logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2021
39m 23s

The L.A. Riots | 4. Glen

Slate Podcasts
About this episode

Rodney King never asked to be famous. The video that captured his beating at the hands of four LAPD officers plunged an ordinary man into an extraordinary situation. So how did he navigate his new life in the public eye? How did he think about what had happened to him? And how would his struggles affect the trial of the four officers who beat him?

Want more Slow Burn? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access all episodes of Slow Burn (and your other favorite Slate podcasts) completely ad-free. Plus, you’ll unlock subscriber-exclusive bonus episodes that bring you behind-the-scenes on the making of the show. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.

Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis. 

Mixing by Merritt Jacob.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Jul 2
Decoder Ring | The White Noise Boom
White noise has a very precise technical definition, but people use the term loosely, to describe all sorts of washes of sound—synthetic hums, or natural sounds like a rainstorm or crashing waves—that can be used to mask other sounds. Twenty years ago, if you’d told someone white ... Show More
54m 58s
Jun 18
Decoder Ring | The Boston Cinematic Universe
This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned ... Show More
49m 37s
Jun 4
Decoder Ring | The Laff Box (Encore)
Decoder Ring is marking its 100th episode this year. To celebrate, we’re revisiting our very first episode from 2018, which asks: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fas ... Show More
38m 17s
Recommended Episodes
May 2014
We Lost Them
On April 13, 2014, former KKK member Frazier Glenn Cross pulled into a Jewish Community Center and ambushed William Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, killing both. He then killed another woman named Terri LaManno a short distance away. What does the family left be ... Show More
15m 43s
Mar 2019
Silvon Simmons
In 2016, Silvon Simmons was shot in the back by police officer Joseph Ferrigno. The Rochester Police Department said Silvon fired first, and charged him with attempted aggravated murder of a police officer. “My first instinct, to be honest, was they shot this guy and now there’s ... Show More
34m 52s
Jun 2017
Becoming Chief Brown
Shortly after David Brown was sworn in as the Dallas Chief of Police, his son shot and killed a police officer. Just before he retired as chief, 5 Dallas officers were shot and killed in what was said to be the deadliest attack for police officers since September 11th, 2001. Toda ... Show More
33m 21s
Oct 2019
The OJ Simpson Verdict | 7
On this episode of History of the 90s we are looking back at one particular day in 1995 that was the climax of a trial that gripped the public’s attention. October 3rd marks 24 years since 95 million people watched live on TV as the verdicts were read in the OJ Simpson Murder Tri ... Show More
45m 11s
Jun 2020
It Looked Like Fire
On August 10th, 2014, one day after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, Edward Crawford went to his first protest. “The people, you know, I guess they were out there to be heard,” Ed told us. We also speak with Robert Cohe ... Show More
20m 12s
Nov 2019
The Reverend
In 1977, a man named Robert Burns went to a funeral and shot someone, in the head, in front of 300 people. He didn’t deny it, and his lawyer, Tom Radney, didn’t deny it. Burns told a police officer: “I had to do it. And if I had to do it over, I’d do it again.” The man he’d shot ... Show More
37m 58s
Jul 2021
Episode 15: Roy DeMeo
On the 15th episode of the Sit Down, Jeff and BlackJack get into the wild life of Gambino Family capo Roy DeMeo. DeMeo is highly regarded as one of the most lethal people in the history of the Italian American mob. He and his crew believed in no body, no crime. The crew even esta ... Show More
1h 6m
Apr 2024
Antarctica | Ep 6 | Theories
In the final episode, Rodney’s friends and colleagues give their theories about what really happened. Suicide, accident, or foul play? And 24 years on, Stephen demands answers from the authorities to his own questions about the investigation. Episodes released for free every Mond ... Show More
42m 48s
Jan 2015
He's Neutral
Dan Stevenson has lived in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood for 40 years. He says crime has been an issue for as long as he can remember, but he isn't one to call the police on drug dealers or sex workers. He's a pretty "live and let live" kind of guy. Or he was. Before he finally ... Show More
19m 1s