The Audio Long Read

The Audio Long Read

Three times a week, The Audio Long Read podcast brings you the Guardian’s exceptional longform journalism in audio form. Covering topics from politics and culture to philosophy and sport, as well as investigations and current affairs.

Episodes

The body snatchers: how a young Nigerian man was lured to London in an organ-trafficking plot

September 4, 2026 • 36 mins
Daniel was working at a market in Lagos when he was given the chance to start anew in the UK. He had no idea what was expected of him in return By Alexis Okeowo. Read by Nneka Okoye. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: ‘Drought is on the verge of becoming the next pandemic’

September 2, 2026 • 37 mins
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 2023: While the world becomes drier, profit and pollution are draining our resources. We have to change our approach By Tim Smedley. Read by Sid Sagar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘I can sense Sinatra enter my body and exit my lungs’: aboard the celebrity impersonators’ cruise

August 31, 2026 • 35 mins
I joined Marilyn Monroe, Walter White, Ozzy Osbourne and other tribute artists on a cruise where imitation is its own art form By Mina Tavakoli. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2026…so far: ‘Any other child would have died’: the miraculous survival of Nada Itrab

August 28, 2026 • 51 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: After a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and taken from Spain to Bolivia, authorities feared the worst. They found her in the rainforest nine months later – but that wasn’t the end of her ...
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Best of 2026…so far: Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong

August 26, 2026 • 39 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive? By Marcus Haraldsson. Read by Diana Bermudez...
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‘The war leaked into every lesson’: learning Ukrainian in a country under siege

August 24, 2026 • 40 mins
Soon after my first visit to Ukraine four years ago, I began language lessons. It taught me more than I ever expected Written and read by Charlotte Higgins On Wednesday 30 September, join Charlotte Higgins and our panel of acclaimed Ukrainian writers to reflect on the profound connections between war, art and life. With Olia Hercules, Sasha Dovzhyk, Olesya Khromeychuk and Shaun Walker. Book tickets here. Help support our independen...
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Best of 2026 … so far: Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother

August 21, 2026 • 50 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation By Dan Fox. Read by Matt Addis. Help support our i...
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Best of 2026 … so far: Asian mothers, bad feelings: notes on an all-conquering stereotype

August 19, 2026 • 34 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from April: A certain image of the tiger mom – strict, cold and demanding – is ubiquitous in popular culture. Why? By Rebecca Liu. Read by Ginnia Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguar...
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Iraq’s impossible predicament: why the country is trapped between Iran and the US

August 17, 2026 • 25 mins
With the outbreak of this year’s war, Iraq’s balancing act between the two antagonists has collapsed, exposing a perilously fragile state By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2026…so far: Endo dreams of sushi: a trip around Japan with one of the world’s greatest chefs

August 14, 2026 • 46 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from April: Endo Kazutoshi spent decades climbing to the top of the culinary world, only for a devastating fire to threaten it all. I joined him in the aftermath as he travelled around his homeland, visiting the peo...
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Best of 2026…so far: 35,000 pints of stolen Guinness, 950 wheels of pilfered cheese: can the UK’s cargo theft crisis be stopped?

August 12, 2026 • 42 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: It costs the UK economy £700m a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates By Stuart McGurk. Re...
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The Dacre dynasty: how Britain’s rightwing press was radicalised

August 10, 2026 • 46 mins
At the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre broke new ground in selling readers an angry rightwing perspective. Today, most of Fleet Street is run by his disciples By Andy Beckett. Read by Simon Vance The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Best of 2026…so far: ‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK

August 7, 2026 • 33 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt By Samira Shackle. Read...
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Best of 2026…so far: My maddening battle with chronic fatigue syndrome: ‘On my worst days, it feels almost demonic’

August 5, 2026 • 35 mins
Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2026, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: I suffered with my mystery illness for decades before gaining a diagnosis. Could retraining my brain be the answer? By Hermione Hoby. Read by Alby Baldwin. Help support our independent journalism at t...
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‘This process has turned into a form of torture’: inside the trial of Erdoğan’s challenger

August 3, 2026 • 28 mins
He was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019, and had announced his candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections. But Ekrem İmamoğlu is now behind bars, and his trial, on charges including fraud and organised crime, could take 12 years By Kaya Genç. Read by Philip Ishak Arditti This piece first appeared in the Dial. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘It makes your heart sing’: can a pioneering project show that rewilding really works?

July 31, 2026 • 49 mins
Intensive farming has all but destroyed England’s ancient woodlands and freshwater wetlands. On a farm in Lincolnshire a radical aristocrat hopes to show there’s money in protecting nature By Patrick Barkham. Read by Dermot Daly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: ‘A dizzying maze’: how the UK immigration system is geared to reject

July 29, 2026 • 34 mins
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 2019: Navigating the roadblocks into Britain gets ever more difficult and expensive, as government hostility leaks into every transaction. By Maya Goodfellow. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘It is comforting to be haunted’: how attitudes to abortion have changed through the ages

July 27, 2026 • 37 mins
The abortion debate – the language of life, choice and rights – severs women, and their pain, from history. I don’t want to forget my abortion and I don’t want to forget theirs By Erin Maglaque. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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What training my chaotic dog taught me about power, control – and human beings

July 24, 2026 • 29 mins
Our lovable yet unruly boxer Dusty forced me to wonder: if a dog has no morals, how do you teach it to be ‘good’? By William Davies. Read by John Robins. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Pinker’s progress: the celebrity scientist at the centre of the culture wars

July 22, 2026 • 52 mins
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: How the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker became one of the world’s most contentious thinkers By Alex Blasdel. Read by Christopher Ragland • The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order. Help support our independent journalism at theguard...
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