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Long Lead
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A story studio publishing in-depth journalism without compromise. Latest feature: DOUBLE MEANING https://twins.longlead.com/
How does the internet culture newsletter GARBAGE DAY combat AI slop “journalism”? @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social shares, "Every issue has a disclaimer at the bottom that says, 'Any typos in this email are on purpose actually'" which is "a fun way" to acknowledge posts are written by humans.
January 11, 2026 at 11:00 PM
When less-lethal weapons are misused, there are virtually no consequences for law-enforcement agencies or individual officers. There are no consequences for anyone at all, other than for the individuals at the wrong end of the launcher.

📷: Raphael Gaillarde / Gamma-Rapho / Getty
January 11, 2026 at 6:45 PM
In 2020 while covering Minneapolis protests following George Floyd's murder, photojournalist Linda Tirado was shot in the face and blinded by a 40mm foam-tipped bullet, which police were using for crowd control.
January 11, 2026 at 6:45 PM
On the whole, there is little appetite to take the kind of legislative action — such as regulating or banning the use of KIPs, or even simply mandating standards around the training and use of less-lethal munitions — that would make injuries like Tirado’s less likely to occur.
January 11, 2026 at 1:00 AM
In January 2021, the Minneapolis City Council explored a resolution to limit the use of KIPs and other less-lethal weapons, but was told by the city’s lawyers that to do so would exceed the reach of the council’s powers.

📷: Chandan Khanna / AFP / Getty
January 11, 2026 at 1:00 AM
She settled with the city after it promised to reform how it uses less-lethal munitions. But those reforms never came and Tirado (@killermartinis.bsky.social) has spent the years since struggling to hold law enforcement accountable.
January 11, 2026 at 1:00 AM
In 2020, journalist Linda Tirado (@killermartinis.bsky.social) was documenting protests in Minneapolis when an officer shot her in her in the face with a 40mm foam-tipped bullet. This injury blinded her left eye, drastically altering her life. But it didn’t diminish her voice or resolve.
January 11, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Long Lead's 2025 features ranged from a podcast about how the internet, a tool which could've democratized the world, came to tear the world apart to testimonials on the last survivors of Japanese American incarceration camps.

Follow @LongLead.com to stay up to date on our upcoming features.
January 10, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Law enforcement agencies’ reliance on KIPs has increased and so have the warnings about them.

As it became increasingly obvious that the use of these weapons sometimes resulted in death, the name switched from nonlethal to less-lethal munitions.
January 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
What modern law enforcement calls “pain compliance” — essentially, hurting people to make them obey — was the specific intent behind the first rubber bullets, which were developed by the British Army for use in Northern Ireland during the decades of conflict known as the Troubles.
January 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Less-lethal weapons are meant to bridge the gap between verbal warnings and lethal force, enabling law enforcement to meet threats with a weapon that hurts but shouldn’t kill or cause severe injury.
rubberbullets.longlead.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Today Iran turned off its internet amid widespread protests in the country. It's not the first time a country has used an internet blackout to try to prevent protests — something that happened in January 2011 during protests calling for the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power.
January 9, 2026 at 2:30 AM
When covering Minneapolis protests after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, journalist @killermartinis.bsky.social was shot in the face and blinded with a foam-tipped bullet.

She settled with the city after it promised to reform how it uses less-lethal munitions. They're still used today.
January 8, 2026 at 11:48 PM
The killing of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer has sparked nationwide protests across the U.S.

If you're protesting, here's how to tell if law enforcement is armed with less-lethal munitions. Remember: "Less lethal" means "still deadly."
January 8, 2026 at 8:26 PM
“Our husbands even know if something’s going on,” Kendra says. “If I’m having a bad day, he’ll say, ‘Call Brenda. You need to call your sister.’”
January 8, 2026 at 4:00 AM
When considering how their relationship is different from those with others, identical twins Brenda and Kendra talk about how they can be themselves, never fearing that the other will get mad if they say something wrong.
January 8, 2026 at 4:00 AM
GARBAGE DAY editor-in-chief Ryan Broderick (@ryanhatesthis.bsky.social) has created a media community of his own, reaching readers in places like Discord and making sense of the internet's biggest stories while adding context that audiences might have missed.
January 7, 2026 at 8:13 PM
When looking at how conspiracy theories — like how the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" — spread, disinformation and online manipulation expert Renée DiResta (@noupside.bsky.social) looks to this simple maxim: “if you make it trend, you make it true."
January 7, 2026 at 3:15 AM
January 6 wasn't spontaneous — militias that converged there had begun arming themselves and attending social justice protests in the summer of 2020.

In this LONG SHADOW: RISE OF THE AMERICAN FAR RIGHT clip, @vermontgmg.bsky.social details why the groups showed up to demonstrations.
January 6, 2026 at 10:15 PM
On January 6, 2021, @pamhemphill53.bsky.social, the ex-"MAGA granny," found herself at the front of an angry crowd, pushed up against a barricade in front of the U.S. Capitol building, livestreaming to her social media followers.

Hemphill shares her story with @vermontgmg.bsky.social in LONG SHADOW
January 6, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Check out Long Lead's newest feature DOUBLE MEANING today to learn more about twins' bond and what the world can learn about this group of people who come together annually despite their differences: twins.longlead.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
As a pair of twins, the Ireland sisters share how people expect the same things of them — even to the point they assumed they were pregnant at the same time.

In "Twins Fest" — Long Lead's documentary made about the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, OH — twins share their experiences.
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
On January 6, 2021, Pam Hemphill, the ex-"MAGA granny," found herself at the front of an angry crowd, pushed up against a barricade in front of the U.S. Capitol building, livestreaming to her social media followers.

Hemphill shares her story in LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET.
January 5, 2026 at 4:00 AM
The annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, which has been recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Largest Annual Gathering of Twins in the World."
January 4, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Make reading more longform stories part of your 2026 resolution.

Follow @LongLead.com to keep up-to-date with our latest features and to get insights from top journalists across longform beats.
January 4, 2026 at 1:00 PM