Slow Burn

Season 9 Trailer: Gays Against Briggs

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1978, state senator John Briggs put a bold proposition on the California ballot. If it passed, the Briggs Initiative would ban gays and lesbians fr...

Decoder Ring: How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1986, Andrew Wyeth was the most famous painter in America. He was a household name, on the cover of magazines and tapped to paint presidents. And t...

Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1986, Andrew Wyeth was the most famous painter in America. He was a household name, on the cover of magazines and tapped to paint presidents. And t...

Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like a manager or an agent or a publicist, a stylist has become a kind of must-have accessory for well-dressed, A-list celebrities. It’s just expect...

Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Thirty years ago, a new kind of soda arrived in select stores. Instead of crowing about how spectacular it was, it offered up a liquid shrug, a fizzy ...

Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Thirty years ago, a new kind of soda arrived in select stores. Instead of crowing about how spectacular it was, it offered up a liquid shrug, a fizzy ...

Announcing Slow Burn Season 9

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Announcing Slow Burn Season 9

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hosted by Christina Cauterucci. Coming in May 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decoder Ring: Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The eerie similarity of coffee shops all over the world was so confounding to Kyle Chayka that it led him to write the new book Filterworld: How Algor...

One Year: 1990 | 5. The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Before 1990, there had never been a documented case of a patient getting HIV from a health care worker. Kimberly Bergalis changed that. Her claim that...

One Year: 1990 | 4. Art on Trial

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most famous photographers in the world—and one of the most controversial. When his work came to Cincinnati in 199...

One Year: 1990 | 3. Bush vs. Broccoli

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1990, a story broke that shocked the nation: George H.W. Bush had banned broccoli from Air Force One. The frenzy that came next would change ...

One Year: 1990 | 2. Mandrake the Magician

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A middle-aged single dad in Chicago was outraged by all the cigarette billboards popping up in Black communities. In 1990, he picked up a paint roller...

One Year: 1990 | 1. Pizzastroika

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pizza Hut’s adventure in the Soviet Union was unlike any restaurant opening before or since. It involved a fleet of submarines, a very special pizza...

Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual’s throwback advice he...

Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We receive a lot of fantastic show ideas from our listeners—and we’re grateful for each and every one. For our latest mailbag episode, we’re tac...

Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Judging from teen dramas on Netflix, the slow dance seems to be alive and well. But when you talk to actual teens, it’s clear this time-honored trad...

One Year: 1955 | 6. The Hiroshima Maidens

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 women who’d been disfigured by the blast came to the United States. Those Japanese survivors wou...

One Year: 1955 | 5. The Cutter Incident

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1955 | 4. Siberia, USA

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1955 | 3. The Weather Girls

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the early days of television, women struggled to find their place. In 1955, they got it: forecasting the weather, on stations all across the countr...

One Year: 1955 | 2. The Crockett Craze

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1955, the frontiersman Davy Crockett became the most famous man in America, more than a century after his death at the Alamo. This week, Evan Chung...

One Year: 1955 | 1. The Team Nobody Would Play

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Slate’s Evan Chung was a kid, he was obsessed with a mysterious advertisement that ran for decades in the scouting magazine Boys’ Life. Under...

Decoder Ring: A Brief History of Making Out

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Parmesan is a food—but it’s not just a food. Italy’s beloved cheese is often paired with a deep craving for tradition and identity. But its hist...

Decoder Ring: What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The mosh pit has a reputation as a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression. There’s some truth to that, but it’s also a plac...

Decoder Ring: What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The mosh pit has a reputation as a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression. There’s some truth to that, but it’s also a plac...

S8 Live Announcement & Bonus Conversation

15 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Join host Joel Anderson and special guests for Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas LIVE in D.C. (July 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.) You’ll see a live perfor...

S8 Live Announcement & Bonus Conversation

15 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Join host Joel Anderson and special guests for Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas LIVE in D.C. (July 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.)You’ll see a live perform...

Becoming Justice Thomas | 4. A National Disgrace

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anita Hill’s accusations launched urgent and heated conversations about racism and sexual harassment. They also stoked an anger in Clarence Thomas t...

Becoming Justice Thomas | 3. I’m Their Guy

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Becoming Justice Thomas | 2. Smiling Faces

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Clarence Thomas went to Yale Law School because he thought it was a good fit for his left-wing politics. But when he arrived, it seemed like all the w...

Becoming Justice Thomas | 1. America’s Blackest Child

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

Season 8 Trailer: Becoming Justice Thomas

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Clarence Thomas is one of the most powerful figures in America today. Nearly every issue of national consequence has his fingerprints all over it, fro...

Season 8 Trailer: Becoming Justice Thomas

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Clarence Thomas is one of the most powerful figures in America today. Nearly every issue of national consequence has his fingerprints all over it, fro...

Decoder Ring: Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking Spot

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Parking is one of the great paradoxes of American life. On the one hand, we have paved an ungodly amount of land to park our cars. On the other, it se...

Decoder Ring: The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We bring you a special episode from Sidedoor, a podcast about the treasures that fill the vaults of the Smithsonian. This story is inspired by “Big ...

Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 2

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, we put on the proverbial raincoat and made like Columbo to investigate Peter Falk’s claim that he recorded a special Cold War message tel...

Decoder Ring: The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 1

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Not too long ago an old clip surfaced of Peter Falk on David Letterman, in which he told an intriguing tale about recording a special Cold War message...

Announcing Slow Burn Season 8

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Announcing Slow Burn Season 8

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hosted by Joel Anderson. Coming in May 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decoder Ring: The Mailbag Episode

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong

30 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 800-888-8888

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: How Preppy Became Streetwear

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of other surprising acts made it big in the 19...

Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade special announcement

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade has been named Apple Podcasts Show of the Year! We’re so honored by this award and want to thank everyone who has listened an...

Roe v. Wade | Creating a Winning Show

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1942 | 6. The Black-Japanese Axis

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Butt and the Bustle

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For about two decades towards the end of the Victorian era, in the 1870s and 1880s, a large bustle-enhanced bottom was the height of fashion. In this ...

One Year: 1942 | 5. When Internment Came to Alaska

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Truth About #TheDress

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a party dress kicked off a global debate when people r...

One Year: 1942 | 4. The Info Wars of World War II

10 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1942, a new nightly radio show hit the American airwaves. The stated goal of Station Debunk was to correct all the lies getting tossed around...

One Year: 1942 | 3. The Day the Music Stopped

03 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1942 | 2. The Year Everyone Got Married

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There were 1.8 million weddings in 1942, the most that had ever been recorded in a single year in American history. But how many of them would last? 9...

One Year: 1942 | 1. The Most Hated Man in America

20 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The ma...

Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 2

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These m...

Decoder Ring: McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 1

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These m...

One Year: 1986 | 7. The Man From Fifth Avenue

29 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1986 | 6. The Miracle of Cokeville

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On May 16, 1986, a man with a bomb held an entire elementary school hostage in the tiny town of Cokeville, Wyoming. Yet instead of becoming victims of...

One Year: 1986 | 5. Herschel vs. the Blubber Busters

15 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In Seattle, a pack of voracious sea lions decimates the local fish population. When fireworks and an underwater air horn don’t scare away the whiske...

One Year: 1986 | 4. A Boycott in Mississippi

08 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1986 | 3. The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

One Year: 1986 | 2. The Ultimate Field Trip

25 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Evan Chung tells the story of the American teachers who competed for an unprecedented prize: a spot on the January 1986 launch of the Space...

Slow Burn presents... One Year: 1986 | 1. No Crime Day

18 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Basketball star Isiah Thomas had an audacious plan to transform Detroit: asking criminals to stay on the good side of the law for 24 hours. Would “N...

Decoder Ring: The “Sex” Scandal That Made Mae West

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1930s, Mae West’s dirty talk and hip swiveling walk made her one of the biggest movie stars in America. But before West hit the big-scr...

Decoder Ring: The First Alien Abductees

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Decoder Ring: The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rod McKuen sold multiple millions of poetry books in the 60s and 70s. He released dozens of albums, was a regular on late night, and was even nominate...

Slow Burn presents: Decoder Ring - The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Slow Burn presents: Decoder Ring - The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Roe v. Wade | 4. Roe Against Wade

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Roe v. Wade | 3. Women vs. Connecticut

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Roe v. Wade | 2. Life or Death

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Roe v. Wade | 1. Get Married or Go Home

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1970, 22-year-old Shirley Wheeler got an illegal abortion in Florida. When she refused to tell the police who performed the procedure, she was arre...

The L.A. Riots | 8. Damages

29 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After the largest civil disturbance in American history, Los Angeles faced a daunting task. Dozens of people had been killed and thousands injured. Th...

The L.A. Riots | 8. Damages

29 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After the largest civil disturbance in American history, Los Angeles faced a daunting task. Dozens of people had been killed and thousands injured. Th...

The L.A. Riots | 7. Into Ashes

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On April 29, 1992, Los Angeles had erupted into chaos. Over the following days, thousands of people took to the streets. Some were unleashing their an...

The L.A. Riots | 7. Into Ashes

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On April 29, 1992, Los Angeles had erupted into chaos. Over the following days, thousands of people took to the streets. Some were unleashing their an...

The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 prob...

The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 prob...

The L.A. Riots | 5. The System

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 c...

The L.A. Riots | 5. The System

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 ca...

The L.A. Riots | Extra: Leading Up to the Riots

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're highlighting a few excerpts from this season's Slate Plus episodes—interviews with George Holliday, professor Edward Chang, L.A. Ti...

The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rodney King never asked to be famous. The video that captured his beating at the hands of four LAPD officers plunged an ordinary man into an extraordi...

The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rodney King never asked to be famous. The video that captured his beating at the hands of four LAPD officers plunged an ordinary man into an extraordi...

The L.A. Riots | 3. The Chief

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1991, Daryl Gates was the face of the LAPD. Over the course of his 13-year tenure as chief, he had built his police department into a paramilitary-...

The L.A. Riots | 3. The Chief

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1991, Daryl Gates was the face of the LAPD. Over the course of his 13-year tenure as chief, he had built his police department into a paramilitary-...

The L.A. Riots | 2. No Justice

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1991, the video of the Rodney King beating was national news. The LAPD was under intense scrutiny and many white Americans were seeing a side...

The L.A. Riots | 2. No Justice

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1991, the video of the Rodney King beating was national news. The LAPD was under intense scrutiny and many white Americans were seeing a side...

The L.A. Riots | 1. The Tape

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...