The Guardian's Audio Long Reads

Moss is ancient, and grows at a glacial pace, but it lives alongside us everywhere, country and city, a witness to the human world and its catastrophic speed. What can we learn by tuning in to ‘moss time’?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2018: After they were locked out of their own stadium, an unlikely band of supporters came together to save a beloved south London club. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

One Thursday afternoon, I stepped out to cross a city street – and woke up in hospital with broken bones and a brain injury. After I recovered, I started looking into why so many drivers just don’t stop. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In Fiji, the climate crisis means dozens of villages could soon be underwater. Relocating so many communities is an epic undertaking. But now there is a plan – and the rest of the world is watching. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2019: Smartphones and the internet gave the Uighurs a sense of their own identity – but now the Chinese state is using technology to strip them of it. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A wave of bestselling authors claim that global affairs are still ultimately governed by the immutable facts of geography – mountains, oceans, rivers, resources. But the world has changed more than they realise. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2018: Five years after his last taste of alcohol, William Leith tries to understand its powerful magic. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Despite all the warning signs, as I sat down for dinner with friends in Kyiv on 23 February, war seemed unreal. Surely, Putin was bluffing?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

By the end of the century, Africa will be home to 40% of the world’s population – and nowhere is this breakneck-pace development happening faster than this 600-mile stretch between Abidjan and Lagos. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: The Gürtel case began with one Madrid mogul. Over the next decade, it grew into the biggest corruption investigation in Spain’s recent history, sweeping up hundreds of corrupt politicians and businessmen – and shattering its political system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Across the country, fact-finding teams are tirelessly gathering evidence and testimony about Russian atrocities, often within hours of troops retreating. Turning this into convictions will not be easy, or quick, but the task has begun. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: Human activity has transformed the Earth – but scientists are divided about whether this is really a turning point in geological history. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As a civil servant in the 1980s, I had a front row seat as the British government began to lose touch with reality. Since then, things have only got worse. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Sisi’s Egypt is making a big show of solar panels and biodegradable straws ahead of next week’s climate summit – but in reality the regime imprisons activists and bans research. The climate movement should not play along. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: The Republican intellectual establishment is united against Trump – but his message of cultural and racial resentment has deep roots in the American right. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Forty years ago, Dr Ray Osheroff sued a US hospital for failing to give him antidepressants. The case would change the course of medical history – even if it couldn’t help the patient himself. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Ben Roberts-Smith v the media is a five-part series available via Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast feed. All episodes streaming now. In the defamation trial of the century, Australia’s most-decorated living soldier is seeking to defend his reputation against reports in three newspapers that he says falsely accuse him of being a war criminal. His lawyers argue Roberts-Smith has been unfairly targeted by envious comrades and assisted by credulous journalists. The newspapers’ lawyers say their reporting is true, and that Roberts-Smith broke the ‘moral and legal rules of military engagement’, something he denies outright. But who is Ben Roberts-Smith, and how did he earn the military’s highest honour, the Victoria Cross?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For one of our many adolescent pranks, my friend and I planted tips about an obscure young footballer. Then he suddenly started going places. What had we done? By Kieran Morris. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod