Slow Burn

In 1978, state Sen. John Briggs put a bold proposition on the California ballot. If it passed, the Briggs Initiative would ban gays and lesbians from working in public schools—and fuel a growing backlash against LGBTQ+ people in all corners of American life. In the ninth season of Slate’s Slow Burn, host Christina Cauterucci explores one of the most consequential civil rights battles in American history: the first-ever statewide vote on gay rights. With that fight looming, young gay activists formed a sprawling, infighting, joyous opposition; confronted the smear that they were indoctrinating kids; and came out en masse to show Briggs—and their own communities—who they really were. And when an unthinkable act of violence shocked them all, they showed the world what gay power looked like.


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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
101
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
102
Season 5 Trailer: The Road to the Iraq War
Coming April 21st
2 min
103
Introducing: I Spy
28 min
104
Extra: What We Can Learn From 1991
A few excerpts from Season 4's bonus interviews, and a special Slow Burn announcement.
30 min
105
David Duke | 6. A Concerned Citizen
David Duke nearly became the governor of Louisiana. What did it take to stop him?
9 min
106
David Duke | 5. The Road to Hell
The 1991 Louisiana governor’s race turned into a battle over what the state was, and what it should be.
13 min
107
David Duke | 4. A Silent Army
What message did David Duke’s voters send to everyone else in Louisiana?
46 min
108
Cold Call
What I learned from a child journalist’s interview with David Duke--and why I’m not interviewing him myself.
21 min
109
David Duke | 3. The Nazi and the Republicans
The woman who tried to stop David Duke, and the GOP officials who accommodated him.
49 min
110
David Duke | 2. Robe and Ritual
How David Duke used the Ku Klux Klan to sell his message, and himself.
46 min
111
David Duke | 1. White Knight
The year that David Duke, America’s most famous white supremacist, went mainstream.
45 min
112
Season 4 Trailer: David Duke
Coming June 10th
2 min
113
Live: Party & Bullshit
50 min
114
Announcement: Slow Burn's Watergate Season on TV
Slow Burn's first season is now a TV docu-series, premiering Feb. 16 on Epix.
0 min
115
Introducing: Broken Record
51 min
116
Biggie and Tupac | Epilogue: Got a Story to Tell
Listen to the some of the extended interviews and stories we couldn't fit into this season.
45 min
117
Biggie and Tupac | 8. Dead Wrong
7 min
118
Biggie and Tupac | 7. To Live and Die in LA
5 min
119
Biggie and Tupac | 6. Til Somebody Kills You
25 min
120
Biggie and Tupac | 5+. "East vs. West"
On the Vibe cover story that further stoked conflict between Death Row and Bad Boy.
66 min
121
Biggie and Tupac | 5. Wrath of a Menace
27 min
122
Biggie and Tupac | 4. Against Those Thugs
A 66-year-old woman on a moral crusade upends the music industry.
26 min
123
Biggie and Tupac | What's Beef?
An escalating personal rivalry turns into a bicoastal war.
33 min
124
Biggie and Tupac | 2. Cops on My Tail
How police claimed rap lyrics were turning black listeners into cop killers.
29 min
125
Biggie and Tupac | 1. Against the World
29 min