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Slow Burn
Slow Burn
Slate Podcasts

In Slow Burn’s 10th season, host Josh Levin takes you back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the moment between... more

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Episodes

Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks

It’s our annual mailbag episode! We get a lot of wonderful reader emails suggesting topics for the show — and... more

18 Dec 2024 · 52 minutes
Introducing SNAFU with Ed Helms

While the Slow Burn team is hard at work on our next season, we are excited to share the first... more

11 Dec 2024 · 32 minutes
Decoder Ring | Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)

The mullet, the love-to-hate-it hairstyle, is as associated with the 1980’s as Ronald Reagan, junk bonds, and breakdancing. But in... more

04 Dec 2024 · 54 minutes
Decoder Ring: Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of All Time

In 1980, a variety show debuted on NBC called Pink Lady and Jeff. Its stars were a pair of Japanese... more

20 Nov 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
Decoder Ring: A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World

The fear that the Earth could be destroyed by a killer asteroid is an anxiety that pops up all the... more

10 Nov 2024 · 43 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Wrongest Bird in Movie History

There is a prominent bird in the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels that makes absolutely no sense. This so-called Pygmy Nuthatch... more

07 Nov 2024 · 51 minutes
Decoder Ring: Selling Out (Encore)

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that... more

04 Nov 2024 · 53 minutes
Decoder Ring: Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren Beatty Again

(While we work on the next season of Slow Burn we're showcasing new episodes from Slate's narrative podcast Decoder Ring.) Oscar-winner... more

30 Oct 2024 · 48 minutes
The Rise of Fox News | 6. What Hath We Wrought?

The 2004 presidential race would be the first fully Fox News election—a contest that was framed by Fox, and fought... more

23 Oct 2024 · 1 hour, 17 minutes
The Rise of Fox News | 5. Ludacris Has Been Fired

As Fox News gathered strength, progressive activists turned to comedian Al Franken and fledgling online communities to punch back. But... more

16 Oct 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
The Rise of Fox News | 4. Beacon of Truth

After 9/11, the Fox News Channel rallied a huge portion of the country around the Bush administration’s vision of the... more

09 Oct 2024 · 1 hour, 5 minutes
The Rise of Fox News | 3. The Other Guy’s Hamburger

For a decade and a half, CNN was peerless and ambitious, and it understood its place in the world. At... more

02 Oct 2024 · 57 minutes
The Rise of Fox News | 2. A Network for Normal People

Before he ran Fox News, Roger Ailes launched a very different kind of channel. America’s Talking was his vision of... more

25 Sep 2024 · 1 hour,
The Rise of Fox News | 1. We Report. You Can Suck It.

When the Fox News Channel launched in 1996, critics called it disorganized, incompetent, and laughably inept. But it wouldn’t be... more

18 Sep 2024 · 57 minutes
Decoder Ring: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?

Adults have a long history of trying to find morals and lessons in children’s literature. But what happens when a... more

11 Sep 2024 · 44 minutes
Season 10 Trailer: The Rise of Fox News

In Slow Burn’s 10th season, host Josh Levin takes you back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the... more

10 Sep 2024 · 2 minutes
Decoder Ring: Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)

In the late 1970s, a new and unusual concept for a restaurant chain emerged in California—video games plus bad pizza... more

28 Aug 2024 · 50 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria

“Hysteria” is an ancient word carrying thousands of years of baggage. Though the terminology has changed, hysteria has not gone... more

14 Aug 2024 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: Standing Up for Sitting Down

If you’re lucky, it’s possible you’ve never thought much about sitting. It’s just something your body does, like breathing or... more

31 Jul 2024 · 35 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | The Story Behind Our Cover Art

In this special bonus episode host Christina Cauterucci interviews Silvana Nova and Larry Hermsen. Silvana is the person you see raising... more

26 Jul 2024 · 27 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments

Lawn ornaments are everywhere—but for something so ubiquitous, they’re also mysterious. What’s the person with the flamingo or the gargoyle... more

17 Jul 2024 · 51 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | Tribeca Festival Live Show

Listen in as host Christina Cauterucci joins special guests, Eric Marcus, host of Making Gay History, DeRay Mckesson, activist and host of Pod Save... more

15 Jul 2024 · 1 hour, 35 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 7. Turn Around. Fight Back.

For the two years leading up to May 21, 1979, gay activists followed the rules. They engaged in civil debates.... more

03 Jul 2024 · 51 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 6. The Murders at City Hall

On election night in 1978, gays and lesbians in California braced themselves for the statewide vote on Proposition 6. Less... more

26 Jun 2024 · 56 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 5. Strange Bedfellows

As Election Day approached, the campaign to defeat Proposition 6 faced formidable odds. John Briggs’ fundraising juggernaut was churning out... more

19 Jun 2024 · 55 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 4. You Must Come Out

In the early days of the anti-Briggs campaign, a Richard Pryor comedy set turned into a public fiasco and laid... more

12 Jun 2024 · 57 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 3. Harvey Milk vs. the Machine

After decades of wandering and job-hopping, Harvey Milk found his purpose as a gay community leader with growing political ambitions.... more

05 Jun 2024 · 57 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 2. Defend Our Children

In 1977, John Briggs was a small-time state senator with big dreams. But Briggs’ plan to ban gay and lesbian... more

29 May 2024 · 53 minutes
Gays Against Briggs | 1. A Hotbed of Homosexuality

In the 1970s, San Francisco became a welcoming home for tens of thousands of new gay residents—and a modern-day Sodom... more

22 May 2024 · 50 minutes
Season 9 Trailer: Gays Against Briggs

In 1978, state senator John Briggs put a bold proposition on the California ballot. If it passed, the Briggs Initiative... more

09 May 2024 · 1 minute
Decoder Ring: How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat

The jalapeño is the workhorse of hot peppers. They’re sold fresh, canned, pickled, in hot sauces, salsas, smoked into chipotles, and... more

08 May 2024 · 32 minutes
Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band

Pop culture is full of fictional bands singing songs purpose-made to capture a moment, a sound. This music doesn’t organically... more

24 Apr 2024 · 41 minutes
Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

Magazines have fallen on hard times – especially the weekly news, fashion, and celebrity mags that once dominated newsstands. The... more

10 Apr 2024 · 37 minutes
Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)

In 1986, Andrew Wyeth was the most famous painter in America. He was a household name, on the cover of... more

27 Mar 2024 · 54 minutes
Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet

Like a manager or an agent or a publicist, a stylist has become a kind of must-have accessory for well-dressed,... more

13 Mar 2024 · 42 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"

Thirty years ago, a new kind of soda arrived in select stores. Instead of crowing about how spectacular it was,... more

28 Feb 2024 · 43 minutes
Announcing Slow Burn Season 9

Hosted by Christina Cauterucci. Coming in May 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Feb 2024 · 1 minute
Decoder Ring: Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?

The eerie similarity of coffee shops all over the world was so confounding to Kyle Chayka that it led him... more

14 Feb 2024 · 33 minutes
One Year: 1990 | 5. The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis

Before 1990, there had never been a documented case of a patient getting HIV from a health care worker. Kimberly... more

21 Dec 2023 · 56 minutes
One Year: 1990 | 4. Art on Trial

Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most famous photographers in the world—and one of the most controversial. When his work... more

14 Dec 2023 · 58 minutes
One Year: 1990 | 3. Bush vs. Broccoli

In March 1990, a story broke that shocked the nation: George H.W. Bush had banned broccoli from Air Force One.... more

07 Dec 2023 · 40 minutes
One Year: 1990 | 2. Mandrake the Magician

A middle-aged single dad in Chicago was outraged by all the cigarette billboards popping up in Black communities. In 1990,... more

30 Nov 2023 · 50 minutes
One Year: 1990 | 1. Pizzastroika

Pizza Hut’s adventure in the Soviet Union was unlike any restaurant opening before or since. It involved a fleet of... more

22 Nov 2023 · 57 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery

In 1992, a Minnesota-based software company known for its educational hit The Oregon Trail released another simulation-style game to school... more

15 Nov 2023 · 47 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating... more

08 Nov 2023 · 37 minutes
Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs

We receive a lot of fantastic show ideas from our listeners—and we’re grateful for each and every one. For our... more

01 Nov 2023 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place

In the mid-1990s, the prime time drama Melrose Place became a home to hundreds of pieces of contemporary art—and no... more

25 Oct 2023 · 41 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance

Judging from teen dramas on Netflix, the slow dance seems to be alive and well. But when you talk to... more

18 Oct 2023 · 45 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 6. The Hiroshima Maidens

Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 women who’d been disfigured by the blast came to the United... more

06 Oct 2023 · 54 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 5. The Cutter Incident

Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine transformed America and the world in ways that seemed unimaginable. But in 1955, there was a... more

28 Sep 2023 · 35 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 4. Siberia, USA

When Alaskans wanted their own mental-health facility, a rumor took hold all over America. This week, Evan Chung traces the... more

21 Sep 2023 · 55 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 3. The Weather Girls

In the early days of television, women struggled to find their place. In 1955, they got it: forecasting the weather,... more

14 Sep 2023 · 45 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 2. The Crockett Craze

In 1955, the frontiersman Davy Crockett became the most famous man in America, more than a century after his death... more

07 Sep 2023 · 57 minutes
One Year: 1955 | 1. The Team Nobody Would Play

The Cannon Street All-Stars dreamed of playing in the 1955 Little League World Series. Their biggest obstacle didn’t come on... more

31 Aug 2023 · 57 minutes
Decoder Ring: Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.

Once you start listening for catchphrases in everyday life—you can’t stop hearing them. From the radio era’s “Holy mackerel!” to... more

16 Aug 2023 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft

When Slate’s Evan Chung was a kid, he was obsessed with a mysterious advertisement that ran for decades in the... more

09 Aug 2023 · 42 minutes
Decoder Ring: A Brief History of Making Out

Kissing—the romantic, sexual, steamy kind—is so ingrained in us that it just seems like a fact of life. Like breathing... more

02 Aug 2023 · 36 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate

Parmesan is a food—but it’s not just a food. Italy’s beloved cheese is often paired with a deep craving for... more

26 Jul 2023 · 44 minutes
Decoder Ring: What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?

The mosh pit has a reputation as a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression. There’s some truth... more

19 Jul 2023 · 34 minutes
S8 Live Announcement & Bonus Conversation

Join host Joel Anderson and special guests for Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas LIVE in D.C. (July 25, 2023 at... more

15 Jul 2023 · 27 minutes
A National Disgrace

Anita Hill’s accusations launched urgent and heated conversations about racism and sexual harassment. They also stoked an anger in Clarence... more

21 Jun 2023 · 1 hour, 6 minutes
I’m Their Guy

When Clarence Thomas got nominated to the Supreme Court, his behavior during the 1980s would get put under a microscope.... more

14 Jun 2023 · 55 minutes
Smiling Faces

Clarence Thomas went to Yale Law School because he thought it was a good fit for his left-wing politics. But... more

07 Jun 2023 · 50 minutes
America’s Blackest Child

Growing up in Georgia, Clarence Thomas wanted to make his mark. His goal was to become his hometown’s first Black... more

31 May 2023 · 54 minutes
Season 8 Trailer: Becoming Justice Thomas

Clarence Thomas is one of the most powerful figures in America today. Nearly every issue of national consequence has his... more

17 May 2023 · 2 minutes
Decoder Ring: Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?

We pride ourselves on being grounded, rational beings, but flitting amongst us is a mystery: the Tooth Fairy. This flying... more

10 May 2023 · 38 minutes
Decoder Ring: Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking Spot

Parking is one of the great paradoxes of American life. On the one hand, we have paved an ungodly amount... more

03 May 2023 · 37 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained

We bring you a special episode from Sidedoor, a podcast about the treasures that fill the vaults of the Smithsonian.... more

26 Apr 2023 · 37 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 2

Last week, we put on the proverbial raincoat and made like Columbo to investigate Peter Falk’s claim that he recorded... more

19 Apr 2023 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 1

Not too long ago an old clip surfaced of Peter Falk on David Letterman, in which he told an intriguing... more

12 Apr 2023 · 43 minutes
Announcing Slow Burn Season 8

Hosted by Joel Anderson. Coming in May 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Feb 2023 · 1 minute
Decoder Ring: The Mailbag Episode

We’re really lucky to get a lot of listener emails, suggesting topics for the show. In this episode, we’re going... more

03 Jan 2023 · 39 minutes
Decoder Ring: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong

(This episode originally aired in March 2020.) The 1998 romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, is... more

30 Dec 2022 · 41 minutes
Decoder Ring: Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 800-888-8888

Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes were two Buffalo-based lawyers who became the literal poster-men for personal injury advertising. They poured... more

27 Dec 2022 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: How Preppy Became Streetwear

We bring you a special episode from the Articles of Interest podcast hosted by Avery Trufelman about the incredible reach... more

23 Dec 2022 · 37 minutes
Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine

For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of... more

20 Dec 2022 · 29 minutes
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade special announcement

Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade has been named Apple Podcasts Show of the Year! We’re so honored by this award and... more

29 Nov 2022 · 3 minutes
Creating a Winning Show

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock... more

29 Nov 2022 · 2 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 6. The Black-Japanese Axis

In 1942, federal officials targeted a group of Black Americans who were allegedly hoping for a Japanese invasion. They uncovered... more

23 Nov 2022 · 40 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Butt and the Bustle

For about two decades towards the end of the Victorian era, in the 1870s and 1880s, a large bustle-enhanced bottom... more

22 Nov 2022 · 46 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 5. When Internment Came to Alaska

Six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan launched another attack on the United States. This time, Axis forces actually invaded, turning... more

17 Nov 2022 · 42 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Truth About #TheDress

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a... more

15 Nov 2022 · 38 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 4. The Info Wars of World War II

In March 1942, a new nightly radio show hit the American airwaves. The stated goal of Station Debunk was to... more

10 Nov 2022 · 48 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 3. The Day the Music Stopped

On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their... more

03 Nov 2022 · 57 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 2. The Year Everyone Got Married

There were 1.8 million weddings in 1942, the most that had ever been recorded in a single year in American... more

27 Oct 2022 · 44 minutes
One Year: 1942 | 1. The Most Hated Man in America

At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the... more

20 Oct 2022 · 47 minutes
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 2

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug... more

12 Oct 2022 · 47 minutes
Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 1

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug... more

04 Oct 2022 · 37 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 7. The Man From Fifth Avenue

After Joe Mauri gets evicted from his New York apartment, he becomes a star in the USSR, the subject of... more

29 Sep 2022 · 58 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 6. The Miracle of Cokeville

On May 16, 1986, a man with a bomb held an entire elementary school hostage in the tiny town of... more

22 Sep 2022 · 1 hour, 7 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 5. Herschel vs. the Blubber Busters

In Seattle, a pack of voracious sea lions decimates the local fish population. When fireworks and an underwater air horn... more

15 Sep 2022 · 51 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 4. A Boycott in Mississippi

Black residents of Indianola, Mississippi, were fed up with decades of separate-and-unequal classrooms. When a white outsider got hired as... more

08 Sep 2022 · 59 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 3. The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults

Rumors about the legendary gangster Al Capone’s buried treasure transform an abandoned Chicago hotel into the center of the entertainment... more

01 Sep 2022 · 1 hour, 3 minutes
One Year: 1986 | 2. The Ultimate Field Trip

This week, Evan Chung tells the story of the American teachers who competed for an unprecedented prize: a spot on... more

25 Aug 2022 · 1 hour,
Slow Burn presents... One Year: 1986 | 1. No Crime Day

Basketball star Isiah Thomas had an audacious plan to transform Detroit: asking criminals to stay on the good side of... more

18 Aug 2022 · 55 minutes
Decoder Ring: The “Sex” Scandal That Made Mae West

In the early 1930s, Mae West’s dirty talk and hip swiveling walk made her one of the biggest movie stars... more

16 Aug 2022 · 46 minutes
Decoder Ring: The First Alien Abductees

When you think of an alien abduction, what do you picture? Humanoid creatures, medical experiments, lost memories retrieved through hypnosis?... more

09 Aug 2022 · 41 minutes
Decoder Ring: The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers

Rod McKuen sold multiple millions of poetry books in the 60s and 70s. He released dozens of albums, was a... more

02 Aug 2022 · 48 minutes
Slow Burn presents: Decoder Ring - The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)

(While we work on the next season of Slow Burn we're showcasing Slate's other narrative podcasts, starting with a new... more

26 Jul 2022 · 50 minutes
Roe Against Wade

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock... more

22 Jun 2022 · 12 minutes
Slow Burn
Roe Against Wade
Slow Burn
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Description

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive Slow... more