This is The Guardian.

Hi, my name is David Wolff and I'm the editor of The Guardian Long Read.

For the last few podcasts of the year, we wanted to highlight a few of our favorite pieces of 2021.

The final piece we wanted to highlight in our best of the year roundup is Sophia Elmhaz's

fantastic investigation into the world's most dangerous cosmetic surgery.

We'll see you in the new year with more fantastic long reads.

Thanks for listening.

Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture,

politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our long reads,

go to thegardian.com forward slash long read.

This audio-long read contains language you may find offensive.

Brazilian butt lift, behind the world's most dangerous cosmetic surgery,

by Sophie Elmhazd, read by Lucy Scott and produced by Esther Apocou-Geni.

The quest is simple. Melissa wanted the perfect bottom.

In her mind, it resembled a plump ripe peach like the emoji.

She was already halfway there.

In 2018, she'd had a Brazilian butt lift known as a BBL, a surgical procedure in which fat is removed

from various parts of the body and then injected back into the buttocks. Melissa's bottom was already

rounder and fuller than before, and she was delighted by the effect with how it made her feel

and how it made her look. But it could be better. It could always be better.

On a recent afternoon, Melissa visited the British aesthetic surgeon, Dr. Lucy Glancy,

for a consultation. Glancy had performed Melissa's first BBL at her clinic on the Essex Suffolk

...