The Guardian's Audio Long Reads

For the month of February, we’ll be making a slight change to our production schedule. For the next few weeks, we will be publishing two episodes a week. On Mondays you’ll hear brand new long reads, and on Fridays we’ll raid the Audio Long Read archive to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. In March we’ll return to publishing three episodes a week.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

So much is happening, both wonderful and terrible – and it matters how we tell it. We can’t erase the bad news, but to ignore the good is the route to indifference or despair. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The NHS saved my life once, and inspired me to change career. But when I started as a healthcare assistant on a hospital ward for older patients, it was clear how bad things had got. This is the story of a typical shift. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors This week, from 2015: The Kray twins wanted everyone to know who they were – and indeed they were always better at fame than crime. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a pristine forest in central India, the multibillion-dollar mining giant Adani has razed trees – and homes – to dig more coal. How does this kind of destruction get the go-ahead?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We know we need to cut down on sugar. But replacing it with artificial compounds isn’t necessarily the answer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: As the capture and conviction of Mexico’s notorious drug lord has shown, taking down the boss doesn’t mean taking down the organisation. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Nothing is produced at Sellafield any more. But making safe what is left behind is an almost unimaginably expensive and complex task that requires us to think not on a human timescale, but a planetary one. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For one weird year, I was the human who stepped in to make sure a property chatbot didn’t blow its cover – I was a person pretending to be a computer pretending to be a person. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: Three decades ago, Olof Palme was assassinated on Stockholm’s busiest street. The killer has never been found. Could the discovery of new evidence finally close the case?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Not long ago, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, was all set to assume power. But his ambitious young cousin had a ruthless plan to seize control for himself. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For decades we’ve been using toys to cram learning into playtime – and toys have been marketed as tools to turn children into prosperous, high-achieving adults. Is it time for a rethink?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: After a trial that dominated the news, the accused were all found not guilty. But the case had tapped into a deeper rage that has not died down. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Three months after the uprising began, demonstrators are still risking their lives. Will this generation succeed where previous attempts to unseat the Islamic hardliners have been crushed?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: The families of some 9/11 victims are still pursuing compensation from those complicit in the attacks – but is Sudan, already ravaged by years of US sanctions, really the right target?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from October: For one of our many adolescent pranks, my friend and I planted tips about an obscure young footballer. Then he suddenly started going places. What had we done?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: Austerity, the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis have left many schools in a parlous state. How hard do staff have to work to give kids the chances they deserve?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: When a Romanian businessman returned to his hometown and found a city blighted by mining waste, he hatched a plan to restore it to its former glory. He became a local hero, but now prosecutors accuse of him a running a multimillion dollar fraud. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From February: Despite the rise of headline-grabbing megafires, fewer fires are burning worldwide now than at any time since antiquity. But this isn’t good news – in banishing fire from sight, we have made its dangers stranger and less predictable. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From July: In October 2020, an emergency call was received from a ship in British waters. After a full-scale commando raid, seven Nigerians were taken off in handcuffs – but no one was ever charged. What really happened on board?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod