In Slow Burn’s 10th season, host Josh Levin takes you back to a crucial inflection point in American
This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not onl
In 1970, 22-year-old Shirley Wheeler got an illegal abortion in Florida. When she refused to tell th
After the largest civil disturbance in American history, Los Angeles faced a daunting task. Dozens o
On April 29, 1992, Los Angeles had erupted into chaos. Over the following days, thousands of people
In March 1991, Black people in Los Angeles had seen the videotape of Rodney King being beaten. In No
A year after they were caught on tape beating Rodney King, four LAPD officers went on trial. None we
This week, we're highlighting a few excerpts from this season's Slate Plus episodes—interviews with
Rodney King never asked to be famous. The video that captured his beating at the hands of four LAPD
In 1991, Daryl Gates was the face of the LAPD. Over the course of his 13-year tenure as chief, he ha
In March 1991, the video of the Rodney King beating was national news. The LAPD was under intense sc
On the night of March 2nd, 1991, at a remote intersection just outside of L.A., four police officers
In 1992, a jury failed to convict the four Los Angeles police officers who'd been captured on videot
After Maria Rubio saw Jesus on a tortilla, her family got besieged by believers and gawkers and the
Alex Haley’s Roots displayed the brutal realities of slavery to more than 100 million Americans. The
America’s top weed evangelist and the nation’s drug czar shared the same goal: to loosen up the coun
Three stories from one day in August 1977. Elvis Presley dies, and the National Enquirer goes after
Medical authorities said that Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a sensation anyway. Diana G
Mary Shane made history with the Chicago White Sox, becoming the first woman hired as a legitimate m
Decoder Ring is Slate's show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin t