Long Shadow

The internet as we know it today is a harrowing landscape. But in its quirky infancy, the web changed everything about how we lived, shared, shopped, and communicated. Then a computer bug threatened to shut it all down forever.

When was the last time you felt good about the internet? Today's online landscape is a harrowing one. People screaming at each other on social media. Violent videos going viral. Cyberbullying, racism, misogyny. Back in the day, the web gave power to the people, and going online could actually be fun.In LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET, Pulitzer-finalist historian, author, and journalist Garrett Graff retraces 30 years of web history — a tangle of GIFs, blogs, apps, and hashtags — to answer the bewildering question many ask when they go online today: “How did we get here?”It's the story of mankind's greatest invention, but it's also about the biggest crisis facing society today: how the web's unlimited feed of data morphed into a firehose of hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and lies that divided Americans over things we once agreed on, like science, diversity, and even democracy itself. LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET is produced by Long Lead and is distributed by PRX.

Raised on lockdown and active shooter drills, Gen Z has endured an onslaught of mass shootings — and emerged from them inspiring a wave of activism, a powerful gun safety movement, and hope.

The season finale of Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust is coming soon. But first, a note from Garrett.

Easy to handle and easy to conceal, handguns went boom in the 2008s, the same moment when many Americans — falsely and tragically — began to equate guns with safety.

After a devastating, now largely forgotten, mass-shooting prompted lawmakers to take aim at assault weapons in the 1990s, their ban backfired — and caused gun sales to explode.

In the American Revolution, the men who revolted were among the wealthiest and most comfortable people in the colonies. What kind of revolution was it, anyway? Was it about a desire to establish democracy—or something else? Episode 1 of Scene on Radio's Season 4 series, The Land That Never Has Been Yet, explores American democracy and the lack thereof.

In the 1980s, a pair of intimidating NRA leaders recast the organization in their own imposing images as the group went on an all-out offensive against gun regulations.

The Second Amendment may have begun as a Constitutional afterthought, but a late 20th-century ideological shift caused some to view it as a sacred right in the name of self defense.

Mass shootings have plagued the U.S. for generations. But in 1999, when shots rang out in a suburban Denver school, it was different. What changed? Everything.

This is a placeholder trailer for Long Shadow s3, coming soon

Emboldened by COVID lockdown protests and fighting Black Lives Matter demonstrators, far-right extremists and white power groups prepare to overthrow the government on Jan. 6… or a later date. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Trump's election, far-right extremism explodes, and internet racism boils over into the real world. From Charleston to Charlottesville to Christchurch, experts warn of a race war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the government seizes Cliven Bundy's cattle over unpaid grazing fees, militias like the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers—which are later at 1/6—aid a standoff on his ranch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Using conspiracy theories and anger to amass enormous audiences in the 1990s, Rush Limbaugh and Bill Cooper pave the way for Fox News to mainstream far-right outrage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Experts claimed 1995's Oklahoma City bombing was a lone-wolf event, but Timothy McVeigh's act of retribution for the Waco siege, shows how domestic extremism has evolved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government lays siege to Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where Randy Weaver and his family are hiding out in the shadow of a growing white supremacist movement, a year before Waco. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Out of the flames of a tragic government mishap—the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas—the modern far-right movement is born. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ruby Ridge raid, the Waco siege at the Branch Davidian compound, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jan. 6 insurrection… they are all explosive moments in recent U.S. history. But connect the dots between these—and other—seemingly disparate, violent events, and you'll answer some of the most existential questions facing the U.S. today: How did America get the far right so wrong? What will it take now to get it right? In LONG SHADOW's first season, host Garrett Graff examined the lingering questions of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Season two, LONG SHADOW: RISE OF THE FAR RIGHT, explores how the modern domestic extremist movement grew from a fatal shootout on a mountain top in Idaho, was fanned by a fiery fiasco on the plains of Texas, and ultimately led to a riot on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.Crackling with rich archival tape and riveting eyewitness and expert interviews, this seven-episode narrative podcast examines a thread of history that's vitally relevant to our current political climate. It will help listeners understand why the fringe is overrunning the mainstream, conspiracy theorists have captured offices in Congress, and peaceful protests are turning into riots. How did we get here? Find out by following and listening to LONG SHADOW: RISE OF THE FAR RIGHT. Co-produced by Long Lead and Campside Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Out now from Long Lead, The Depths She'll Reach, the story of how Alenka Artnik emerged from mental health struggles to become one of the world's most elite athletes. A multimedia feature by Xan Rice and Daan Verhoeven, produced by Long Lead. https://onjustonebreath.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When we think about 9/11, we often only think of the tremendous loss of life on that day. But what we sometimes forget about are those who made it; the thousands of people who survived the attacks, but have had to carry it with them every day since. Firefighter Jay Jonas and Port Authority Police Officer Will Jimeno were in the Twin Towers on September 11 — 100 stories of the World Trade Center fell on top each of them. But they got back up and survived.How did they move on from this attack? And how should we? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, which was also the home of al-Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. In the days after September 11, dozens of his friends, family members and business associates left the U.S. on secret flights bound for The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That has led to questions that four presidents have avoided answering:What role did the Saudi government play in the attacks? What did it know?Even worse, did it help? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Immediately after 9/11, investigators began piecing together the plot. In the flight manifests, they discovered a pattern: A team of five terrorists hijacked every plane that day, except for one. United Airlines Flight 93 had only four hijackers. Investigators believed one person was missing from that group.Who was the 20th hijacker — if there even was one? And is there a 9/11 hijacker still on the loose? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Before 9/11, FBI Special Agent John O'Neill kept setting off alarms about the emerging terrorist organization al-Qaeda and their mysterious leader Osama Bin Laden. As a result of his warnings the FBI knew terrorists were planning a big attack and the CIA even had eyes on two of the eventual hijackers prior to the attacks.So what went wrong? Why didn't they capture the hijackers? What more could law enforcement have done to stop the attacks? And could they have been prevented? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After the first two hijackings, the nation's air traffic controllers quickly and efficiently grounded thousands of planes flying to and over the continental United States. Their quick thinking is said to have potentially saved countless lives.But what if another plane was meant to be hijacked that day, and never made it off the ground? What if there was a fifth plane on 9/11? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With the Capitol under attack, the President on Air Force One, and the Defense Secretary missing, Vice President Dick Cheney was the most powerful man in the country on the morning of 9/11. From a bunker beneath the White House, he gave fighter pilots flying above the Capitol permission to shoot down hijacked commercial planes.But did Cheney actually have the authority to issue this order? Did he and President Bush connect before or after Cheney ordered the fighters into battle? And was the U.S. even ready to shoot down any hijacked flights? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every defense mechanism the U.S. government had on 9/11 failed except for one: the passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93. They were on the final plane to be hijacked that day and heard reports of the attacks from loved ones on the ground. Then they rallied to stop the terrorist plot.But where was the plane headed before it crashed? What was the intended target of the Flight 93 hijackers? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After both towers of the World Trade Center were hit on September 11, 2001, first responders coordinated the largest emergency response in New York City's history. But their heroism at Ground Zero was hampered by institutional bureaucracy and ultimately undone by decisions made decades earlier, when the Twin Towers were built.So why did these iconic structures and architectural marvels fall so fast? Could more people have been rescued from the towers? And could some of those deaths have been avoided? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Many of us watched the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 unfold right before our eyes. In the years since, law enforcement, congressional inquiries and the press have successfully uncovered more about what happened that day. But now on the 20th Anniversary of the attacks, many mysteries remain. Hosted by bestselling author and reporter Garrett Graff, Long Shadow answers those lingering questions and explores other enduring mysteries that still surround 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Premiering this August, produced by Long Lead and Goat Rodeo. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.