196 episodes

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? 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 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.

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.

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?

Slow Burn Slate Podcasts

    • History
    • 4.5 • 913 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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? 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 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.

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.

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?

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    Announcing Slow Burn Season 9

    Announcing Slow Burn Season 9

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

    • 1 min
    America’s Blackest Child

    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 Catholic priest. But in the 1960s, he abandoned that dream. Instead, he embraced campus activism and the teachings of Malcolm X.
    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 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

    • 54 min
    Plus: "One of the Guys"

    Plus: "One of the Guys"

    In this member-exclusive episode, Slow Burn’s host Joel Anderson and producer Sophie Summergrad discuss Episode 1 of the new season, explaining how Joel pitched a series on Clarence Thomas and what parts of his life this will cover. And they discuss Joel’s trip to Georgia to seek out people from Thomas’ childhood. Then we’ll hear more from Joel's interview with Diane Brady, who wrote the book Fraternity about the 20 Black men—including Thomas—recruited to Holy Cross in 1968.

    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, but you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. 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.

    Production by Cleo Levin.

    Smiling Faces

    Smiling Faces

    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 white liberals thought he was only there because he was Black. The sting Thomas felt fueled a lifelong resentment of affirmative action. It also drew him to a group of conservatives who helped sharpen his political beliefs.
    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 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.
    This episode was edited by Josh Levin, Derek John, Sophie Summergrad 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

    • 50 min
    Plus: The Path to Black Republicanism

    Plus: The Path to Black Republicanism

    In this member-exclusive episode, Slow Burn’s host Joel Anderson and producer Sofie Kodner discuss Episode 2, explaining how they secured the interviews for this episode and delving deeper into Thomas’ early relationship with conservatives and Republican politicians. Then we’ll hear more from Joel’s interview with Leah Wright Rigueur, who wrote the book The Loneliness of the Black Republican, which tells the story of Black conservatives in the Republican Party from the New Deal to Ronald Reagan.

    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, but you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. 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.

    Production by Cleo Levin.

    I’m Their Guy

    I’m Their Guy

    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 then and who he is today, you need to hear how he treated the women he worked with. You also need to hear from the woman who knew him best during those critical years: his ex-girlfriend Lillian McEwen. 
    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 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.
    This episode was edited by Josh Levin, Derek John, Sophie Summergrad, and Joel Meyer.
    Merritt Jacob is our 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

    • 55 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
913 Ratings

913 Ratings

Meeeeksy ,

Unpacking important cultural issues

S2 and S8 phenomenal. Some of the others I struggled to enjoy as much. But a very thoughtful, nuanced, well researched podcast.

lenmac75 ,

Pseudo intellectual hatchet job

I just listened to the series on Clarence Thomas. This was a disturbing display in unhinged bias and character assassination dressed up as investigative reporting. What should be a fascinating exploration of a complex life, with all Justice Thomas’ achievements and faults, warts and all, was a disturbing hatchet job, presenting a man of incredible intellect and achievement as nothing more than a social climbing Uncle Tom. It is a discredit to Slade and its presenter.

Lewion ,

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