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.

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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
1
Decoder Ring: Reconsidering One of the “Worst” ...
In 1980, “Pink Lady and Jeff” flopped spectacularly—but was it really that bad?
57 min
2
Decoder Ring: A Feel-Good Story About the End o...
NASA’s bold mission to save Earth from a killer asteroid.
36 min
3
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
4
Decoder Ring: Selling Out (Encore)
How we all became sellouts.
47 min
5
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
6
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
7
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
8
The Rise of Fox News | 4. Beacon of Truth
The Daily Show Ridiculed Fox News. And Fox News Loved It.
59 min
9
The Rise of Fox News | 3. The Other Guy’s Hambu...
Life at CNN was pretty darn sweet. Then came Fox News.
51 min
10
The Rise of Fox News | 2. A Network for Normal ...
The Fox News story began with the death of a dream.
54 min
11
The Rise of Fox News | 1. We Report. You Can Su...
How Fox News went from bumbling to seemingly invincible.
51 min
12
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
13
Season 10 Trailer: The Rise of Fox News
Coming Sept. 18
2 min
14
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
15
Decoder Ring: The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
It’s all in your head. Or is it?
33 min
16
Decoder Ring: Standing Up for Sitting Down
Sitting has, once again, stepped into the spotlight as a kind of villain.
35 min
17
Gays Against Briggs | The Story Behind Our Cove...
Host Christina Cauterucci interviews the activists who inspired this season's cover art.
27 min
18
Decoder Ring: The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Gnomes, flamingos, and lawn jockeys—every garden decoration has a message for us.
44 min
19
Gays Against Briggs | Tribeca Festival Live Show
Host Christina Cauterucci interviews special guests at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
95 min
20
Gays Against Briggs | 7. Turn Around. Fight Back.
After an infuriating verdict, gay San Franciscans took their anger to the streets.
47 min
21
Gays Against Briggs | 6. The Murders at City Hall
Thousands of activists gave everything to the Prop 6 campaign. Harvey Milk gave his life.
51 min
22
Gays Against Briggs | 5. Strange Bedfellows
In the 1970s, gay rights activists took a gamble—on Ronald Reagan.
50 min
23
Gays Against Briggs | 4. You Must Come Out
In the fight against John Briggs, desperate times called for a deeply personal tactic.
52 min
24
Gays Against Briggs | 3. Harvey Milk vs. the Ma...
How the unofficial mayor of Castro Street became the public face of the anti-Briggs campaign.
52 min
25
Gays Against Briggs | 2. Defend Our Children
John Briggs’ crusade against gay teachers tapped into a deep well of conservative anxiety.
48 min