My Friday newsletter for @niemanstoryboard.org: @mallarytenore.bsky.social on Sophie Elmhirst's "A Marriage at Sea." Plus: Joi Lee in @longlead.com, Carl Rosen in @nymag.com, and 13 years of @brendanomeara.bsky.social's Creative Nonfiction podcast. niemanstoryboard.org/2026/04/03/d...

The countries that make up the new Iron Curtain — bordering Russia — are attempting to shore up their borders, trying to curb Vladimir Putin’s imperial reach. Has Russia’s aggression against Ukraine spawned new alliances among its neighbors?

Long Lead is producing world class journalism — without compromise. Follow us to see our immersive, award-winning features created by independent journalists. longlead.com

In WWII, when the US locked Japanese Americans away in camps, the country NEVER took away their citizenship. Today, the Supreme Court hears a consequential Birthright Citizenship case. Mia Yamamoto was born in a camp. She's exactly the kind of person this administration would strip of citizenship.

In WWII, when the US locked Japanese Americans away in camps, the country NEVER took away their citizenship. Today, the Supreme Court hears a consequential Birthright Citizenship case. Mia Yamamoto was born in a camp. She's exactly the kind of person this administration would strip of citizenship.

Long Lead is thrilled to share that two of our features have been nominated for the 2026 Webby Awards and one has been recognized as an honoree. Your vote can help us win. Please take a chance to vote for Long Lead's features today.

The internet is trash—we all know it. What better way to PROVE it than by helping Long Shadow win a Webby Award? Vote for LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET here: bit.ly/LSS4Webby LONG SHADOW is hosted by @vermontgmg.bsky.social, produced by @longlead.com and distributed by @prx.org. 🗳️VOTE NOW!

Long Lead has won seven Webby Awards. Before Webby nominations are announced tomorrow, take a look at the features that have won hardware.

"Look at the results... PBS, defunded. NPR, defunded. Joy Reid, gone from MSNBC. Sleepy-eyes Chuck Todd, gone. Jim Acosta, gone. John Dickerson, gone Stephen Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough, CNN is gonna have new ownership as well." www.status.news/p/brendan-ca...

This is the FCC Chairman, who is ostensibly a non-partisan industry regulator, openly bragging about conducting a political purge of the media.

“AI-assisted stories accounted for nearly 20% of Fortune’s web traffic in the second half of 2025. Most were written by Lichtenberg.” 10 years ago, they weren’t written by AI—they were written by me. So let me tell you how this story is going to end. (Warning: It won’t go well for the journalist.)

From Norway to Kazakhstan, countries feel the proximity and pressure of Russia’s existence — and its military power. Is Russia pushing its neighbors into the next World War? Check out Long Lead's latest feature BORDER LINE WAR, produced with Magnum Photos, at border-line-war.longlead.com

Jasper Craven journalism covers “veterans’ issues in the age of forever wars," carving out a niche that doesn't necessarily touch the combat element of the military. His new book, “God Forgives, Brothers Don’t,” explores the role military education plays in stoking America’s lust for war.

This episode has haunted me ever since I first heard it. I’m so glad we get to share it with LONG SHADOW listeners—it’s where “In Guns We Trust” and “Breaking the Internet” collide. AND it features @bostonjoan.bsky.social who @vermontgmg.bsky.social interviewed in Seasons 2 and 4 of Long Shadow!

MacFarlane: I think the rise of independent journalism is an unparalleled thing. They want—hopefully—what I do: speak directly, one-on-one, point-blank, conversationally, and simply explain the news. There’s no way any vertical integration can stop that.

Verdict is in for the New Mexico child safety case against Meta. Goes against Meta on every question. Jury finds Meta liable for ~37,000 violations. Maximum liability of $5,000 per violation.

Get this: The invention of the iPhone is closer to the Berlin Wall's fall than it is to today. But the Iron Curtain is still here—and Russia continues to reach across it. Read @longlead.com's latest which explores how Putin is weaponizing history, identity, and language against Russia's neighbors.

If an argument the Republican National Committee is making now had prevailed in 2000, Al Gore would have been the 43rd president of the U.S. www.ms.now/opinion/late...

The term "Iron Curtain" has been used to define the separation between Russia and the West since Winston Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. While the “curtain” itself was invisible, the impact of living in this area is evident — a reality of military trainings and ordinary life.

It's wild that President Trump sent ICE agents into airports to distract from the war in Iran that was started to distract from all the damaging information about him in the Epstein files.

I’m really hoping the Trump Kennedy Trump Center for the Performing Arts gives Scott Bessent the Mark Twain Prize. His satire is unparalleled.

I wrote a lot about Bob Mueller across a lot of chapters of his career. I wanted to share two @wired.com pieces that I wrote about his defining life experiences—both a picture of an era of public service all but lost today: 1) His brave *voluntary* service in Vietnam: www.wired.com/story/robert...

We all pay them. It’s what our taxes go towards. You should try it some time. Feels pretty good.

📈The price of gas has raised exactly 50 CENTS PER GALLON in the past 7 days. 📈 ⛽️ One good thing about buying gas at Costco is it's less expensive. Another is that you can use the app to easily track the price increase by comparing your last purchase to the current pump cost.

Your weekend #longread is here: An up-close look at the countries holding the line against Russian aggression. If Putin is pushing the world towards World War 3, these nations are pushing back. Stunning photography and sharp analysis. Learn something new this weekend: border-line-war.longlead.com

To date, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Iran, at least 204 of whom were children. The US has also lost at least 13 service members in the creation of these "banger memes."

“We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude,” said the person, also granted anonymity to speak candidly. “There’s an entertainment factor to what we do. But ultimately, it boils down to the fact that no one has ever attempted to communicate with the American public this way before.”

BLUESKY: What's one piece of pre-2020 journalism you can't get out of your head? I'll go first. In 2007, @gqmagazine.bsky.social sent George Saunders to cover the Minutemen volunteers guarding against migrants crossing the southern US border. Nearly 20 years later, a timeless must-read. Prescient.

Is Russia pushing its neighbors into the next World War? Years of reporting by @magnumphotos.bsky.social Thomas Dworzak and sharp analysis by @ccaryl.bsky.social show the winds of war blowing through a new Iron Curtain. The latest—an urgent read—from @longlead.com: border-line-war.longlead.com

<hotdogsuit.gif> Something something Signalgate, something something …

WELP fortune.com/2026/03/18/h...

For DEPTH PERCEPTION, @parkermolloy.com speaks with Dworzak about how the project came together, what it's like to photograph places he's known for decades as they brace for a war that may or may not be coming, and why he's more fascinated by the fake than the real. Read the full interview.

In the piece, Dworzak stays clearly on "this" side of the divide of the new Iron Curtain border, showing sometimes the abstract side of what life looks like with a neighboring war happening.

Following Russia's invasion on Ukraine, Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak came to the realization that while there was a lot of photojournalism coverage of the war, there wasn't much showing the surrounding areas. It's there that he started his piece, BORDER LINE WAR — Long Lead's latest feature.

My newsletter today is about @katmabu.bsky.social's campaign. Democrats keep asking how to reach voters who've given up on the party. Kat Abughazaleh spent a year trying to answer that question. She lost, but the answer is still right. www.readtpa.com/p/what-if-we...

From Norway to Kazakhstan, a new Iron Curtain has risen — but it may not be enough to contain Russia, the ghost of an empire that insists it has no boundaries. Introducing BORDER LINE WAR, the newest feature from Long Lead and @magnumphotos.bsky.social: border-line-war.longlead.com

If St. Patrick were alive today and tried to enter the United States from a country ravaged by poverty and violence, he would be exactly the kind of person this administration targets for deportation. The saint would be sleeping on the floor of a detention center in south Texas.

You can't be Irish and oppose immigration. You can't celebrate Patrick's Day and support ICE.

Proud of my Taoiseach.

Russians in Ukraine. America bombs Iran. China eyes Taiwan. Has the next World War already begun? As European countries hold the line with Vladimir Putin, the menace next door, winds of war blow through a new Iron Curtain. Out today from Long Lead and Magnum Photos: border-line-war.longlead.com

Years of reporting across thousands of miles. A global power imposing itself on other countries without restraint. A map that refuses to be redrawn. Read BORDER LINE WAR, a @longlead.com and @magnumphotos.bsky.social collaboration, out today. border-line-war.longlead.com

How quickly we forget. We must never allow LLMs to serve as epistemic grounding for society.

Long Lead is producing world class journalism — without compromise. Follow us to see our immersive features created by independent journalists. longlead.com

This women's history month, get inspired by reading THE DEPTHS SHE'LL REACH 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

Six years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a pandemic, no one could expect what was coming. In LONG SHADOW: RISE OF THE AMERICAN FAR RIGHT, host @vermontgmg.bsky.social recounts how the pandemic would inflame the anti-government sentiment that had been building for 40 years

This is underreported story. But it’s important. Acts of domestic terrorism are predictably spiking in the aftermath of our attack on Iran - and Trump and Patel gutted the FBI counterterrorism team, leaving the country intentionally exposed.

Wild that a judge ordered these DOGE videos to be taken down from the internet, huh @jasonkoebler.bsky.social? www.404media.co/doge-deposit...

Don't watch the Oscars this weekend! (At least not without the backstage backstory from @brezwrites.bsky.social and @jennaschnuer.bsky.social in this week's DEPTH PERCEPTION newsletter.) Interviews with independent journalists in your inbox every Wednesday—get it here! depthperception.longlead.com