Listen onThe attack has cast a long shadow on 21st century life Listen | 22:01A hijacked plane shortly before crashing into the World Trade Centre on September 11th, 2001. Photograph: Seth McAllister/AFP via Getty Images Fri Sept 11 2026 - 07:00Twenty-five years ago, al-Qaeda militants hijacked four commercial planes in the US and flew two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people were killed on that day and the world was changed forever. How the US responded to that attack on home soil reverberates still – through everything from airport security to geopolitics – and above all, America’s place in the world. The attacks also prompted a rise in Islamophobia. Denis Staunton, Irish Times correspondent and author of the daily Global Briefing newsletter, explores how the world changed after 9/11 and what might have happened if the US had responded to the attacks in a different way. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. [ 9/11 remembered: ‘They gave everything. Those guys were off that morning and free to go home’Opens in new window ]Bernice HarrisonBernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast