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
Lebanon: What life is like in a ‘failed state’
As the economic crisis grinds on, Lebanese navigate soaring food costs and fuel and medicine shortages.
Written by Arwa Ibrahim.
Read by Loveday Smith.
Hungry for change: Belgium’s undocumented rally for their rights
Nearly 500 asylum seekers held a two-month-long hunger strike in a bid to obtain the right to live and work legally in Belgium. But what has been achieved and what comes next?
Written by Sarah Murphy…
‘Men don’t protect us, they won’t respect us’: Afghan diaries
How one woman is determined to stay despite the uncertain future that women like her face in the country.
Nadima, in her own words.
‘It’s painful to leave home while it’s burning’: Fleeing Kabul
The first commercial flight has taken off from Kabul, Afghanistan. It had been closed since August 30th when the US ended operations to evacuate diplomats, foreigners and Afghans considered at risk f…
The land we came from: My people are my homeland
Al Jazeera asks writers to reflect on the environment they grew up in and how it has shaped their lives.
In "The land we came from" series, Terese Marie Mailhot writes about how she hates '"to think…
'I was born here, I'll be buried here': In Afghanistan to stay
Why one Afghan woman refuses to leave her home - even in the face of fear and uncertainty as the Taliban resume control.
By Nadima
The mental health costs of Poland’s abortion ban
It's been seven months since Poland introduced a near total ban on abortions, including cases where there are severe foetal defects. The procedure is now only allowed in cases of rape, incest or when…
The Kashmir village that outlawed dowries
This week on AJ Longreads we’re in Kashmir where residents are bucking the trend for lavish weddings.
This is The Kashmir village that outlawed dowries by Sharafat Ali.
Read by Mohita Namjoshi.
Death doulas and end-of-life rights: The debate on assisted dying
As assisted dying becomes legal in a growing number of US states, are people being given a right to choose how they die - or are they dying before their time?
Written by Allison Wallis
Read by Lisa B…
Murdered women: A history of ‘honour’ crimes
Throughout history, women have been held responsible for upholding the ‘honour’ of their families.
Written by Rana Husseini
Read by Yousef Abdel Nabi
Doomed to stay: The dying villages of Mexico’s Lake Cuitzeo
As Mexico’s reservoirs run dry, the fishermen, farmers and ranchers stuck on the drying lake beds wonder how they will survive.
Written by Arnaud De Decker and Jules Emile
Read by Mike Paul
Vanished: The Plight of three Ethiopian DomesticWorkers in Lebanon
Meseret started working for a Lebanese family as a domestic worker soon after arriving from Ethiopia in 2011. A little over a year later, she stopped calling her family. Her story of abuse would even…
Anwar Ditta: The Mother Who Took on the British Government and Won.
Anwar Ditta’s heart-breaking recollections from the 1970s and '80s, expose a very dark moment in British society.
Her story came to define an era of Asian anti-racist resistance.
Written by Bryan Kn…
Morna: Cape Verde's Music of Displacement and Return
The longing for home or for those who've left in search of a better life is summed up in one word. Sodade. Cape Verde and its sons and daughters of singers, poets and musicians capture it all in morn…
Tales from a Crematorium
Cremation on a funeral pyre made from wood has long been part of India's elaborate ritual to honour the dead, but not during the second deadly wave of Covid.
"Funerals have been reduced to just getti…
‘I have sacrificed a lot’: Growing Up Queer in India
For LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Queer Indians who battle family expectations and social pressures to live their authentic lives, share their stories.
Written by Payal Dhar.
Read by Iraaj Majumdar.
'Betrayed’: The Afghan Interpreters Abandoned by the US
This September will mark 20 years since the start of the US war in Afghanistan. After Al-Qaeda members hijacked four commercial airliners then President George W. Bush vowed to win the war against te…
The Afghan Fathers Braving Beatings to Reach Family in Croatia
In northwest Bosnia, stranded Afghan fathers are desperate to reunite with their families over the border in Croatia – and risk their own safety in order to do so.
Written by Lucy Papachristou.
Read by…
‘I smell it, taste it, feel its heaviness’: Life in Delhi’s Dust
In claustrophobic north India, where generations have grown up breathing in deadly air, dust is a normal part of everyday life.
Written by Anandi Mishra.
Read by Mohita Namjoshi.
Sneakers, California Sun and My Mother’s Other Daughter
"They looked at my ocean, lived my dream. My mother’s other daughter was the me that I wished I could be."
Personal essay written by Nicole Johnson. Read by Lisa Brandt.