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Independent journalism is as important as ever and Long Lead's DEPTH PERCEPTION newsletter highlights journalists covering some of the biggest stories of the news cycle. Subscribe now and be the first to get their behind-the-scenes insights. depthperception.longlead.com

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 30/09/2026

Journalist Anand Giridharadas (@anandwrites.bsky.social) says his perspective of the world was altered while writing his new book ' Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City,' as the process returned him to his roots as a reporter and thinker.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 30/09/2026

For DEPTH PERCEPTION's third anniversary edition, some of the sharpest journalists shared their thoughts on the state of the industry. Media critic @sulliview.bsky.social feels hopeful for the future when she sees writers "who clearly care a lot, and when I see people doing important cultural work"

Graphic with DEPTH PERCEPTION branding and headshots of journalists Ryan Broderick, Eliot Williams, Margaret Sullivan, Nicholas Thompson, Laura Jedeed, Chuck Todd, Julia Angwin, Dave Jorgenson, Jelani Cobb, and Anthony Breznican with blue overlay, and text: "People are still curious." Top journalists on what keeps them hopeful

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 29/09/2026

What is the legacy of 9/11? We're still living in it. The special episode of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS "Never Again" has been named as a finalist for THREE @signalawards.bsky.social. Help us win by voting today: bit.ly/LongShadowBe... bit.ly/LongShadowBe... bit.ly/LongShadowBe...

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 29/09/2026

Long Lead and Magnum Photos's feature BORDER LINE WAR, about the reality of neighboring Russia during its increasing hostilities to the West, has been selected as a finalist for TWO Lovie Awards. Vote for it to win, today: bit.ly/BorderLineWa... bit.ly/BorderLineWa...

Graphic with text on the left: 2026 LOVIE AWARDS VOTE BORDER LINE WAR Best Use of Photography Best Individual Editorial Feature and gold Lovie Award Trophy on the right

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 28/09/2026

Now, more than ever, it is necessary to understand the United States's past to learn how to create a better future for Americans of all backgrounds. Long Lead's feature, THE AGE OF INCARCERATION, is a powerful look at the survivors of World War II's Japanese American incarceration camps.

Quote graphic with archival photos from World War II Japanese American incarceration camps and cursive text in the middle The Age of Incarceration with quote underneath, "Now, more than ever, it’s vital to re-examine the past so we can better understand the darkness that’s gripping the present."

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 27/09/2026

When the first deportation flights took people out of the U.S. to countries they weren't even from, it wasn't @gillianbrockell.com's beat. She was just an interested journalist who once was a flight attendant — experience that came in handy to help cover ICE flights and third-country removals.

Graphic with DEPTH PERCEPTION branding and text: “I think a lot of journalists start pursuing journalism because they're really interested in people. I think the sort of objectivity thing kind of beats that out of people.” —Gillian Brockell, independent journalist covering deportation flights

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 26/09/2026

Looking for a read that will take your breath away? Experience THE DEPTHS SHE'LL REACH, Long Lead's feature about freediver Alenka Artnik who emerged from obscurity and mental health struggles to become one of the world’s most elite athletes. thedepths.longlead.com

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/09/2026

Meanwhile, LA has become the homeless veteran capital of America. Why isn't this land, which once housed thousands of disabled soldiers, home to more veterans? The answer is a scandal in plain sight, a story of government malfeasance, neglect, graft, and even death.

Map graphic of the West Los Angeles VA property with highlighted portions of the West LA VA land and surrounding neighborhoods Brentwood, Brentwood Heights, and University of California at Los Angeles

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/09/2026

In 1888, wealthy landowners donated prime Los Angeles real estate to the U.S. government to house military veterans. Today the 388-acre property abuts the Brentwood neighborhood and the UCLA campus, is some of the country’s most valuable real estate, and houses very few vets — many in tiny shelters.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 23/09/2026

Journalist @gillianbrockell.com is a self professed "aviation geek" — and her role as a former flight attendant helped her with the connections to cover one of the biggest stories of the year: ICE deportation flights.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 22/09/2026

When you start looking at why America is so polarized, there are actually very explainable reasons about how our politics ended up as broken as they are right now, shares LONG SHADOW host @vermontgmg.bsky.social in his DEPTH PERCEPTION discussion about the history-chart topping podcast.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 21/09/2026

An ICE agent shot a DoorDash driver on Sunday in Austin, TX. It's the latest misuse of power by federal agents in Trump's second term which @vermontgmg.bsky.social says has marked "the arrival of a dystopian America, one that would have been unrecognizable to the Americans in the summer of 2001"

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 21/09/2026

Journalist and host of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS Garrett Graff shares that understanding the fear and trauma the United States felt after 9/11 is the key to understanding the government's response afterward — namely, the Iraq War and the overhaul of national security.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 21/09/2026

In a special episode of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS commemorating the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that changed the world, host Garrett Graff reflects on the legacy of the response to that day and the creation of government departments like the DHS, Border Patrol, and ICE.

Graphic with text at the top "Reacting in the middle of one nightmare, we created another — an apparatus that in the wrong hands, has become one of the most authoritarian tools in the history of our country." -Garrett Graff, host of LONG SHADOW: 9/11's LINGERING QUESTIONS and photo of ERO/ICE officers making an arrest during a Targeted Enforcement Operations in and around Minneapolis, Minnesota during the week of January 14, 2026.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 20/09/2026

Following finding the texts that would end his marriage and beginning to report on his experience that would become his memoir, Jones shares, “I just began documenting things. It wasn’t out of a journalistic thing. But as I think about traumatic events in my life, I do tend to go outside myself.”

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 18/09/2026

Immigration had been a hot-button issue for years, but after the 9/11 terror attacks, policymakers turned to reorganize "homeland security," focusing on reforming how the U.S. government handled immigration and border security. 📷: U.S. Department of Homeland Security

WASHINGTON (October 12, 2021) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas participates in wreath laying ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Memorial. (DHS Photo by Zachary Hupp/Released)

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 17/09/2026

After 9/11, establishment media — like Fox News and CNN — got behind a war that many in the public viewed as unjust and unnecessary, which may sound familiar today. But that coverage encouraged the first big wave of political blogging online, says @vermontgmg.bsky.social in BREAKING THE INTERNET.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 16/09/2026

Sometimes a writer's best profile comes from examining their own personal experiences. Famed for his Esquire profile of Roger Ebert, writer Chris Jones' memoir chronicles the emotional turbulence of the end of his marriage and the path of rebuilding his life to where it is today.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 14/09/2026

The September 11 terrorist attacks bring us to this moment we're in now in the U.S., where the consolidation of national security in the federal government has created a massive federal apparatus and national secret police force stronger and larger than our country could have imagined in 2001.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 13/09/2026

In her new book, Rozina Ali traces stories from four families that lived in four distinct eras in the history of Islamophobia, asking "What is their story? How have they been changed? How did they understand what happened to them? How did they react to what happened to them?"

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 12/09/2026

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, a promise echoed through the halls of the U.S. government: “Never again.” Fueled by post-9/11 fear, the country’s onconsolidated 22 agencies under the banner of the Department of Homeland Security in order to leep the nation safe and stop the next attack.

Graphic with text on left: “What liberties would we sacrifice to protect our freedom? How much power would we give our government? In the wake of 9/11, we couldn’t see what was being created.” and photo of United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City during the September 11 attacks on the right.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 12/09/2026

Port Authority Police Officer Will Jimeno was one of few people who survived the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Trapped under the rubble for hours, he was finally saved that night. Jimeno now spends his time helping people who face struggles in many walks of life.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 11/09/2026

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 11/09/2026

Five years ago, LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS was released with 8 episodes looking at different aspects of questions that still exist. Its finale asked, "How do we move on from 9/11?" A new episode explores how we can't move on from the terror attacks: We're still living in their legacy.

Podcast cover of episode 9 of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS with LONG SHADOW text in red with photo of Statue of Liberty with burning Twin Towers on 9/11 in the background

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 11/09/2026

40% of Americans are now too young to remember 9/11. Garrett Graff (@vermontgmg.bsky.social), author, historian, and host of LONG SHADOW: 9/11’S LINGERING QUESTIONS shares how the telling of 9/11 in U.S. history books is too tidy and contained.

Graphic with photo of World Trade Center on fire after September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and text: "When we talk about 9/11 in the history book way, we rob it of the human element and we rob it of the fear, the chaos, the confusion, and the trauma." -Garrett Graff, author, historian, and host of LONG SHADOW: 9/11’S LINGERING QUESTIONS

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 10/09/2026

Frank Culbertson was like millions of Americans, watching the scenes in lower Manhattan unfold while at work. But unlike any other American, he was watching from NASA's International Space Station, where he floated over the U.S. every 90 minutes.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 10/09/2026

25 years after the September 11 terror attacks, national security journalist Garrett Graff shares that the U.S. should break up the Department of Homeland Security — a bureau that was once consolidated to protect the country, but has "been turned against ordinary Americans" in our streets.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 09/09/2026

Each family member in the book is grappling with the question "What is my place in this country?” while being an active member in their story, "contending with the forces at play that were shaping their lives." www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/672414...

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"In suggesting that American Islamophobia goes beyond hate against Muslims, Rozina [Ali]’s new book invites the questions: What were the long-term effects of 9/11 on people’s lives? And how was that impact seeded long before the towers fell?" Kelly Kimball September 9, 2026 issue of DEPTH PERCEPTION

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 09/09/2026

On September 11, 2001, @rozinaali.bsky.social was made aware of her Muslim identity. In her new book, 'Seasons of Fury,' Ali traces America’s post-9/11 reckoning through the intimate stories of four Muslim families across eight decades, making the case that Islamophobia was rooted long before 9/11

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 08/09/2026

Historian and 'Only Plane in the Sky' author @vermontgmg.bsky.social shares that when discussing 9/11, "we don’t forget but I’m not sure we remember either." Graff says the history textbook version of 9/11 is factually true, but it's not the day that anyone who was alive remembers living.

Graphic with text on the left: "When we talk about 9/11 in the history book way, we rob it of the human element and we rob it of the fear, the chaos, the confusion, and the trauma." -Garrett Graff, author, historian, and host of LONG SHADOW: 9/11’S LINGERING QUESTIONS and photo on the right of the Twin Towers on fire on September 11, 2001

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 07/09/2026

In 2020 Trump called Portland, Oregon's protesters "terrorists." a term used after 9/11 to justify illegal surveillance of muslims, Illegal torture of prisoners at black sites, and the erosion of our constitutional rights in the name of our safety. Calling Americans "terrorists" was a new frontier.

Graphic with photo at the top of A U.S. Border Patrol agent (right) and an ICE officer detain a protester outside the ICE facility on October 4, 2025 in Portland, Oregon and text at the bottom: "If anyone who disagreed with the state could be labeled a terrorist by the commander-in-chief, they could be subjected to the cold apparatus we built to pursue terrorists wherever they could be." -Garrett Graff, discussing 2020 protests in special episode of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 06/09/2026

"I think we got almost everything wrong after 9/11" shares historian @vermontgmg.bsky.social who's studied 9/11 and its effects for decades. The world we're living in currently is one born from the United States' response to the terror attacks — but now we're experiencing a different kind of terror.

Graphic with DEPTH PERCEPTION branding and text: “This agency that was very much set up in the wake of 9/11 to respond to the fear of 9/11 and has been turned against ordinary Americans in streets of ordinary American cities, to repress political freedoms, to repress civil liberties, and to punish freedom of speech. This is an agency and a department that cannot be allowed to continue standing in the government of the United States.” —Garrett Graff, national security journalist and host of 'LONG SHADOW'

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 06/09/2026

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 05/09/2026

In a new episode of LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS released for the 25th anniversary of the attacks, national security journalist @vermontgmg.bsky.social brings listeners through the choices the U.S. made in the years after 9/11 to create the legacy we're living in now. 📷: usicegov

A photo of masked federal officers talking to a man sitting in a van.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 04/09/2026

Billie Jean King Youth Scholarship Award winner Ashley Badis was a water polo on her high school girl's team when she took on the Hawaiian government in a Title IX lawsuit. She shared, “You can’t invoke any change unless you start with the first step and speak up.” title-waves.longlead.com

Photo of Ashley Badis on Ewa Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii showing her facing the ocean while holding a water polo ball up in her hand and TITLE IX written across her right bicep.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 04/09/2026

You can’t understand the Department of Homeland Security, the war in Iraq, or our border approach now unless you can understand the fear, the chaos, the confusion, and the trauma that were a byproduct of the September 11 terrorism attacks, shares historian @vermontgmg.bsky.social.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 04/09/2026

For DEPTH PERCEPTION's third anniversary edition, some of the sharpest minds in journalism shared their thoughts on the state of the industry. While the industry continues to evolve, Jelani Cobb (@jelaniya.bsky.social) reflects on how, "journalism is more dynamic now than it has been in 50 years."

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 03/09/2026

How did 9/11 lead the U.S. to now, where American citizens are getting killed in the streets by federal officers for exercising their right to protest? In the last 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the creation of DHS has led to a different kind of terror in our country.

Alternative cover photo for LONG SHADOW: 9/11'S LINGERING QUESTIONS podcst with LONG SHADOW text in red, outline of a plane, and photo underneath showing ICE badge

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 01/09/2026

In "Never Forget," Garrett Graff traces how the government’s response to 9/11 led to the buildup of a massive federal police force, an apparatus that has been overtaken by a wave of corruption and criminality amounting to one of the most destructive scandals U.S. law enforcement has ever faced.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 01/09/2026

What's the legacy of 9/11? We're living in it. Coming tomorrow: In a new episode of 'Long Shadow: 9/11's Lingering Questions,' @vermontgmg.bsky.social traces how the U.S.’s response to 9/11 led to the buildup of a massive federal police force that's terrorizing the citizens it was meant to protect.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 31/08/2026

Journalism's in crisis — budgets are shrinking, algorithms control distribution, and AI is producing articles. Yet top journalists are still finding things that make them hopeful. In the third anniversary edition of DEPTH PERCEPTION, journalists share why they continue their storytelling.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 27/08/2026

But even with a coach in place, James Campbell — Honolulu's biggest public high school — failed to treat the girls' teams equally to the boys. That's why Ashley, with the support of her parents, stepped up to be the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, suing her school for violating Title IX.

Portrait of Dom, Ashley, and Caron Badis sitting on their couch in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 27/08/2026

Like so many parents in the history of youth sports, Dominic Badis agreed to coach a sport he’d never played so his kid could have a turn. The sport in question? Water polo, which his daughter Ashley played. After her high school dropped the ball on practice facilities and coaching, Dom stepped up

Portrait of Dom Badis in front of a punching bag.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 26/08/2026

What's the legacy of 9/11? We're living in it. Coming 9/1: In a special episode of 'Long Shadow: 9/11's Lingering Questions,' Garrett Graff traces how the U.S. government’s response to 9/11 led to the buildup of a massive federal police force that's terrorizing the citizens it was meant to protect.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/08/2026

Kurkurina, at 40 years old, found a coach and began training with one goal: to become a world champion. Kurkurina turns 60 today. liftingukraine.longlead.com

Photo of a powerlifting trophy with quote, "I'm living proof that you can transform your life at any age." -Anna Kurkurina, world-champion powerlifter and animal rescuer

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/08/2026

A 3-time powerlifting world champion, Anna Kurkurina is one of the strongest women in the world, a label that’s bolstered by at least 14 world records. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kurkurina dedicated herself to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming pets found roaming war-torn streets.

Photo of Anna Kurkurina cutting a birthday cake beside of a dog. Quote on the right side of the screen reads, "My biggest dream is to visit a village one day and not see any stray animals.... Not because they've all been killed, but because they've all been spayed and neutered." -Anna Kurkurina, powerlifter and animal activist

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/08/2026

Most people know Title IX transformed women's sports. Few know that one of the biggest Title IX victories in decades began because a girls' water polo team had to practice in the ocean after their school failed to secure a pool to practice in. 📷: Jenny Sathngam

Photo of Ashley Badis walking out of the ocean with focus on water on the camera lens at Ewa Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/08/2026

They weren’t asking for much: pool time and maybe some new caps, because their existing ones were so old they fell off and strangled the girls in the water. Realizing the school wasn't playing by the rules, Caron sounded the alarm, starting discussions between the ACLU and high school admin.

Portrait of Caron and Ashley Badis outside of their family home in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Long Lead @longlead.com · 25/08/2026

Caron Badis was the “comms mom” of the girls water polo team at James Campbell High School, rounding up paperwork and ordering team swimsuits on time, when she learned that under Title IX, her daughter Ashley's team was being treated unfairly... and illegally.

Portrait of Caron Badis outside of her family home in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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