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
126
One Year: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley
The author who changed America—and ignited a controversy about fact and fiction.
51 min
127
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
128
One Year: Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials
Three stories from a single day in August 1977.
54 min
129
One Year: The Miracle Cure
Medical experts said the cancer drug Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a national sensation anyway.
57 min
130
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
131
Decoder Ring: The Sign Painter
From the new season of Slate's documentary culture podcast, Decoder Ring.
62 min
132
One Year: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
Introducing One Year, a new podcast from Slate.
65 min
133
The Road to the Iraq War | 8. Shock and Awe
Who’s most responsible for the failures of post-war Iraq?
9 min
134
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
135
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
136
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
137
Extra: More on the Road to Iraq
A few excerpts from Season 5's Slate Plus interviews.
13 min
138
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
139
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
140
The Road to the Iraq War | 2. Terror
How the anthrax attacks of 2001 fueled a coming war with Iraq.
43 min
141
The Road to the Iraq War | 1. The Exile
Ahmad Chalabi spent decades trying to return to Baghdad. Thanks to the Americans’ war, he finally got his wish.
47 min
142
Season 5 Trailer: The Road to the Iraq War
Coming April 21st
2 min
143
Introducing: I Spy
28 min
144
Extra: What We Can Learn From 1991
A few excerpts from Season 4's bonus interviews, and a special Slow Burn announcement.
30 min
145
David Duke | 6. A Concerned Citizen
David Duke nearly became the governor of Louisiana. What did it take to stop him?
9 min
146
David Duke | 5. The Road to Hell
The 1991 Louisiana governor’s race turned into a battle over what the state was, and what it should be.
13 min
147
David Duke | 4. A Silent Army
What message did David Duke’s voters send to everyone else in Louisiana?
46 min
148
Cold Call
What I learned from a child journalist’s interview with David Duke--and why I’m not interviewing him myself.
21 min
149
David Duke | 3. The Nazi and the Republicans
The woman who tried to stop David Duke, and the GOP officials who accommodated him.
49 min
150
David Duke | 2. Robe and Ritual
How David Duke used the Ku Klux Klan to sell his message, and himself.
46 min