The Audio Long Read

In the 1980s, South African libertarians set up a deregulated zone that they sold to the world as ‘Africa’s Switzerland’. It was a sham, but with its clusters of sweatshops, it was very modern – and in some ways it anticipated the world we live in today. 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 2020: Not long after Antarctica recorded some its highest-ever temperatures, I joined a group of scientists studying how human activity is transforming the continent. It wasn’t what we saw that was most astonishing – but what we heard. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The horrors of this conflict, and the lives it has taken, must not be kept hidden. As the bombs continue to fall around us, I have gathered these witness testimonies as a memory against forgetting. By Bushra al-Maqtari. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Artificial intelligence in its current form is based on the wholesale appropriation of existing culture, and the notion that it is actually intelligent could be actively dangerous. By James Bridle. 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 2019: On 15 September 1981, 10-year-old Ursula Herrmann headed home by bike from her cousin’s house. She never arrived. So began one of Germany’s most notorious postwar criminal cases, which remains contentious to this day. By Xan Rice. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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. By Jan Grue. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Having grown up in different cultures with different expectations, my mother and I have often clashed. But as my daughter grows older, I have come to see our relationship in a different light. By Dina Nayeri. 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 2019: It has left the beige-tinted margins and become social media’s most glamorous look. But why does veganism still provoke so much anger?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Nisar Ahmed was almost killed in the Delhi riots. But when he became a witness in court cases against the alleged perpetrators, he realised that was only the start of his troubles. By Rahul Bhatia. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For the past two years, Betsy Stanko has been leading an unprecedented investigation into why the police have been failing so badly to tackle sexual violence. But is there any chance of fixing a system that seems so broken? By Melissa Denes. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod