The Audio Long Read

Episódios

• ‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI 17.07.2026 52min

  Since 2017, Iason Gabriel has worked at the tech giant, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, can ethicists make any difference? By Robert P Baird. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wight 15.07.2026 43min

  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: When a US businessman took over a beloved garden a decade ago, he decided on a radical new approach, all in the name of sustainability. But angry critics claim it’s just plain neglect By Mark O’Connell. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘Navigating the unknown together’: me and my idiot AI boyfriend 13.07.2026 38min

  I believe that chatbots have no place in a decent society, and am repelled by the topic of AI in general. But could I be seduced? By Lauren Oyler. Read by Kate Handford. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘He liked that people were scared of him’: my year unpicking fantasy and reality with a veteran of Italy’s football ultras 10.07.2026 37min

  I’ve met many hardcore, violent fans, but the hostage-negotiating, cocaine-smuggling, Marxist-Leninist Alessandro Casolari still stood out By Tobias Jones. Read by Bert Seymour. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Leave no trace: how a teenage hacker lost himself online 08.07.2026 33min

  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: Edwin Robbe had a troubled life, but found excitement and purpose by joining an audacious community of hackers. Then the real world caught up with his online activities By Huib Modderkolk. Read by Aaron Vodovoz. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• How did Mexico’s president become the world’s most popular leftwing leader? 06.07.2026 52min

  Claudia Sheinbaum started as an activist. Now she is Mexico’s president. Has she stayed true to her ideals? By Rachel Nolan. Read by Gemma Acosta. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began 03.07.2026 42min

  My friends and I wanted to tell the story of Cuban life, without interference. Before long, I was being isolated, monitored and interrogated By Abraham Jiménez Enoa. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros A version of this essay was previously published in the Dial under the title The Sneeze. Translation by Lily Meyer. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Flour power: meet the bread heads baking a better loaf 01.07.2026 38min

  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: The days of the mass-produced pappy white British supermarket loaf may be numbered. Meet the bread heads revolutionising the way we eat By Wendell Steavenson. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘They take you out of life, out of time’: a journey into Spain’s astonishing cave paintings 29.06.2026 32min

  For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty. One of the world’s leading experts took me up close Written and read by Stephen Phelan. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• Ping-pong sponges, ‘black smokers’ and floating somethings: the secrets of the deep sea 26.06.2026 29min

  The bottom of the ocean has barely been explored, but every journey to the deep reveals wondrous new lifeforms. As underwater mining gains momentum, we risk destroying one of Earth’s last great wildernesses By Jacob Mikanowski. Read by Lincoln Conway. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: No coach, no agent, no ego: the incredible story of the ‘Lionel Messi of cliff diving’ 24.06.2026 45min

  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: Gary Hunt is an enigma. He trains with the intensity of a modern athlete, but relaxes like a sportsman of a bygone era. He is fiercely competitive but unbelievably laid-back. How did he become the greatest cliff diver of all time? By Xan Rice. Read by Ben Norris. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant 22.06.2026 48min

  No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘The devil’s child’: the rise and fall of the only female yakuza 19.06.2026 40min

  Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her By Sean Williams. Read by Ami Okumura Jones. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK 17.06.2026 48min

  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: They fought for the Iranian revolution – and then for Saddam Hussein. The US and UK once condemned them. But now their opposition to Tehran has made them favourites of Trump White House hardliners By Arron Merat. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• As a Ukrainian journalist, I’ve covered the US for 20 years. I find it increasingly shocking 15.06.2026 34min

  My country has been under occupation, dogged by corruption and war. Yet even I’ve been bewildered by the way the US seems to be fracturing By Nataliya Gumenyuk. Read by Inna Bagoli. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil 12.06.2026 42min

  As new settlers clear their forest habitat, the apes are coming into conflict with humans. But simply moving them to another part of the forest may not be the answer By Sally Williams. Read by Saskia Reeves. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Sold to the Trump family: one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean 10.06.2026 21min

  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 2025: Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have spent more than $1bn on an Albanian island that will be a luxury resort – once the unexploded ordnance has been removed By Marzio Mian. Read by Mo Ayoub For more on US politics and the Trump family check out Politics Weekly America. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• Prisoner number 804: the plot to erase Imran Khan 08.06.2026 48min

  It’s one thing to remove a PM from office, as happened to the former cricketer in 2022. But it’s another thing to try to eradicate the most famous person in Pakistan’s history By Osman Samiuddin. Read By Aaron Neil. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• ‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed 05.06.2026 32min

  After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blame By Marta Zaraska. Read by Lucy Bromilow. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
• From the archive: Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery 03.06.2026 47min

  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: Elvira and her brothers, Ricard and Ramón, were left at a train station in Barcelona aged two, four and five. As an adult, when Elvira decided to look for her parents, she discovered a family history wilder than anything she had imagined By Giles Tremlett. Read by Luis Soto. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>