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


Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Slow Burn and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slow Burn show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.


Season 10: The Rise of Fox News

How a cable news channel became a cultural and political force—and how a whole bunch of people rose up to try and stop it.


Season 9: Gays Against Briggs

A nationwide moral panic, a California legislator who rode the anti-gay wave, and the LGBTQ+ people who stepped up and came out to try and stop him.


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
26
Decoder Ring | I am Tupperware, I Contain Multi...
The storage container, a stealthy star of the modern home, started with Tupperware.
39 min
27
Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness?
Does more money mean fewer problems?
30 min
28
Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds...
How fruity candy got a “healthful” rebrand, the rise and fall of the softest (and sexiest) bed, and more listener questions.
45 min
29
Introducing SNAFU with Ed Helms
Season 2: MEDBURG
32 min
30
Decoder Ring | Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)
The history of the mullet is weirder than you think.
46 min
31
Decoder Ring: Reconsidering One of the “Worst” ...
In 1980, “Pink Lady and Jeff” flopped spectacularly—but was it really that bad?
57 min
32
Decoder Ring: A Feel-Good Story About the End o...
NASA’s bold mission to save Earth from a killer asteroid.
36 min
33
Decoder Ring: The Wrongest Bird in Movie History
The “Pygmy Nuthatch” in Charlie’s Angels has bedeviled birders for the last 25 years.
44 min
34
Decoder Ring: Selling Out (Encore)
How we all became sellouts.
47 min
35
Decoder Ring: Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren B...
Why is Oscar-winner Warren Beatty still playing comic book detective Dick Tracy, 30 years later?
42 min
36
The Rise of Fox News | 6. What Hath We Wrought?
Some of the people who built Fox News now wonder how much they’re to blame for what it’s become.
71 min
37
The Rise of Fox News | 5. Ludacris Has Been Fired
For the American left, Fox News was an enemy to be destroyed—but maybe also emulated.
58 min
38
The Rise of Fox News | 4. Beacon of Truth
The Daily Show Ridiculed Fox News. And Fox News Loved It.
59 min
39
The Rise of Fox News | 3. The Other Guy’s Hambu...
Life at CNN was pretty darn sweet. Then came Fox News.
51 min
40
The Rise of Fox News | 2. A Network for Normal ...
The Fox News story began with the death of a dream.
54 min
41
The Rise of Fox News | 1. We Report. You Can Su...
How Fox News went from bumbling to seemingly invincible.
51 min
42
Decoder Ring: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Wil...
How a popular children’s book got caught up in the culture wars.
38 min
43
Season 10 Trailer: The Rise of Fox News
Coming Sept. 18
2 min
44
Decoder Ring: Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
In the 1980s, two restaurant chains duked it out to become the preeminent robot pizza arcade.
45 min
45
Decoder Ring: The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
It’s all in your head. Or is it?
33 min
46
Decoder Ring: Standing Up for Sitting Down
Sitting has, once again, stepped into the spotlight as a kind of villain.
35 min
47
Gays Against Briggs | The Story Behind Our Cove...
Host Christina Cauterucci interviews the activists who inspired this season's cover art.
27 min
48
Decoder Ring: The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Gnomes, flamingos, and lawn jockeys—every garden decoration has a message for us.
44 min
49
Gays Against Briggs | Tribeca Festival Live Show
Host Christina Cauterucci interviews special guests at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
95 min
50
Gays Against Briggs | 7. Turn Around. Fight Back.
After an infuriating verdict, gay San Franciscans took their anger to the streets.
47 min