Podcast Episodes

Supercommunicators | 2. How to Communicate Without Words

Episode 2

Why is it that we can tell someone “I’m totally fine!” and they instantly know we’re not? Gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other subtle nonverbal cues play a huge role in how we conne…

Published on 8 months ago

Decoder Ring | Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie

In 1972, Jerry Lewis—the actor and filmmaker known for slapstick comedies like The Nutty Professor—took the biggest risk of his career when he decided to make a drama called The Day The Clown Cried, …

Published on 8 months, 1 week ago

Supercommunicators | 1. How to Talk to Anyone

Episode 1

Why are some people able to talk with just about anyone—about almost anything? One answer may lie in the questions we ask—and how deeply we ask them. Stick with us here…

In this episode, host Charles …

Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Introducing Supercommunicators

In a new miniseries inspired by Charles Duhigg’s bestseller, the former host of Slate’s How To! podcast sits down with psychologists, social scientists, and even a Hollywood writer to explore how to …

Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Decoder Ring | The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win

You may never have thought very hard about scratch-off tickets, but that’s part of their power. They’re a form of gambling that’s simply a pedestrian part of American life. But not so long ago, they …

Published on 8 months, 3 weeks ago

Decoder Ring | Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze

When we recently got a couple of listener emails asking about the swing revival of the late 1990s, host Willa Paskin’s first, knee jerk reaction was just: no. She lived through it, and remembers it a…

Published on 9 months, 1 week ago

Decoder Ring | I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes

The storage container is a stealthy star of the modern home. It’s something we use to organize more of our stuff than ever before, and also something other people use to organize their stuff for our …

Published on 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness?

People often say that money can't buy you happiness. Sometimes, if you ask them to tell you more about it, they'll mention a famous 2010 study by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton.…

Published on 10 months ago

Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks

It’s our annual mailbag episode! We get a lot of wonderful reader emails suggesting topics for the show — and at the end of the year we try to answer some of them. This year, we’re tackling four fasc…

Published on 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Introducing SNAFU with Ed Helms

While the Slow Burn team is hard at work on our next season, we are excited to share the first episode of the second season from our friends at SNAFU with Ed Helms: MEDBURG.

In March 1971, Washington …

Published on 10 months, 3 weeks ago