Slow Burn

Virginia Heffernan, a New York Times TV critic in 2006, watched YouTube before most colleagues had heard of it and found Bree, later known as LonelyGirl15, through a thumbnail and a bedroom video diary.

Fan fiction gets an origin story here.

Was there a conspiracy meeting after dark?

This episode explores the marketing strategy behind rebranding prune juice as plum juice and prunes as dried plums to make them more appealing to consumers.

This episode of Decoder Ring explores why a specific receiving blanket is ubiquitous in hospitals across America, answering a listener's question about its origins and monopoly.

The host explores whether culture is stuck by reflecting on how her daughter's discovery of the 2003 song 'Milkshake' through a modern commercial blurs generational lines in music consumption.

Decoder Ring’s “Decoder Rings Back” uses listener Dustin Malik’s question to trace how Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, a portrait of Lisa Giocondo, became the world’s most recognizable painting.

Host Willa Paskin pitches Slate Plus membership to support Decoder Ring's reported, polished style of cultural analysis.

A podcast that explores pivotal moments in American history through archival tape and interviews, connecting past events to present-day issues.

A gift guide takes over the episode.

Who really wrote Yellow Submarine?

The host investigates the pervasive marketing of protein content on food packaging in a grocery store, highlighting how protein has become a dominant selling point across various products.

A promotional segment for the design podcast 99% Invisible, followed by a field trip to a supermarket to examine how protein content is marketed on soup cans.

This episode examines how the pumpkin spice latte became a modern seasonal tradition, tracing its origins and cultural impact.

This episode of Skeptoid examines the origins of seasonal traditions and debunks common myths, using critical analysis to reveal the true history behind popular beliefs.

A narrative history series about the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco and its response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 90s.

The premiere episode of When We All Get to Heaven introduces the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, a queer Christian congregation that held communion services two to three times every Sunday through the AIDS crisis, when San Francisco had recorded 10,000 deaths by January 1993.

This episode explores the Jane Fonda workout tape's place in her career and activism.

This episode explores the mystery behind Jane Fonda's workout tape phenomenon and how it fits with her acting career and activism.

This episode explores the origins and cultural impact of the Jane Fonda workout, blending personal narrative with historical context.

This episode explores the cultural impact of the movie 9 to 5 and Jane Fonda's activism, using personal reflection and historical context.

This episode explores how Indiana Jones and other fictional archaeologists have shaped public perception of archaeology, contrasting it with real historical research.

This episode promotes 99% Invisible and discusses design and architecture, then transitions to a story about science writer Sam Kean's childhood fascination with Indiana Jones.

A narrative history podcast that explores pivotal moments in American history through archival recordings and interviews.

This episode explores the science behind using white noise to help babies sleep, blending personal parenting struggles with technical analysis.

This episode re-airs the first episode of Skeptoid, a podcast that critically analyzes popular myths, UFO claims, and pseudoscience.

This episode revisits the first episode of Decoder Ring, which explored the history and decline of the laugh track in TV sitcoms.

This episode explores the phenomenon of blinding car headlights and the history behind their design.

This episode explores the growing problem of excessively bright headlights on modern vehicles and how it affects drivers' vision and emotions on the road.

This episode introduces the Skeptoid podcast and begins a story about Amanda Chicago Lewis's childhood reading habits leading to a book discovery.

Amanda Chicago Lewis reflects on how Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul shaped her adolescence and explores its cultural impact.

This episode explores the divisive firing of Netflix's chief communications officer after he used racial slurs in meetings, highlighting workplace tensions over offensive language and corporate responsibility.

This episode examines the divisive firing of Netflix's chief communications officer for using racial slurs in meetings, exploring how it sparked internal conflict about workplace sensitivity and racism.

This episode explores nonverbal communication through the story of Dave Goetsch, a writer for The Big Bang Theory, who used his own awkwardness to help create a show about scientists struggling with social interactions.

This episode explores how TV writer Dave Goetsch landed a job on The Big Bang Theory by embracing his nerdiness and how the show's humor is built on the communication struggles of scientists.