Podcast
The Audio Long Read
Hosted by The Guardian · EN
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.
69episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI
3d ago00:52:34Summary readySince 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
From the archive: Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wight
5d ago00:43:07Summary readyWe 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
‘Navigating the unknown together’: me and my idiot AI boyfriend
1w ago00:38:11Summary readyI 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
‘He liked that people were scared of him’: my year unpicking fantasy and reality with a veteran of Italy’s football ultras
1w ago00:37:59Summary readyI’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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
From the archive: Leave no trace: how a teenage hacker lost himself online
2w ago00:33:21Summary readyWe 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
How did Mexico’s president become the world’s most popular leftwing leader?
2w ago00:52:45Summary readyClaudia 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began
2w ago00:42:20Summary readyMy 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
From the archive: Flour power: meet the bread heads baking a better loaf
3w ago00:38:30Summary readyWe 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
‘They take you out of life, out of time’: a journey into Spain’s astonishing cave paintings
3w ago00:32:17Summary readyFor 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary
Ping-pong sponges, ‘black smokers’ and floating somethings: the secrets of the deep sea
3w ago00:29:40Summary readyThe 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
Summary