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Slow Burn

Slow Burn

152 Episodes • By Slate Podcasts • slate.com/slowburn
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 award-winning series uncovers the surprising events and little-known characters lurking within the biggest stories of our time ...more
Documentary Politics Society & Culture
Slow Burn
Slow Burn
@slowburn
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Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band
Pop culture is full of fictional bands singing songs... more
Apr 24 2024 41m
Crafting Authentic Songs for a Play
Chapter 1 15 mins
How Originalism Ate the Law
Chapter 2 10 mins
Creating Soundtracks for Fictional Bands
Chapter 3 14 mins
Creating Original Music for Stereophonic
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Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?
Magazines have fallen on hard times – especially the... more
Apr 10 2024 37m
Deciphering the Mystery of Bookazines
Chapter 1 15 mins
The Rise of Bookazines in Magazines
Chapter 2 13 mins
The Business of Bookazines
Chapter 3 7 mins
The Value of Bookazines
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Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)
In 1986, Andrew Wyeth was the most famous painter in... more
Mar 27 2024 54m
Andrew Wyeth's Helga Paintings
Chapter 1 12 mins
The Andrew Wyeth Painting Scandal
Chapter 2 7 mins
Secret Paintings of Andrew Wyeth's Helga
Chapter 3 11 mins
Behind the Helga Paintings
Chapter 4 8 mins
The Helga Collection and Leonard Andrews
Chapter 5 11 mins
The Secret Helga Paintings
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Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Like a manager or an agent or a publicist, a stylist... more
Mar 13 2024 42m
The Rise of Celebrity Stylists
Chapter 1 11 mins
The Rise of Celebrity Stylists
Chapter 2 7 mins
Hollywood vs French Fashion
Chapter 3 9 mins
Evolution of Celebrity Fashion Influence
Chapter 4 13 mins
Celebrity Stylists
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Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Thirty years ago, a new kind of soda arrived in sele... more
Feb 28 2024 43m
Decoding the Mystery of OK Soda
Chapter 1 5 mins
Generations & OK Soda
Chapter 2 14 mins
Coke's Risky Strategy for OK Soda
Chapter 3 14 mins
OK Soda Rise and Fall
Chapter 4 6 mins
Ok Soda's Rise and Fall
Chapter 5 1 min
Subscribe and Rate for Slate Plus
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Announcing Slow Burn Season 9
Hosted by Christina Cauterucci. Coming in May 2024. ... more
Feb 22 2024 1m
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Decoder Ring: Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?
The eerie similarity of coffee shops all over the wo... more
Feb 14 2024 33m
Spotify's Algorithm and Music Preference
Chapter 1 16 mins
The Sameness of Coffee Shops
Chapter 2 16 mins
The Homogenizing Effect of Algorithmic Feeds
Chapter 3 47 sec
Promoting Kyle Chakka's Book Filter
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One Year: 1990 - The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis
Before 1990, there had never been a documented case ... more
Dec 21 2023 56m
First AIDS Patient Infected by Dentist
Chapter 1 5 mins
Kimberly Brigalis
Chapter 2 6 mins
Investigating the Transmission of HIV
Chapter 3 12 mins
Infection Transmission From Dentist to Patient
Chapter 4 11 mins
Dentist HIV Transmission and Public Response
Chapter 5 17 mins
Mandatory HIV Testing for Healthcare Workers
Chapter 6 2 mins
Live Office Hours With Tim Heidecker
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One Year: 1990 - Art on Trial
Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most famous photo... more
Dec 14 2023 58m
Cincinnati Vigilance Against Obscenity Threat
Chapter 1 8 mins
The Controversy Over Robert Mapplethorpe's Photograph
Chapter 2 8 mins
Controversy Surrounding Robert Maplethorpe Exhibition
Chapter 3 15 mins
The Maplethorpe Exhibition Controversy
Chapter 4 6 mins
Police Raid on Cincinnati Art Center
Chapter 5 5 mins
Controversial Art Exhibit and Legal Battle
Chapter 6 14 mins
Dennis Barry Trial and Art Censorship
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One Year: 1990 - Bush vs. Broccoli
In March 1990, a story broke that shocked the nation... more
Dec 7 2023 40m
President Bans Broccoli on Air Force
Chapter 1 11 mins
The Broccoli Ban
Chapter 2 13 mins
Broccoli Crisis
Chapter 3 14 mins
President Bush's Broccoli Controversy
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One Year: 1990 - Mandrake the Magician
A middle-aged single dad in Chicago was outraged by ... more
Nov 30 2023 50m
The Transformation of Henry and Gwen
Chapter 1 18 mins
Henry Brown
Chapter 2 16 mins
Mandrake
Chapter 3 6 mins
Mandrake the Magician and Henry Brown
Chapter 4 8 mins
Henry Brown's Death and Activism
Chapter 5 1 min
Feedback on 1990 and Obesity Epidemic
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One Year: 1990 - Pizzastroika
Pizza Hut’s adventure in the Soviet Union was unlike... more
Nov 22 2023 57m
Pizza Hut's Soviet Adventure in 1990
Chapter 1 15 mins
Pizza Hut's Soviet Adventure
Chapter 2 14 mins
Pizza Hut Enters Soviet Union
Chapter 3 7 mins
Pizza Hut's Opening in Moscow
Chapter 4 8 mins
Pizza Hut in the Soviet Union
Chapter 5 12 mins
Pizza Hut in Moscow, Soviet Fall
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Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery
In 1992, a Minnesota-based software company known fo... more
Nov 15 2023 47m
Mike Palmquist and Educational Game Development
Chapter 1 9 mins
The Controversial History of Freedom
Chapter 2 8 mins
The Underground Railroad Reenactment Journey
Chapter 3 13 mins
Creating Impactful Educational Simulations
Chapter 4 14 mins
Controversial Video Game Sparks Outrage
Chapter 5 1 min
Podcast Subscribe and Support Invitation
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Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other
From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules w... more
Nov 8 2023 37m
Navigating Dating Challenges in the 90s
Chapter 1 12 mins
Relevance and Controversy of "The Rules"
Chapter 2 10 mins
The Rise and Controversy of "The Rules"
Chapter 3 14 mins
Impact and Legacy of "The Rules"
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Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs
We receive a lot of fantastic show ideas from our li... more
Nov 1 2023 40m
Recorder
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Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place
In the mid-1990s, the prime time drama Melrose Place... more
Oct 25 2023 41m
Uncommon Sense Art Exhibit Controversy
Chapter 1 16 mins
The Art Hijinks of Melrose Place
Chapter 2 15 mins
The Artistic Rebellion of Melrose Place
Chapter 3 9 mins
In the Name of the Place
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Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance
Judging from teen dramas on Netflix, the slow dance ... more
Oct 18 2023 45m
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One Year: 1955 - The Hiroshima Maidens
Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 ... more
Oct 6 2023 54m
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One Year: 1955 - The Cutter Incident
Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine transformed America and t... more
Sep 28 2023 35m
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One Year: 1955 - Siberia, USA
When Alaskans wanted their own mental-health facilit... more
Sep 21 2023 55m
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One Year: 1955 - The Weather Girls
In the early days of television, women struggled to ... more
Sep 14 2023 45m
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One Year: 1955 - The Crockett Craze
In 1955, the frontiersman Davy Crockett became the m... more
Sep 7 2023 57m
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One Year: 1955 - The Team Nobody Would Play
The Cannon Street All-Stars dreamed of playing in th... more
Aug 31 2023 57m
All Black Little League Team Journey
Chapter 1 9 mins
Little League World Series 1955
Chapter 2 11 mins
Charleston's Little League Journey Begins
Chapter 3 14 mins
Integration and Resistance in Little League
Chapter 4 11 mins
Little League World Series Journey
Chapter 5 9 mins
Cannon Street All Stars Little League Journey
Chapter 6 58 sec
Invitation to Office Hours Live
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Decoder Ring: Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.
Once you start listening for catchphrases in everyda... more
Aug 16 2023 40m
Quoting Catchphrases From the Past
Chapter 1 17 mins
The Evolution of Catchphrases
Chapter 2 11 mins
The Catchphrase Phenomenon
Chapter 3 9 mins
The Evolution of Catchphrases
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Decoder Ring: The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft
When Slate’s Evan Chung was a kid, he was obsessed w... more
Aug 9 2023 42m
Air Car in Voice Life Magazine
Chapter 1 8 mins
Childhood Fascination
Chapter 2 12 mins
The Hovercraft Dream
Chapter 3 12 mins
Building a Hovercraft With Dad
Chapter 4 8 mins
Building and Testing a Homemade Hovercraft
Chapter 5 31 sec
Office Hours Live With Tim Heidecker
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