The Guardian's Audio Long Reads

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: The discovery of Hawaii Sign Language in 2013 amazed linguists. But as the number of users dwindles, can it survive the twin threats of globalisation and a rift in the community? By Ross Perlin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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

I’ve long nursed vague plans of moving back to China for a few years, to solidify my place there. But with each year that passes in the US, such a move gets harder and harder to make. By Angela Qian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: For years, she has accused French journalists of bias against her family and her party. Yet Marine Le Pen has managed to lead the far-right Front National into the political mainstream – and she couldn’t have done it without the press. By Scott Sayare. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Whitechapel Bell Foundry dates back to 1570, and was the factory in which Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were made. But it shut in 2017, and a fight for its future has been raging ever since. By Hettie O’Brien. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Something is badly wrong at the heart of one of Britain’s most important ministries. How did it become so broken? By Daniel Trilling. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: After arriving in Britain as a child, I fought hard to feel like I belonged. Now it feels that the status of migrants like me is permanently up for review by Ismail Einashe. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2016, the US state department said it had uncovered a fake embassy in Accra that had been issuing a stream of forged visas. The story went viral – but all was not as it seemed. By Yepoka Yeebo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: Scientists have identified 2 million species of living things. No one knows how many more are out there, and tens of thousands may be vanishing before we have even had a chance to encounter them. By Jacob Mikanowski. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Could such a large amount of money end the Covid pandemic? Eradicate disease? Provide universal healthcare and fund vaccine research? By Rowan Hooper. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On the Guardian’s 200th anniversary, our editor-in-chief sets out how media can help rebuild a better world beyond Covid by Katharine Viner.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: Luxembourg has shown how far a tiny country can go by serving the needs of global capitalism. Now it has set its sights on outer space. By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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

After a painful breakup and the death of her father, one writer retreated to the coast of Brittany in winter where she tested the powerful effects of a daily swim in the icy sea. By Wendell Steavenson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: It’s time to end a system that excludes the less privileged from the arts, media and politics. By Amalia Illgner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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

It’s hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, the chaos and the indignity that people are being subjected to. Meanwhile, Modi and his allies are telling us not to complain. By Arundhati Roy. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

This year marks a very special moment in the history of the Guardian. It is 200 years since the first incarnation of the newpaper, a four-page weekly, first appeared in Manchester. In honour of this we have dug very deep into our archive to bring you a piece from 100 years ago. In May 1921, the great Manchester Guardian editor CP Scott wrote a leading article to mark the centenary of the paper. The essay, published under the headline “A Hundred Years”, is still recognised around the world as the blueprint for independent journalism. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Jeffrey Karp is at the forefront of a new generation of scientists using nature’s blueprints to create breakthrough medical technologies. Can bioinspiration help to solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems? By Laura Parker. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod