Sinopsis
The Guardian's Audio Long Reads podcasts are a selection of the Guardians long read articles which are published in the paper and online. It gives you the opportunity to get on with your day whilst listening to some of the finest journalism the Guardian has to offer: in-depth writing from around the world on immigration, crime, business, the arts and much more.
Episodios
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From the archive: Sewage sleuths: the men who revealed the slow, dirty death of Welsh and English rivers
17/09/2025 Duración: 42minWe 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: A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nation’s waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will anything be done? By Oliver Bullough. Read by Peter Searles. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Very British bribery: the whistleblower who exposed the UK’s dodgy arms deals with Saudi Arabia
15/09/2025 Duración: 51minWhen Ian Foxley found evidence of corruption while working at a British company in Riyadh, he alerted the MoD. He didn’t know he’d stumbled upon one of its most closely guarded secrets By David Pegg. Read by Shane Zaza. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational
12/09/2025 Duración: 49minAlberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality. By Sam Edwards. Read by Sid Sagar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: ‘We were all wrong’: how Germany got hooked on Russian energy
10/09/2025 Duración: 32minWe 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: Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas. So why did it happen? By Patrick Wintour. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Dancing with Putin: how Austria’s former foreign minister found a new home in Russia
08/09/2025 Duración: 34minKarin Kneissl made headlines around the world when she invited the Russian president to her wedding in 2018. Five years later, she moved to St Petersburg. The scandal revealed a dark truth about the ties between Vienna and Moscow By Amanda Coakley. Read by Avena Mansergh-Wallace. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’
05/09/2025 Duración: 30minThe Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidarum – until now. By Abi Stephenson. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: ‘We need to break the junk food cycle’: how to fix Britain’s failing food system
03/09/2025 Duración: 33minWe 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: From ultra-processed junk to failing supply chains and rocketing food poverty, there are serious problems with the way the UK eats. Will the government ever act? By Bee Wilson. Read by Elinor Coleman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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The rise and fall of the British cult that hid in plain sight
01/09/2025 Duración: 51minPhilippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated By Barbara Speed. Read by Robyn Addison. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘The Mozart of the attention economy’: why MrBeast is the world’s biggest YouTube star
29/08/2025 Duración: 37minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: he’s spent 24 hours immersed in slime, two days buried alive – and showered vast amounts of cash on lucky participants. But are MrBeast’s videos simply very savvy clickbait – or acts of avant garde genius? Written and read by Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘Look, they’re getting skin!’: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies?
27/08/2025 Duración: 45minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But when so few survive, are we putting them through needless suffering? By Sophie McBain. Read by Chloe Pirrie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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The go-between: how Qatar became the global capital of diplomacy
25/08/2025 Duración: 43minThe tiny, astonishingly wealthy country has become a major player on the world stage, trying to solve some of the most intractable conflicts. What’s driving this project? By Nesrine Malik. Read by Sulin Hasso. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: an English gentleman, a crooked lawyer: the secrets of Stephen David Jones
22/08/2025 Duración: 56minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: with his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: Kahane’s ghost: how a long-dead extremist rabbi continues to haunt Israel’s politics
20/08/2025 Duración: 48minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from April: a violent fanatic and pioneer in bigotry, Meir Kahane died a political outcast 35 years ago. Today, his ideas influence the very highest levels of government By Joshua Leifer. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights?
18/08/2025 Duración: 46minMany of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed By Daniel Trilling. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: The savage suburbia of Helen Garner: ‘I wanted to dong Martin Amis with a bat’
15/08/2025 Duración: 41minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: over 50 years, she has become one of the most revered writers in Australia. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognition? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
13/08/2025 Duración: 51minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from May: for the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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How Pakistan fell in love with sushi
11/08/2025 Duración: 33minOnce upon a time, Pakistanis scorned raw fish. Now sushi is everywhere from Ramadan meals to wedding buffets – and it all started with one man and a dream By Sanam Maher. Read by Amina Zia The Oath documentary: to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel’s healthcare system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘The ghosts are everywhere’: can the British Museum survive its omni-crisis?
08/08/2025 Duración: 38minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: beset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s No 1 museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation? By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Diveen Henry. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2025 … so far: the great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear?
06/08/2025 Duración: 36minEvery Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria. By Tess McClure. Read by Sara Lynam The Oath documentary: www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/jul/30/the-oath-to-be-a-palestinian-doctor-in-israels-healthcare-system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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The Shining: my trip to the G7 horror show with Emmanuel Macron
04/08/2025 Duración: 41minDeeply unpopular in France, President Macron relishes the international stage, where he projects himself as the leader best placed to handle Trump. Seven years after our last encounter, I joined him as he prepared for battle By Emmanuel Carrère. Read by David Sibley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod