Slow Burn is a narrative podcast produced by Slate Plus, a division of Slate. The first two seasons of the podcast are hosted by Leon Neyfakh;[1] the third and sixth seasons of the show are hosted by Joel D. Anderson;[2] and the fourth and fifth seasons are hosted by Josh Levin and Noreen Malone, respectively.
The first season is about the Watergate scandal featuring interviews with people involved in the story. The second is about the Impeachment of Bill Clinton featuring an interview with Linda Tripp, among others. The third season covers the growing tension between rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. in the 1990s.[3] The fourth season covers the rise and fall of David Duke as a political figure in Louisiana in the 1980s and 1990s. Its fifth season explored the road to the Iraq war and debuted on April 21, 2021.[4] The sixth season, beginning on November 3, 2021, covered the police beating of Rodney King and the subsequent L.A. riots.[5] The seventh season was about Roe v. Wade and the politics of abortion in the 1970s.[6] Its eighth season, which premiered on May 31, 2023, is about the nomination and confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.[7]
The podcast premiered on November 28, 2017, and became "one of the top shows on Apple Podcasts."[8]
Slow Burn received a positive review from Vulture.[11]USA Today named Slow Burn as a "hot" recommended podcast.[8]The New York Times praised Slow Burn and credited Malcolm Gladwell with leading the way by making historic podcasts that focused on neglected aspects of well-known events, like Slow Burn, possible.[12]
Adaptations
TV adaptation
It was announced in February 2019 that Epix was producing a six-part television series based on the first season Watergate investigation. It premiered on February 16, 2020.[13][14][15]
In 1967, the law firms of John N. Mitchell and former 1950s vice president Richard Nixon merge. Martha Mitchell, the wife of the Nixon's attorney general, develops a proclivity for broadcasting her opinions on national television channels.
In 1971, Nixon creates the White House Plumbers to stop leaks; E. Howard Hunt heads the unit. Many of these "plumbers" made their way into CREEP (Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign).
The Huston Plan was proposed by a Nixon staff member to gather domestic intelligence.
Nixon signed the Federal Election Campaign Act which would take effect in April 1972. Before this legislation, large contributions could be made to CREEP or other political campaign committees without a disclosure requirement.
