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by 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. Season 11: Becoming Justice Gorsuch How Neil Gorsuch laid the foundation for a SCOTUS supermajority and then became its most unexpected wild card. Season 10: The Rise of Fox News How 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 Briggs A 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 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. Winner of the Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Ambies Awards. 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. Winner of Apple Podcasts Show of the Year in 2022. 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?
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Today37 min
Presenting: The Sporkful | Does The World Need A Better Tomato?
In New Jersey, the tomato is king. Almost a century ago, a scientist at Rutgers University developed a variety that became the tomato that lined grocery store shelves for decades. Now, Rutgers scientists are at it again—they’ve invented a new grape tomato called Scarlet Sunrise. Will it become the next hot item in the produce aisle? How do you even invent a new tomato? And why are new varieties of fruits and veggies becoming more popular than ever? This week, Decoder Ring presents an episode from The Sporkful in collaboration with Planet Money that aims to find out. In it, Dan Pashman and Kenny Malone investigate these grocery store mysteries, and see if this hot new tomato can win over a longtime grape tomato skeptic.From Planet Money, this episode was produced by James Sneed, edited by Keith Romer, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keely. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 6 days ago51 min
Decoder Ring | The Spooky Saga of the Icelandic Dracula
Since Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published in 1897 it has inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of other fictional vampires. But none are quite as strange as that found in the frigid climes of Iceland. There, just a few years after Dracula was first printed, emerged a so-called translation that diverged so radically from Stoker’s that it introduced new characters, new scenes, and new themes—and yet seemed to have been published with Stoker’s blessing. People have since spent years trying to figure out how exactly this Nordic Dracula came to be—and who its true author is. It all makes for a seasonally appropriate literary mystery—one full of doppelgängers, supervillains, plot twists, and vampires who just refuse to die.In this episode, you’ll hear from Ásgeir Jónsson, literary enthusiast and Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland; Helen Zaltzman, host of The Allusionist podcast; Icelandic publishing scholar Kristján B. Jónasson; publisher Rickard Berghorn; and Benjamin Mier-Cruz, Assistant Professor of Scandinavian Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison.Thank you to Birna Anna Björnsdóttir, Hans Corneel de Roos, Ingmar Söhrman, Bjarni Bjarnason, and Benjamin Frisch.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Max Freedman. Our show is also produced by Alesandra Tejeda and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 2 weeks ago35 min
Decoder Ring | Clown Panic (Encore)
Clowns have existed in various forms for thousands of years. From the big top to Bozo’s TV show, they used to be beloved figures of amusement and delight. What changed and made so many people suspect and fear them? In this episode, originally aired in 2018, Decoder Ring traces the history of clowns and clowning and finds that both the scary clown and the happy clown are over-simplifications that have more in common than it might first appear.This episode was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman, Alesandra Tejeda, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Benjamin Radford, Isaac Butler, Jim Bredesen, Andrew Kahn, Aisha Harris, and June Thomas. And special thanks to Daniel Royer for recommending this subject.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 3 weeks ago1h 0m
Decoder Ring | Gandhi Never Said “Be the Change”
Few inspirational phrases are quoted more often than Mahatma Gandhi’s “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It shows up on t-shirts, bumper stickers, even tattooed on people’s bodies. Life coaches, leadership trainers, and American presidents constantly cite it. There is one problem with this quotation, however: Gandhi never said it. And the story of how the “be the change” actually came to be—according to its true originator—is stranger, more intricate, and more astounding than you could ever expect.In this episode, Decoder Ring’s Evan Chung speaks with Arleen Lorrance, the former Brooklyn high school teacher who actually brought “be the change” into the world in the 1970s. The surprising tale she has to tell involves grindhouse cinema, cosmic rays of light, and Vice President Al Gore. You’ll also hear from Diane Kennedy Pike, whose marriage to the controversial Bishop James Pike plays a pivotal and unexpected role in turning the quote into the inescapable maxim it is today.This episode was written and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s Supervising Producer. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman, who also produce the show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Special thanks to Keith Akers.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 23, 20261h 3m
Decoder Ring | Bridget in the Buff
In the early 1970s, a jigsaw puzzle of a cheerful, young, naked, fat woman known only as “Bridget in the Buff” arrived in stores all over America. It was just the first of countless Bridget-related merchandise that would be sold around the world for the next decade: calendars, playing cards, coloring books, cookbooks, and much more. Bridget was everywhere. But who was she?In this episode of Decoder Ring, the real Bridget reveals all. Her name is Dawn Brooks, and she takes us through the unusual path that led her to pose nude for scores of popular products. How does it feel to be a gag gift—and now, an unlikely icon?Besides Dawn, you’ll hear from her friends Leslie Block Prip, Kathy McDermott, and John Emery; Herb Kavet, whose company created the “Bridget in the Buff” line of products; and Bridget admirers Laura Mazzuca Toops and Ginger Geralamo.Thank you to Brenda Oelbaum, and to Molly Brown and Olivia Dever from the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, our Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 9, 202659 min
Decoder Ring | What Even Is a “Podcast” Anymore?
Podcasts are everywhere. They’re more popular and influential than they’ve ever been. But at the same time, what makes a podcast a “podcast” has never been more confusing.Until recently, the definition of “podcast” was clear: audio distributed over the internet. A podcast was something you listened to, not something you watched. But now, almost all of the most popular podcasts have video, too. And most of these podcasts share a video-friendly format: two or three people chatting behind big bulky microphones.You may have noticed that our podcast, Decoder Ring, does not have video, so these developments have given our team, like many other podcast-makers, no shortage of anxiety. In this week’s episode, we’re embracing our inner chatcast: host Willa Paskin and supervising producer Evan Chung trace the history and evolution of podcasting through their own histories with the medium, and wrestle with their complicated feelings about the state of the format in 2026.This episode was produced by Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder. Video production by Micah Phillips. Special thanks to Amanda Dobbins, Leon Neyfakh, Nick Quah, Ben Richmond, Amber Robinson, Susan Matthews, Mary Harris, and Mia Lobel.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This Episode“How YouTube Ate Podcasts and TV,” Galaxy Brain, Dec. 12, 2025.Kang, Jay Caspian. “CNN’s ‘Podcast Look’ and the Slow Death of Cable News,” The New Yorker, March 24, 2026.Quah, Nicholas. “Will Video Kill the Audio Star in 2025?” New York Magazine, Dec. 31, 2024.Testa, Jessica. “It Was Just a Podcast. Now, It’s Kelce Land,” The New York Times, Apr. 24, 2026.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 26, 202643 min
Decoder Ring | McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime, Part 2 (Encore)
McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way into the long term memories of the kids who heard them.In the second episode of our two-part series, originally released in 2022, on the weird world of PSAs and very special episodes, we look at how McGruff’s Smart Kids Album influenced everything from straight edge hardcore to a couple’s wedding playlist. We’ll hear from Sarah Hubbard, Daniel Danger, Joseph Cappella, David Farber, Mike Hawes, Robin Nelson, Daisy Rosario, and Tatiana Peralta.This episode was written by Willa Paskin, and produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. It was edited by Jamie York. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.Thank you to Derek John, Ari Merkin, Wendy Melillo, Dan McQuade, Dale Mantley, Larissa Zargeris, Dave Bledsoe, Larre Johnson, Duane Poole, Eric Greenberg, Charles and Karen Rosen, Jennifer Holland, Orla Mejia, Andres Martinez, and everyone else at the Rutgers University Library.You can listen to Daniel Danger’s McGruff cover album in its entirety or purchase it here. If you are interested in hearing the full McGruff educational program or any of Puppet Productions productions, they are available for purchase at puppetsinc.com.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 12, 202633 min
Decoder Ring | McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime, Part 1 (Encore)
McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way into the long term memories of the kids who heard them.In the first of two episodes, originally released in 2022, we take a look at PSAs and their strange afterlife through the lens of a trench-coat wearing bloodhound and his bizarre, yet catchy anti-drug songs. We’ll talk to Dan Danger, Sherry Nemmers, Joseph Cappella, David Farber, Mike Hawes, and Robin Nelson to discover how the McGruff Smart Kids Album came to exist in the first place.This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. We had production help from Sam Kim. Editing by Jamie York and Derek John. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.Thank you to Wendy Melillo, Dan McQuade, Dale Mantley, Larissa Zargeris, Daisy Rosario, Dave Bledsoe, Larre Johnson, Duane Poole, Ari Merkin, Charles and Karen Rosen, and Eric Greenberg.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About Slow Burn
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. Season 11: Becoming Justice Gorsuch How Neil Gorsuch laid the foundation for a SCOTUS supermajority and then became its most unexpected wild card. Season 10: The Rise of Fox News How 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 Briggs A 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 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. Winner of the Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Ambies Awards. 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. Winner of Apple Podcasts Show of the Year in 2022. 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?
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Frequently Asked Questions
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