The Audio Long Read

In the first instalment of our series looking back at the best audio long reads of 2021, editor David Wolf introduces one of the long read team’s favourite pieces of the year. When a Chinese billionaire bought one of Britain’s most prestigious golf clubs in 2015, dentists and estate agents were confronted with the unsentimental force of globalised capital. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: Some compare it to snooker, others to figure skating. But for those who have given their lives to competitive ploughing, it’s more than a sport, it’s a way of life. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Reconstruction after Covid: a new series of long reads It’s easy to despair at the climate crisis, or to decide it’s already too late – but it’s not. Here’s how to keep the fight alive by Rebecca Solnit. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Reconstruction after Covid: a new series of long reads While the rich nations focus on booster jabs and returning to the office, much of the world is facing devastating second-order coronavirus effects. Now is the time to build a fairer, more responsible international system for the future. By Kwame Anthony Appiah. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017:When she was 30, Suzy Hansen left the US for Istanbul – and began to realise that Americans will never understand their own country until they see it as the rest of the world does. By Suzy Hansen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Welcome to a new series of long reads: Reconstruction after Covid The generational divide is deforming democracy. But there is a solution. By David Runciman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

For all the advances that have been made in recent decades, disabled people cannot yet participate in society ‘on an equal basis’ with others – and the pandemic has led to many protections being cruelly eroded. By Jan Grue. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: When the battered body of a Cambridge PhD student was found outside Cairo, Egyptian police claimed he had been hit by a car. Then they said he was the victim of a robbery. Then they blamed a conspiracy against Egypt. But in a digital age, it’s harder than ever to get away with murder. By Alexander Stille. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The creation of the modern, interconnected world is generally credited to European pioneers. But Africa was the wellspring for almost everything they achieved – and African lives were the terrible cost. By Howard W French. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous collective began to investigate his past. By Scott Sayare.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod