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 award-winning series uncovers the surprising events and little-known characters lurking within the biggest stories of our time.


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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?

History
Documentary
Politics
76
The L.A. Riots | 5. The System
The officers who beat Rodney King had been caught in the act. Why wasn’t that enough to secure a conviction?
39 min
77
SB6 Extra: Leading Up to the Riots
A few excerpts from Season 6's Slate Plus interviews.
16 min
78
The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen
Rodney King woke up in a prison hospital to find himself at the center of the biggest story in the world.
32 min
79
The L.A. Riots | 3. The Chief
In the aftermath of the Rodney King beating, the city wanted Daryl Gates out. Gates had other plans.
43 min
80
The L.A. Riots | 2. No Justice
With the beating of Rodney King still on America’s TV screens, the killing of a teenager in South Central further inflamed the tension in Los Angeles’ Black neighborhoods.
44 min
81
The L.A. Riots | 1. The Tape
In 1991, a 68-second video set off a chain of events that would change Los Angeles forever.
38 min
82
Season 6 Trailer: The L.A. Riots
Coming November 3rd
2 min
83
One Year: Jesus on a Tortilla
How a burn mark in the shape of Christ changed a family.
50 min
84
One Year: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley
The author who changed America—and ignited a controversy about fact and fiction.
51 min
85
One Year: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar
Keith Stroup and Peter Bourne were on the verge of changing America’s pot laws—and then a blowout Christmas party in 1977 changed everything.
48 min
86
One Year: Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials
Three stories from a single day in August 1977.
54 min
87
One Year: The Miracle Cure
Medical experts said the cancer drug Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a national sensation anyway.
57 min
88
One Year: Mary Shane's Rookie Season
The little-known story of the first woman hired as a legitimate major-league baseball announcer.
49 min
89
Decoder Ring: The Sign Painter
From the new season of Slate's documentary culture podcast, Decoder Ring.
62 min
90
One Year: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
Introducing One Year, a new podcast from Slate.
65 min
91
The Road to the Iraq War | 8. Shock and Awe
Who’s most responsible for the failures of post-war Iraq?
9 min
92
The Road to the Iraq War | 7. Judy
Judith Miller made the WMDs case in the New York Times. Does she still stand by her reporting?
5 min
93
The Road to the Iraq War | 6. Big, if True
Why the U.S. relied on faulty intelligence from a man code-named Curveball.
39 min
94
The Road to the Iraq War | 5. Four Dicks (and V...
The men named Richard who helped determine whether the U.S. would go to war in Iraq.
43 min
95
Extra: More on the Road to Iraq
A few excerpts from Season 5's Slate Plus interviews.
13 min
96
The Road to the Iraq War | 4. Fighting Words
Intellectuals on the right and left found themselves on the same side in the debate over Iraq.
43 min
97
The Road to the Iraq War | 3. Mushroom Clouds
How weapons of mass destruction became the Bush administration’s rallying cry for war.
41 min
98
The Road to the Iraq War | 2. Terror
How the anthrax attacks of 2001 fueled a coming war with Iraq.
43 min
99
The Road to the Iraq War | 1. The Exile
Ahmad Chalabi spent decades trying to return to Baghdad. Thanks to the Americans’ war, he finally got his wish.
47 min
100
Season 5 Trailer: The Road to the Iraq War
Coming April 21st
2 min