Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making proc...

No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.c ...  Show more

Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her By Sean Williams. Read by Ami Okumura Jones. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod 

What do you get when a former Catholic schoolgirl and a business-school-educated atheist chat religion? A deep dive into the Vatican—how it works as a business, country, and moral guidepost.Topics covered:A quick overview of Christianity and the history of how Protestantism split ...  Show more

It has been 10 years since Pope Benedict XVI announced his shock resignation. It was the first time in almost 600 years that a pope had stepped down.

In this programme, we hear stories about the history of the papacy, including how a pope is chosen, the inception of Vati ...

Just days before his death, Pope Francis wrestled with an enormous problem: the Vatican’s dire finances. The world’s smallest country is now facing a budget deficit of millions, and a looming crisis in its pension fund. As the Papal conclave meets this week to vote for a new lead ...  Show more

‘The Church​ needs to change; the Church cannot afford to change,’ Colm Tóibín wrote recently in the LRB. In this episode of the podcast, he joins Tom to discuss how the new pope will have to navigate this paradox. He also looks back at the Francis papacy, and the way that Franci ...  Show more