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.
60episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ping-pong sponges, ‘black smokers’ and floating somethings: the secrets of the deep sea
Yesterday00:29:40Summary 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
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From the archive: No coach, no agent, no ego: the incredible story of the ‘Lionel Messi of cliff diving’
3d ago00:45:10Summary 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: 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant
5d ago00:48:58Summary readyNo 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘The devil’s child’: the rise and fall of the only female yakuza
1w ago00:40:55Summary readyMako 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK
1w ago00:48:26Summary 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 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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As a Ukrainian journalist, I’ve covered the US for 20 years. I find it increasingly shocking
2w ago00:34:11Summary readyMy 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil
2w ago00:42:05Summary readyAs 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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From the archive: Sold to the Trump family: one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean
2w ago00:21:11Summary 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 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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Prisoner number 804: the plot to erase Imran Khan
3w ago00:48:19Summary readyIt’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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed
3w ago00:32:01Summary readyAfter 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 theguardian.com/longreadpod
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