Slate Presents: One Year
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?
Episodes
October 23, 2024 • 77 mins
The 2004 presidential race would be the first fully Fox News election—a contest that was framed by Fox, and fought on its terms. But the fight over Fox News was about more than just partisan politics. It also launched covert ops against reporters and let loose a secret army of online trolls. And when a Fox producer made serious allegations against Bill O’Reilly, the network showed just how far it would go to defend its biggest star...
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October 16, 2024 • 64 mins
As Fox News gathered strength, progressive activists turned to comedian Al Franken and fledgling online communities to punch back. But could the left put up a real fight without a Fox News of its own? And what did Fox’s critics miss when they focused only on its politics?
Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, including members-only bonus episodes from The Rise of Fox News. You'll also enjoy...
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October 9, 2024 • 65 mins
After 9/11, the Fox News Channel rallied a huge portion of the country around the Bush administration’s vision of the world. But as the U.S. marched to war in the Middle East, journalists, liberal watchdogs, and comedians began pushing back. Could The Daily Show, Fox News’ own liberal pundits, or an employee-turned-whistleblower take Fox down a peg?
Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, inc...
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October 2, 2024 • 57 mins
For a decade and a half, CNN was peerless and ambitious, and it understood its place in the world. At least, it thought it did—until Fox News burst onto television screens. Could CNN save itself by becoming conservative or by going tabloid? And how would CNN and Fox respond when September 11 made the news more important than ever?
Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, including members-only...
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September 25, 2024 • 60 mins
Before he ran Fox News, Roger Ailes launched a very different kind of channel. America’s Talking was his vision of the future of television: a strange, slapdash, mostly apolitical cable network. When that dream got snatched away from him, Ailes went on a revenge mission—and made a connection with Rupert Murdoch.
Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, including members-only bonus episodes fro...
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September 18, 2024 • 57 mins
When the Fox News Channel launched in 1996, critics called it disorganized, incompetent, and laughably inept. But it wouldn’t be a joke for long. During the 2000 election, Fox News would captivate the nation – and just maybe change the fate of American democracy.
Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, including members-only bonus episodes from The Rise of Fox News. You'll also enjoy ad-free ...
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December 21, 2023 • 56 mins
Before 1990, there had never been a documented case of a patient getting HIV from a health care worker. Kimberly Bergalis changed that. Her claim that she’d been infected by her dentist would captivate and terrify the country. And the dentist, David Acer, would be made into a villain without America ever knowing who he really was.
This episode was written by Kelly Jones and Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s sen...
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December 14, 2023 • 58 mins
Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most famous photographers in the world—and one of the most controversial. When his work came to Cincinnati in 1990, it would be at the center of a vicious fight over obscenity and the First Amendment, one that threatened the future of art in America.
This episode of One Year was written by Evan Chung, One Year's senior producer. It was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional produ...
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December 7, 2023 • 40 mins
In March 1990, a story broke that shocked the nation: George H.W. Bush had banned broccoli from Air Force One. The frenzy that came next would change the fate of a vegetable—and maybe even alter the course of a presidency.
This episode was written by Olivia Briley and Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This episode was produced by Olivia Briley and Kelly Jones.
It was edited by ...
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November 30, 2023 • 50 mins
A middle-aged single dad in Chicago was outraged by all the cigarette billboards popping up in Black communities. In 1990, he picked up a paint roller and became an anti-tobacco vigilante. And he did it all under a secret identity.
This episode was written by Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This episode was produced by Kelly Jones, Olivia Briley, and Evan Chung. It was edited b...
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November 22, 2023 • 57 mins
Pizza Hut’s adventure in the Soviet Union was unlike any restaurant opening before or since. It involved a fleet of submarines, a very special pizza topped with tuna and salmon, and a casual dining spot on a mission to change the world.
This episode was written by Kelly Jones and Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with addit...
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October 6, 2023 • 54 mins
Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 women who’d been disfigured by the blast came to the United States. Those Japanese survivors would go to the White House and end up on a bizarre proto reality TV show. They’d also put their lives in the hands of American doctors, hoping that risky, cutting-edge surgeries might repair their injuries and give them a chance for a fresh start.
Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial direc...
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September 30, 2023 • 35 mins
Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine transformed America and the world in ways that seemed unimaginable. But in 1955, there was a moment when everything was in doubt. This week, Josh Levin talks with Dr. Paul Offit about the medical mystery that threatened to derail one of history’s most important scientific breakthroughs.
Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This episode was produced by Ke...
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September 21, 2023 • 55 mins
When Alaskans wanted their own mental-health facility, a rumor took hold all over America. This week, Evan Chung traces the origins of that far-right conspiracy theory: that the government was building a concentration camp where Americans would get imprisoned for their political beliefs. Get ready for a strange tale that involves a brainwashing manual, Scientology, and a vast network of Communist-hunting housewives.
Josh Levin is ...
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September 14, 2023 • 45 mins
In the early days of television, women struggled to find their place. In 1955, they got it: forecasting the weather, on stations all across the country. But as these “weather girls” transformed the airwaves, a group of powerful men hatched a plan—one that had the potential to push women weathercasters off the air forever.
Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This episode was produ...
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September 7, 2023 • 57 mins
In 1955, the frontiersman Davy Crockett became the most famous man in America, more than a century after his death at the Alamo. This week, Evan Chung dives into a cultural phenomenon nobody saw coming. Not the kids in coonskin caps who started the craze, not the parents whose money fueled it, and least of all Walt Disney, the legendary studio head who created it totally by accident.
Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. On...
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August 31, 2023 • 57 mins
The Cannon Street All-Stars dreamed of playing in the 1955 Little League World Series. Their biggest obstacle didn’t come on the field. In the year that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus, these Black 12-year-olds became unlikely civil rights pioneers—and faced the wrath of a white society that wasn’t ready to change.
Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.
This e...
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November 23, 2022 • 40 mins
In 1942, federal officials targeted a group of Black Americans who were allegedly hoping for a Japanese invasion. They uncovered a plot that included stockpiles of weapons and secret passwords—but was any of it true? This week, Joel Anderson tells the story of a shadowy organization in East St. Louis, Illinois, the group’s mysterious leader, and an alleged conspiracy against America during World War II.
This episode of One Year was...
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November 17, 2022 • 42 mins
Six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan launched another attack on the United States. This time, Axis forces actually invaded, turning the Aleutian Islands into a battleground. What the country did next, in the name of “protecting” Alaska’s indigenous people, is a shameful chapter of the war. And it’s one the nation has never fully reckoned with.
This episode of One Year was produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, Sol Wert...
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November 10, 2022 • 48 mins
In March 1942, a new nightly radio show hit the American airwaves. The stated goal of Station Debunk was to correct all the lies getting tossed around about America’s involvement in the war. But the real story was a whole lot stranger and more devious than it appeared.
One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin.
Derek John is senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts and Merritt Jacob is ...
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