Slow Burn

Slate Podcasts

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. Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Slow Burn and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slow Burn show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen. 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?

#14 in the Top 100 documentary All time chart

...more

69 Listeners

All episodes

Best episodes

Seasons

Top 10 Slow Burn Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Slow Burn episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Slow Burn for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Slow Burn episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

David Duke | 1. White Knight

Slow Burn

06/10/20 • 51 min

In the first half of the 1980s, it looked like David Duke’s career as a professional racist was over. But the former Ku Klux Klan leader had a comeback plan: He was going to keep quiet about his most hateful beliefs—and run for the Louisiana House of Representatives.

On the first episode of Slow Burn’s fourth season: the campaign that changed David Duke’s life, and that made him a threat to take control of Louisiana.

Want more Slow Burn? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access all 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 “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.

Season 4 of Slow Burn is produced by Josh Levin and Christopher Johnson. Mixing by Paul Mounsey. Slow Burn’s production assistant is Madeline Ducharme and Sophie Summergrad is the podcast’s assistant producer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Listeners

1 Comment

Watergate | 1. Martha

Slow Burn

11/28/17 • 30 min

People called her crazy, and to be fair she must have seemed crazy. But she was onto something. How Martha Mitchell, the celebrity wife of one of Nixon’s closest henchmen, tried to blow the whistle on Watergate—and ended up ruining her life.

Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Slow Burn and your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe to Slate Plus on Apple Podcasts by clicking "Try Free" at the top of the Slow Burn show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Listeners

1 Comment

The L.A. Riots | 1. The Tape

Slow Burn

11/03/21 • 45 min

On the night of March 2nd, 1991, at a remote intersection just outside of L.A., four police officers surrounded an unarmed Black man. They struck him 56 times with their batons before arresting him.

Across the street, standing on his second-floor balcony, a bystander named George Holliday recorded the scene on his home video camera.

This is what happened after the camera stopped rolling.

Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis.

Mixing by Merritt Jacob.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Listeners

1 Comment

The L.A. Riots | 8. Damages

Slow Burn

12/29/21 • 53 min

After the largest civil disturbance in American history, Los Angeles faced a daunting task. Dozens of people had been killed and thousands injured. The city had sustained more than a billion dollars in property damage. And the riots had exposed that much of the population faced grinding poverty and hostile policing.

Los Angeles would need to be rebuilt in more ways than one. The question was, what type of city did the people of Los Angeles want? And were they capable of building it?

Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis.

Mixing by Merritt Jacob.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Listeners

The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace

Slow Burn

12/15/21 • 45 min

In March 1991, Black people in Los Angeles had seen the videotape of Rodney King being beaten. In November, they’d seen Soon Ja Du sentenced to probation for killing 15-year-old Latasha Harlins. On April 29, 1992, a jury failed to convict the officers who beat King. That was the last straw.

Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis.

Mixing by Merritt Jacob.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Listeners

Becoming Justice Thomas | 1. America’s Blackest Child

Slow Burn

05/31/23 • 54 min

Growing up in Georgia, Clarence Thomas wanted to make his mark. His goal was to become his hometown’s first Black Catholic priest. But in the 1960s, he abandoned that dream. Instead, he embraced campus activism and the teachings of Malcolm X.

Season 8 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Sofie Kodner.

Josh Levin is the editorial director of Slow Burn.

Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts.

Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor.

Editorial direction by Josh Levin, Derek John, and Joel Meyer.

Merritt Jacob is Slate’s senior technical director.

Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Ivylise Simones.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Listeners

1 Comment

Biggie and Tupac | 1. Against the World

Slow Burn

10/30/19 • 35 min

On the first episode of Slow Burn’s third season: How a violent robbery severed Tupac’s friendship with Biggie Smalls and sparked a bicoastal beef that consumed the world of hip-hop.

In November 1994, while on trial for sexual abuse, Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a New York recording studio. In the aftermath, he starts to suspect that his erstwhile friend Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls, might be involved. It was the start of a beef that would consume the world of hip-hop and end with both men dead.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Listeners

2 Comments

The L.A. Riots | 5. The System

Slow Burn

12/08/21 • 45 min

A year after they were caught on tape beating Rodney King, four LAPD officers went on trial. None were convicted.

How did the prosecution make its case against the cops? How did the officers hold up under questioning? And what happened when the verdict was announced?

Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis.

Mixing by Merritt Jacob.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Listeners

David Duke | 2. Robe and Ritual

Slow Burn

06/17/20 • 53 min

David Duke dreamed of becoming the charismatic leader who’d bring racism to the masses. He tried to make that dream a reality by seizing on America’s most powerful symbol of white supremacist terror.

On the second episode of Slow Burn’s fourth season: what David Duke’s years as a leader in the Ku Klux Klan reveal about his beliefs and ambitions, and why Duke decided to leave the Klan behind.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Listeners

1 Comment

David Duke | 3. The Nazi and the Republicans

Slow Burn

06/24/20 • 56 min

In 1989, David Duke got a foothold in American politics. To build on that victory, he’d have to fend off a Republican official determined to bring him down.

In the third episode of our series: the people who tried to stop David Duke’s rise, and the ones who accommodated him.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Listeners

Show more best episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Slow Burn have?

Slow Burn currently has 194 episodes available.

What topics does Slow Burn cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, History, Documentary and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Slow Burn?

The episode title 'David Duke | 1. White Knight' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Slow Burn?

The average episode length on Slow Burn is 41 minutes.

How often are episodes of Slow Burn released?

Episodes of Slow Burn are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Slow Burn?

The first episode of Slow Burn was released on Nov 17, 2017.

Show more FAQ