The Audio Long Read
The Guardian
SummaryIf you are looking to escape the relentless speed of the daily news cycle, The Audio Long Read offers a sanctuary for deep, immersive storytelling. Three times a week, we invite you to slow down and sit with the definitive journalism of the Guardian, narrated to bring the most compelling investigations and personal accounts directly to your ears. Our episodes act as an auditory bridge into the complexities of the modern world. We peel back the layers of global crises, from the systemic corruption within elite football clubs to the haunting realities of the child trafficking trade. But the scope of the show goes far beyond the headlines. We dive into the philosophical dilemmas of our time—exploring everything from the moral paradoxes of trophy hunting in Africa to the struggle for identity and language preservation in a globalized era. Whether we are profiling the public intellectuals who shape our political discourse or sharing the raw, resilient stories of individuals surviving the unthinkable, every episode is crafted to challenge your perspective. We examine the intersection of personal history and global change, offering longform narratives that are as intellectually rigorous as they are emotionally resonant. Join us as we explore the human stories behind the institutions, the politics, and the culture that define our era, one thoughtfully told story at a time.
Updated Jun 30, 2026
Episodes
From the archive:‘I feel like I’m selling my soul’: inside the crisis at Juventus
Juventus face a crisis over systematic transfer inflation and secret payouts used to cover massive financial losses.
‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship
A scholar recounts his years-long bureaucratic and moral struggle to formally renounce his Russian citizenship.
On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife
Trophy hunters and conservationists argue that the revenue from shooting big game is essential to saving African wildlife.
From the archive: Putin, Trump, Ukraine: how Timothy Snyder became the leading interpreter of our dark times
Yale historian Timothy Snyder became a polarizing intellectual force by linking the rise of Putin to Trumpism.
How to survive the information crisis: ‘We once talked about fake news – now reality itself feels fake’
Digital saturation and AI have eroded our attention and trust, leaving reality itself feeling dangerously fake.
Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’
Stacey Abrams argues that gutting the Voting Rights Act is a deliberate, evil strategy to dismantle democracy.
Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother
Learning Welsh connects the author to his heritage and his mother, revealing the limits of apps like Duolingo.
‘Any other child would have died’: the miraculous survival of Nada Itrab
Kidnapped and enslaved as a child, Nada Itrab survived a harrowing ordeal to become a fierce advocate for justice.
From the archive: the impossible job: inside the world of Premier League referees
Elite referees face intense scrutiny, physical threats, and the polarizing impact of VAR in modern professional football.
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