Episodes

  • Best of 2024: As a teenager, John was jailed for assaulting someone and stealing their bike. That was 17 years ago – will he ever be released?

    Best of 2024: As a teenager, John was jailed for assaulting someone and stealing their bike. That was 17 years ago – will he ever be released?
    Dec 23 2024
    Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2023, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: Indeterminate sentences are devastating to mental health, but prisoners with mental illness are less likely to be released. The result is a vicious cycle whereby the most vulnerable inmates often have the least chance of getting out – as John’s case shows. By Sophie Atkinson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    43 mins
  • Best of 2024: ‘It comes for your very soul’: how Alzheimer’s undid my dazzling, creative wife in her 40s

    Best of 2024: ‘It comes for your very soul’: how Alzheimer’s undid my dazzling, creative wife in her 40s
    Dec 20 2024
    Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From August: By the time my wife got a diagnosis, her long and harrowing deterioration had already begun. By the end, I was in awe of her. By Michael Aylwin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    45 mins
  • Best of 2024: Nairobi to New York and back: the loneliness of the internationally educated elite

    Best of 2024: Nairobi to New York and back: the loneliness of the internationally educated elite
    Dec 16 2024
    Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From June: Every year, hundreds of Kenyans head off to study at elite universities in the US and UK. On graduating, many find themselves in a strange position: unable to fit in abroad, but no longer feeling like they belong back home. By Carey Baraka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    35 mins
  • Revisited: Two poems, four years in detention: the Chinese dissident who smuggled his writing out of prison

    Revisited: Two poems, four years in detention: the Chinese dissident who smuggled his writing out of prison
    Dec 13 2024
    My poems were written in anger after Tiananmen Square. But what motivates most prison writing is a fear of forgetting. Today I am free, but the regime has never stopped its war on words. By Liao Yiwu Because of industrial action taking place by members of the National Union of Journalists at the Guardian and Observer this week, we are re-running an episode from earlier in the year. For more information please head to theguardian.com. We’ll be back with new episodes soon.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    32 mins
  • 10 years of the long read: Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers (2024)

    10 years of the long read: Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers (2024)
    Dec 11 2024
    As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2024: When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could. By Charlotte Higgins. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    49 mins
  • 10 years of the long read: ‘All that we had is gone’: my lament for war-torn Khartoum (2023)

    10 years of the long read: ‘All that we had is gone’: my lament for war-torn Khartoum (2023)
    Dec 9 2024
    As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2023: Since Sudan’s capital was engulfed by violence in April, life there has been all but destroyed. As we tried to get family members to safety, the ruination of my former home became hard to fathom. By Nesrine Malik. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    40 mins
  • A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one

    A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one
    Dec 6 2024
    With Putin’s threats in Ukraine, China’s accelerated weapons programme and the US’s desire for superiority, what will it take for leaders to step back from the brink? By Jessica T Mathews. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    33 mins
  • Revisited: Too much stuff: can we solve our addiction to consumerism?

    Revisited: Too much stuff: can we solve our addiction to consumerism?
    Dec 4 2024
    Alarmed by the rising tide of waste we are all creating, my family and I decided to try to make do with much less. But while individual behaviour is important, real change will require action on a far bigger scale. By Chip Colwell Because of industrial action taking place by members of the National Union of Journalists at the Guardian and Observer this week, we are re-running an episode from earlier in the year. For more information please head to theguardian.com. We’ll be back with new episodes soon.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    31 mins