Weekend

The Guardian

Every Saturday, the Weekend podcast brings some of the best Guardian writing from the week, read by talented narrators. Listen to celebrity interviews, lifestyle features, and opinions from our most popular columnists including Marina Hyde and John Crace. Weekend is the perfect way to relax.

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21 episodes
Avg 40 min
English

Episodes 21

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September 5 · 39 min
Introducing Black Box: The Chatbots
Guardian journalist Michael Safi investigates a phenomenon labelled ‘AI psychosis’, travelling to the US to meet two people who have been on weird journeys with their chatbots
May 23 · 42 min
Stateside with Kai and Carter: Why the fight over abortion pills is only just beginning
The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills, for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a near-total abortion ban could be on the horizon
May 16 · 35 min
Introducing Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’
The US supreme court demolished the 1965 Voting Rights Act when they ruled in Louisiana v Callais last month. Kai Wright talks with voting rights advocate and former Georgia state legislator Stacey Abrams about what she thinks is the way forward
March 21 · 26 min
Off Duty: The Crime
Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. They all said they didn’t do it. But that didn’t seem to matter. This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura
Dec 13, 2025 · 36 min
The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one
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
Jun 8, 2025 · 26 min
Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1
Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for “Missing in the Amazon”
Apr 12, 2025 · 35 min
The brain collector: the scientist unravelling the mysteries of grey matter – an Audio Long Read podcast
Alexandra Morton-Hayward is using cutting-edge methods to crack the secrets of ancient brains – even as hers betrays her
Apr 5, 2025 · 35 min
The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia and then came to symbolise its moral decay – an Audio Long Read podcast
Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with his scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist?
Mar 29, 2025 · 35 min
Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process – an Audio Long Read podcast
Canonisation has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its own image. As the Vatican prepares to anoint its first millennial saint, we ask how it decides who is worthy
Mar 22, 2025 · 35 min
Seth Rogen: slacker to studio boss; Marina Hyde on Trump making anywhere but America great again; and Philippa Perry helps with imposter syndrome
Seth Rogen may be known for his stoner vibe and comedies such as Superbad and Knocked Up, but behind the scenes the actor, writer, weed-lover and pottery fan has also become a producing power player. The US stock market is spooked and Trump’s henchmogul’s companies are floundering – has the great dealmaker been building up the wrong nation? And Philippa Perry advises a reader: ‘That voice in your head telling you that you’re saying the wrong things is not telling the truth.’
Mar 15, 2025 · 50 min
Actor Michael Sheen on paying off £1m of his neighbours’ debts; Marina Hyde on ‘grotesque’ JD Vance; and ‘how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice’
Marina Hyde on 1,000 grotesque memes of JD Vance – they’re all more likable than the real thing. The actor Michael Sheen grew up poor, got rich, then lost everything backing the 2019 Homeless World Cup. Now he’s giving away more of his money to help 900 total strangers. When John Harris first started noticing that his baby had some unusual quirks, he wasn’t too worried. Then came an autism diagnosis – and a fear of the future. Could a shared passion for music give James a way to shine?
Mar 8, 2025 · 43 min
Actor Danny Dyer on aliens and cocaine; the anti-vax parents who changed their minds; and Philippa Perry on feeling unimportant
Danny Dyer talks about his journey from national joke to national treasure. Fueled by social media misinformation, anti-vax activism has accelerated – but why are some in the movement becoming disillusioned? And Philippa Perry advises a reader who is ‘struggling to feel like I matter in any area of my life’
Mar 1, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
The White Lotus actor Aimee Lou Wood, Marina Hyde on Daddy Musk, and are we over-diagnosing illness?
With the mothers of Elon’s kids begging for his attention on social media, he makes much of ‘pronatalism’ – but is that just a fancy word for bad parenting? ‘I don’t know whether I’d describe it as fun,’ says Aimee Lou Wood on the intensity of making The White Lotus. And are ordinary life experiences, bodily imperfections and normal differences being unnecessarily pathologised? Neurologist and author Suzanne O’Sullivan argues just that
Feb 22, 2025 · 32 min
‘I forgive them for what they’ve done’: Esther Ghey on life after the murder of daughter Brianna
Two years ago, transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death by two 15-year-olds. Now her mother has become friends with the parent of one of the murderers. She discusses her extraordinary response to her daughter’s murder
Feb 15, 2025 · 41 min
Can Drake come back from Kendrick Lamar’s diss?; Marina Hyde on Starmer aping Trump; ‘I was trapped for 65 hours under 4,000 tons of rubble’; and Philippa Perry on setting boundaries with your parents
Marina Hyde on Keir Starmer’s palid imitation of Trumpism. The sole survivor of a landslide describes the pain, the fear and the long, winding path of recovery. After Kendrick Lamar lands another savage blow at the Super Bowl, a crisis expert advises on how Drake can return to relevance. And, ‘I feel happier and healthier when not around my mother’ – Philippa Perry advises one reader
Feb 8, 2025 · 38 min
Marina Hyde on Kanye and Bianca; the woman who lives without money; Roman Kemp on tattoos and mental health; and Philippa Perry on ‘chaotic’ partners
Emperor Kanye and his ‘chief architect’ Bianca Censori at the Grammys – guess which one wasn’t wearing any clothes? Roman Kemp opens up about his journey from viral radio presenter to mental health advocate. ‘I feel more secure than when I was earning’: meet the woman who lives without money. And ‘I’ve totally run out of patience with my chaotic husband’: Philippa Perry advises one reader
Feb 1, 2025 · 46 min
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo on fame, fear and fighting classism; Marina Hyde on why gen Z kids are not alright; and the mind/body revolution
From yearning for a ‘strong leader’ to being swept up in riots, the portents for our children are not good – and who can blame them for being so disillusioned, asks Marina Hyde. Oscar-nominated Cynthia Erivo has gone stratospheric as Elphaba in Wicked – what next for one of Britain’s brightest stars? And new research shows western medicine’s traditional split between brain and body is far from clear cut – could this new understanding provide a breakthrough for many complex conditions?
Jan 25, 2025 · 59 min
My mum the family vlogger and child abuser; Marina Hyde on Trump’s ‘golden age’; and Spotify’s Billions Club
Confusing and capricious, Trump started as he means to go on: chaos, dysfunction and a coalition of creeps; Ruby Franke was a social media star – until she was jailed for child abuse. Now her eldest daughter Shari is telling her side of the story; and what the songs with a billion streams on Spotify tell us about music taste today.
Jan 18, 2025 · 33 min
Huel creator James Collier on bodybuilding and bullies; Marina Hyde on fawning Trump tech bros; and Philippa Perry’s advice on a dwindling sex life – Podcast
Move fast, break things, sprint to kiss Trump’s ring: Marina Hyde on the tech bro inauguration derby. ‘I get hate from both sides – vegans and carnivores’: James Collier on UPFs, emotional eating and why he created Huel. And “My partner blames a ‘lack of attraction’ for not wanting sex”: Philippa Perry advises one reader
Jan 11, 2025 · 37 min
‘How can you rebuild when your father is the worst sexual predator in decades?’: Pelicot’s daughter speaks; and Philippa Perry on the deceptive ‘spark’
Caroline Darian, daughter of Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot, tells of the ‘crushing double burden’ of being the child of both victim and perpetrator. Plus Philippa Perry invites one reader to see what happens when you prioritise someone who offers you stability and decency

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