In the early 1970s, the future of abortion in America was far from settled. Roe v. Wade would change everything, though few knew it at the time. For the seventh season of Slate’s Slow Burn, host Susan Matthews explores the path to Roe—a time when more Republicans than Democrats supported abortion rights. You’ll hear the forgotten story of the first woman ever to be convicted of manslaughter for having an abortion, the unlikely Catholic power couple who helped ignite the pro-life movement, and a

Decoder Ring is Slate's show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question object or habit examines its history and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters. This episode introduces you to Ilona Granet who was a New York art-scene fixture who won the praise of the art world when she put up anti-harassment street signs in lower Manhattan in the mid- 1980s. Her career seemed like a sure thing but three decades on and so much more art later it still hasn’t materialized even as her contemporaries are now hanging in museums. This episode is not about the familiar myth of making it but the mystery of not making it. What happens to an artist—to anyone—when they’re good enough but that’s not enough? If you like the show subscribe to Decoder Ring on Apple Spotify or wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decoder Ring: The Sign Painter

Slow Burn