The Audio Long Read | The Guardian

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As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin’s wars. Then, in 2022, he was arrested on suspicion of espionage. Many former associates now believe that he betrayed them. By Shaun Walker

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After decades among the hidden homeless, Dominic Van Allen dug himself a bunker beneath a public park. But his life would get even more precarious. By Tom Lamont

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Over the past 20 years, the symbol of remembrance for the war dead has become increasingly ubiquitous – and a culture of poppy policing has grown with it. By Samira Shackle

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From football clubs to water companies, music catalogues to care homes, private equity has infiltrated almost every facet of modern life in its endless search to maximise profits. By Alex Blasdel

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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 2019: For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy. By Samanth Subramanian

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As generative AI advances, it is easy to see it as yet another area where machines are taking over – but humans remain at the centre of AI art, just in ways we might not expect. By Rachel Ossip

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It used to be that Britons would complain about Americanisms diluting the English language. But in fact it’s a two-way street. By Ben Yagoda

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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 2018: How an extreme libertarian tract predicting the collapse of liberal democracies – written by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s father – inspired the likes of Peter Thiel to buy up property across the Pacific. By Mark O’Connell

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From razor-wire fences and crumbling cells to no windows and overcrowding, conditions in most jails mean rehabilitation is a nonstarter. Here’s how we can create better spaces for prisoners. By Yvonne Jewkes

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As leader of the AfD’s most radical faction, he is infamous in Germany and his critics have long accused him of using language that echoes the Nazis. This year, a court put that question to the test. By Alex Dziadosz

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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 2017: The world-beating British sandwich industry is worth £8bn a year. It transformed the way we eat lunch, then did the same for breakfast – and now it’s coming for dinner. By Sam Knight

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I spoke to dozens of people – from ‘donors’ to brokers – to find out how this exploitative trade thrives on chaos and desperation. By Seán Columb

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It began as a routine investigation into a multinational called ENRC. It became a decade-long saga that has rocked the UK’s financial crime agency. Now new documents illuminate a case that has rewritten UK law and is set to end with a huge bill handed to taxpayers. By Tom Burgis

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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 2016: Rats spread disease, decimate crops and very occasionally eat people alive. For centuries, we have struggled to find an effective way of controlling their numbers. Until now… By Jordan Kisner

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Our twins spent two years at primary school in Chengdu. Their lessons featured alarming cautionary tales and stories of Chinese superiority, but there was fun and irreverence, too. By Peter Hessler

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She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she has won over many heads of Europe, including the UK prime minister. Should we be worried? By Alexander Stille

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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 2015: After 12 years in the US, Gary Younge is preparing to depart – as the country’s racial frictions seem certain to spark another summer of conflict. By Gary Younge

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The Colombian drug lord’s exotic menagerie fell apart after his death, and now wild hippos are breeding out of control. By Joshua Hammer

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My commitment to breastfeeding exclusively was related to shame. If I couldn’t do it, I felt I would be letting the baby down. By Niamh Campbell

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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 2014: A shared history of 300 years could be washed away if Scotland votes for independence. What was the complex identity the United Kingdom created – and should we mourn its loss? by Ian Jack

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To celebrate 10 years of The Long Read we gathered together the team who launched it to take you behind the scenes. Helen Pidd is joined by editor David Wolf, deputy editor Clare Longrigg, and former editor and founder of the Long Read Jonathan Shainin.

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Without plankton, the modern ocean ecosystem – the very idea of the ocean as we understand it – would collapse. Earth would have no complex life of any kind. By Ferris Jabr

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The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked a panic about computers gaining power over humankind. But the real threat comes from falling for the hype. By Navneet Alang

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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: In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot. By Siddhartha Deb

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I took a cruise with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out how this much-mocked rock band became so beloved. By Luke Winkie

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Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment. By Xiaolu Guo

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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: Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird

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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

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This summer, one of my lectures was protested by far-right students. Their rhetoric brought to mind some of the darkest moments of 20th-century history – and overlapped with mainstream Israeli views to a shocking degree. By Omer Bartov

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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: Countries around the world are making it easier to choose the time and manner of your death. But doctors in the world’s euthanasia capital are starting to worry about the consequences. By Christopher de Bellaigue

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For children with ADHD, getting the help they need depends on being correctly diagnosed. As a doctor, I have seen how tricky and frustrating a process that can be. By Jack Goulder

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We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some notable pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2022: Five years after the fire that killed 72, the inquiry is nearing a close. Over 300 days of evidence, what have we learned about the failings that led to disaster? By Robert Booth

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In the 1970s, David Duke was grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In the 80s, he was elected to Louisiana’s house of representatives – and the kinds of ideas he stood for have not gone away. By John Ganz

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As a young man, Partha Banerjee was on course to become a senior member of the RSS, the organisation that has pushed Indian politics towards extreme religious nationalism. Then, after decades within its ranks, he quit. Why? By Rahul Bhatia

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from May: Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski

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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

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from February: Ever since the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, many have been living in dejection and squalor in camps like Shatila in Beirut. Is this the grim future the people of Gaza could now be facing? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

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Working in food aid delivery, I have seen the benefits of embracing new technologies. But some problems need to be solved between humans. By Jean-Martin Bauer

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from February: In 2005, Glasgow council offered to compensate women for historic pay inequality. But it sold them short again – and soon workers all over the UK started fighting for what they were owed. By Samira Shackle

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My father did terrible things during the second world war, and my other relatives were equally unrepentant. But it wasn’t until I was in my late 50s that I started to confront this dark past. By Martin Pollack

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from January: Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats. By Jonathan Nunn

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Since its discovery in the 18th century, nitrous oxide has gone from vaudeville gimmick to pioneering anaesthetic to modern party drug. By Mark Miodownik

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When Abiy Ahmed took power in Ethiopia, he was feted at home and abroad as a great unifier and reformer. Two years later, terrible violence was raging. How did people get him so wrong? By Tom Gardner

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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: Nina Gold’s role is invisible, and yet her taste has shaped much of what we watch on film and TV. By Sophie Elmhirst

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The cases heard at the Old Bailey offer a vivid, often grim portrait of England and Wales today. What happens when there is no one left to tell these stories? By Sophie Elmhirst

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I was once Ireland’s No 1 player, and tried for years to climb the global ranks. But life at the bottom of the top can be brutal. By Conor Niland

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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: I’ve long nursed vague plans of moving back to China for a few years, to solidify my place there. But with each year that passes in the US, such a move gets harder and harder to make. By Cleo Qian

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In 2024, libraries are unofficial creches, homeless shelters, language schools and asylum support providers – filling the gaps left by a state that has reneged on its responsibilities. By Aida Edemariam

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The true number of black people who have died after contact with the police has been hidden, while their families are faced with delays and denials. By Raekha Prasad

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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: Dumba has spent her life performing in circuses around Europe, but in recent years animal rights activists have been campaigning to rescue her. When it looked like they might succeed, Dumba and her owners disappeared. By Laura Spinney

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Having created a watchdog for the environment, the government took its teeth out and muzzled it. Can public outrage rouse the Environment Agency to action? By Hettie O’Brien

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The spread of the avocado is a story of greed, ambition, corruption, water shortages, cartel battles and, in a number of towns and villages, a fierce fightback. By Alexander Sammon

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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: After growing up in a Zimbabwe convulsed by the legacy of colonialism, when I got to Oxford I realised how many British people still failed to see how empire had shaped lives like mine – as well as their own. By Simukai Chigudu

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Gardens could be part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis. But what are we doing? Disappearing them beneath plastic and paving. By Kate Bradbury

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Over the past 14 years, the Conservative dream of a free market in higher education has collided with the harsh reality of austerity and the cultural resentment of the radical right – driving some institutions close to bankruptcy. By William Davies

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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: It’s easy to despair at the climate crisis, or to decide it’s already too late – but it’s not. Here’s how to keep the fight alive. By Rebecca Solnit

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Once upon a time, it was only hardcore bodybuilders who pumped themselves up with testosterone. Today it is no longer niche. But how dangerous is it? By Stephen Buranyi

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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

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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: The BBL is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery in the world, despite the mounting number of deaths resulting from the procedure. What is driving its astonishing rise? By Sophie Elmhirst

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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

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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

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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 2020: With 850 million children worldwide shut out of schools, tech evangelists claim now is the time for AI education. But as the technology’s power grows, so too do the dangers that come with it. By Alex Beard

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Stuart Potts is an unlikely do-gooder – a former crack addict who has hit rock bottom more than once. But since 2020, he has offered hundreds of homeless people a bed in his small flat – and for many of them, it has been life-changing. By Samira Shackle

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When I heard that a boy from my primary school had been convicted of trafficking, I had to find out what had happened to make him fall so far.

By Francisco Garcia

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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: Much progress has been made in attitudes towards sexual equality and gender identity – but in many places a dramatic backlash by conservative forces has followed.

By Mark Gevisser

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In 20 years, this Essex club has tumbled down the leagues and seen its ground fall apart. Is a revival finally coming – or will hopes be dashed again?

By Tim Burrows

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He has published more than 100 novels, gives his work away, and his surrealist books have a massive cult following. Now Argentina’s favourite rule-breaker is tipped for the Nobel prize. By Alejandro Chacoff

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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: They used to look like quagmires, ice rinks or dustbowls, depending on the time of year. But as big money entered football, pristine pitches became crucial to the sport’s image – and groundskeepers became stars. By William Ralston

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In the past 10 years the idea that trees communicate with and look after each other has gained widespread currency. But have these claims outstripped the evidence? By Daniel Immerwahr

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Britain’s first black female MP faced hostility from the media and political establishment from the start. Nearly 40 years on, she is still not giving up. By Andy Beckett

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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: During the second world war, Chinese merchant seamen helped keep Britain fed, fuelled and safe – and many gave their lives doing so. But from late 1945, hundreds of them who had settled in Liverpool suddenly disappeared. Now their children are piecing together the truth. By Dan Hancox

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For 40 years, Amit Shah has been at Narendra Modi’s side – his confidant, consigliere and enforcer. Today he is India’s second-most powerful man, and he is reshaping the country in radical ways. By Atul Dev

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From the 1960s, baby brokers persuaded often Indigenous Mayan women to give up newborns while kidnappers ‘disappeared’ babies. Now, international adoption is being called out as a way of covering up war crimes. By Rachel Nolan

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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: Early in Trump’s presidency, emboldened neo-Nazi and fascist groups came out into the open but were met with widespread revulsion. So the tactics of the far right changed, becoming more insidious – and much more successful. By Brendan O’Connor

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Going public after I was attacked was hard, but it helped me overcome the shame that so many victims feel. By Rena Effendi

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It is taking fast fashion to ever faster and ever cheaper extremes, and making billions from it. Why is the whole world shopping at Shein? By Nicole Lipman

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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: Steve Albini was long synonymous with the indie underground, playing in revered bands and recording albums by the Pixies, PJ Harvey and Nirvana. He also often seemed determined to offend as many people as possible. What led him to reassess his past? By Jeremy Gordon

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While much has changed since 7 October, the horrific events of the past six months are not unique, and do not stand outside history. By Rashid Khalidi

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Seven years ago, El Salvador banned all mining for metals to protect its water supply. But now the government seems to be making moves to reverse the ban – and environmental activists are in the firing line. By Danielle Mackey

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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: In an era of bewildering upheaval, how will the past decade be remembered? By Andy Beckett

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Despite promises of reform, exploitation remains endemic in India’s sandstone industry, with children doing dangerous work for low pay – often to decorate driveways and gardens thousands of miles away. By Romita Saluja

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Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski

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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 2020: It was once a widely accepted way of explaining why some children struggled to read and write. But in recent years, some experts have begun to question the existence of dyslexia itself. By Sirin Kale

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New research into the dying brain suggests the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought. By Alex Blasdel

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Organising is a kind of alchemy: it turns alienation into connection, despair into dedication, and oppression into strength. By Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

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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 2020: For seven decades, India has been held together by its constitution, which promises equality to all. But Narendra Modi’s BJP is remaking the nation into one where some people count as more Indian than others. By Samanth Subramanian

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How Israeli, Palestinian and US political actors understand Hamas is not merely a theoretical question – it will determine what kind of agreement can be reached to end the current war, and what the future of Gaza will look like. By Joshua Leifer

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As the author of a book about a pivotal uprising in 18th-century Jamaica, Vincent Brown was enlisted in a campaign to make its leader a national hero. But when he arrived in Jamaica, he started to wonder what he had got himself into

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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: Flordelis grew up in a Rio favela, but rose to fame after adopting more than 50 children, becoming a hugely successful gospel singer and winning a seat in congress. And now she is on trial for murder. By Tom Phillips

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Four years on from the start of the pandemic, the drama may have subsided but the lingering effects go on. Are we suffering from political long Covid? By David Runciman

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Linguistic diversity on Earth is far more profound and fundamental than previously imagined. But it’s also crumbling fast. By Ross Perlin

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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 2020: A drone sighting caused the airport to close for two days in 2018, but despite a lengthy police investigation, no culprit was ever found. So what exactly did people see in the Sussex sky? By Samira Shackle

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The prevalence of sickle cell disease is changing how Nigerians date, marry and plan their lives. And as genetic testing becomes more common, prospective parents across the world will face similar questions. By Krithika Varagur

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The ocean’s depths are not some remote alien realm, but are in fact intimately entangled with every other part of the planet. We should treat them that way. By James Bradley

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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: In 2019, the body of a man fell from a passenger plane into a garden in south London. Who was he? by Sirin Kale

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Pet food is a £120bn industry, with vast resources spent on working out how best to nourish and delight our beloved charges. But how do we know if we’re getting it right? By Vivian Ho

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Datacentres are part of Ireland’s vision of itself as a tech hub. There are now more than 80, using vast amounts of electricity. Have we entrusted our memories to a system that might destroy them? By Jessica Traynor

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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 2020: Jake Haendel spent months trapped in his body, silent and unmoving but fully conscious. Most people never emerge from ‘locked-in syndrome’, but as a doctor told him, everything about his case is bizarre. By Josh Wilbur

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More people have been imprisoned for rioting during a single day in Bristol in 2021 than in any other protest-related disorder since at least the 1980s. What was behind this push to prosecute so harshly? By Tom Wall

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We give things up when we believe we can change; we give up when we believe we can’t. By Adam Phillips

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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 2020: During the 1970s and 80s, eight US-backed military dictatorships jointly plotted the cross-border kidnap, torture, rape and murder of hundreds of their political opponents. Now some of the perpetrators are finally facing justice. By Giles Tremlett

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From the generic hipster cafe to the ‘Instagram wall’, the internet has pushed us towards a kind of global ubiquity – and this phenomenon is only going to intensify. By Kyle Chayka

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Utilitarian as they may be, some civic projects are so monumental they approach the sublime. And one of the most elegant is hidden inside a mountain in Wales. By Deb Chachra

Archive: NASA

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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 2020: Travel bloggers have flocked to Pakistan in recent years – but have some of them become too close to the authorities? By Samira Shackle

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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 2020: What links an eccentric Oxford classics don, billionaire US evangelicals, and a tiny, missing fragment of an ancient manuscript?

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After the invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Russians fled to Tbilisi. But the graffiti that has sprung up across the city suggests not everyone is pleased to see them

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Three years ago, a huge explosion ripped the city apart – and with it people’s hopes for rebuilding. The most vulnerable, many of them women, are bearing the brunt of Lebanon’s endless disasters

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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 2020: A decade ago, violent racists exploited a national crisis and entered mainstream politics in Greece. The party has since been caught up in the biggest trial of Nazis since Nuremberg, and is now crumbling – but its success remains a warning

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When hundreds of my fellow Uyghurs started disappearing into ‘re-education camps’ every day, it became clear that it was only a matter of time before I would be detained. So my wife and I got ready to run

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Computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum was there at the dawn of artificial intelligence – but he was also adamant that we must never confuse computers with humans

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Across this fractured region, informal networks rule. So if you need to send something, ask someone who’s already going that way

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from April: From her shimmering novels to her ‘living autobiographies’, Deborah Levy’s work inspires a devotion few literary authors ever achieve

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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

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from March: Nisar Ahmed was almost killed in the Delhi riots. But when he became a witness in court cases against the alleged perpetrators, he realised that was only the start of his troubles

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Plenty of people will tell you the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland is the best place in the world to eat fish and chips. So what happens when its chippies – and chippies across the UK – start to close?

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from March:
For the past two years, Betsy Stanko has been leading an unprecedented investigation into why the police have been failing so badly to tackle sexual violence. But is there any chance of fixing a system that seems so broken?

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From the early days of the Tahrir Square protests, music was vital to the young people making their voices heard. And though the country is taking another authoritarian turn, that spirit of dissent cannot be extinguished

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Every Friday in August 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.

This week, from February: 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

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Before she was killed by a Russian missile strike, the acclaimed novelist and war crimes researcher wrote about growing up in Moscow’s shadow, and how she came to understand what being Ukrainian really meant

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It has been said that condoms share marketing characteristics with napalm and funerals. But it is Ben Wilson’s mission to make us believe they are key to human happiness

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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 2020: Gene and Sandy Ralston are a married couple in their 70s, who also happen to be among North America’s leading experts at searching for the dead

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We cannot let our cities descend into islands of privilege amid seas of disadvantage. With the right policies and investments, a better future is possible

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Hoarding can be distressing and dangerous. But it’s not just a matter of ‘too much stuff’ – it’s a complex condition that requires careful, targeted help

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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 2020: For decades, one company has ruled the world of tampons. But a new wave of brands has emerged, selling themselves as more ethical, more feminist and more ecological

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The soup of my childhood, borsch, has become emblematic of Putin’s assault on Ukrainian land, culture and heritage, of his drive to plunder and obliterate Ukraine

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Malcolm Macarthur was the wealthy, bookish socialite who shocked Ireland with a brutal double killing in 1982, and caused a major political scandal. I tracked him down and heard, for the first time, the tale he told about himself

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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 2020: The Windrush scandal brought the cruelty of Britain’s deportation policies to light, but the practice continues to this day – and shockingly, it is made possible by UK aid money

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While the world becomes drier, profit and pollution are draining our resources. We have to change our approach

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The Kenyan novelist’s life and work has intersected with many of the biggest events of the past century. At 85, he reflects on his long, uncompromising life in writing

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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: Richard Amoah went to Ghana for his father’s funeral and found himself barred from Britain for two years. Like other victims of the Windrush scandal, he is owed compensation – but what will he get?

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Her hit book Doughnut Economics laid out a path to a greener, more equal society. But can she turn her ideas into meaningful change?

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When my father began to forget words, and then basic skills, I sensed his fear. After my own alcoholic blackouts, I understood what he was going through

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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 2020: A police raid on a gay bar in New York led to the birth of the Pride movement half a century ago – but the fight for LGBTQ+ rights goes back much further than that

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Read more in this series: Cotton Capital

More and more institutions are commissioning investigations into their historical links to slavery – but the fallout at one Cambridge college suggests these projects are meeting growing resistance

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A flood of new research is overturning old assumptions about what animal minds are and aren’t capable of – and changing how we think about our own species

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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: Calculating the patterns and cycles of the past could lead us to a better understanding of history. Could it also help us prevent a looming crisis?

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For more than half a century, one organisation has been cataloguing all of life’s superlatives. But has it gone from being about the pursuit of knowledge to simply another big business?

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How a mind-altering, addictive substance was used as a weapon by one empire to subdue another

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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: It’s known for being the home of Mount Rushmore – and not much else. But thanks to its relish for deregulation, the state is fast becoming the most profitable place for the mega-wealthy to park their billions

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Landfill sites have swallowed many a beauty spot along the Thames estuary in the past 50 years. Now, as those dumps start to disgorge tonnes of mouldering detritus into the river, it truly feels like the Age of Consequences

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The Clipper round the world yacht race was created for amateurs seeking the ultimate challenge. But did they underestimate the risks?

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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 2020: Hong Kong used to be seen as cautious, pragmatic and materialistic. But protests have transformed the city. As Beijing tightens its grip, how much longer can the movement survive?

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Once hailed as a ‘handsome’ import, this most rampant of plants has come to be seen as a sinister, ruinous enemy. Can it be stopped?

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Despite vows to tighten the rules after the 1999 quake, cronyism and complacency have undermined Turkish building regulations – at the cost of many thousands of lives

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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 2020:

When he was six, Paul Alexander contracted polio and was paralysed for life. Today he is 74, and one of the last people in the world still using an iron lung. But after surviving one deadly outbreak, he did not expect to find himself threatened by another

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Bulgaria in the 1980s became known as the ‘virus factory’, where hundreds of malicious computer programs were unleashed to wreak havoc. But who was writing them, and why?

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Since being laid low with the virus more than a year ago, Catherine Heymans can only operate in half-hour bursts. But her work could still change the way we understand the universe

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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 2020:

My life seemed to be getting busier, faster: I felt constantly short of time – so I stepped outside it for a day and a night and did nothing

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Our two-year investigation suggests that the tech giant Meta is struggling to prevent criminals from using its platforms to buy and sell children for sex

More from this series: Rights and freedom

Content warning – the following article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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A series of financial scandals have rocked Italy’s most glamorous club. But is the trouble at Juventus symptomatic of a deeper rot in world football?

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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 2020: It’s cheap, attractive and convenient, and we eat it every day – it’s difficult not to. But is ultra-processed food making us ill and driving the global obesity crisis?

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Some organisms truck along slowly for aeons before suddenly surging into dominance – and something similar often happens with human inventions, too. But why?

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The civilians of Sudan have been trying to throw off military rule for decades, but now find themselves caught in the middle of a deadly power struggle between former allies turned bitter opponents

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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 2020: When I grew up there, Fleetwood was a tough but proud fishing port. It’s taken some knocks in the years since, but not everyone has given up on it.

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The rationalist in me knows that coincidences are inevitable, mundane, meaningless. But I can’t deny there is something strange and magical in them, too

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Liam Holden went to prison for 17 years on the basis of a confession he made after being tortured by British soldiers in 1972. Now the government is making it harder for people like him to get justice

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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: How the Italian mafia makes millions by exploiting migrants

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The race is on to develop a battery-powered aircraft. But not everyone’s convinced it will bring us closer to net-zero flight

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From her shimmering novels to her ‘living autobiographies’, Deborah Levy’s work inspires a devotion few literary authors ever achieve

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We are exploring the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2020: After losing four pregnancies, Jennie Agg set out to unravel the science of miscarriage. Then, a few months in, she found out she was pregnant again – just as the coronavirus pandemic hit

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Historians aren’t supposed to make predictions, but Yale professor Timothy Snyder has become known for his dire warnings – and many of them have been proved correct

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Players, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season – but is that fair?

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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: AI and brain-scanning technology could soon make it possible to reliably detect when people are lying. But do we really want to know?

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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

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In the 1980s, South African libertarians set up a deregulated zone that they sold to the world as ‘Africa’s Switzerland’. It was a sham, but with its clusters of sweatshops, it was very modern – and in some ways it anticipated the world we live in today

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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 2020: Not long after Antarctica recorded some its highest-ever temperatures, I joined a group of scientists studying how human activity is transforming the continent. It wasn’t what we saw that was most astonishing – but what we heard

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The horrors of this conflict, and the lives it has taken, must not be kept hidden. As the bombs continue to fall around us, I have gathered these witness testimonies as a memory against forgetting

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Artificial intelligence in its current form is based on the wholesale appropriation of existing culture, and the notion that it is actually intelligent could be actively dangerous

Archive: BBC

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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: On 15 September 1981, 10-year-old Ursula Herrmann headed home by bike from her cousin’s house. She never arrived. So began one of Germany’s most notorious postwar criminal cases, which remains contentious to this day

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For centuries, fictional narratives have used outer difference to telegraph inner monstrosity. As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned you can’t just edit out a few slurs or bad words to fix this – it’s often baked deep into the story

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Having grown up in different cultures with different expectations, my mother and I have often clashed. But as my daughter grows older, I have come to see our relationship in a different light

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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: It has left the beige-tinted margins and become social media’s most glamorous look. But why does veganism still provoke so much anger?

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Nisar Ahmed was almost killed in the Delhi riots. But when he became a witness in court cases against the alleged perpetrators, he realised that was only the start of his troubles

Archive: The Guardian

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For the past two years, Betsy Stanko has been leading an unprecedented investigation into why the police have been failing so badly to tackle sexual violence. But is there any chance of fixing a system that seems so broken?

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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: For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy

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When I was 28, the US arrived in Baghdad. The soldiers were announced as liberators, and their leaders talked of democracy. I watched the regime and Saddam’s statues fall, chaos reign and a sectarian war unfold

Archive: NBC; CNN; AP

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What do you say to someone whose wife prefers photographs of deceased authors to him?

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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 2017: Two decades ago, the Ministry of Defence decided to sell off its housing stock. The financier Guy Hands bought it up in a deal that would make his investors billions – and have catastrophic consequences for the military and the taxpayer

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For the ultra-wealthy and the super-famous, regular therapy won’t do

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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: He is the most beloved figure in Britain, and a global superstar. His films long shied away from discussing humanity’s impact on the planet. Now they are sounding the alarm – but is it too late?

Archive: UN Climate Change Conference (COP26); BBC

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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?

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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: for decades, the world of romantic fiction has been divided by a heated debate about racism and diversity. Is there any hope of a happy ending?

Archive: Strand Book Store; Romance Writers of America

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In 2016, artist César Aréchiga talked one of Mexico’s most dangerous maximum security prisons into letting him run art classes for its inmates, many of them violent gang members. Could he really change their lives?

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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 2016: In 2014, an American dad claimed a tiny parcel of African land to make his daughter a princess. But Jack Shenker had got there first – and learned that states and borders are volatile and delicate things

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In 2021, a security guard in Spain stormed into his workplace and shot four people. He was caught, badly injured, and a trial was set – but his victims would never get to see him punished

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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: Hundreds of ski resorts now stand abandoned across the Alps. But some scientists believe they have found a way to keep snow on the ground – and that it could help vulnerable communities all over the world

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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

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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 2015: Some say Phil Taylor is Britain’s greatest living sportsman. At 54, he has nothing left to prove, but will not quit. Does he need the game more than it needs him?

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It is impossible to understand China without understanding this decade of horror, and the ways in which it scarred the entire nation. So why do some of that era’s children still look back on it with fondness?

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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 2017: When a drilling platform is scheduled for destruction, it must go on a thousand-mile final journey to the breaker’s yard. As one rig proved when it crashed on to the rocks of a remote Scottish island, this is always a risky business

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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?

Archive: NDTV; Heritage Times

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We know we need to cut down on sugar. But replacing it with artificial compounds isn’t necessarily the answer

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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

Archive: Channel 4 News; Washington Post; ABC News

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

Archive: Fisher Price

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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

Archive: World Rugby

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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?

Archive: Iran Wire, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Toomaj, ITV

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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?

This article was originally published in August 2021.

Archive: The Guardian, ITV news

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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?

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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?

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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

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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

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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 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?

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Moss is ancient, and grows at a glacial pace, but it lives alongside us everywhere, country and city, a witness to the human world and its catastrophic speed. What can we learn by tuning in to ‘moss time’?

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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 they were locked out of their own stadium, an unlikely band of supporters came together to save a beloved south London club

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One Thursday afternoon, I stepped out to cross a city street – and woke up in hospital with broken bones and a brain injury. After I recovered, I started looking into why so many drivers just don’t stop

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In Fiji, the climate crisis means dozens of villages could soon be underwater. Relocating so many communities is an epic undertaking. But now there is a plan – and the rest of the world is watching

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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: Smartphones and the internet gave the Uighurs a sense of their own identity – but now the Chinese state is using technology to strip them of it

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Idealising the past is nothing new, but there is something peculiarly revealing about the way a certain generation of Facebook users look back fondly on tougher times

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A wave of bestselling authors claim that global affairs are still ultimately governed by the immutable facts of geography – mountains, oceans, rivers, resources. But the world has changed more than they realise

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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: Five years after his last taste of alcohol, William Leith tries to understand its powerful magic

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Despite all the warning signs, as I sat down for dinner with friends in Kyiv on 23 February, war seemed unreal. Surely, Putin was bluffing?

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By the end of the century, Africa will be home to 40% of the world’s population – and nowhere is this breakneck-pace development happening faster than this 600-mile stretch between Abidjan and Lagos

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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: The Gürtel case began with one Madrid mogul. Over the next decade, it grew into the biggest corruption investigation in Spain’s recent history, sweeping up hundreds of corrupt politicians and businessmen – and shattering its political system

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As the world faces the worst debt crisis in decades, the need for a global lender of last resort is clearer than ever. But many nations view the IMF as overbearing, or even neocolonial – and are now looking elsewhere for help

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Across the country, fact-finding teams are tirelessly gathering evidence and testimony about Russian atrocities, often within hours of troops retreating. Turning this into convictions will not be easy, or quick, but the task has begun

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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: Human activity has transformed the Earth – but scientists are divided about whether this is really a turning point in geological history

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As a civil servant in the 1980s, I had a front row seat as the British government began to lose touch with reality. Since then, things have only got worse

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Sisi’s Egypt is making a big show of solar panels and biodegradable straws ahead of next week’s climate summit – but in reality the regime imprisons activists and bans research. The climate movement should not play along

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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 2016: The Republican intellectual establishment is united against Trump – but his message of cultural and racial resentment has deep roots in the American right

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Forty years ago, Dr Ray Osheroff sued a US hospital for failing to give him antidepressants. The case would change the course of medical history – even if it couldn’t help the patient himself

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Ben Roberts-Smith v the media is a five-part series available via Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast feed. All episodes streaming now.

In the defamation trial of the century, Australia’s most-decorated living soldier is seeking to defend his reputation against reports in three newspapers that he says falsely accuse him of being a war criminal. His lawyers argue Roberts-Smith has been unfairly targeted by envious comrades and assisted by credulous journalists. The newspapers’ lawyers say their reporting is true, and that Roberts-Smith broke the ‘moral and legal rules of military engagement’, something he denies outright.

But who is Ben Roberts-Smith, and how did he earn the military’s highest honour, the Victoria Cross?

This is the first part of Ben Roberts-Smith v the media, a five-part series by Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast. You can find all five episodes of Ben Roberts-Smith v the media here.

Ben Roberts Smith v the media, part one: reputation features the following actors:

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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?

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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: The traditional right is clinging on to power – but its ideas are dead in the water

Archive: The Guardian, Reagan Foundation, Conservative Party, AP, Wall Street Journal, ABC.

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In a country known for its liberal drugs policies, organised crime operated for years under the public’s nose – until a series of shocking killings revealed how deep the problem went

Archive: DW

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All my life, my exiled parents had told me about the tragedy of Palestine. Then, when I was in my early 20s, my family moved back – and I saw it with my own eyes

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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 2017: A bitter battle is raging within the mole-catching community over the kindest way to carry out their deadly work

Archive: Newbury Today

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The giant asset management firm used to target places where people worked and shopped. Then it started buying up people’s homes. In one country, the backlash was ferocious

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Hackers are increasingly taking users’ data hostage and demanding huge sums for its release. They have targeted individuals, businesses, vital infrastructure and even hospitals. Authorities have been slow to respond – but there is help out there

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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 2017: In 2011 a tsunami engulfed Japan’s north-east coast. More than 18,000 people were killed. Six years later, in one community, survivors are still tormented by a catastrophic split-second decision

Archive: CNN

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Whether it’s organic or psychosomatic or something in between, multiple chemical sensitivity can cause chronic illness, and its sufferers often feel abandoned

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Josh and Jack used to interrogate life via absurdist jokes and sketches. But the questions they had just kept getting bigger – and led them both to embark upon a profound transformation

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This week, from 2018: There are 13,000 business schools on Earth. That’s 13,000 too many. And I should know – I’ve taught in them for 20 years

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A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist. Could they be right?

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When children first started flocking to YouTube, some seriously strange stuff started to appear – and after much outcry, the company found itself scrambling to fix the problem

Archive: Mother Goose Club, Blu Toys Club Surprise, DisneyCollectorBR (FOD Flix of the Day), Webs & Tiaras, FINFOO, Xickel, Toy Freaks

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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: Gavin Watson was a hero of the struggle against apartheid. But this once-powerful businessman is now caught up in a sweeping inquiry that goes to the heart of how a nation is run

Archive: News24Video

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From the 1950s, thousands of children of African parents were happily fostered by white British families. But for some, the well-intentioned plan was deeply damaging

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In this new six-episode podcast, Guardian journalist Sirin Kale investigates the story of a cyberstalker who terrified people in his hometown and beyond for over a decade.

Episode one begins in his hometown, Northwich, where Sirin meets some of his earliest victims - Andrea Yuile, Amber and Amy Bailey. They tell us how he infiltrated their lives and talk about the horrendous fallout of what he did.

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It’s true that the UK Treasury thrives under the pressure of a crisis, from the 2007 financial crash to the Covid pandemic – but is its self-hyped reputation as the bedrock of government stability really deserved?

Archive: BBC, Telegraph, The Guardian, ITV, UK Parliament

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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: Many Polish people remember Soviet soldiers saving them from Nazi occupation. But a growing number are rejecting that narrative, and the monuments that come with it

Archive: Euronews, TV Regionalna pl

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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

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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?

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We are raiding the Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2014: When Prince Charles becomes king, will he be able to stop his compulsive ‘meddling’? And if he can’t, what will it mean for the monarchy and the United Kingdom?

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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?

This article was originally published in August 2021.

Archive: The Guardian, ITV news

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Following the news of the Queen’s death, we are bringing you a piece from our archive from our archive: London Bridge is down, the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death by Sam Knight. The piece was first published in 2017, and while a few small details are out of date, it remains the best account of both what will unfold over the coming days and what this moment in history means

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The Queen has died aged 96 at her Scottish home of Balmoral. In this episode of our Today in Focus podcast, Polly Toynbee joins Nosheen Iqbal to look back on her life

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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: The ‘wolf pack’ case inspired widespread anger and protests against sexual assault laws in Spain. But the anti-feminist backlash that followed has helped propel the far right to its biggest gains since Franco

Archive: DW News, Euronews, The Guardian, BBC

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He has been described as ‘the worst kind of businessman’, but we now know that industrialist Moritz Hochschild also rescued as many as 20,000 Jews from the Nazis

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For years Tsang Tsou-choi daubed his eccentric demands around Hong Kong, and the authorities raced to cover them up. But as the city’s protest movements bloomed, his words mysteriously reappeared

Archive: CNN, South China Morning Post, The Straights Times, Voice of America

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People driven from their homes by climate disaster need protection. And ageing nations need them

Archive: BBC news, Sky News Australia, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, Fox news, Euronews, Channel 4 News, AFP

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Every Friday in August 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 April: From the playing fields of Lewisham and Bromley to the Premier League, south London’s football clubs have nurtured wave after wave of stars. And these players have become proud symbols of a place reshaped by each new generation of migrants

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For years I lived with the Inuit community in Canada’s far north. But it was only later, when the suicides began, that I learned of the epidemic of abuse that had unfolded during that time

Archive: CBC

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Every Friday in August 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 May: What’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack?

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A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nations’ waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will anything be done?

• Read text version here

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Every Friday in August 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 February: At a summer camp for kids from conflict zones, I met my brave, funny friend Aseel. He was Palestinian. I was Israeli. When he was killed by police, my hope for our future died with him

• Read text version here

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Every year, thousands of bikes are tossed into rivers, ponds, lakes and canals. What’s behind this mass drowning?

Archive: The Daily Mail, First Coast News, KCRA News, KARK 24 News, FRANCE24 English

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Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2022, in case you missed them. Including introduction from the editorial team explaining why we’ve chosen it.

This week, from February: Nina Gladitz dedicated her life to proving the Triumph of the Will director’s complicity with the horrors of Nazism. In the end, she succeeded – but at a cost

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Global trade depends almost entirely on huge, dirty, dangerous container ships. Now a team of French shipbuilders is bringing back wind-powered sea freight

Archive: BBC, CNN, ABC, Grain de Sail

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From ancient Egyptian cubits to fitness tracker apps, humankind has long been seeking ever more ways to measure the world – and ourselves. But what is this doing to us?

Archive: BBC

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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: It’s the miracle ingredient in everything from biscuits to shampoo. But our dependence on palm oil has devastating environmental consequences. Is it too late to break the habit?

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When black people were given back their land after apartheid, many felt driven to prove they could farm as well as white South Africans. But even before they had begun, the system was stacked against them

Archive: University of Nottingham

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Abortion in the 19th-century US was widely accepted as a means of avoiding the risks of pregnancy. The idea of banning or punishing it came later

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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: After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on the planet. But its benefits mask enormous dangers to the planet, to human health – and to culture itself

Archive: Al Jazeera, AFP, The Guardian

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As violence, drug use and suicide at HMP Nottingham reached shocking new levels, the prison became a symbol of a system crumbling into crisis

• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

• In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978

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New technology was supposed to make umpiring easy. It hasn’t worked out that way

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We are raiding the Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2015: On 26 November 2010, Yara Gambirasio, 13, went missing. Three months later her body was discovered in scrubland nearby. So began one of the most complex murder investigations in Italian history, which will reach its climax later this year

Archive: RAI

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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?

Archive: ITV

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After so many other Olympic sites ended up left to rot, London 2012 was supposed to be different. But who has really benefited from this orgy of development?

Archive: BBC, Olympic Broadcasting Services, AP, RTE, RCN TV

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We are raiding the Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2015: It began with a test-fixing scandal so massive that it led to 2,000 arrests, including top politicians, academics and doctors. Then suspects started turning up dead. What is the truth behind India’s Vyapam scam?

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Archive: NDTV, E4U Channel, AajTak

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A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of biology

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Emmanuel Carrère was no stranger to depression, but it was late in life that a major episode got him hospitalised and diagnosed as bipolar. In some ways it made sense of his problems, but in the midst of it, everything was broken

• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

• In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978

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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 2016: Whether he wins the US presidency or not, his rise reveals a growing attraction to political demagogues – and points to a wider crisis of democracy

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The story of the modern web is often told through the stories of Google, Facebook, Amazon. But eBay was the first conqueror

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As survivors and the bereaved mark the disaster’s fifth anniversary, the inquiry hearings are finally nearing their end

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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: Are you sitting comfortably? Many people are not – and there are some who insist the way we’ve been going to the toilet is all wrong

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Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas. So why did it happen?

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As we face increased flooding, China’s sponge cities are taking a new course. But can they steer the country away from concrete megadams?

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From 2018: In a country with one of the lowest murder rates in the world, the killing of a 20-year-old woman upended the nation’s sense of itself

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For nearly 60 years, a former monk toiled almost single-handedly on an extraordinary building outside Madrid. Is it a folly or a masterpiece?

Archive: Mille et une vies; 360° - GEO Reportage; BBC news

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When my Latvian grandfather disappeared in 1949, my grandmother already knew he had been a member of a notorious Nazi brigade. But then a pension cheque arrived from the Soviet security agency

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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 2017: As politicians dither over repairs, the risk of fire, flood or a deluge of sewage only increases. But fixing the Palace of Westminster might change British politics for good – which is the last thing many of its residents want

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Today’s oceans are a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. We could make it stop, so why don’t we?

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Thanks to a savvy California lawyer, Albert Einstein has earned far more posthumously than he ever did in his lifetime. But is that what the great scientist would have wanted?

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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: The Iraq Historic Allegations Team was set up by the government to investigate claims of the abuse of civilians. After its collapse, some fear the truth will never come out

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The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the whole world afraid of the atomic bomb – even those who might launch one. Today that fear has mostly passed out of living memory, and with it we may have lost a crucial safeguard

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In the 18th century, the naval explorer was worshipped as a deity. Now his statues are being defaced across the lands he visited

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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: He has built a multimillion pound empire, and is driven to help people attain ‘financial justice’. But in an age of predatory capitalism and rampant inequality, can one man’s modest suggestions really make a difference?

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Selling cheap fakes of a successful product makes horribly good business sense. Is there any way to stop it?

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Five million payphone calls are still made each year in the UK. Who is making them – and why?

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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: The cameras have gone – but the suffering endures. Daniel Trilling deconstructs the beliefs that still shape policy and public opinion

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For the first time in years, its role has become a topic of furious debate. But what do we talk about when we talk about Nato?

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What’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack?

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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 2016: A former murder capital of the US, Camden, New Jersey has created its first cold case squad. Can solving old killings help restore an embattled community’s trust in law and order?

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Days after fire destroyed the overcrowded camp, six inmates were charged with arson. Greece is now opening ‘prison-like’ secure camps in the Aegean islands as part of a growing tendency to criminalise refugees

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Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why?

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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: ‘Natural wine’ advocates say everything about the modern industry is ethically, ecologically and aesthetically wrong – and have triggered the biggest split in the wine world for a generation. By Stephen Buranyi

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Gap’s clothes defined an era, but the brand has been steadily declining for years. Can a collaboration with Kanye West revive its fortunes – or is it just another sign of a company flailing around for an identity?

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At the Oxford university debating society in the 80s, a generation of aspiring politicians honed the art of winning using jokes, rather than facts

This podcast contains some strong language.

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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: the credibility of establishment figures has been demolished by technological change and political upheavals. But it’s too late to turn back the clock

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Forensic scientist Angela Gallop has helped to crack many of the UK’s most notorious murder cases. But today she fears the whole field – and justice itself – is at risk

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Not all cryptocurrency investors fit the cliches. Many are people looking to somehow claw their way out of a life of constant struggle

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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 2017: It is an industry like no other, with profit margins to rival Google – and it was created by one of Britain’s most notorious tycoons: Robert Maxwell

by Stephen Buranyi

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To eat in the modern world is often to eat in a state of profound sensory disengagement. It shouldn’t have to be this way. By Bee Wilson

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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 2016: When a key figure in a powerful ‘ultra’ group killed himself in July, police suspected the mafia was using the ultras to get into the game

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Mazar-i-Sharif was once the most secular, liberal of Afghan cities. But 20 years of corruption and misrule left it ripe for retaking by the Taliban. Will anything be different this time? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

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The closure of John Lewis’s store in Sheffield after almost 60 years was a bitter blow. As debate rages over what to do with the huge empty site, the city is becoming a test case for where Britain’s urban centres may be heading. By John Harris

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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: An unprecedented US mission to Pyongyang in 1999 promised to defuse Kim’s nuclear threat. But it all came to nothing – and then the hawks took power. By Julian Borger

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The past two years have been the hardest ever for restaurants. Amid critical shortages of staff, food supplies and even customers, can a new venture from the man behind Polpo survive? By George Reynolds

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If you’re enjoying the Guardian’s Weekend podcast, make sure to search for it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and hit that subscribe button. You can also leave us a review if you like what you hear

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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, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, we revisit this piece by Oliver Bullough from 2018. For decades, politicians have welcomed the super-rich with open arms. Now they’re finally having second thoughts. But is it too late?

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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 2017: In 2014, documents alleging a conspiracy to Islamise Birmingham schools were leaked to the media, sparking a national scandal. The papers were debunked – but the story remains as divisive as ever. What really happened? By Samira Shackle

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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. By Daniel Immerwahr

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Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators.

In this week’s episode, Marina Hyde on oligarchs in London (1m53s), Zoe Williams interviews Charlie Brooker (9m26s), Annie Lord discusses the pros and cons of voice notes (19m30s) and Luke Winkie investigates the Crime Queen of Bitcoin (32m04s).

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My drinking and drug use pushed me over the edge into a complete breakdown. Then a stint in rehab made me question how much we really understand about addiction. By Carl Erik Fisher

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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 2017: Over three decades, he transformed a nation’s attitude to art. But is his revolution now in danger of being reversed? by Charlotte Higgins

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After giving safe harbour to thousands of people fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe, the British government decided that some of them could be a threat – and locked all of them up. For many, it was a betrayal on the part of their supposed liberators. By Simon Parkin

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In this week’s episode, Chris Godfrey interviews Johnny Knoxville about his life as a world-famous stuntman (2m08s), Marina Hyde laments the fact a computer system was believed over humans (15m53s), actress Emma Thompson explores the intersection of three generations of women in her family (24m39s), Jay Rayner reviews Chef Tee’s Sugarcane London (28m46s), and Nell Frizzell gives 10 tips to revive a longterm relationship (36m24s).

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Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business? By Sophie Elmhirst

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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 2016: For more than 40 years, William James Vahey drugged and abused hundreds of pupils at international schools around the world. A Guardian investigation reveals that, despite numerous opportunities to stop him, nothing was done. By Robert Booth

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• In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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At a summer camp for kids from conflict zones, I met my brave, funny friend Aseel. He was Palestinian. I was Israeli. When he was killed by police, my hope for our future died with him. By Roy Cohen

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Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators.

In this episode, Marina Hyde looks at the new additions to Downing Street (2m00s), Hadley Freeman interviews Hollywood actor Will Arnett (9m56s), Sirin Kale tries her hand at quiz show Mastermind (26m32s), and David Robson examines why we’re so stressed about stress (41m08s).

If you like what you hear, subscribe to Weekend on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

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In northern Norway, trees are rapidly taking over the tundra and threatening an ancient way of life that depends on snow and ice. By Ben Rawlence

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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 2017: In recent years, references to such attacks have become inescapable. But this lazy term obscures the real nature of the threat against us. By Jason Burke

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The pace of global heating is forcing insect populations to move and adapt – and some aggressive species are thriving. By Oliver Milman

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Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators.

In our first episode, Marina Hyde reflects on another less than stellar week for Boris Johnson (1m38s), Edward Helmore charts the rise of Joe Rogan (9m46s), Laura Snapes goes deep with singer George Ezra (18m30s), and Alex Moshakis asks, “Are you a jerk at work?” (34m40s).

If you like what you hear, subscribe to Weekend on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

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Nina Gladitz dedicated her life to proving the Triumph of the Will director’s complicity with the horrors of Nazism. In the end, she succeeded – but at a cost. By Kate Connolly

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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 2016: Rats spread disease, decimate crops and very occasionally eat people alive. For centuries, we have struggled to find an effective way of controlling their numbers. Until now … By Jordan Kisner

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Hu Xijin is China’s most famous propagandist. At the Global Times, he helped establish a chest-thumping new tone for China on the world stage – but can he keep up with the forces he has unleashed? By Han Zhang

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