The Audio Long Read

On Monday 26 October, the busiest shopping street in Europe was closed to traffic. The hope is that an unloved and polluted thoroughfare will turn into somewhere that people actually want to spend time By Dan Hancox. Read by Troy Glasgow. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Today’s political conversation is dominated by one topic above all: race. The Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik has been way ahead of the pack in diagnosing how immigrants, their children and grandchildren are reshaping not just politics but western societies. On the latest episode of Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty, Nesrine talks about where never-ending culture wars and real wars in the Middle East have left people of colour. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Over the past decade, Hungary has been a beacon for the ‘postliberal’ right, with pro-Trump thinkers making regular pilgrimages to Budapest. Now Orbán is gone, how will the movement adapt? By Brian Goodman. Read by Christopher Ragland A longer version of this article first appeared in The Drift. 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: A year ago, Germany’s vice-chancellor was one of the country’s best-liked public figures. Then came the tabloid-driven backlash. Now he has to win the argument all over again By Philip Oltermann. Read by Sam Peter Jackson. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Peru’s anchoveta have made up about a 10th of the entire global commercial fishing catch since 1970, more than any other fish. A combination of warming seas and decades-long overfishing spells disaster By Geoff Mann. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

On 14 January this year, army and navy squads faced an unprecedented challenge: one bomb on a Plymouth building site, another floating on a dredger in Exmouth. That afternoon, the clock started ticking By Samira Shackle. Read by Dinita Gohil. 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: For centuries, fictional narratives have used outer difference to telegraph inner monstrosity. As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned you can’t just edit out a few slurs or bad words to fix this – it’s often baked deep into the story Written and read by Jan Grue. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The Emirati royal is increasingly influential on the world stage. Some see him as a visionary. Others compare him to a Bond villain. Who is he? By Jack Shenker. Read by Selva Rasalingam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Are we doomscrolling our way into a democratic crisis? That’s what the playwright James Graham fears may be happening, as he suggests that our algorithms have led us into ‘a massive crisis of the new’ and are preventing us from imagining a different future. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I felt a duty to write about the Tang dynasty and its incredible social and cultural sophistication – but also to connect my Chinese past with my child By Xiaolu Guo. Read by Elizabeth Chan. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod