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.
176
The Waves: Why Barbie Lives On
Barbie has been around for generations, as Greta Gerwig takes her to Hollywood, we look at what makes Barbie a legend.
29 min
177
Decoder Ring: What's Really Going On Inside a M...
The etiquette, science and enduring appeal of a concertgoing ritual.
29 min
178
Slow Burn: Season 8 Live Announcement & Bonus C...
Host Joel Anderson is interviewed by Slate's Dahlia Lithwick.
25 min
179
A Word: Black Dolls Matter
Black Barbie: A Documentary traces the origin of a revolutionary toy.
26 min
180
Decoder Ring: The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate
Is a Wisconsin version more authentic than its beloved Italian counterpart?
40 min
181
Hear Me Out: Insurrection Is A Force For Good
…But not the one you’re thinking of.
32 min
182
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas - Ep. 4: A N...
What if Anita Hill hadn’t been the only woman who testified against Clarence Thomas?
62 min
183
Hear Me Out: Descendants Of Slaves Don’t Need R...
Being stuck in the past might not help us make progress.
43 min
184
How To!: Find the Gems in All Your Junk
Leila Dunbar on the true value of memorabilia and memories.
36 min
185
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas - Ep. 3: I’m...
To understand who Clarence Thomas was in the 1980s, you need to hear from the women who knew him best.
51 min
186
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas - Ep. 2: Smi...
Racial preferences gave Clarence Thomas a leg up. They also made him feel degraded.
45 min
187
A Word: My Father, the Spy
Martin Luther King Jr., a Black police mole, and the lie that brought them together.
23 min
188
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas - Ep. 1: Ame...
How Clarence Thomas went from an aspiring priest to a campus radical.
50 min
189
Hear Me Out: “Thank You For Your Service” Feels...
There are ways to thank vets that would actually make a difference.
25 min
190
A Word: Reckoning on Campus
How the “Hard Histories” project exploded an abolitionist myth.
32 min
191
Hear Me Out: Policing Can’t Be Reformed And Mus...
Some systems are just too broken to fix.
31 min
192
A Word: The Ballot, the Bullet, and the Truth
MLK’s condemnation of Malcolm X never happened. Why that matters now.
34 min
193
A Word: Dungeons, Dragons, and Diversity
How “blerds” and other geeks of color are diversifying hobby games.
32 min
194
Decoder Ring: Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?
The Tooth Fairy’s freak flag is still flying.
34 min
195
A Word: Becoming “The Black Mozart”
Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr., star of “Chevalier,” on bringing forgotten virtuoso Joseph Bologne to film.
18 min
196
What Next: Charles In Charge
A coronation is a good time to ask of the monarchy “Do we have to?”
21 min
197
What Next: America’s Rich History of Gun Control
How “originalist” arguments against gun control distort actual history.
21 min
198
Decoder Ring: Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking...
Parking is a mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. We can get ourselves out of it.
33 min
199
Hear Me Out: The Iraq War Was a Necessary Evil
Iraqis are freer now than they would have been without us.
28 min
200
Decoder Ring: The Artist Who Was Both Loved and...
The painter LeRoy Neiman was adored by many Americans—but not the art critics.
33 min