Slate History

A feed with the best history coverage from Slate’s wide range of podcasts. From narrative shows like Slow Burn, One Year, and Decoder Ring, to timely analysis from ICYMI and What Next, you’ll get the fascinating stories and vital context you need to understand where we came from and where we're going. 

History
Society & Culture
101
A Word: Love, Family, and Freedom’s Ultimate Price
An assassin ended Medgar Evers’ life. His widow Myrlie Evers-Williams still nurtures his dream.
25 min
102
Hit Parade: Gotcha Covered Edition Part 1
A smash remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has reminded us of the power of cover songs. But why are hit covers so rare today?
53 min
103
A Word: Black Country Renaissance
After Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” tops charts, the spotlight shines on Black women in country music.
37 min
104
Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Avery Trufelman and Melissa Rivers on what the fashion police hath wrought.
38 min
105
Hear Me Out: The House Should Elect The President
Not we the people… at least, not directly.
41 min
106
Well, Now: Ending Racism in Healthcare
In her new book Legacy, Dr. Uché Blackstock honors her late mother while also tracing the history of racism in U.S. healthcare.
27 min
107
Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Thirty years ago, OK Soda arrived in select stores and offered up a fizzy irony.
39 min
108
Hear Me Out: Un-Cancel Woodrow Wilson
It’s time to reassess what a great president looks like.
41 min
109
Hear Me Out: The Constitution Can’t Save Us
And we should stop pretending like it can.
34 min
110
A Word: True Crime in Black and White
What a decades-old murder and hoax tells us about race and policing today.
22 min
111
What Next: How Trump Gets Kicked off the Ballot
The Constitution pretty clearly states he should be booted. Will the Supreme Court agree?
19 min
112
What Next: Are Two States Still the Solution?
Both sides seem to agree on at least one point: the status quo is untenable.
26 min
113
Hear Me Out: Feminism Is Dying (But It Can Be S...
When we say all women, we need to mean it.
32 min
114
What Next TBD: The Great British Library Hack
How a cultural institution became the target of a ransomware attack.
24 min
115
A Word: Send In the Clowns?
Black Republicans, white supremacy, and the politics of grift.
44 min
116
Outward: The Outing of Bubba Copeland
The story of how an Alabama mayor’s outing became national news
31 min
117
A Word: A Black Power Radical’s Rise and Fall
Did a civil rights rebel become a murderer, or a scapegoat?
24 min
118
One Year: 1990 - The Angry Death of Kimberly Be...
A young woman claimed she got HIV from her dentist. Was she right?
52 min
119
Hear Me Out: The Holidays Are Tacky. Embrace It
Stop trying to class it up.
34 min
120
One Year: 1990 - Art on Trial
Inside the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition that sparked a First Amendment showdown in Cincinnati.
54 min
121
Hear Me Out: Race Isn’t Real. The Census Should...
Checking a box is oversimplifying.
39 min
122
One Year: 1990 - Bush vs. Broccoli
When the president declared war on a vegetable, the country lost its mind.
36 min
123
Hear Me Out: The Oppressed Still Have Moral Duties
Fighting fire with fire has its limits.
30 min
124
One Year: 1990 - Mandrake the Magician
How a single dad with a secret identity took on Big Tobacco.
46 min
125
One Year: 1990 - Pizzastroika
As the Cold War reached its climax, Pizza Hut got tangled up in geopolitics—and made a lot of dough.
53 min