The Audio Long Read
The Guardian
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Episodes
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Three times a week, The Audio Long Read podcast brings you the Guardian’s exceptional longform journalism in audio form. Covering topics from politics and culture to philosophy and sport, as well as investigations and current affairs.
Recent Episodes
MAR 9, 2026
‘Pretty birds and silly moos’: the women behind the Sex Discrimination Act
In the 50 years since equal rights for women were enshrined in UK law, the campaigners have been reduced to caricatures, or forgotten. But their struggle is worth remembering By Susanna Rustin. Read by Carlyss Peer
29 MIN
MAR 6, 2026
‘What I see in clinic is never a set of labels’: are we in danger of overdiagnosing mental illness? -podcast
Our current approach to mental health labelling and diagnosis has brought benefits. But as a practising doctor, I am concerned that it may be doing more harm than good By Gavin Francis. Read by Noof Ousellam
26 MIN
MAR 4, 2026
From the archive: China’s troll king: how a tabloid editor became the voice of Chinese nationalism
This week, from 2022: 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. Read by Emily Woo Zeller
39 MIN
MAR 2, 2026
I used to report from the West Bank. Twenty years after my last visit, I was shocked by how much worse it is today
Among the many people I met, there was a pervasive feeling of hopelessness and a sense that resistance is slowly becoming a memory By Ewen MacAskill. Read by Greg Stylianou-Burns
37 MIN
FEB 27, 2026
Out of the ruins: will Aleppo ever be rebuilt?
Years of civil war have turned whole areas of the city into rows of empty husks. But after the fall of Assad, Syrians have returned to their old homes determined to rebuild By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub
27 MIN
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