Long Shadow

The April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School hurtled the United States into an era of mass shootings. Now, a quarter century later, the horrors of that day have become an almost regular facet of American life, and gun violence a record-smashing epidemic. Clad in both camouflage and Kevlar, 21st-century America is a bastion of freedom and a land of lockdowns, where workplaces require active shooter protocols, schools run lockdown drills, and the Second Amendment has become a religion unto itself.

Guns are a uniquely American problem, but the U.S. wasn’t always like this. Hosted by Pulitzer finalist and investigative reporter Garrett M. Graff and reported in collaboration with The Trace, Long Shadow’s third season explores the story of the people — some names you'll know, some you won't — who changed the way America relates to guns, for better or worse. Co-produced by Campside Media and distributed by PRX, the show chronicles how firearms moved from being an ordinary part of the background of rural life to a menacing element of modern American life.

Marking the dividing line between the 20th and 21st centuries, the September 11 attacks quickly became the hinge upon which so much changed. Many watched the tragedy unfold live on television, but most still don’t understand what happened that day. Twenty years later, a quarter of Americans are too young to even remember the attacks.

While thorough, large-scale efforts like the 9/11 Commission tried to make sense of that chaotic day, many questions remain. The first season of Long Shadow attempts to answer those questions and explore other enduring mysteries surrounding 9/11. Published in August 2021 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the eight-episode limited series quickly became Apple’s number one history podcast.