It is the one medicine we reach for whenever our babies are feverish or in pain. What’s the secret of its success? • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When she arrived in the US as a 10-year-old refugee, Dina Nayeri found it hard to fit in. But that all changed when she hatched a plan to get into Harvard – by becoming a taekwondo champion • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Exploitation and predatory pricing drove the transformation of the US beef industry – and created the model for modern agribusiness • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The economic arguments adopted by Britain and the US in the 1980s led to vastly increased inequality – and gave the false impression that this outcome was not only inevitable, but good • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Human activity has transformed the Earth – but scientists are divided about whether this is really a turning point in geological history • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The traditional right is clinging on to power – but its ideas are dead in the water • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The former Ukip leader forged an alliance with the Five Star Movement just as they bulldozed Italian politics using a tightly controlled digital operation. And now he’s putting their techniques to work in Britain • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

She was fired by Emmerdale, injected some much-needed grit into Coronation Street and struck gold with Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley. Now Sally Wainwright is going international • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Three decades ago, Olof Palme was assassinated on Stockholm’s busiest street. The killer has never been found. Could the discovery of new evidence finally close the case? • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In 2001, a smugglers’ yacht washed up in the Azores and disgorged its contents. The island of São Miguel was quickly flooded with high-grade cocaine – and nearly 20 years on, it is still feeling the effects • Read the text version here. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod