Slow Burn: The Road to the Iraq War

Eighteen months after 9/11, the United States invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks. Who’s to blame? And was there any way to stop it?

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About the Show

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq without provocation. Most Americans supported the war—as did most politicians and intellectuals, both liberal and conservative. Today, it’s universally considered a disaster.

Hosted by award-winning reporter Noreen Malone, the fifth season of Slow Burn explores the people and ideas that propelled the country into the Iraq war, and the institutions that failed to stop it. How did the Iraq catastrophe happen? And what was it like to watch America make one of its most consequential mistakes?

Host

  • Noreen Malone is the host of Slow Burn Season 5. Formerly, she was the editorial director of New York magazine and a host of Slate’s The Waves. Her magazine reporting has earned a George Polk Award.
Season 5: Episode 1

The Exile

Ahmad Chalabi spent decades trying to return to Baghdad. Thanks to the Americans’ war, he finally got his wish.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 1

Who Was Ahmad Chalabi?

More on the divisive figure from the people who got to know him.
Season 5: Episode 2

Terror

How the anthrax attacks of 2001 fueled a coming war with Iraq.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 2

Ann Curry on 9/11, Anthrax, and Iraq

The veteran journalist recalls the terror and fear in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.
Season 5: Episode 3

Mushroom Clouds

How weapons of mass destruction became the Bush administration’s rallying cry for war.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 3

Selling the War on the Sunday News Shows

What it was like to produce interviews with guests like Dick Cheney and Bush administration officials.
Season 5: Episode 4

Fighting Words

Many intellectuals on the right and left found themselves on the same side in the debate over Iraq.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 4

How the Iraq War Ignited Online Discourse

And looking back at Slate’s own history with the topic.
Season 5: Episode 5

Four Dicks (and Vice President Cheney)

The men named Richard who helped determine whether the U.S. would go to war in Iraq.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 5

The Politics of the Iraq Resolution Vote

What made members of Congress vote the way they did on Iraq, and how those votes continue to follow some of them today.
Season 5: Episode 6

Big, if True

Why the U.S. relied on faulty intelligence from a man code-named Curveball.
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 6

The “Little Guys” Who Didn’t See Enough Evidence for War

What went on inside government agencies as the Bush administration strived to make the case for war.
Season 5: Episode 7

Judy

Judith Miller made the WMDs case in the New York Times. Does she still stand by her reporting?
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 7

Where the Media Failed

On Judith Miller’s mistakes in covering Iraq, plus Dan Rather on media patriotism and Eli Pariser on the anti-war movement.
Season 5: Episode 8

Shock and Awe

Who’s most responsible for the failures of postwar Iraq?
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Season 5: Bonus Episode 8

From the Iraqi Perspective

What the American invasion was like for those who had lived under Saddam Hussein’s regime.