Best Guardian Long Read Podcasts (2025)

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When I met Craig he was 13 and homeless. I still thought his life might turn around. I was tragically wrong 31:29

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3h ago31:29

31:29

I knew he was running away from something. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the truth Written and read by Pamela Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Could Reform UK and the Tories merge? 34:40

1d ago34:40

34:40

Nigel Farage was handed a £9m donation this week, amid reports he said elsewhere that a deal with the Conservatives before the general election was ‘inevitable’. John Harris speaks to Kiran Stacey about what this means for Reform UK. They also discuss David Lammy’s plan to scrap some jury trials, and answer questions from Politics Weekly UK listene…

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Money talks: the deep ties between Twitter and Saudi Arabia 31:48

19h ago31:48

31:48

Saudi Arabia’s investment in Twitter increased its influence in Silicon Valley while being used at home to shut down critics of the regime By Jacob Silverman.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the world 47:46

2d ago47:46

47:46

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: what’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack? By Tom Lamont. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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Can Keir Starmer save Rachel Reeves? 29:13

4d ago29:13

29:13

Pippa and Kiran discuss the prime minister’s speech on Monday and ask whether it will take attention away from allegations that the chancellor misled the public with her budget statements. Plus: chaos at Your Party’s first conference. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod…

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‘They take the money and go’: why not everyone is mourning the end of USAID 41:29

4d ago41:29

41:29

When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpected By Mara Kardas-Nelson. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose 28:20

8d ago28:20

28:20

When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world By Rose George. Read by Rosalie Craig. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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The budget: Labour’s big tax and spend gamble 28:07

9d ago28:07

28:07

John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey give their reactions to the chancellor’s autumn budget. Has Rachel Reeves done enough to silence her critics?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: ‘If you decide to cut staff, people die’: how Nottingham prison descended into chaos 50:08

10d ago50:08

50:08

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: as violence, drug use and suicide at HMP Nottingham reached shocking new levels, the prison became a symbol of a system crumbling into crisis By Isobel Thompson. Read by Simon Darwen. Help s…

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A make-or-break week for the UK government 27:00

11d ago27:00

27:00

It is finally budget week, so Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the context of Rachel Reeves’s big moment and how high the stakes are. Plus, Kiran talks about what happened behind the scenes of his trip to Johannesburg with Keir Starmer, including how talks over the Ukraine peace plan unfolded. Help support our independent journalism at theguar…

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‘Scamming became the new farming’: inside India’s cybercrime villages 41:11

12d ago41:11

41:11

How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit? By Snigdha Poonam. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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How dangerous are Labour’s asylum plans? 31:26

16d ago31:26

31:26

There was outrage from Labour MPs on Monday evening as Shabana Mahmood outlined her plans to shake up the asylum system. Will these policies be watered down? John Harris finds out what is happening behind the scenes with Kiran Stacey. Plus, now that Labour has adopted Reform UK rhetoric on immigration, where does the party go from here? John talks …

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From the archive: how we lost our sensory connection with food – and how to restore it 35:36

17d ago35:36

35:36

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: 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. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent jour…

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Labour’s risky asylum pitch – podcast 28:34

18d ago28:34

28:34

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look at radical plans from the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to tackle the ‘out of control’ asylum system. Plus, has the briefing row only made Keir Starmer’s rivals more coordinated?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspodBy The Guardian

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The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist 40:00

19d ago40:00

40:00

Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work? By Philip Oltermann. Read by Daniela Denby Ashe. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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‘The jobless should lead the attack’: a radical Jamaican journalist in 1920s London 31:38

22d ago31:38

31:38

Economic insecurity, race riots, incendiary media … Claude McKay was one of the few Black journalists covering a turbulent period that sounds all too familiar to us today By Yvonne Singh. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Why is the Labour party in such a mess? 35:30

23d ago35:30

35:30

John Harris is joined by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey as an attempt to halt leadership manoeuvres against Keir Starmer has spectacularly backfired and put Starmer’s potential rival Wes Streeting on the front foot. Plus, the BBC is in crisis again – but this time it involves a $1bn lawsuit filed by Donald Trump. Jane Martinson, the former head of m…

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From the archive: ‘We are so divided now’: how China controls thought and speech beyond its borders 40:42

24d ago40:42

40:42

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 arrest of a Tibetan New York city cop on spying charges plays into the community’s long-held suspicions that the People’s Republic is watching them By Lauren Hilgers. Read by Emily Woo Z…

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Special Edition: Behind the scenes at the Long Read 19:57

25d ago19:57

19:57

To celebrate the launch of the new Guardian Long Read magazine this week, join the long read editor David Wolf in discussion with regular contributors Charlotte Higgins and Hettie O’Brien. The Guardian long read magazine is available to order at theguardian.com/longreadmag In this issue, you’ll find pieces on how MrBeast became the world’s biggest …

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Can the BBC survive this crisis? 26:00

25d ago26:00

26:00

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness. Plus, the growing unease within Labour about Keir Starmer’s leadership and what MPs might do about it. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod…

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Counting down to zero: the final warning from a climate diplomat 27:16

26d ago27:16

27:16

Before Peter Betts died in 2023, he wanted to pass on what he had learned over many years of negotiating at Cops – including how Paris 2015 was saved at the last bell By Peter Betts. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Nicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls 31:37

29d ago31:37

31:37

In a special, bonus episode of Politics Weekly, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon for a frank conversation about her time in office and the future of nationalist politics. Nothing is off the table: her leadership, Covid, the gender row that dogged her final days in office and the alleged fi…

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Extremely offline: what happened when a Pacific island was cut off from the internet 32:53

29d ago32:53

32:53

A colossal volcanic eruption in January 2022 ripped apart the underwater cables that connect Tonga to the world – and exposed the fragility of 21st-century life By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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The chancellor’s impossible choice: economic necessity or political disaster? 36:04

30d ago36:04

36:04

John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s economics editor, Heather Stewart, about the unenviable choice facing Rachel Reeves. What price will she pay if she raises the basic rate of income tax for the first time in half a century? Meanwhile, has language and policy that would once have been confined to the far-right fringe entered mainstream politics? …

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From the archive: A drowning world: Kenya’s quiet slide underwater 27:35

1M ago27:35

27:35

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: Kenya’s great lakes are flooding, in a devastating and long-ignored environmental disaster that is displacing hundreds of thousands of people By Carey Baraka. Read by Reice Weathers. Help su…

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What does Faragenomics look like? 26:13

1M ago26:13

26:13

Nigel Farage promised to set out his fiscal stall in a major speech in the City of London, but what did he actually say? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss Farage’s retreat from its election promise to cut £90bn of taxes, his failure to commit to the pensions triple lock and his desire to woo the wealthy. Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves continues to la…

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‘Americans are democracy’s equivalent of second-generation wealth’: a Chinese journalist on the US under Trump 30:32

1M ago30:32

30:32

Once a stalwart of Hong Kong’s journalism scene, Wang Jian has found a new audience on YouTube, dissecting global politics and US-China relations since the pandemic. To his fans, he’s part newscaster, part professor, part friend By Lauren Hilgers. Read by G Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job 30:46

1M ago30:46

30:46

From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order By Tom Lamont. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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‘The centre cannot hold’: John Curtice on the collapse of two-party politics 34:06

1M ago34:06

34:06

No one likes being unpopular, so you could forgive both of the UK’s main political parties for wanting to look away when another damning poll dropped this week. Support for both parties has never been so low at the same time, the Green party is seeing record support and Reform UK continues to top the popularity contest. Does recent polling really s…

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From the archive: The queen of crime-solving 41:55

1M ago41:55

41:55

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: 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 By Imogen West-Knight…

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Immigration system in crisis: sky-high hotel bills and a convict on the loose 26:25

1M ago26:25

26:25

Another week, another immigration crisis. A powerful parliamentary committee has accused the Home Office – for this government and the last – of squandering billions of pounds on asylum accommodation and overseeing a ‘failed, chaotic and expensive’ system. The report came days after the barely believable revelation that the convicted sex offender w…

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A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0 25:45

1M ago25:45

25:45

If the first term of Donald Trump provoked anxiety over the fate of objective knowledge, the second has led to claims we live in a world-historical age of stupid, accelerated by big tech. But might there be a way out? By William Davies. Read by Dan Starkey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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‘Resistance is when I put an end to what I don’t like’: The rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof gang 36:37

1M ago36:37

36:37

In the 1970s, the radical leftwing German terrorist organisation may have spread fear through public acts of violence – but its inner workings were characterised by vanity and incompetence By Jason Burke. Read by Noof Ousellam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Labour collapse in Caerphilly: the byelection that points to the future of UK politics 31:53

1M ago31:53

31:53

Labour’s electoral dominance in Caerphilly, deep in the party’s Welsh heartlands, has collapsed while Reform UK and Plaid Cymru have hoovered up votes. On a visit to the south Rhymney Valley ahead of a historic byelection, John Harris finds a polarised community, reminiscent of the final days of the European referendum contest. Kiran Stacey joins h…

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From the archive: Who owns Einstein? The battle for the world’s most famous face 48:46

1M ago48:46

48:46

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: 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? By Simon Parki…

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The budget, the black hole and the Brexit blame game 27:53

2M ago27:53

27:53

Rachel Reeves is facing difficult choices before her second budget next month and has been busy preparing the ground. In a significant shift in the government’s narrative, Reeves has – at last – stressed the long-term damage done to the UK economy by Brexit. Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the options available to the chancellor and whether t…

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The origins of today’s conflict between American Jews over Israel 28:35

2M ago28:35

28:35

In the early years, American Jewish support for Israel was a fraught issue. The turning point was the six-day war of 1967, which solidified a strength of feeling that has only recently begun to fracture By Mark Mazower. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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‘I have to do it’: why one of the world’s most brilliant AI scientists left the US for China 54:50

2M ago54:50

54:50

In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Trump’s fragile ceasefire plan: what next for Gaza? 33:46

2M ago33:46

33:46

As the Gaza ceasefire continues to hold, what road lies ahead in the peace process? John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour. Plus, what is at the heart of the Chinese spying case row? Why has Rachel Reeves changed her tone when it comes to Brexit? What’s behind the Green party’s surge in membership? And should Labour…

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From the archive: ‘Infertility stung me’: Black motherhood and me 33:25

2M ago33:25

33:25

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: I assumed I would be part of the first generation to have full agency over my reproduction – but I was wrong By Edna Bonhomme. Read by Nerissa Bradley. Help support our independent journalis…

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Gaza ceasefire: what is the UK’s role? 25:17

2M ago25:17

25:17

All eyes are on the Middle East where there have been emotional scenes in Israel as hostages were released, while tens of thousands of Palestinians are able to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. As global leaders, including Donald Trump and Keir Starmer, meet for a peace summit, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the UK’s role in securi…

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‘What reconciliation? What forgiveness?’: Syria’s deadly reckoning 42:49

2M ago42:49

42:49

Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Take away our language and we will forget who we are: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the language of conquest 30:27

2M ago30:27

30:27

The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisation By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o with introduction by Aminatta Forna. Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Aminatta Forna. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.…

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Labour’s Bridget Phillipson on Gaza, child poverty and the deputy leadership race 26:12

2M ago26:12

26:12

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the education secretary and Labour deputy leadership candidate Bridget Phillipson about the plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as why she is pushing the prime minister and chancellor to get rid of the two-child limit on benefits. Plus, she explains why she believes she is the best candidate to become the ne…

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Tax cuts, jokes and pig-wrestling: Badenoch’s attempt to save her job 36:24

2M ago36:24

36:24

The Conservative leader used her conference speech to announce plans to scrap stamp duty and launch an attack on Labour, but why was there so little mention of the biggest threat facing her party? And will her performance be enough to stave off leadership rival Robert Jenrick? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talk through the speech and ask where the …

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From the archive: The Blackstone rebellion: how one country took on the world’s biggest commercial landlord 44:48

2M ago44:48

44:48

By The Guardian

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Make-or-break week for Badenoch 22:19

2M ago22:19

22:19

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, where Kemi Badenoch is trying to convince disgruntled Tory MPs to hold their nerve. But how much longer will the party give her to turn things around? Plus, they discuss the government’s plans to give police more powers to stop protests Send your thoughts and ques…

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‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster 29:36

2M ago29:36

29:36

Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster By Kate Marvel. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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From bank robber to scholar: the Knoxville dropout fighting to change how we see addiction 31:55

2M ago31:55

31:55

Kirsten Smith was 19 when she first tried heroin; within a few years she was in prison. She says she willingly made bad choices and wants society to stop treating addiction as a disease By Xi Chen. Read by Katherine Fenton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: Divine comedy: the standup double act who turned to the priesthood 45:08

2M ago45:08

45:08

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: 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 By L…