Slate Presents: One Year - podcast cover

Slate Presents: One Year

Slate Podcastsslate.com
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?
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Episodes

1977 Rewind: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights

This is a reprise of the first episode of our season on 1977. Miami, 1977: Pop singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant takes a stand against a local ordinance—and becomes the leader of a national anti-gay movement. Her campaign against gay rights, and the gay community's fight against her, would change America. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 17, 20221 hr 7 min

1995: Carolyn's Diary

The first true online diarist got famous for blurring the lines between private and public life. She also paid a price for her radical transparency. This episode of One Year was produced by Evan Chung, Madeline Ducharme, and Josh Levin. Additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus for just $1...

Jan 13, 202235 minSeason 2Ep. 7

1995: Hey Macarena!

In the mid-1990s, a bilingual pop song brought a huge amount of joy to a huge number of people. And then, very quickly, the Macarena became a cultural pariah. This episode of One Year was produced by Evan Chung, Madeline Ducharme, and Josh Levin. Additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus f...

Jan 06, 202258 minSeason 2Ep. 6

1995: Ann Arbor's DNA Dragnet

When a serial rapist struck Ann Arbor, Michigan, the police turned to drastic measures, based on the promise and power of DNA. For law enforcement, genetic testing seemed like a can’t-miss idea. But DNA didn’t fix anything in Ann Arbor. Instead, it ripped the community apart. This episode of One Year was produced by Evan Chung, Cheyna Roth, Madeline Ducharme, and Josh Levin. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, l...

Dec 16, 202151 minSeason 2Ep. 5

1995: Hitting the Spot

In 1995, aspiring filmmakers created the first ever soap opera on the Web. Hollywood saw it as the future of entertainment. But a fan-led revolt showed that interactivity sometimes has a price. This week, Evan Chung explains the rise and fall of The Spot. One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Josh Levin, and Madeline Ducharme. Additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen ...

Dec 09, 20211 hr 1 minSeason 2Ep. 4

1995: Dr. GIFT

In 1995, an enormous scandal rocked the burgeoning field of reproductive medicine. This week, Christina Cauterucci tells the story of how one of the biggest ethical breaches in American medical history became one woman’s personal nightmare. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show wit...

Dec 02, 202158 minSeason 2Ep. 3

1995: Fake Oxford

In 1995, a group of American teenagers crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend one of the world's most prestigious universities. When they got to England, they found something totally unexpected. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme, with additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signi...

Nov 23, 202156 minSeason 2Ep. 2

1995: The Man Who Didn't Bomb Oklahoma City

White supremacist, anti-government terrorists attacked Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. A Muslim American came under immediate suspicion. How did a man who had nothing to do with the bombing get connected to one of the most horrific crimes in U.S. history? One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme, with additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, l...

Nov 18, 20211 hr 2 minSeason 2Ep. 1

One Year: 1995 Trailer

Coming this Thursday, Nov 18th: The new season of One Year covers 1995, a year when homegrown terrorists attacked Oklahoma City, America went online, and the Macarena took over nightclubs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 16, 20212 min

Slow Burn S6 Ep. 1: The Tape

On the night of March 2nd, 1991, at a remote intersection just outside of L.A., four police officers surrounded an unarmed Black man. They struck him 56 times with their batons before arresting him. Across the street, standing on his second-floor balcony, a bystander named George Holliday recorded the scene on his home video camera. This is what happened after the camera stopped rolling. Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasm...

Nov 03, 202145 minSeason 6Ep. 1

1977: Jesus on a Tortilla

After Maria Rubio saw Jesus on a tortilla, her family got besieged by believers and gawkers and the national press. But for the Rubios, the tortilla wasn’t just a public spectacle. It was the miracle that changed their family. And decades later, they’re still reckoning with how that tortilla upended everything. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture...

Aug 19, 202156 minSeason 1Ep. 7

1977: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley

Alex Haley’s Roots displayed the brutal realities of slavery to more than 100 million Americans. The book and mini-series also made a bold claim: that Haley was the first Black American to trace his lineage all the way back to Africa, and to a specific ancestor captured into slavery. What would it mean, for Haley and America, if he hadn’t found what he said he’d found? Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episodes th...

Aug 12, 202157 minSeason 1Ep. 6

1977: Elvis, the Pledge, and Extraterrestrials

Three stories from one day in August 1977. Elvis Presley dies, and the National Enquirer goes after the ultimate tabloid scoop: a photo of the King in his coffin. A New Jersey high schooler becomes a pariah when she refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Astronomers in Ohio get a mysterious signal from outer space—could it be a message from aliens? One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the...

Aug 05, 20211 hrSeason 1Ep. 5

1977: The Miracle Cure

Medical authorities said that Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a sensation anyway. Diana Green saw this drug made from apricot pits as her son Chad’s best chance to survive leukemia. Her shocking actions, and the little boy affected by them, became the focus of a heated national debate over freedom of medical choice. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more a...

Jul 29, 20211 hr 2 minSeason 1Ep. 4

1977: Mary Shane's Rookie Season

Mary Shane made history with the Chicago White Sox, becoming the first woman hired as a legitimate major-league baseball announcer. But in 1977, she had to fight to be taken seriously in one of America’s most sexist industries. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episodes this season. Get access to those episodes, listen ...

Jul 22, 202154 minSeason 1Ep. 3

1977: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar

America’s top weed evangelist and the nation’s drug czar shared the same goal: to loosen up the country’s marijuana laws. In 1977, everything was trending their way—until a blowout Christmas party destroyed their plans, and transformed the future of marijuana in the United States. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episo...

Jul 15, 202152 minSeason 1Ep. 2

1977: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights

Miami, 1977: Pop singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant takes a stand against a local ordinance—and becomes the leader of a national anti-gay movement. Her campaign against gay rights, and the gay community's fight against her, would change America. One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episodes this season. Get a...

Jul 08, 20211 hr 5 minSeason 1Ep. 1

Introducing: One Year

The first season of One Year will focus on 1977, a year when gay rights hung in the balance, Roots dominated the airwaves, and Jesus appeared on a tortilla. Follow now to get our first episode on July 8th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 28, 20212 min

Slow Burn S4 Ep. 1: White Knight

Here's Episode 1 of Slow Burn Season 4: David Duke. Subscribe here. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a white supremacist became an American political phenomenon. David Duke’s rise to power and prominence—his election to the Louisiana legislature, and then his campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the governorship—was an existential crisis for the state and the nation. The fourth season of Slate’s Slow Burn will explore how a Nazi sympathizer and former Klansman fashioned himself into a mainstream ...

Jun 16, 202046 min

Slate Presents: Lockdown

If you have any school-aged children in your life, you know that lockdown and active shooter drills have become a routine part of their school experience. These drills now take place in 95 percent of American schools. What you’re about to hear is a collaboration between Slate and The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in the United States. It’s an audio project featuring firsthand accounts from kids of all ages about what it’s like to go through these drills. We hear a lot about s...

Dec 18, 201925 min

The Queen | An Audiobook Preview

Listen to the first chapter of the audiobook version of The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. Narrated by January LaVoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 17, 201924 min

The Queen | How to Write This Book

In this excerpt from the second bonus episode of The Queen, Dan Kois talks to Josh Levin about the process of writing the reporting-intensive book the podcast series is based on. They’re joined by a panel of three distinguished authors, who share their own lessons about what it takes to write a book-length investigation: David Grann, a New Yorker staff writer and the author of Killers of the Flower Moon; James Forman Jr., winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime ...

Jun 11, 201922 min

The Queen | The Kidnapping of Baby Fronczak

Is it possible that Linda Taylor perpetrated one of the most infamous child abductions in American history? In this excerpt from the first bonus episode of The Queen, Josh Levin talks to Paul Joseph Fronczak about how Taylor could be connected to the April 1964 kidnapping of a 1-day-old boy born to Paul’s parents, Dora and Chester Fronczak. They also discuss Paul’s search for his true identity. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only ...

Jun 10, 201913 min

The Queen | 4. Bobbie and Diana

Linda Taylor had a tendency to emerge from out of nowhere, upend everything in her path, then vanish without leaving a forwarding address. The final episode of The Queen focuses on two different stories about the lives Taylor changed. In one case, she helped a vulnerable family escape the degradations of the Jim Crow South. In the other, she kidnapped a child and may have been responsible for her own husband’s death. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behin...

Jun 07, 20195 min

The Queen | 3. Constance

A decade before she became known as the “welfare queen,” Linda Taylor put herself at the center of a different Chicago scandal. Upon the death of gambling kingpin Lawrence Wakefield, Taylor posed as the heir to his sizable fortune. The ensuing court proceeding was full of lies and surprise witnesses. That heirship hearing would ultimately reveal Taylor’s real identity and offer a window into her troubled past. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an Am...

Jun 06, 20197 min

The Queen | 2. An Incredible Con

In the 1970s, a pair of very different men fought to define Linda Taylor’s image. For presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, Taylor epitomized the brokenness of the federal bureaucracy and the broader trend of poor people getting rich off the public dime. Taylor’s defense lawyer, the civil rights attorney R. Eugene Pincham, believed she was a scapegoat, and that her actions were crimes of survival. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. ...

Jun 05, 20195 min

The Queen | 1. Coronation

Linda Taylor became the “welfare queen” in 1974 when the Chicago Tribune publicized her outrageous exploits. The reporter who introduced her to the world was a Pulitzer Prize winner named George Bliss. He stumbled into the Taylor story while investigating waste and fraud in the public aid system, and his fixation on a single welfare recipient may have been more damaging than he ever realized. This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s new book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. W...

Jun 04, 201925 min

Season 3 Trailer | The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth

Linda Taylor was a con artist, a kidnapper, maybe even a murderer. She was also America’s original “welfare queen,” the villain Ronald Reagan needed to create a vision of a country being taken advantage of by its poorest citizens. In The Queen, Josh Levin reveals the never-before-told story of a woman whose singular life was forgotten in the rush to create a vicious American stereotype. Each season of Slate Presents brings you a new narrative mini-series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...

Jun 03, 20197 min

Charged | Ep 6: The Other Side

We check in with Tarari and others as they complete their time in the diversion program and look toward their futures. We hear from the people inside the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office about their plans to reshape their slice of the criminal justice system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 22, 201931 min

Charged | Ep 5: The Long Tail

A standalone episode about one of the voices featured in our series who is introduced to listeners as an expert but who goes through his own harrowing experience with the system when he’s sent to Rikers a few days shy of completing his parole. We document his ordeal and its surprising aftermath. Additional music for this episode by Lee Rosevere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 15, 201943 min
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