AJ Longreads
AJ Longreads brings you the best of Al Jazeera's long-form journalism to listen to in your own time.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 19 minutes
- Episodes
- 100
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2023
How death and despair haunt Pakistan’s Christian minority
Pakistan's Christians have long been marginalised and pushed into sewer cleaning work. Now, some are fighting back.
Written by Saad Zuberi.
Read by Laura Lockwood.
‘Stand-up’ for Ukraine: Coping through comedy in the face of war
In Berlin, comedians from Ukraine and Russia share the same stage as an outlet for their grief and anger about the war.
Written by Verena Hoelzl.
Read by Richard Martin.
'Dance like there is no tomorrow': Ukraine's wartime music scene
How a flourishing underground subculture is providing a welcome escape from the realities of war.
Written by Nils Adler.
Read by Xzavian Wrushen.
How Ukrainian-Russian couples are faring after a year of war
Partners caught on different sides of the yearlong conflict reflect on how it has affected their relationships.
Written by Pearly Jacob.
Read by Emma Jones.
'People want to buy local': The rise of Ukraine's wartime wines
Despite the dangers of war, many winemakers have continued to operate, buoyed by growing demand for local wines.
Written by Nils Adler.
Read by Pete Ferrand.
'Can't go back': How an Afghan girls' school principal fled the Taliban
After fleeing the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, the former head of a girls' school in Kabul tries to make a new life in Canada.
Written by Mellissa Fung.
Read by Laura Lockwood.
‘Books they love’: A Kabul graveyard library for two schoolgirls
In Taliban's Afghanistan, Hazara cousins, both blast victims who loved to read and learn, inspire an outdoor library - and new readers.
Written by Ruchi Kumar.
Read by Erica Sand.
How US abortion organisers are learning from Honduran activists
As clandestine networks form to support women, they look to Central America for a road map -- and a warning.
This story was written by Delaney Nolan and read by Annie M Dylan.
Reporting for this story…
A long and lethal legacy: In the shadow of asbestos in the UK
Widely used in construction for decades, the aftermath of asbestos exposure has been a death sentence for many in the United Kingdom.
Written by Katharine Quarmby.
Read by Richard Martin.
This art…
Cost of living: An Indian waste-picking couple struggle with debt
Sifting through waste to find and sell scraps of cloth and recyclables use to be enough for Gunja and Chand to support their family. Now they're earning less because of a series of lockdowns and the …
Back from extinction: How to resurrect a Tasmanian tiger
Hunted and exterminated. Meet the scientists who want to return the thylacine back to the ecosystem.
Written by Mary Ann Jolley.
Read by Anthony Milich.
The Ukrainians using embroidery to stand up to Russia
Protecting cultural identity through needlework - how artists, volunteers and designers turned a Ukrainian folk blouse and craft into symbols of defiance.
On this week’s AJ Longreads - The Ukrainians…
'We have no one': The women and girls sold as brides in Kashmir
Indian women and girls are being sold by traffickers and forced into marriages against their will for as little as $35. AJ Longreads highlights how under-reported these cases are and how the victims …
The deq tattooist: Preserving the ink of a disappearing culture
In Diyarbakır, Turkey, a 24-year-old woman is documenting an ancient practice and making it popular among a new generation.
Written by Jaclynn Ashly.
Read by Erica Sand.
Revisit: The woman protecting South Sudan's parks from war and poaching
In this episode we return to the story of Bibiana Martin, who was 12 years old when she joined the forest rangers. Twenty years later, she is still protecting parks.
Written by Sam Mednick.
Read by La…
Revisit: The Sri Lankan taxi driver reuniting adoptees with their families.
This week we return to the story of Andrew Silva from Sri Lanka. His day job is taxing people around, but what he does in his spare time is truly life changing. With a car full of DNA tests and a nat…
'Republic of fear': A return to Yemen after 11 years
Journalist Afrah Nasser visits her home country of Yemen after more than a decade away. She reflects on the devastating impact war has had on her country and family.
Names have been changed to protec…
The Indian soldier who vanished on a glacier 38 years ago
As the climate crisis causes water levels to plummet, riverbeds to dry and glaciers to melt, artefacts like old warships, an ancient city, a mosque, 'hunger stones' and human remains have emerged. Th…
‘Justice delayed’ in Texas city where police killed a Black woman
Three years after Atatiana Jefferson was shot by a white police officer, stark racial divides, inequality and a lack of reform plague the US city of Fort Worth.
Written by Tyler Hicks.
Read by Xzavia…
‘I was desperate’: Young job seekers scammed, abused in Nigeria
Predators and fraudsters are exploiting vulnerable unemployed Nigerians, and the costs are sometimes deadly. AJ Longreads explores how social media is being used to lure victims.
A warning - this st…