The Guardian's Audio Long Reads

The ocean’s depths are not some remote alien realm, but are in fact intimately entangled with every other part of the planet. We should treat them that way. By James Bradley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: In 2019, the body of a man fell from a passenger plane into a garden in south London. Who was he? by Sirin Kale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Pet food is a £120bn industry, with vast resources spent on working out how best to nourish and delight our beloved charges. But how do we know if we’re getting it right? By Vivian Ho. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Datacentres are part of Ireland’s vision of itself as a tech hub. There are now more than 80, using vast amounts of electricity. Have we entrusted our memories to a system that might destroy them? By Jessica Traynor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2020: Jake Haendel spent months trapped in his body, silent and unmoving but fully conscious. Most people never emerge from ‘locked-in syndrome’, but as a doctor told him, everything about his case is bizarre. By Josh Wilbur. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

More people have been imprisoned for rioting during a single day in Bristol in 2021 than in any other protest-related disorder since at least the 1980s. What was behind this push to prosecute so harshly? by Tom Wall. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We give things up when we believe we can change; we give up when we believe we can’t. By Adam Phillips. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2020: During the 1970s and 80s, eight US-backed military dictatorships jointly plotted the cross-border kidnap, torture, rape and murder of hundreds of their political opponents. Now some of the perpetrators are finally facing justice by Giles Tremlett. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

From the generic hipster cafe to the ‘Instagram wall’, the internet has pushed us towards a kind of global ubiquity – and this phenomenon is only going to intensify. By Kyle Chayka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Utilitarian as they may be, some civic projects are so monumental they approach the sublime. And one of the most elegant is hidden inside a mountain in Wales. By Deb Chachra. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2020: Travel bloggers have flocked to Pakistan in recent years – but have some of them become too close to the authorities? By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

To see how easy it is for the wealthy to buy political access and influence, consider the story of the Tory donor Mohamed Amersi. By Tom Burgis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For many Black gay men in 1980s and 90s Britain, nightlife was community, family and lifeline – but its history is in danger of disappearing. By Jason Okundaye. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2020: The unmasking of the Salisbury poisoning suspects by a new digital journalism outfit was an embarrassment for Putin – and evidence that Russian spies are not what they once were. By Luke Harding. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A year and a half ago, Hindus and Muslims clashed in the streets of one of Britain’s most diverse cities. What lay behind the violence? By Yohann Koshy. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We wanted to bring you this episode from our new series, Black Box. In it, Michael Safi explores seven stories and the thread that ties them together: artificial intelligence. In this prologue, Hannah (not her real name) has met Noah and he has changed her life for the better. So why does she have concerns about him? If you like what you hear, make sure to search and subscribe to Black Box, with new episodes every Monday and Thursday.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Jérémie Heitz has pushed freeriding to breathtaking, beautiful new extremes. But as the risks get bigger, the questions do, too. By Simon Akam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. From 2020: A handful of radical nature lovers are secretly breeding endangered species and releasing them into the wild. Many are prepared to break the law and risk the fury of the scientific establishment to save the animals they love. By Patrick Barkham. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a moment of crisis for the industry, Heather Wildman tours the country helping farmers face up to the toughest of questions – not just about the future of their business, but about their family, their identity and even their mortality. By Bella Bathurst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Everyone likes to support an underdog, especially if it’s winning. But it’s one thing to win a battle, it’s quite another to win the war. And Ukraine cannot win without international support. By Olesya Khromeychuk. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod