Episodes

  • The brain collector: the scientist unravelling the mysteries of grey matter – an Audio Long Read podcast

    The brain collector: the scientist unravelling the mysteries of grey matter – an Audio Long Read podcast
    Apr 12 2025
    Alexandra Morton-Hayward is using cutting-edge methods to crack the secrets of ancient brains – even as hers betrays her There are more Audio Long Reads here, or search Audio Long Read wherever you listen to your podcasts
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    36 mins
  • The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia and then came to symbolise its moral decay – an Audio Long Read podcast

    The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia and then came to symbolise its moral decay – an Audio Long Read podcast
    Apr 5 2025
    Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with his scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? There are more Audio Long Reads here, or search Audio Long Read wherever you listen to your podcasts
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    36 mins
  • Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process – an Audio Long Read podcast

    Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process – an Audio Long Read podcast
    Mar 29 2025
    Canonisation has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its own image. As the Vatican prepares to anoint its first millennial saint, we ask how it decides who is worthy There are more Audio Long Reads here, or search Audio Long Read wherever you listen to podcasts
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    35 mins
  • Seth Rogen: slacker to studio boss; Marina Hyde on Trump making anywhere but America great again; and Philippa Perry helps with imposter syndrome

    Seth Rogen: slacker to studio boss; Marina Hyde on Trump making anywhere but America great again; and Philippa Perry helps with imposter syndrome
    Mar 22 2025
    Seth Rogen may be known for his stoner vibe and comedies such as Superbad and Knocked Up, but behind the scenes the actor, writer, weed-lover and pottery fan has also become a producing power player. The US stock market is spooked and Trump’s henchmogul’s companies are floundering – has the great dealmaker been building up the wrong nation? And Philippa Perry advises a reader: ‘That voice in your head telling you that you’re saying the wrong things is not telling the truth.’
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    35 mins
  • Actor Michael Sheen on paying off £1m of his neighbours’ debts; Marina Hyde on ‘grotesque’ JD Vance; and ‘how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice’

    Actor Michael Sheen on paying off £1m of his neighbours’ debts; Marina Hyde on ‘grotesque’ JD Vance; and ‘how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice’
    Mar 15 2025
    Marina Hyde on 1,000 grotesque memes of JD Vance – they’re all more likable than the real thing. The actor Michael Sheen grew up poor, got rich, then lost everything backing the 2019 Homeless World Cup. Now he’s giving away more of his money to help 900 total strangers. When John Harris first started noticing that his baby had some unusual quirks, he wasn’t too worried. Then came an autism diagnosis – and a fear of the future. Could a shared passion for music give James a way to shine?
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    50 mins
  • Actor Danny Dyer on aliens and cocaine; the anti-vax parents who changed their minds; and Philippa Perry on feeling unimportant

    Actor Danny Dyer on aliens and cocaine; the anti-vax parents who changed their minds; and Philippa Perry on feeling unimportant
    Mar 8 2025
    Danny Dyer talks about his journey from national joke to national treasure. Fuelled by social media misinformation, anti-vax activism has accelerated – but why are some in the movement becoming disillusioned? And Philippa Perry advises a reader who is ‘struggling to feel like I matter in any area of my life’
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    43 mins
  • The White Lotus actor Aimee Lou Wood, Marina Hyde on Daddy Musk, and are we over-diagnosing illness?

    The White Lotus actor Aimee Lou Wood, Marina Hyde on Daddy Musk, and are we over-diagnosing illness?
    Mar 1 2025
    With the mothers of Elon’s kids begging for his attention on social media, he makes much of ‘pronatalism’ – but is that just a fancy word for bad parenting? ‘I don’t know whether I’d describe it as fun,’ says Aimee Lou Wood on the intensity of making The White Lotus. And are ordinary life experiences, bodily imperfections and normal differences being unnecessarily pathologised? Neurologist and author Suzanne O’Sullivan argues just that
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • ‘I forgive them for what they’ve done’: Esther Ghey on life after the murder of daughter Brianna

    ‘I forgive them for what they’ve done’: Esther Ghey on life after the murder of daughter Brianna
    Feb 22 2025
    Two years ago, transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death by two 15-year-olds. The killers had been radicalised on the dark web, while the victim was trapped in an online world of her own. Now her mother has become friends with the parent of one of the murderers. On the second anniversary of Brianna’s death, Esther sits down with Simon Hattenstone to discuss her daughter’s murder and her own extraordinary response.
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    33 mins