

One Year
Slate Podcasts
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?Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 19, 2021 • 53min
1977 | 7. Jesus on a Tortilla
After Maria Rubio saw Jesus on a tortilla, her family got besieged by believers and gawkers and the national press. But for the Rubios, the tortilla wasn’t just a public spectacle. It was the miracle that changed their family. And decades later, they’re still reckoning with how that tortilla upended everything.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen.
For a behind-the-scenes look into some of the articles we read when we create the show, check out our Pocket collection at http://getpocket.com/slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 12, 2021 • 55min
1977 | 6. Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley
Alex Haley’s Roots displayed the brutal realities of slavery to more than 100 million Americans. The book and mini-series also made a bold claim: that Haley was the first Black American to trace his lineage all the way back to Africa, and to a specific ancestor captured into slavery. What would it mean, for Haley and America, if he hadn’t found what he said he’d found?
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen.
For a behind-the-scenes look into some of the articles we read when we create the show, check out our Pocket collection at http://getpocket.com/slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 5, 2021 • 58min
1977 | 5. Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials
Three stories from one day in August 1977. Elvis Presley dies, and the National Enquirer goes after the ultimate tabloid scoop: a photo of the King in his coffin. A New Jersey high schooler becomes a pariah when she refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Astronomers in Ohio get a mysterious signal from outer space—could it be a message from aliens?
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen.
For a behind-the-scenes look into some of the articles we read when we create the show, check out our Pocket collection at http://getpocket.com/slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 29, 2021 • 1h 1min
1977 | 4. The Miracle Cure
Medical authorities said that Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a sensation anyway. Diana Green saw this drug made from apricot pits as her son Chad’s best chance to survive leukemia. Her shocking actions, and the little boy affected by them, became the focus of a heated national debate over freedom of medical choice.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 22, 2021 • 53min
1977 | 3. Mary Shane's Rookie Season
Mary Shane made history with the Chicago White Sox, becoming the first woman hired as a legitimate major-league baseball announcer. But in 1977, she had to fight to be taken seriously in one of America’s most sexist industries.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 15, 2021 • 52min
1977 | 2. Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar
America’s top weed evangelist and the nation’s drug czar shared the same goal: to loosen up the country’s marijuana laws. In 1977, everything was trending their way—until a blowout Christmas party destroyed their plans, and transformed the future of marijuana in the United States.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 8, 2021 • 1h 5min
1977 | 1. Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
Miami, 1977: Pop singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant takes a stand against a local ordinance—and becomes the leader of a national anti-gay movement. Her campaign against gay rights, and the gay community's fight against her, would change America.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Want more One Year? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to One Year 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/oneyearplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 28, 2021 • 2min
Introducing: One Year
The first season of One Year will focus on 1977, a year when gay rights hung in the balance, Roots dominated the airwaves, and Jesus appeared on a tortilla.Follow the show now to get our first episode on July 8th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 17, 2019 • 24min
Bonus | 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

Jun 10, 2019 • 20min
Bonus | 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. To hear the full episode, join Slate Plus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices