Slow Burn

In Slow Burn’s 10th season, host Josh Levin takes you back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the moment between 2000 and 2004 when Fox News first surged to power and a whole bunch of people rose up to try and stop it.You’ll hear from the hosts, reporters, and producers who built Fox News, many who’ve never spoken publicly. You’ll also hear from Fox’s biggest antagonists—the political operatives, journalists, and comedians who attacked it, investigated it, and tried to mock it into submission. And you’ll hear from Fox’s victims, who are still coming to terms with how a cable news channel upended their lives.

Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to immediately access all past seasons and episodes of Slow Burn (and your other favorite Slate podcasts) completely ad-free. Plus, you’ll unlock subscriber-exclusive bonus episodes that bring you behind-the-scenes on the making of the show. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.


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
101
The L.A. Riots | 8. Damages
How Rodney King and the city of Los Angeles tried to reckon with everything they’d suffered.
47 min
102
The L.A. Riots | 7. Into Ashes
April 30 felt like the calm after the storm. Then the fires started burning again.
37 min
103
The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace
After the verdicts, Los Angeles erupted into fire and chaos.
39 min
104
The L.A. Riots | 5. The System
The officers who beat Rodney King had been caught in the act. Why wasn’t that enough to secure a conviction?
39 min
105
SB6 Extra: Leading Up to the Riots
A few excerpts from Season 6's Slate Plus interviews.
16 min
106
The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen
Rodney King woke up in a prison hospital to find himself at the center of the biggest story in the world.
32 min
107
The L.A. Riots | 3. The Chief
In the aftermath of the Rodney King beating, the city wanted Daryl Gates out. Gates had other plans.
43 min
108
The L.A. Riots | 2. No Justice
With the beating of Rodney King still on America’s TV screens, the killing of a teenager in South Central further inflamed the tension in Los Angeles’ Black neighborhoods.
44 min
109
The L.A. Riots | 1. The Tape
In 1991, a 68-second video set off a chain of events that would change Los Angeles forever.
38 min
110
Season 6 Trailer: The L.A. Riots
Coming November 3rd
2 min
111
One Year: Jesus on a Tortilla
How a burn mark in the shape of Christ changed a family.
50 min
112
One Year: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley
The author who changed America—and ignited a controversy about fact and fiction.
51 min
113
One Year: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar
Keith Stroup and Peter Bourne were on the verge of changing America’s pot laws—and then a blowout Christmas party in 1977 changed everything.
48 min
114
One Year: Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials
Three stories from a single day in August 1977.
54 min
115
One Year: The Miracle Cure
Medical experts said the cancer drug Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a national sensation anyway.
57 min
116
One Year: Mary Shane's Rookie Season
The little-known story of the first woman hired as a legitimate major-league baseball announcer.
49 min
117
Decoder Ring: The Sign Painter
From the new season of Slate's documentary culture podcast, Decoder Ring.
62 min
118
One Year: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
Introducing One Year, a new podcast from Slate.
65 min
119
The Road to the Iraq War | 8. Shock and Awe
Who’s most responsible for the failures of post-war Iraq?
9 min
120
The Road to the Iraq War | 7. Judy
Judith Miller made the WMDs case in the New York Times. Does she still stand by her reporting?
5 min
121
The Road to the Iraq War | 6. Big, if True
Why the U.S. relied on faulty intelligence from a man code-named Curveball.
39 min
122
The Road to the Iraq War | 5. Four Dicks (and V...
The men named Richard who helped determine whether the U.S. would go to war in Iraq.
43 min
123
Extra: More on the Road to Iraq
A few excerpts from Season 5's Slate Plus interviews.
13 min
124
The Road to the Iraq War | 4. Fighting Words
Intellectuals on the right and left found themselves on the same side in the debate over Iraq.
43 min
125
The Road to the Iraq War | 3. Mushroom Clouds
How weapons of mass destruction became the Bush administration’s rallying cry for war.
41 min