Slow Burn
Slow Burn illuminates America’s most consequential moments, making sense of the past to better understand the present. Through archival tape and first-person interviews, the series uncovers the surprising events and little-known characters lurking within the biggest stories of our time. Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Slow Burn and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slow Burn show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen. Season 10: The Rise of Fox News How a cable news channel became a cultural and political force—and how a whole bunch of people rose up to try and stop it. Season 9: Gays Against Briggs A nationwide moral panic, a California legislator who rode the anti-gay wave, and the LGBTQ+ people who stepped up and came out to try and stop him. Season 8: Becoming Justice Thomas Where Clarence Thomas came from, how he rose to power, and how he’s brought the rest of us along with him, whether we like it or not. Winner of the Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Ambies Awards. Season 7: Roe v. Wade The women who fought for legal abortion, the activists who pushed back, and the justices who thought they could solve the issue for good. Winner of Apple Podcasts Show of the Year in 2022. Season 6: The L.A. Riots How decades of police brutality, a broken justice system, and a video tape set off six days of unrest in Los Angeles. Season 5: The Road to the Iraq War Eighteen months after 9/11, the United States invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks. Who’s to blame? And was there any way to stop it? Season 4: David Duke America’s most famous white supremacist came within a runoff of controlling Louisiana. How did David Duke rise to power? And what did it take to stop him? Season 3: Biggie and Tupac How is it that two of the most famous performers in the world were murdered within a year of each other—and their killings were never solved? Season 2: The Clinton Impeachment A reexamination of the scandals that nearly destroyed the 42nd president and forever changed the life of a former White House intern. Season 1: Watergate What did it feel like to live through the scandal that brought down President Nixon?
Decoder Ring | “Videomate: Men” (Encore)
Decoder Ring | How Protein Muscled Its Way to the Top
Decoder Ring | Cozy Autumn Mysteries
Decoder Ring | The Red String Board Conspiracy
When We All Get to Heaven | Setting the Table
Decoder Ring | What the Cuck?!
Decoder Ring | Why Do Actors Act Like They Can Sing?
Decoder Ring | Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane’s VHS Revolution (Encore)
Decoder Ring | Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni (Encore)
Decoder Ring | How to Hunt a Mammoth, and Other Experiments in Archaeology
Decoder Ring | The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth
Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Drug Names, Cow Abductions, and the “Ass-Intensifier”
Decoder Ring | The White Noise Boom
Decoder Ring | The Boston Cinematic Universe
Decoder Ring | The Laff Box (Encore)
Decoder Ring | The Glaring Problem with Headlights
Decoder Ring | Off-the-Wall Stories of Off-Label Use
Decoder Ring | How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul
Decoder Ring | Spring Break Forever
Decoder Ring | How Books About Things That Changed the World… Changed the World
Supercommunicators | 3. How to Have the Hardest Conversations
Decoder Ring | Truck Nutz (Encore)
Supercommunicators | 2. How to Communicate Without Words
Decoder Ring | Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie
Supercommunicators | 1. How to Talk to Anyone
Introducing Supercommunicators
Decoder Ring | The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win
Decoder Ring | Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze
Decoder Ring | I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes
Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness?
Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks
Introducing SNAFU with Ed Helms
Decoder Ring | Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)
Decoder Ring: Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of All Time
Decoder Ring: A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World
Decoder Ring: The Wrongest Bird in Movie History
Decoder Ring: Selling Out (Encore)
Decoder Ring: Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren Beatty Again
The Rise of Fox News | 6. What Hath We Wrought?
The Rise of Fox News | 5. Ludacris Has Been Fired
The Rise of Fox News | 4. Beacon of Truth
The Rise of Fox News | 3. The Other Guy’s Hamburger
The Rise of Fox News | 2. A Network for Normal People
The Rise of Fox News | 1. We Report. You Can Suck It.
Decoder Ring: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?
Season 10 Trailer: The Rise of Fox News
Decoder Ring: Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
Decoder Ring: The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
Decoder Ring: Standing Up for Sitting Down
Gays Against Briggs | The Story Behind Our Cover Art
Decoder Ring: The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Gays Against Briggs | Tribeca Festival Live Show
Gays Against Briggs | 7. Turn Around. Fight Back.
Gays Against Briggs | 6. The Murders at City Hall
Gays Against Briggs | 5. Strange Bedfellows
Gays Against Briggs | 4. You Must Come Out
Gays Against Briggs | 3. Harvey Milk vs. the Machine
Gays Against Briggs | 2. Defend Our Children
Gays Against Briggs | 1. A Hotbed of Homosexuality
Season 9 Trailer: Gays Against Briggs
Decoder Ring: How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat
Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band
Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?
Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)
Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Announcing Slow Burn Season 9
Decoder Ring: Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?
One Year: 1990 | 5. The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis
One Year: 1990 | 4. Art on Trial
One Year: 1990 | 3. Bush vs. Broccoli
One Year: 1990 | 2. Mandrake the Magician
One Year: 1990 | 1. Pizzastroika
Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery
Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other
Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs
Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place
Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance
One Year: 1955 | 6. The Hiroshima Maidens
One Year: 1955 | 5. The Cutter Incident
One Year: 1955 | 4. Siberia, USA
One Year: 1955 | 3. The Weather Girls
One Year: 1955 | 2. The Crockett Craze
One Year: 1955 | 1. The Team Nobody Would Play
Decoder Ring: Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.
Decoder Ring: The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft
Decoder Ring: A Brief History of Making Out
Decoder Ring: The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate
Decoder Ring: What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?
S8 Live Announcement & Bonus Conversation
Becoming Justice Thomas | 4. A National Disgrace
Becoming Justice Thomas | 3. I’m Their Guy
Becoming Justice Thomas | 2. Smiling Faces
Becoming Justice Thomas | 1. America’s Blackest Child
Season 8 Trailer: Becoming Justice Thomas
Decoder Ring: Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?
Decoder Ring: Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking Spot
Decoder Ring: The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 2
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 1
Announcing Slow Burn Season 8
Decoder Ring: The Mailbag Episode
Decoder Ring: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong
Decoder Ring: Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 800-888-8888
Decoder Ring: How Preppy Became Streetwear
Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade special announcement
Roe v. Wade | Creating a Winning Show
One Year: 1942 | 6. The Black-Japanese Axis
Decoder Ring: The Butt and the Bustle
One Year: 1942 | 5. When Internment Came to Alaska
Decoder Ring: The Truth About #TheDress
One Year: 1942 | 4. The Info Wars of World War II
One Year: 1942 | 3. The Day the Music Stopped
One Year: 1942 | 2. The Year Everyone Got Married
One Year: 1942 | 1. The Most Hated Man in America
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 2
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 1
One Year: 1986 | 7. The Man From Fifth Avenue
One Year: 1986 | 6. The Miracle of Cokeville
One Year: 1986 | 5. Herschel vs. the Blubber Busters
One Year: 1986 | 4. A Boycott in Mississippi
One Year: 1986 | 3. The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults
One Year: 1986 | 2. The Ultimate Field Trip
Slow Burn presents... One Year: 1986 | 1. No Crime Day
Decoder Ring: The “Sex” Scandal That Made Mae West
Decoder Ring: The First Alien Abductees
Decoder Ring: The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers
Slow Burn presents: Decoder Ring - The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)
Roe v. Wade | 4. Roe Against Wade
Roe v. Wade | 3. Women vs. Connecticut
Roe v. Wade | 2. Life or Death
Roe v. Wade | 1. Get Married or Go Home
The L.A. Riots | 8. Damages
The L.A. Riots | 7. Into Ashes
The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace
The L.A. Riots | 5. The System
The L.A. Riots | Extra: Leading Up to the Riots
The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen
The L.A. Riots | 3. The Chief
The L.A. Riots | 2. No Justice
The L.A. Riots | 1. The Tape
Season 6 Trailer: The L.A. Riots
One Year: Jesus on a Tortilla
One Year: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley
One Year: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar
One Year: Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials
One Year: The Miracle Cure
One Year: Mary Shane's Rookie Season
Decoder Ring: The Sign Painter
One Year: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
The Road to the Iraq War | 8. Shock and Awe
The Road to the Iraq War | 7. Judy
The Road to the Iraq War | 6. Big, if True
The Road to the Iraq War | 5. Four Dicks (and Vice President Cheney)
Extra: More on the Road to Iraq
The Road to the Iraq War | 4. Fighting Words
The Road to the Iraq War | 3. Mushroom Clouds
The Road to the Iraq War | 2. Terror
The Road to the Iraq War | 1. The Exile
Season 5 Trailer: The Road to the Iraq War
Introducing: I Spy
Extra: What We Can Learn From 1991
David Duke | 6. A Concerned Citizen
David Duke | 5. The Road to Hell
David Duke | 4. A Silent Army
Cold Call
David Duke | 3. The Nazi and the Republicans
David Duke | 2. Robe and Ritual
David Duke | 1. White Knight
Season 4 Trailer: David Duke
Live: Party & Bullshit
Announcement: Slow Burn's Watergate Season on TV
Introducing: Broken Record
Biggie and Tupac | Epilogue: Got a Story to Tell
Biggie and Tupac | 8. Dead Wrong
Biggie and Tupac | 7. To Live and Die in LA
Biggie and Tupac | 6. Til Somebody Kills You
Biggie and Tupac | Plus: "East vs. West"
Biggie and Tupac | 5. Wrath of a Menace
Biggie and Tupac | 4. Against Those Thugs
Biggie and Tupac | 3. What's Beef?
Biggie and Tupac | 2. Cops on My Tail
Biggie and Tupac | 1. Against the World
Season 3 Trailer: Biggie and Tupac
Introducing The Queen
Slow Burn Live: The Kingdom and the Power
Slow Burn Live: Keyholes
The Clinton Impeachment | 8. Move On
The Clinton Impeachment | Secret Tracks
The Clinton Impeachment | 7. Bedfellows
The Clinton Impeachment | 6. God Mode
The Clinton Impeachment | 5. Tell-All
The Clinton Impeachment | 4. Alone, Together
The Clinton Impeachment | 3. Cred
The Clinton Impeachment | 2. There There
The Clinton Impeachment | 1. Deal or No Deal
Season 2 Trailer: The Clinton Impeachment
Watergate | Live in New York
Watergate | 8. Going South
Extra, Extra
Watergate | 7. Saturday Night
Watergate | 6. Rabbit Holes
Watergate | 5. True Believers
Watergate | 4. Lie Detectors
Watergate | 3. A Very Successful Cover-Up
Watergate | 2. The Defeat of Wright Patman
Watergate | 1. Martha