The long read
In-depth reporting, essays and profiles
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
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
From the archive: Death on demand: has euthanasia gone too far? – podcast
This week, from 2019: Countries around the world are making it easier to choose the time and manner of your death. But doctors in the world’s euthanasia capital are starting to worry about the consequences. By Christopher de Bellaigue
‘Nobody knows what I know’: how a loyal RSS member abandoned Hindu nationalism – podcast
As a young man, Partha Banerjee was on course to become a senior member of the RSS, the organisation that has pushed Indian politics towards extreme religious nationalism. Then, after decades within its ranks, he quit. Why? By Rahul Bhatia
Best of 2024 … so far: Solar storms, ice cores and nuns’ teeth: the new science of history – podcast
Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it.
This week, from May: Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski
Best of 2024 … so far: ‘Scars on every street’: the refugee camp where generations of Palestinians have lost their futures – podcast
Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it.
This week, from February: Ever since the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, many have been living in dejection and squalor in camps like Shatila in Beirut. Is this the grim future the people of Gaza could now be facing? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
