Episodes

  • What was Doge? How Elon Musk tried to gamify government

    What was Doge? How Elon Musk tried to gamify government
    Mar 27 2026
    Steeped in gaming and rightwing culture wars, Musk and his team of teenage coders set out to defeat the enemy of the United States: its people By Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    31 mins
  • From the archive: Are we really prisoners of geography?

    From the archive: Are we really prisoners of geography?
    Mar 25 2026
    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 2022: A wave of bestselling authors claim that global affairs are still ultimately governed by the immutable facts of geography – mountains, oceans, rivers, resources. But the world has changed more than they realise By Daniel Immerwahr. Read by Christopher Ragland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    42 mins
  • Power without a throne: how Khalifa Haftar controls Libya

    Power without a throne: how Khalifa Haftar controls Libya
    Mar 23 2026
    When Nato helped overthrow Gaddafi in 2011, there were hopes of a new beginning. More than a decade later, a former CIA asset runs the country – and Libya has become yet another lesson in the unintended consequences of foreign intervention By Anas El Gomati. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    42 mins
  • Off Duty: The Crime

    Off Duty: The Crime
    Mar 21 2026
    On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they didn’t do it. But that didn’t seem to matter. This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    26 mins
  • ‘The children are not safe here’: the Nigerian couple fighting infanticide

    ‘The children are not safe here’: the Nigerian couple fighting infanticide
    Mar 20 2026
    In a few isolated communities in central Nigeria, some babies are believed to be bad omens. Olusola and Chinwe Stevens run a thriving home for babies at risk. But what happens when the families want them back? By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. Read by Nneka Okoye. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    33 mins
  • From the archive: ‘Parents are frightened for themselves and for their children’: an inspirational school in impossible times

    From the archive: ‘Parents are frightened for themselves and for their children’: an inspirational school in impossible times
    Mar 18 2026
    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 2022: Austerity, the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis have left many schools in a parlous state. How hard do staff have to work to give kids the chances they deserve? By Aida Edemariam. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    46 mins
  • Access denied: why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’

    Access denied: why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’
    Mar 16 2026
    Innocent people are being frozen out of basic banking services – and it all traces back to reforms rushed through after 9/11 By Oliver Bullough. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    32 mins
  • Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war

    Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war
    Mar 13 2026
    In spring 2003, exuberance at the fall of Saddam was swiftly followed by a descent into deadly chaos. Whether moving independently or embedded with troops, Guardian reporters witnessed the violence on the ground By Ian Mayes. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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    27 mins