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Radical new plans to reduce traffic and limit our dependence on cars have sparked bitter conflict. As legal challenges escalate, will Britain’s great traffic experiment be shut down before we have time to see the benefits? By Niamh McIntyre. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: How did a substance that falls from the air, springs from the earth and comes out of your tap become a hyperactive multibillion-dollar business? By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The troubled times we live in, and the rise of social media, have created an age of endless conflict. Rather than fearing or avoiding disagreement, we need to learn to do it well. By Ian Leslie. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Consent has been portrayed as the cure for all the ills of our sexual culture. But what if the injunction to ‘know what you want’ is another form of coercion? By Katherine Angel. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: How an extreme libertarian tract predicting the collapse of liberal democracies – written by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s father – inspired the likes of Peter Thiel to buy up property across the Pacific. By Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Josiah Elleston-Burrell had done everything to make his dream of studying architecture a reality. But, suddenly, in the summer of 2020, he found his fate was no longer in his hand. By Tom Lamont. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

The most insidious kinds of violence are those that cannot be seen, because those with the power to inflict harm are blind to the consequences of their actions. By Jacqueline Rose. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week: In a special tribute to Martin Woollacott, the Guardian’s former foreign correspondent and foreign editor, who has died at the age of 81, Alan Rusbridger reflects on his fondest memories of Martin and how this ‘giant of journalism’ should be remembered. From 2015: North Vietnamese troops who marched into the capital on 30 April 1975. It marked the most crushing defeat in US military history. Four decades after he reported on these events for the Guardian, Martin Woollacott reflects upon what it meant for the future of both nations. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Avril Henry lived a fulfilling life, but as age took hold and her body failed, it was one she no longer believed was worth living. Why did the law stand in her way? By Katie Engelhart. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Although femicide is a recognised crime in Mexico, when a woman disappears, the authorities are notoriously slow to act. But there is someone who will take on their case. By Meaghan Beatley. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: In 2014, documents alleging a conspiracy to Islamise Birmingham schools were leaked to the media, sparking a national scandal. The papers were debunked – but the story remains as divisive as ever. What really happened? By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

What makes an elite sports star suddenly unable to do the very thing they have been practising for years? And is there anything they can do about it? By A Mark Williams and Tim Wigmore. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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 Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: The Trident debate is not simply about submarines and missiles. It touches almost every anxiety about the identity of the United Kingdom, and could tell us what kind of country – or countries – we will become. By Ian Jack. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Swathes of England’s landscape were shaped by the immense block of chalk that has lain beneath it for 100 million years. For a long time, even geologists paid it little heed – but now its secrets and symbolism are being revealed. By Helen Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

When I damaged my vocal cords, I was forced to change the way I spoke – and discovered how much our voices reveal who we are. By John Colapinto. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2017: Months before she was due to give birth, disaster struck for Katherine Heiny. Doctors ordered her to lie on her side in bed and not move – and gave her a 1% chance of carrying her baby to term by Katherine Heiny.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Early in Trump’s presidency, emboldened neo-Nazi and fascist groups came out into the open but were met with widespread revulsion. So the tactics of the far right changed, becoming more insidious – and much more successful. By Brendan O’Connor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Much progress has been made in attitudes towards sexual equality and gender identity – but in many places a dramatic backlash by conservative forces has followed. By Mark Gevisser. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week: since 1958, a small department of Germany’s government has sought to bring members of the Third Reich to trial. A handful of prosecutors are still tracking down Nazis, but the world’s biggest cold-case investigation will soon be shut down. By Linda Kinstler. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod