Épisodes

  • The great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear?

    The great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear?
    Feb 3 2025
    Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria. By Tess McClure. Read by Sara Lynam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    34 min
  • Endless work, little money, occasional UFOs: my father’s five decades driving Brazil’s roads

    Endless work, little money, occasional UFOs: my father’s five decades driving Brazil’s roads
    Jan 31 2025
    As a sociologist, my career couldn’t be further from that of my father, who spent his life on the road as a truck driver. It’s only in recent years, as illness has struck, that I’ve started to truly understand him. By José Henrique Bortoluci. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    31 min
  • From the archive: How one man spent 34 years in prison after setting fire to a pair of curtains

    From the archive: How one man spent 34 years in prison after setting fire to a pair of curtains
    Jan 29 2025
    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: David Blagdon’s long-term detention has been described as ‘barbaric’. Whatever his disastrous personal choices, the system failed him repeatedly. By Mark Olden. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    36 min
  • The man making a business out of China’s burnout generation

    The man making a business out of China’s burnout generation
    Jan 27 2025
    Li Jianxiong was a highflying marketing executive in Beijing until a breakdown sent him to the west on a wellness voyage of discovery – just as his peers were losing faith in the Chinese Dream. By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    33 min
  • Humphrey’s world: how the Samuel Smith beer baron built Britain’s strangest pub chain

    Humphrey’s world: how the Samuel Smith beer baron built Britain’s strangest pub chain
    Jan 24 2025
    Since the 1970s, Humphrey Smith has acquired scores of pubs and historic properties around the UK. But time after time, he has left the buildings empty. Why has he allowed his empire to moulder? By Mark Blacklock. Read by Joe Layton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    44 min
  • From the archive: Inspired by nature: the thrilling new science that could transform medicine

    From the archive: Inspired by nature: the thrilling new science that could transform medicine
    Jan 22 2025
    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: Jeffrey Karp is at the forefront of a new generation of scientists using nature’s blueprints to create breakthrough medical technologies. Can bioinspiration help to solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems? By Laura Parker. Read by Adetomiwa Edun. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    33 min
  • ‘Look, they’re getting skin!’: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies?

    ‘Look, they’re getting skin!’: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies?
    Jan 20 2025
    Doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But when so few survive, are we putting them through needless suffering? By Sophie McBain. Read by Chloe Pirrie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    44 min
  • Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process

    Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process
    Jan 17 2025
    Canonisation has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its image. The Vatican is preparing to anoint its first millennial saint, but how does it decide who is worthy? By Linda Kinstler. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    35 min