Slate Presents: One Year

4.2 (1.3K)
HISTORY

The people and struggles that changed America—one year at a time. In each episode, host Josh Levin explores a story you may have forgotten, or one you’ve never heard of before. What were the moments that transformed politics, culture, science, religion, and more? And how does the nation’s past shape our present?

06/17/2019 · BONUS

The Queen | An Audiobook Preview

Listen to the first chapter of the audiobook version of The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. Narrated by January LaVoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 min
06/11/2019 · BONUS

The Queen | How to Write This Book

In this excerpt from the second bonus episode of The Queen, Dan Kois talks to Josh Levin about the process of writing the reporting-intensive book the podcast series is based on. They’re joined by a panel of three distinguished authors, who share their own lessons about what it takes to write a book-length investigation: David Grann, a New Yorker staff writer and the author of Killers of the Flower Moon; James Forman Jr., winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America; and Eliza Griswold, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for her book, Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock the entire season of The Queen, 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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 min
06/10/2019 · BONUS

The Queen | The Kidnapping of Baby Fronczak

Is it possible that Linda Taylor perpetrated one of the most infamous child abductions in American history? In this excerpt from the first bonus episode of The Queen, Josh Levin talks to Paul Joseph Fronczak about how Taylor could be connected to the April 1964 kidnapping of a 1-day-old boy born to Paul’s parents, Dora and Chester Fronczak. They also discuss Paul’s search for his true identity. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock the entire season of The Queen, 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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 min
06/07/2019

The Queen | 4. Bobbie and Diana

Linda Taylor had a tendency to emerge from out of nowhere, upend everything in her path, then vanish without leaving a forwarding address. The final episode of The Queen focuses on two different stories about the lives Taylor changed. In one case, she helped a vulnerable family escape the degradations of the Jim Crow South. In the other, she kidnapped a child and may have been responsible for her own husband’s death. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock the entire season of The Queen, 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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 min
06/06/2019

The Queen | 3. Constance

A decade before she became known as the “welfare queen,” Linda Taylor put herself at the center of a different Chicago scandal. Upon the death of gambling kingpin Lawrence Wakefield, Taylor posed as the heir to his sizable fortune. The ensuing court proceeding was full of lies and surprise witnesses. That heirship hearing would ultimately reveal Taylor’s real identity and offer a window into her troubled past. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock the entire season of The Queen, 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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 min
06/05/2019

The Queen | 2. An Incredible Con

In the 1970s, a pair of very different men fought to define Linda Taylor’s image. For presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, Taylor epitomized the brokenness of the federal bureaucracy and the broader trend of poor people getting rich off the public dime. Taylor’s defense lawyer, the civil rights attorney R. Eugene Pincham, believed she was a scapegoat, and that her actions were crimes of survival. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock the entire season of The Queen, 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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 min
06/04/2019

The Queen | 1. Coronation

Linda Taylor became the “welfare queen” in 1974 when the Chicago Tribune publicized her outrageous exploits. The reporter who introduced her to the world was a Pulitzer Prize winner named George Bliss. He stumbled into the Taylor story while investigating waste and fraud in the public aid system, and his fixation on a single welfare recipient may have been more damaging than he ever realized. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s new book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. Want more of The Queen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access all episodes of The Queen (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/thequeenplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 min
SEASON 3 TRAILER

Season 3 Trailer | The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth

Linda Taylor was a con artist, a kidnapper, maybe even a murderer. She was also America’s original “welfare queen,” the villain Ronald Reagan needed to create a vision of a country being taken advantage of by its poorest citizens. In The Queen, Josh Levin reveals the never-before-told story of a woman whose singular life was forgotten in the rush to create a vicious American stereotype. Each season of Slate Presents brings you a new narrative mini-series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 min

See All (21)

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4.6 (7396)

RELATIONSHIPS
Voted “Favorite Political Podcast” by Apple Podcasts listeners. Stephen Colbert says "Everybody should listen to the Slate Political Gabfest." The Gabfest, featuring Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, is the kind of informal and irreverent discussion Washington journalists have after hours over drinks.Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4.4 (8198)

POLITICS
A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America.Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4.6 (3323)

NEWS
The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning. Get more of What Next with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of What Next and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/whatnextplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4.3 (2349)

NEWS
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4.6 (2033)

DOCUMENTARY
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 NewsHow 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 BriggsA 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 ThomasWhere 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. WadeThe 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. RiotsHow 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 WarEighteen 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 DukeAmerica’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 TupacHow 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 ImpeachmentA reexamination of the scandals that nearly destroyed the 42nd president and forever changed the life of a former White House intern.Season 1: WatergateWhat did it feel like to live through the scandal that brought down President Nixon? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4.6 (23790)

HISTORY

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Linda Taylor

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4.2

out of 5

1,282 Ratings

Slow Burn Series - Great!

08/15/2020

JLouther

I almost didn’t listen to the David Duke series. I had no interest whatsoever in that person but let me tell you that was a good series. Taught me so much about people who hate people based upon race, gender, and religion. How they convince others to join their cause using a false narrative. I can clearly see David Duke’s playbook in use today in our current state of politics.
My absolute favorite podcast

12/03/2023

thebngp30

I LOVE history and these story’s are so interesting I still haven’t got around to listening to the 1955 and 1990 but I’m sure their great after I’m done with this I’ll listen to 1955 and 1990 but keep it coming. I can’t wait to see what comes next after all there are thousands of years.
Shame on you

08/30/2023

rolltideyallx

These sick people participate in the most disgusting form of victim blaming with their Ruby Ridge podcast. The FBI murdered Vicki Weaver in cold blood and the narrator acts as if she had it coming. It’s a despicable and subhuman position. Absolutely terrible.
Legit?

07/20/2023

GinEric44

Very dubious with this Slate brand since their immature under researched Fascism “Academy”— “the three of us divided up this book…” High School C+.

The people and struggles that changed America—one year at a time. In each episode, host Josh Levin explores a story you may have forgotten, or one you’ve never heard of before. What were the moments that transformed politics, culture, science, religion, and more? And how does the nation’s past shape our present?