Best Democracy In Denmark Podcasts (2026)

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Living in the Southern Ocean: Part 2- Empire, Neglect and the Dilemma of the Pitcairn Sex Trials 39:30

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1d ago39:30

39:30

In Part 2 of their discussion with retired New Zealand High Court Judge and former Chief Crown Prosecutor for Auckland, Simon Moore KC, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the extraordinary Pitcairn Island sexual abuse trials which took place between 2004-2006 and in which Simon headed the prosecution team. What finally triggered the investiga…

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When Christian nationalists come to town 28:36

18m ago28:36

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People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with the aim of forging an 'aligned' community based on shared values like 'faith, family and freedom'. Two of the first people to come to town are controversial Christian nationalists who talk about civi…

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Best of 2025: ‘What reconciliation? What forgiveness?’: Syria’s deadly reckoning 44:54

13m ago44:54

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Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From October: Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from…

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Living in the Southern Ocean: Part 1- Blazing a Trail for Criminal Justice Reform 31:41

6d ago31:41

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In Part 1 of a special holiday release of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the former New Zealand High Court Judge and Chief Crown Prosecutor for Auckland, Simon Moore KC. At a time when comparisons are often made between the Leveson/Lammy proposals and the major reforms to New Zealand criminal justice system in 2011 …

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Best of 2025: The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job 32:18

4m ago32:18

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Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From October: From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely …

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Argentina's elusive big cats 28:21

2d ago28:21

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After decades of extinction, wild jaguars are once again roaming in Northern Argentina. It has been at least thirty five years since a wild jaguar cub was spotted in this dry and dusty part of Argentina. But in August 2025, a baby appeared on the chocolatey-brown banks of the River Bermejo. Its existence was a great success for the team from Rewild…

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Best of 2025: Life in a ‘sinking nation’: Tuvalu’s dreams of dry land 44:25

3d ago44:25

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Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From September: with sea levels rising, much of the nation’s population is confronting the prospect that their home may soon cease to e…

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2025 Year in Review! Social Media and Politics, with Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten 1:46:29

12d ago1:46:29

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The 10th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review! This year, we cover the platforms’ year in review reports, the EU's regulation on transparency of targeted ads, meta approaches to platforms, and implications of the synthetic public sphere. Here are links to reports discussed in the episode, and see you in 2026! Google YouTube TikTok Snap P…

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Best of 2025: The real Scandi noir: how a filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark’s self-image 50:17

6d ago50:17

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Every Monday and Friday for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From April: The Black Swan follows a repentant master criminal as she sets up corrupt clients in front of hidden cameras. But is she re…

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Best of 2025: Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’ 32:45

16d ago32:45

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Each week for the rest of December we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. From July: the Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidar…

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Mr Lammy Goes to Strasbourg- and our Christmas Listeners’ Postbag on Jury Reforms 38:48

16d ago38:48

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As the UK joins 26 other Council of Europe States in calling for a rebalancing of the European Convention on Human Rights as between the individual rights of irregular migrants and the public interest in defending freedom and security, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the political imperatives which drove Justice Secretary David Lammy and A…

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Stolen brides of Kazakhstan: the fightback 28:28

16d ago28:28

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In plain sight, in a modern city, a colleague offers to drive you home after work. How would you respond? One woman in Kazakhstan accepted the lift only to find herself kidnapped or ‘stolen’ as a bride. She got away, rescued by the police, but for many Kazakh women kidnap leads to marriage. Human Rights lawyer Khalida Azhigulova reckons that thousa…

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The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time? 33:27

10d ago33:27

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Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has vowed to spend his remaining years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empire By Jim Waterson. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one 36:59

20d ago36:59

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The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne Listen to the full series from Th…

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‘DeepSeek is humane. Doctors are more like machines’: my mother’s worrying reliance on AI for health advice 32:45

13d ago32:45

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Tired of a two-day commute to see her overworked doctor, my mother turned to tech for help with her kidney disease. She bonded with the bot so much I was scared she would refuse to see a real medic By Viola Zhou. Read by Vivian Full This essay was originally published on Rest of world. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/long…

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Swapping Judges For Juries: Will This Really Be Swifter And Fairer? 43:10

21d ago43:10

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Are the Government’s proposals radically to reduce a citizen’s right to trial by jury a “swift and fair plan to get justice for victims”, as the MoJ press release declared on 2nd December, or a poorly conceived, confused and untested set of measures which will have no real impact on the Crown Court backlog or the general, long term crisis that affl…

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From the archive: is the IMF fit for purpose? 39:32

15d ago39:32

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: as the world faces the worst debt crisis in decades, the need for a global lender of last resort is clearer than ever. But many nations view the IMF as overbearing, or even neocolonial – and…

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The struggle of Israel's peace movement 29:37

16d ago29:37

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Two years ago a group of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists stood almost alone in Israel in calling for a ceasefire, as Israel launched a massive offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2023. Emily Wither returns to hear how the lives of these activists have changed. She explores whether their message of peace and coex…

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‘The police weren’t interested’: what’s driving the rise in private prosecutions? 33:27

17d ago33:27

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As the police and courts continue to struggle with the legacy of austerity, many people are seeking alternative routes to justice – but it could be making matters worse By Hettie O’Brien. Read by Rebecca Trehearn. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Digitally Organizing People Power: Inside Solidarity Tech, with Ivan Pardo 33:26

26d ago33:26

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Ivan Pardo, Founder of Solidarity Tech, shares how tech can solve organizing bottlenecks for political campaigns. We discuss how Solidarity Tech was used for digital organizing in Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign in New York and Catherine Connelly's presidential win in Ireland. Beyond tech functionality, we discuss how CRM platforms can give campa…

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When I met Craig he was 13 and homeless. I still thought his life might turn around. I was tragically wrong 31:29

20d ago31:29

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I knew he was running away from something. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the truth Written and read by Pamela Gordon. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Money talks: the deep ties between Twitter and Saudi Arabia 31:48

21d ago31:48

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Saudi Arabia’s investment in Twitter increased its influence in Silicon Valley while being used at home to shut down critics of the regime By Jacob Silverman.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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December: Little Nisse, Big Money: The Danish Year Part 12 7:04

22d ago7:04

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The nisse is a centuries-old figure in Danish folklore, and every December these tiny, mischievous spirits take center stage. While Santa Claus makes one big appearance late in the month, the nisse are active the whole season long. With their short stature and bright red hats, nisse are often mistaken for Santa's elves, but they live very different…

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From the archive: A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the world 47:46

22d ago47:46

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: what’s behind the indestructible appeal of the robotic snack? By Tom Lamont. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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Are the Courts Flinching on Article 8? And Who’s Trying to Kill the Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords? 33:50

30d ago33:50

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Does the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Palestinian Family case of IA & others v. Home Secretary - https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IA.MediaSummary.Final_.pdf - indicate that the Judges are submitting to the political pressure to weaken the protection that Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights provides for …

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‘They take the money and go’: why not everyone is mourning the end of USAID 41:29

24d ago41:29

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When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpected By Mara Kardas-Nelson. Read by Lanna Joffrey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Temporal Validity, Knowledge Decay, and the Meta 2020 Election Research Partnership, with Dr. Kevin Munger 51:11

1M ago51:11

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Dr. Kevin Munger, Assistant Professor and Chair of Computational Social Science in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, discusses the concept of temporal validity in social media research. Dr. Munger breaks down why thinking about time is an important component of meta-science, particularly when it c…

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Is the Right To Jury Trial Just History? And is the House of Lord’s Assisted Dying Filibuster an Attack on Democracy? 43:35

1M ago43:35

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As the Courts Minister, Sarah Sackman, announces the Government’s intention to enact most of the recommendations in Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, including the abolition of the right to jury trial in cases of serious, complex fraud, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the devastating attack on Leveson’s justifi…

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‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose 28:20

27d ago28:20

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When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world By Rose George. Read by Rosalie Craig. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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From the archive: ‘If you decide to cut staff, people die’: how Nottingham prison descended into chaos 50:08

30d ago50:08

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: as violence, drug use and suicide at HMP Nottingham reached shocking new levels, the prison became a symbol of a system crumbling into crisis By Isobel Thompson. Read by Simon Darwen. Help s…

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‘Scamming became the new farming’: inside India’s cybercrime villages 41:11

1M ago41:11

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How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit? By Snigdha Poonam. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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November Rain and "daylighting" buried rivers: The Danish Year Part 11 8:35

1M ago8:35

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November always seems like the rainiest of Danish months, but it isn't, actually. October is. But November feels rainier, because the sky is so grey, and it gets dark so early, and the rain sometimes comes down in little freezing pellets. Denmark is a watery country, not just its long coastline and many rivers and lakes, but also the fact it is mos…

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From the archive: how we lost our sensory connection with food – and how to restore it 35:36

1M ago35:36

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: to eat in the modern world is often to eat in a state of profound sensory disengagement. It shouldn’t have to be this way By Bee Wilson. Read by Lucy Scott. Help support our independent jour…

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Trump Versus The BBC, and Shabana Mahmood’s Asylum Crackdown 45:59

1M ago45:59

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Is Trump’s threat to sue the BBC for $1billion in a Florida Court over the Panorama documentary just another example of his baseless, abusive use of the Courts to intimidate media companies? And should the BBC submit to his intimidation given the uncertainties of a Florida jury trial? Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by leading media law…

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The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist 40:00

2M ago40:00

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Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work? By Philip Oltermann. Read by Daniela Denby Ashe. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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Crafting Political Storytelling with Qualitative Methods and AI, with Frank A. Spring 49:53

2M ago49:53

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Frank A. Spring, founding partner at Altum Insight and managing partner of Undaunted Ventures, shares how qualitative methods can understand the stories voters tell themselves about politics. Frank discusses his work using AI-moderated interviews (AIMI) and digital ethnography to analyze citizens' understanding of democracy, and how these insights …

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‘The jobless should lead the attack’: a radical Jamaican journalist in 1920s London 31:38

1M ago31:38

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Economic insecurity, race riots, incendiary media … Claude McKay was one of the few Black journalists covering a turbulent period that sounds all too familiar to us today By Yvonne Singh. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: ‘We are so divided now’: how China controls thought and speech beyond its borders 40:42

1M ago40:42

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: the arrest of a Tibetan New York city cop on spying charges plays into the community’s long-held suspicions that the People’s Republic is watching them By Lauren Hilgers. Read by Emily Woo Z…

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Labour Goes To Denmark - And Why Are We Releasing Prisoners By Mistake? 38:26

2M ago38:26

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Is Shabana Mahmood’s proposed overhaul of immigration policies, modelled on Denmark’s stringent system, likely to go too far? As the Justice Secretary sends officials to Denmark to study its famously strict asylum rules, is there a danger that a tougher approach will simply risk the Labour party losing votes to the Greens and Crobyn on its left? Or…

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Special Edition: Behind the scenes at the Long Read 19:57

1M ago19:57

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To celebrate the launch of the new Guardian Long Read magazine this week, join the long read editor David Wolf in discussion with regular contributors Charlotte Higgins and Hettie O’Brien. The Guardian long read magazine is available to order at theguardian.com/longreadmag In this issue, you’ll find pieces on how MrBeast became the world’s biggest …

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Counting down to zero: the final warning from a climate diplomat 27:16

2M ago27:16

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Before Peter Betts died in 2023, he wanted to pass on what he had learned over many years of negotiating at Cops – including how Paris 2015 was saved at the last bell By Peter Betts. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Extremely offline: what happened when a Pacific island was cut off from the internet 32:53

2M ago32:53

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A colossal volcanic eruption in January 2022 ripped apart the underwater cables that connect Tonga to the world – and exposed the fragility of 21st-century life By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: A drowning world: Kenya’s quiet slide underwater 27:35

2M ago27:35

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Kenya’s great lakes are flooding, in a devastating and long-ignored environmental disaster that is displacing hundreds of thousands of people By Carey Baraka. Read by Reice Weathers. Help su…

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Emily Thornberry and the Great China Spy Trial Mystery 45:34

2M ago45:34

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Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry, to discuss the evidence given to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy by key individuals involved in the decisions to prosecute and ultimately abandon the Chinese Spying case (R v Cash and Berry). In a highly unusual…

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The real ‘Yellowstone’: a battle for the cowboy way of life 26:36

2M ago26:36

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Ranches, rodeos…and public land. This is the story of a surprising battle raging in the American West, and the unlikely coalition it’s forged. Nearly half of all land in the West of the United States is owned by the federal government. Some people are trying to change that; they argue that part of it should be used for housing, amid a nationwide sh…

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‘Americans are democracy’s equivalent of second-generation wealth’: a Chinese journalist on the US under Trump 30:32

2M ago30:32

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Once a stalwart of Hong Kong’s journalism scene, Wang Jian has found a new audience on YouTube, dissecting global politics and US-China relations since the pandemic. To his fans, he’s part newscaster, part professor, part friend By Lauren Hilgers. Read by G Cheng. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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Teaching Political Communication: A Database, Game, and Assignment 42:26

2M ago42:26

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In this episode, I share some initiatives to help in improving the teaching and learning of political communication. Political Communication Teaching Database and the upload page. Meta Oversight Board Game Counterfactual Case StudyBy Michael Bossetta

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The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job 30:46

2M ago30:46

30:46

From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order By Tom Lamont. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: The queen of crime-solving 41:55

2M ago41:55

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: forensic scientist Angela Gallop has helped to crack many of the UK’s most notorious murder cases. But today she fears the whole field – and justice itself – is at risk By Imogen West-Knight…

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Lifting the Lid on the Home Office: Crashed, Repaired, or Still Unfit for Purpose? 45:13

2M ago45:13

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Does Shabana Mahmood, like Dominic Cummings before her, believe that the Home Office is a broken, dysfunctional bureaucratic institution that needs a radical overhaul? In this week’s episode Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss these and other questions with the former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent and former adviser to Yvette Cooper, Danny Sh…