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‘They want toys to get their children into Harvard’: have we been getting playthings all wrong?

For decades we’ve been using toys to cram learning into playtime – and toys have been marketed as tools to turn children into prosperous, high-achieving adults. Is it time for a rethink?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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  Baghdad memories: what the first few months of the US occupation felt like…

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  Dinner with Proust: how Alzheimer’s caregivers are pulled into their patie…

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  From the archive: How the MoD’s plan to privatise military housing ended i…

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  ‘One billionaire at a time’: inside the Swiss clinics where the super-rich…

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  From the archive: The real David Attenborough

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  No coach, no agent, no ego: the incredible story of the ‘Lionel Messi of c…

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  From the archive: Fifty shades of white: the long fight against racism in …

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  Portrait of a killer: art class in one of Mexico’s most notorious prisons

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  From the archive: Welcome to the land that no country wants

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  Can a mass shooter demand a good death? The strange case that tested the l…

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  From the archive: Snow machines and fleece blankets: inside the ski indust…

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  Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wig…

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  From the archive: Can the greatest darts player of all time step away from…

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  A tragedy pushed to the shadows: the truth about China’s Cultural Revoluti…

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  From the archive: Where oil rigs go to die

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  Schedule Changes to the Audio Long Read