The Audio Long Read

The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true? By Manvir Singh. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

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 2022: Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2025

When a no-nonsense lecturer set up a radical solution to help free the wrongfully convicted in the UK, he was hopeful he could change the justice system. But what started as a revolution ended in acrimony By Francisco Garcia. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2025

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action By Samira Shackle. Read by Díana Bermudez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2025

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 2022: Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2025

Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections Written and read by Harry Shukman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2025

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

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2025

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: An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous collective began to investigate his past By Scott Sayare. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2025

Online dissent is a serious crime in China. So why did a Weibo censor help me publish posts critical of the Communist party? By Murong Xuecun. Read by Zhang Wang Li. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2025

On a summer morning in 1990, the body of a young woman appeared in a small town close to the frontier. For those who saw her, finding her identity became an obsession that would last 30 years By Giles Tremlett. Read by Luis Soto. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2025

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: Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2025

The artist Jeremy Deller can’t really draw or paint. Instead of making things, he makes things happen. And later this year, he is planning to unleash a bacchanalian festival that will be his most daring public artwork yet By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Richard Coyle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2025

The Black Panthers shook America awake before the party was eviscerated by the US government. Their children paid a steep price, but also emerged with unassailable pride and burning lessons for today By Ed Pilkington. Read by Chiké Okonkwo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2025

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 2022: Five million payphone calls are still made each year in the UK. Who is making them – and why? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Emma Powell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2025

Each year, hundreds of potentially world-changing treatments are discarded because scientists run out of cash. But where big pharma or altruists fear to tread, my friend and I have a solution. It’s repugnant, but it will work By Alexander Masters. Read by Tom Andrews. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2025

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects By Sean Williams. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2025

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: As the fighters advanced on Kabul, it was civilians who mobilised to help with the evacuation. In the absence of a plan, the hardest decisions fell on inexperienced volunteers, and the stress began to tell By Zarlasht Halaimzai. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

The Black Swan follows a repentant master criminal as she sets up corrupt clients in front of hidden cameras. But is she really reformed – and is the director up to his own tricks? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by David Bateson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2025

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

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2025

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: After 32 years of establishment lies, media smears, inquests, trials and retrials, the families of the Hillsborough dead have yet to see anyone held accountable By David Conn. Read by Gavin Skelhorn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2025

She spent her life in northern France doing exhausting, back-breaking work – and yet she turned her anger against people who had done no wrongs to her. But as much as I couldn’t stand her rants, I was forced to accept her as she was By Didier Eribon. Read by Mark Noble. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2025

At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad’s fighters could get him killed By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2025

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: The generational divide is deforming democracy. But there is a solution By David Runciman. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2025

Under Arnolds Field, tonnes of illegally dumped waste have been burning for years, spewing pollution over the area. Locals fear for their health – and despair that no one seems willing to help By William Ralston. Read by Sam Swainsbury. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2025

Meteorite falls are extremely rare and offer a glimpse of the processes that formed our world billions of years ago. When a space rock came to an English market town in 2021, scientists raced to find as much out as they could By Helen Gordon. Read by Sasha Frost. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2025

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 2022: In northern Norway, trees are rapidly taking over the tundra and threatening an ancient way of life that depends on snow and ice By Ben Rawlence. Read by Christien Anholt. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2025

At the rural orphanage where I volunteered, the place resembled a Dickensian workhouse. The staff’s main tools were antipsychotics and violence. The experience gave me a window into Putin’s Russia By Howard Amos. Read by Harry Lloyd. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2025

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

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2025

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: Despite Thatcher and Reagan’s best efforts, there is and has always been such a thing as society. The question is not whether it exists, but what shape it must take in a post-pandemic world By Jill Lepore. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2025

When details about a scientific study in the 1960s became public, there was shock, outrage and anxiety. But exactly what happened? By Samira Shackle. Read by Dinita Gohil. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2025

I saw first hand how prisons are having to use segregation units for acutely mentally ill inmates who should not be in prison at all Written and read by Alex South. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2025

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: For the hardline conservatives ruling Poland and Hungary, the transition from communism to liberal democracy was a mirage. They fervently believe a more decisive break with the past is needed to achieve national liberation By Nicholas Mulder. Read by Tanya Cubric. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2025

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

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2025

When China stopped receiving the world’s waste, Turkey became Europe’s recycling hotspot. The problem is, most plastics can’t be recycled. And what remains are toxic heaps of trash By Alexander Clapp. Read by Philip Arditti. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2025

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 2018: The foreign policy establishment has been lamenting its death for half a century. But Atlanticism has long been a convenient myth By Madeleine Schwartz. Read by Kelly Burke. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

We are far more likely to use our hands to type or swipe than pick up a pen. But in the process we are in danger of losing cognitive skills, sensory experience – and a connection to history By Christine Rosen. Read by Laurel Lefkow. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2025

Inspired by Che Guevara, Jean Ziegler has spent the past 60 years exposing how Switzerland enabled global wrongdoing. His enemies accuse him of treason By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2025

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 2022: As I finished the final house calls of my long career in general practice, it struck me how detached I am from my patients now – and that it was not always like this. Where did we go wrong, and what can we do to fix it? By Clare Gerada. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2025

In 2004, 29 people were killed by members of the Cinta Larga tribe in Brazil’s Amazon basin. The story shocked the country – but the truth of what happened is still being fought over By Alex Cuadros. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2025

Germany embraced Israel to atone for its wartime guilt. But was this in part a way to avoid truly confronting its past? By Pankaj Mishra. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 28 February 2025

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 2017: Davon Mayer was a smalltime dealer in west Baltimore who made an illicit deal with local police. When they turned on him, he decided to get out – but escaping that life would not prove as easy as falling into it. By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee. Read by Lola Ogunyemi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

For the children of the Nigerian diaspora, displaced by war and split between two worlds, footballers from John Fashanu to Jay-Jay Okocha were a first glimpse of themselves in Britain’s mainstream. Written and read by Aniefiok Ekpoudom. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 21 February 2025

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 2022: To understand the tragedy of this war, it is worth going back beyond the last few weeks and months, and even beyond Vladimir Putin. By Keith Gessen. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2025

The old model of political debate is over, and spectacle beats argument every time. How did we get here? By Chris Hayes. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2025

At the last minute, Zoë decided to call off her euthanasia. But how do you start over after you’ve said all of your goodbyes? By Stephanie Bakker. Read by Micky Overman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2025

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: 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. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2025

Both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump’s political careers were shaped by their formative experiences in the 1980s – and, above all, their encounters with Japan. By Andrew Liu. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

Tokyo remains, in the world’s imagination, a place of sophistication and wealth. But with economic revival forever distant, ‘tourism pollution’ seems the only viable plan. By Dylan Levi King. Read by Kenichiro Thomson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2025

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: When the Colombian army defeated the Farc guerrillas, ending decades of conflict, General Mario Montoya was hailed a national hero. But then it was revealed that thousands of ‘insurgents’ executed by the army were in fact innocent men. By Mariana Palau. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2025