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Long Shadow

Long Shadow

Long Lead & PRX 33 Episodes Aug 5, 2025

A narrative podcast that explores pivotal moments in U.S. history, from Waco and Columbine to 9/11, COVID-19, and January 6, examining what people know and what they thought they knew. Hosted by Pulitzer-finalist journalist and historian Garrett Graff, the show has earned widespread critical acclaim, including Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Award nominations and wins. Each season takes a deep dive into a specific event or theme, with recent seasons even integrated into university curricula. The latest season, 'Breaking the Internet,' turns its attention to the current state of the online world.

Episodes

The Red Pill
The Red Pill Aug 5, 2025 01:04:20 A toxic army of trolls goes after women in the gaming industry, giving birth to an online movement of disaffected men. This "manosphere" contributes to the resurgence of Donald Trump and a constitutional crisis that holds American democracy in the balance.
Going Viral
Going Viral Jul 29, 2025 55:15 After the twin disasters of the massacre in Myanmar and the 2016 election, social media undergoes a reckoning in the halls of Congress… until a novel virus uncorks a global pandemic and a contagion of hoaxes, conspiracies, and lies online.
Weapons of Mass Distraction
Weapons of Mass Distraction Jul 22, 2025 44:06 North Korea hacks a movie studio over a screwball comedy, inspiring America’s enemies to launch cyberattacks against the U.S. To roil an election, one even unleashes a network of trolls pitting ordinary Americans against each other, online and in the streets.
Enragement Equals Engagement
Enragement Equals Engagement Jul 15, 2025 36:40 With the dawn of the newsfeed, Facebook begins a mass experiment on the human psyche — what we like and hate, what makes us happy and angry. Over the course of a decade, its algorithm drives the world to like, comment, and eventually, kill.
The Facebook Revolution
The Facebook Revolution Jul 8, 2025 41:27 In Egypt, a ragtag group of young activists uses social media to spark a revolution and remove a dictator from power. They credit Facebook with the fall of the regime… until the platform is turned against them.
Establishing Connection
Establishing Connection Jul 1, 2025 48:52 At the dawn of the new millennium, the internet yields powerful tools for coordinating and organizing online. From the 9/11 hijackers to flashmob pranksters to activists, it puts power in the hands of the people, for better and for worse.
The End of the World as We Know It
The End of the World as We Know It Jun 24, 2025 42:17 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.
Trailer: Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet
Trailer: Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet Jun 17, 2025 03:14 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
Generation Lockdown
Generation Lockdown May 22, 2024 01:08:10 Raised on active shooter and lockdown drills, Gen Z has endured an onslaught of violence — and emerged inspiring a wave of activism, a powerful gun safety movement, and hope.
A Good Guy with a Gun
A Good Guy with a Gun May 14, 2024 48:46 Easy to handle and easy to conceal, handguns went boom in the 2000s, the same moment when many Americans — falsely and tragically — began to equate guns with safety.
The Right to Bear AR-15s
The Right to Bear AR-15s May 7, 2024 48:54 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.
The Hardliners
The Hardliners Apr 23, 2024 46:23 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.

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