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 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?
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 30, 2018 • 6min
Watergate | 8. Going South
Delve into the chaos of the Watergate scandal and the intertwined fates of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon. Discover Agnew's rise through the turbulent political landscape, championing law and order while facing his own criminal investigations. The narrative intensifies as Agnew's resignation sets off a chain reaction, prompting discussions on Nixon's impeachment. Analyze the forces that converged to seal Nixon's fate, revealing how a web of political intrigue ultimately led to the unraveling of a presidency.
Jan 23, 2018 • 25min
Extra, Extra
Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Slow Burn every week. This week, we're releasing some samples of those episodes—interviews with people with a unique perspective on Watergate.Next week: The end. Find out more at slate.com/slowburn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 16, 2018 • 8min
Watergate | 7. Saturday Night
What did Richard Nixon do when he felt the walls closing in? How did the country respond? And what did it feel like when people finally got to hear those tapes?This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by joining Slate Plus. As a member, you'll 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 9, 2018 • 9min
Watergate | 6. Rabbit Holes
Why were so many Americans ready to believe conspiracy theories after Watergate? How did those beliefs help trigger Nixon‘s downfall? And given what we know about Watergate—what separates a conspiracy theory from just a theory?This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by joining Slate Plus. As a member, you'll 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 2, 2018 • 8min
Watergate | 5. True Believers
At a bar in Queens, and in the Senate offices, Nixon's supporters stood with him long after it was clear his hands were dirty. How did they rationalize their position? And what, finally, made them waver?This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by joining Slate Plus. As a member, you'll 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 19, 2017 • 10min
Watergate | 4. Lie Detectors
How a folksy segregationist senator, a team of young investigators, and a few whistleblowers staged the hearings that made Watergate must-see TV.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
Dec 12, 2017 • 7min
Watergate | 3. A Very Successful Cover-Up
Woodward and Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, and a host of other journalists tried to make people care about Watergate in the run-up to the 1972 election. They totally failed.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by joining Slate Plus. As a member, you'll 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 5, 2017 • 32min
Watergate | 2. The Defeat of Wright Patman
In 1973, the Senate Watergate hearings gripped the nation. But the first congressional hearings on the scandal took place a year earlier—and featured an angry Texan shouting at four empty chairs.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 28, 2017 • 28min
Watergate | 1. Martha
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
Nov 17, 2017 • 4min
Season 1 Trailer: Watergate
It took two years for the Watergate scandal to unfold—for a break-in at the Democratic Party's headquarters to go from a weird little caper to a constitutional crisis that brought down a president. What was it like to experience those two years in real time?Hosted by Leon Neyfakh. An eight-episode podcast series made possible by Slate Plus members. Coming Nov. 28. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
