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
126
A Word: True Crime in Black and White
What a decades-old murder and hoax tells us about race and policing today.
22 min
127
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
128
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
129
Hear Me Out: Feminism Is Dying (But It Can Be S...
When we say all women, we need to mean it.
32 min
130
A Word: Send In the Clowns?
Black Republicans, white supremacy, and the politics of grift.
44 min
131
What Next TBD: The Great British Library Hack
How a cultural institution became the target of a ransomware attack.
24 min
132
Outward: The Outing of Bubba Copeland
The story of how an Alabama mayor’s outing became national news
31 min
133
A Word: A Black Power Radical’s Rise and Fall
Did a civil rights rebel become a murderer, or a scapegoat?
24 min
134
One Year: 1990 - The Angry Death of Kimberly Be...
A young woman claimed she got HIV from her dentist. Was she right?
52 min
135
Hear Me Out: The Holidays Are Tacky. Embrace It
Stop trying to class it up.
34 min
136
One Year: 1990 - Art on Trial
Inside the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition that sparked a First Amendment showdown in Cincinnati.
54 min
137
Hear Me Out: Race Isn’t Real. The Census Should...
Checking a box is oversimplifying.
39 min
138
One Year: 1990 - Bush vs. Broccoli
When the president declared war on a vegetable, the country lost its mind.
36 min
139
Hear Me Out: The Oppressed Still Have Moral Duties
Fighting fire with fire has its limits.
30 min
140
One Year: 1990 - Mandrake the Magician
How a single dad with a secret identity took on Big Tobacco.
46 min
141
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
142
What Next: Moms for Liberty Tanked at the Polls...
Parental-Rights groups tend to burn brightly but briefly.
20 min
143
A Word: Rebirth of a Nation
Reconstruction was supposed to usher in a multi-racial democracy. What happened?
35 min
144
Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Sl...
In 1992, the company behind The Oregon Trail tried to simulate Black history. It did not go well.
43 min
145
Hear Me Out: It’s Time To Sunset Social Security
It’s a transfer of wealth, and not to the people who need it.
43 min
146
Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other
The Rules became a controversial bestseller and sparked instant debate. But was the advice any good?
33 min
147
What Next: Can Hamas Actually Be Destroyed?
What Hamas’s history tells us about Gaza’s future.
25 min
148
Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, an...
We answer your questions about the ubiquitous musical instrument, ‘80s automotive luxury, and more.
36 min
149
Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melro...
In the mid-1990s, an artist collective smuggled its provocative work onto the set of the hit TV show.
37 min
150
Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance
The rise and fall of an awkward rite of passage.
41 min