thinking
Are we doomscrolling our way into a democratic crisis? That’s what the playwright James Graham fears may be happening, as he suggests that our algorithms have led us into ‘a massiv…
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36 min
Why am I obsessed with China’s ancient golden age? I took my daughter on a trip to find out
I felt a duty to write about the Tang dynasty and its incredible social and cultural sophistication – but also to connect my Chinese past with my child By Xiaolu Guo. Read by Eliza…
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43 min
The Netanyahu doctrine: how Israel’s longest-serving leader reshaped the country in his image
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: he first became prime…
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41 min
A tale of two trap houses: being cuckooed ruined my friend’s life – but did it then help save him?
Drug gangs have moved off Britain’s streets and into vulnerable people’s homes. Addicts like my friend are easy targets, but the reality can be more complicated than it seems By Ma…
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58 min
‘Austerity is inevitably painful’. How Michael Gove justifies his politics | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chak…
For more than three decades, Michael Gove has been a leading figure in British Conservatism. As a journalist, government minister and now editor of the Tory bible the Spectator, he…
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40 min
‘A completely unique opportunity’: the secretive process that will decide the BBC’s future
Every decade, the BBC’s continued existence must be secured through an elaborate multi-year negotiation with the government. But what does charter renewal actually involve – and wi…
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36 min
From the archive: ‘Voters are unhappier with the NHS than they’ve been for 30 years. As a GP, I feel the same’
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: Even those at the top…
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36 min
‘A crisis of authenticity’: the truth about food influencers
Instagrammers have upended the British restaurant scene and amassed followings in the millions. But has their moment already passed? By Stephen Buranyi. Read by Josh Berry. Help su…
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50 min
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty
Are we really living through ‘end times fascism’? Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor think so. In a new series from the Guardian, the pair speak to Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabor…
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39 min
Labour’s last chance? The people shaping Andy Burnham’s grand plans for Britain
The new prime minister has declared he wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism. But is he really prepared to be that radical? By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Philip Whitchurch. Help supp…
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35 min
From the archive – No place like home: my bitter return to Palestine
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: All my life, my exile…
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44 min
‘This is dangerous’: slime moulds and the bitter debate over the nature of intelligence
Scientists are battling over whether supposedly simple organisms should be considered ‘intelligent’. The outcome could reshape our understanding of the natural world – and our own…
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53 min
Introducing Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty
Who is really in charge – the people or the markets? In the first episode of Radical Thinking, a new series from the Guardian, senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty spea…
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36 min
The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear
An unholy alliance is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only a chosen few will emerge unscathed. It’s becoming clear how we stop them By Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor.…
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47 min
From the archive: How Facebook and Instagram became marketplaces for child sex trafficking
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: Our two-year investi…
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28 min
The flat-pack skyscraper: how wood can shape the cities of the future
Our buildings are monuments to extraction and extreme emissions. But what if we turned from destructive concrete to timber? By James Crawford. Read by David Carlyle. Help support o…
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28 min
The other Post Office scandal: how organised crime launders money on the high street
Hundreds of millions of pounds of dirty money are being deposited at post offices every year. So why are the police reluctant to investigate the scale of the problem? By Oliver Bul…
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55 min
From the archive: ‘I know where the bodies are buried’: one woman’s mission to change how the police investiga…
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: For the past two yea…
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52 min
A bungled bomb plot in Poland exposed a spy – but whose spy was he?
When exiled Russian opposition campaigner Igor Rogov was accused of working for the Kremlin, his friends were shocked. Could this young activist have really been an undercover agen…