The Audio Long Read

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have spent more than $1bn on an Albanian island that will be a luxury resort – once the unexploded ordnance has been removed By Marzio Mian. Read by Mo Ayoub For more on US politics and the Trump family check out Politics Weekly America. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

British progressives have suffered major setbacks in recent years, in both public opinion and court rulings. Was a backlash inevitable, and are new tactics needed? By Gaby Hinsliff. Read by Carlyss Peer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: 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 Written and read by John Harris. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In my 40s, I found myself with a life that didn't look like it was ‘supposed' to. What was I doing? On trips to South Korea with my mother, an answer began to emerge By E Tammy Kim. Read by Jennifer J Kim. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: new technology was supposed to make umpiring easy. It hasn't worked out that way By William Ralston. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I was told my husband would never talk again, while physiotherapy was dismissed entirely. My son was failed in similar ways, but for the brilliance of some medical staff who refuse to believe a stroke is the end By Sheila Hale. Read by Phyllida Nash. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

He's spent 24 hours immersed in slime, two days buried alive – and showered vast amounts of cash on lucky participants. But are MrBeast's videos simply very savvy clickbait – or acts of avant garde genius? Written and read by Mark O'Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But if the worst should happen, would they actually work? By Jessi Jezewska Stevens. Read by Rachel Handshaw. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: at the Oxford university debating society in the 80s, a generation of aspiring politicians honed the art of winning using jokes, rather than facts By Simon Kuper. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

President Trump's tariffs have plunged the world economy into chaos. But history counsels against despair – and the left should seize on capitalism's crisis of legitimacy By John Cassidy. Read by Chris Reilly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Football coverage no longer stops after the final whistle. And in this new era, the former Liverpool defender reigns supreme By Kieran Morris. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 Written and read by Kate Connolly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In a Danish palliative care unit, the alternative to assisted dying is not striving to cure – offering relief and comfort to patients and their families By Line Vaaben. Read by Freya Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

With his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it's little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious By Hettie O'Brien. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: 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 Written and read by Carey Baraka. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

As they pass through different hands, cooking utensils can magically connect us to loved ones who are no longer with us By Bee Wilson. Read by Colleen Prendergast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil's remote Javari valley. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for “Missing in the Amazon”. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Guardian journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert were killed while investigating the impact of deforestation. In this extract from the book Phillips was writing at the time of his death, he reflects on his encounters with the rainforest and its people – and why it is so vital to save this precious place By Dom Phillips. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: For decades, Alan Yentob was the dominant creative force at the BBC – behind everything from Adam Curtis to Strictly Come Dancing. He was a towering figure in British culture – so why did many applaud his very public slide from power? Written and read by Sam Knight. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

During the decade-long conflicts, the major powers dithered as Serb militias carried out their brutal campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Guardian reporters became more passionate and more outspoken in their condemnation, attracting praise and criticism By Ian Mayes. Read by Owen McDonnell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true? By Manvir Singh. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When a no-nonsense lecturer set up a radical solution to help free the wrongfully convicted in the UK, he was hopeful he could change the justice system. But what started as a revolution ended in acrimony By Francisco Garcia. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action By Samira Shackle. Read by Díana Bermudez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: 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. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections Written and read by Harry Shukman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor' tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous collective began to investigate his past By Scott Sayare. Read by Simon Vance. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Online dissent is a serious crime in China. So why did a Weibo censor help me publish posts critical of the Communist party? By Murong Xuecun. Read by Zhang Wang Li. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On a summer morning in 1990, the body of a young woman appeared in a small town close to the frontier. For those who saw her, finding her identity became an obsession that would last 30 years By Giles Tremlett. Read by Luis Soto. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The artist Jeremy Deller can't really draw or paint. Instead of making things, he makes things happen. And later this year, he is planning to unleash a bacchanalian festival that will be his most daring public artwork yet By Charlotte Higgins. Read by Richard Coyle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Black Panthers shook America awake before the party was eviscerated by the US government. Their children paid a steep price, but also emerged with unassailable pride and burning lessons for today By Ed Pilkington. Read by Chiké Okonkwo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 2022: Five million payphone calls are still made each year in the UK. Who is making them – and why? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Emma Powell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Each year, hundreds of potentially world-changing treatments are discarded because scientists run out of cash. But where big pharma or altruists fear to tread, my friend and I have a solution. It's repugnant, but it will work By Alexander Masters. Read by Tom Andrews. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects By Sean Williams. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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: As the fighters advanced on Kabul, it was civilians who mobilised to help with the evacuation. In the absence of a plan, the hardest decisions fell on inexperienced volunteers, and the stress began to tell By Zarlasht Halaimzai. Read by Serena Manteghi. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Black Swan follows a repentant master criminal as she sets up corrupt clients in front of hidden cameras. But is she really reformed – and is the director up to his own tricks? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by David Bateson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

A violent fanatic and pioneer in bigotry, Meir Kahane died a political outcast 35 years ago. Today, his ideas influence the very highest levels of government By Joshua Leifer. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 32 years of establishment lies, media smears, inquests, trials and retrials, the families of the Hillsborough dead have yet to see anyone held accountable By David Conn. Read by Gavin Skelhorn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

She spent her life in northern France doing exhausting, back-breaking work – and yet she turned her anger against people who had done no wrongs to her. But as much as I couldn't stand her rants, I was forced to accept her as she was By Didier Eribon. Read by Mark Noble. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad's fighters could get him killed By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod