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.


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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
76
Season 8 Trailer: Becoming Justice Thomas
Coming May 31st.
2 min
77
Decoder Ring: Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?
The Tooth Fairy’s freak flag is still flying.
34 min
78
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
79
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
80
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Mes...
Why does no one remember the T.V. detective’s Cold War missive?
36 min
81
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Mes...
Was the cigar-chomping detective also a Cold War diplomat?
39 min
82
Announcing Slow Burn Season 8
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas
0 min
83
Decoder Ring: The Mailbag Episode
From kids menus to succulents to the chicken that crossed the road, we answer your questions.
34 min
84
Decoder Ring: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong
Who's afraid of... Barnes & Noble? The now quaint conflict that inspired the 1998 romantic comedy.
36 min
85
Decoder Ring: Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorney...
Cellino and Barnes became the literal poster-men for personal injury advertising.
35 min
86
Decoder Ring: How Preppy Became Streetwear
Ralph Lauren’s modern Ivy style was remixed by ’Lo-Heads.
32 min
87
Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine
How a PBS pledge drive turned Yanni and John Tesh into rock stars.
24 min
88
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade special announcement
The women who fought for legal abortion, the activists who pushed back, and the justices who thought they could solve the issue for good.
2 min
89
Roe v. Wade | Creating a Winning Show
The team behind Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade reveals how they made Apple Podcasts Show of the Year.
2 min
90
One Year: 1942 | 6. The Black-Japanese Axis
A shadowy organization, a mysterious leader, and an alleged conspiracy against America during World War II.
35 min
91
Decoder Ring: The Butt and the Bustle
It may be old-fashioned, but the bustle still has a lot to tell us about race, sex and power.
41 min
92
One Year: 1942 | 5. When Internment Came to Alaska
The U.S. military claimed it was protecting indigenous Alaskans during World War II. The real story is much darker.
37 min
93
Decoder Ring: The Truth About #TheDress
An unassuming photo of a party dress showed how seeing is believing.
32 min
94
One Year: 1942 | 4. The Info Wars of World War II
How the Nazis used radio propaganda as a weapon against the United States.
43 min
95
One Year: 1942 | 3. The Day the Music Stopped
How a 1942 recording ban changed America forever.
52 min
96
One Year: 1942 | 2. The Year Everyone Got Married
In 1942, matrimony was a national obsession. How would those weddings change America?
39 min
97
One Year: 1942 | 1. The Most Hated Man in America
In 1942, it was up to Leon Henderson to stop inflation. He became a nationwide villain.
42 min
98
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime...
Did a trench-coat wearing dog’s catchy anti-drug anthems actually work?
42 min
99
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime...
The unlikely origins of the trench-coat wearing bloodhound who tackled personal safety, guns and drugs.
32 min
100
One Year: 1986 | 7. The Man From Fifth Avenue
The stranger-than-fiction story of a mysterious American who starred in a Soviet propaganda film.
53 min