22 episodes
Long Shadow Long Lead & PRX & The Trace & Campside Media
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- History
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4.8 • 1.7K Ratings
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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 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. LONG SHADOW: IN GUNS WE TRUST 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. This season, host Garrett Graff, in collaboration with The Trace, chronicles how firearms moved from being an ordinary part of the background of rural life to a menacing element of modern American life.Crackling with rich archival tape and riveting eyewitness and expert interviews, this narrative podcast examines threads of history that are vitally relevant to our current political climate. In LONG SHADOW’s first season, Graff, a Pulitzer-finalist and a best-selling author and historian, examined the lingering questions of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Season two chronicled how bloody tragedies at the hands of federal agents led to the rise of American far-right extremism and ultimately the January 6 insurrection. Season three will help listeners understand how simply carrying firearms has become its own act of defiance, and how a very specific, carefully manufactured fear has driven explosive demand for guns across America. How did we get here? Subscribe and listen to LONG SHADOW to find out.LONG SHADOW: IN GUNS WE TRUST is produced by Long Lead and Campside Media in collaboration with The Trace, and is distributed by PRX.
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A Uniquely American Problem
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.
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Shall Not Be Infringed
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.
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The Hardliners
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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Trailer: In Guns We Trust
This season host Garrett Graff, in collaboration with The Trace, recounts how a very specific, carefully manufactured fear has driven explosive demand for guns across the U.S. It’s the history of how firearms went from being an ordinary part of rural American life to a menacing element in modern society — and the epidemic of gun violence that’s come with it. How did we get here — how did America get so divided over guns — and can we we find a way forward? Find out, this season on LONG SHADOW.LONG SHADOW: IN GUNS WE TRUST is produced by Long Lead and Campside Media in collaboration with The Trace, and is distributed by PRX.
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Waco: The Spark
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.
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Ruby Ridge: The Revolution Begins
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.
Customer Reviews
Balanced
The information delivered is thoughtful, non partial, and balanced. As reporting history & information should be.
Fascinating and Well - Researched
This is quite a balanced look at the history of mass school shootings starting with Columbine. The NRA background and response is also examined closely.
Gets Better With Every Season
UPDATED REVIEW:
The 9/11 series was gut-wrenching but riveting and taught me something new about a day I thought I understood — without partisanship or exploitation.
Season 2’s exploration of the rise of the far right was a clear-eyed, sober-minded account — often disturbing, sometimes incredibly complicated — exploration of how our country got to be as divided as it is.
And now, Season 3: “In Guns We Trust,” which at least based on the first two episodes gets the distinction of the best podcast I’ve ever heard. On any subject. It is as compelling as a true-crime story, as engaging and entertaining as a news podcast, but it offers more insight than any other exploration I’ve yet heard of guns and their place in this country. Despite the right-wing critic here, it is NOT a liberal’s fever dream. This is a meticulously researched and reported show that is both hard to listen to and completely unmissable. It should be mandatory listening for audiences of ALL political persuasions and beliefs. Excellent work.