The long read
In-depth reporting, essays and profiles
The scandal of food waste – and how we can stop it
The long read: Every informed observer agrees that food waste and loss must be reduced if we are to feed all humans. What’s stopping us?
The cocaine kingpin’s wildest legacy: what can be done with Pablo Escobar’s marauding hippos? – podcast
The Colombian drug lord’s exotic menagerie fell apart after his death, and now wild hippos are breeding out of control. By Joshua Hammer
‘Like a cheese grater raking across my nipple’: why I kept trying to breastfeed for so long – podcast
My commitment to breastfeeding exclusively was related to shame. If I couldn’t do it, I felt I would be letting the baby down. By Niamh Campbell
Teeth as time capsules: Soviet secrets and my dentist grandmother
The long read: In postwar Warsaw, my grandmother Zosia fixed the teeth of prisoners and spies. In doing so, she came into contact with the hidden history of her times in a way few others could
10 years of the long read: Is this the end of Britishness? (2014) – podcast
This week from 2014: A shared history of 300 years could be washed away if Scotland votes for independence. What was the complex identity the United Kingdom created – and should we mourn its loss? by Ian Jack
Special Edition: 10 years of the Guardian Long Read – podcast
Hidden traces of humanity: what AI images reveal about our world
Strange and wondrous creatures: plankton and the origins of life on Earth – podcast
Without plankton, the modern ocean ecosystem – the very idea of the ocean as we understand it – would collapse. Earth would have no complex life of any kind. By Ferris Jabr
No god in the machine: the pitfalls of AI worship – podcast
The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked a panic about computers gaining power over humankind. But the real threat comes from falling for the hype. By Navneet Alang
The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US
The long read: It used to be that Brits would complain about Americanisms diluting the English language. But in fact it’s a two-way street
From the archive: The unravelling of a conspiracy: were the 16 charged with plotting to kill India’s prime minister framed? – podcast
This week, from 2021: In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot. By Siddhartha Deb
‘Places to heal, not to harm’: why brutal prison design kills off hope
The long read: From razor-wire fences and crumbling cells to no windows and overcrowding, conditions in most jails mean rehabilitation is a nonstarter. Here’s how we can create better spaces for prisoners
On board the Creed cruise: the unfathomable return of the ‘worst band of the 90s’ – podcast
I took a cruise with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out how this much-mocked rock band became so beloved. By Luke Winkie
A Chinese-born writer’s quest to understand the Vikings, Normans and life on the English coast – podcast
Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment. By Xiaolu Guo
The shapeshifter: who is the real Giorgia Meloni?
The long read: She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she has won over many heads of Europe, including the UK prime minister. Should we be worried?
From the archive: The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea – podcast
This week, from 2021: Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird
The cement company that paid millions to Isis: was Lafarge complicit in crimes against humanity?
The long read: The French cement giant started operating in Syria just before the civil war erupted. When Islamic State took over the region, Lafarge paid them protection money so it could keep trading. The consequences are still playing out
Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers – podcast
When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could. By Charlotte Higgins
As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel – podcast
This summer, one of my lectures was protested by far-right students. Their rhetoric brought to mind some of the darkest moments of 20th-century history – and overlapped with mainstream Israeli views to a shocking degree. By Omer Bartov
How oligarchs took on the UK fraud squad – and won
The long read: It began as a routine investigation into a multinational called ENRC. It became a decade-long saga that has rocked the UK’s financial crime agency. Now new documents illuminate a case that has rewritten UK law and is set to end with a huge bill handed to taxpayers
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