January 6: Foreshadowing or finale?

May 24, 2023

January 6: Foreshadowing or finale?

In the early days of developing Long Shadow: Rise of the American Far Right, we faced a difficult question: Where should the podcast end?

At the time, the lingering shock of January 6 made the U.S. Capitol insurrection an obvious terminus — and ultimately that’s where historian and host Garrett Graff decided to bring the story to a close. Even after deciding, we continued to wrestle with the choice because, as we saw it, January 6 hasn’t felt like a conclusion at all.

Listening to the season’s first six episodes and taking stock of the four decades of violence they cover, it’s clear that the Washington D.C. riot wasn't the dying gasp of American far-right extremism after all. Just look around — from the audience of CNN’s Trump town hall to the “RWDS” patch on the Allen, Texas shooter’s vest — and you’ll see January 6 for what it may yet become: The start of a new, wild and violent era of U.S. politics.

Episode 7: Jan. 6: Day of the Rope. Listen to LONG SHADOW wherever you get your podcasts.

During Long Shadow’s season finale, available today, you’ll hear a barrage of horrid headlines that seemingly crawled out of the darkest corner of the internet and into reality. A man, armed with an AR-15 and a nail gun, tried to storm an FBI office. Another attacked the speaker of the house’s husband with a hammer.

Neo-Nazis attempted to launch a race war by attacking the American power grid, and racist shooters have slaughtered innocent people in malls, parks, and grocery stores across the country.

All of these events happened after January 6. All of these events took place after the moment when many hoped America’s extremist fever had finally broken. All these events occurred while we were reporting this podcast.

Now you can understand why ending the season with January 6 felt like such a difficult choice. As difficult as 9/11 can be as a topic, Long Shadow’s first season still ended on a message of hope. Its second season struggles to match that tenor, as Graff notes in the episode’s closing minutes:

Now, more than ever before, we are in the shadow cast across history by the far right. If there’s light at the end of this tunnel, it’s that the U.S. government has finally taken a real and sustained interest in the domestic terrorism threat posed by it.

In the coming years, a decision looms on our horizon: Are we going to reject white nationalism and right-wing political violence? Or are we going to turn away while it consumes our democracy? The time to make that choice is closer than you think.

Though we decided to end the season with this chapter of American history, the story is far from over. You can continue to getting Graff’s insight via his fantastic Doomsday Scenario newsletter. In his most recent dispatch, he shared the wonderful story of how he learned he was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist. (Congratulations, Garrett!)

We have been so proud to work with him and Campside Media on this season of Long Shadow. On behalf of the entire team, I’ll say that nothing is more rewarding than reaching new listeners, so please rate, review, and share the podcast with others. And make sure to keep Long Shadow in your feed. We’re already hard at work on season three.

So lnow…

John Patrick Pullen

Founding Editor, Long Lead

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