POD FODDER:

Nixon famously resigned as president in 1974 -- the only president to do so in American history -- after being connected to a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC. While most people know how the story ends, fewer are familiar with the twists and turns of the four-year journey from the break-in to Nixon stepping down.

That's the topic of Slow Burn, a podcast from Slate that takes a deep dive into what caused Nixon's unprecedented resignation from the Oval Office. Over the course of eight episodes (as well as a series of subscriber-only bonus episodes), Slate staff writer Leon Neyfakh takes a closer look at the state of the country as the crisis unfolded. He also spotlights the role of both central figures, like the journalists who covered the scandal, and lesser known characters like Martha Mitchell, the wife of John N. Mitchell, the former US attorney general and chair of Nixon's reelection committee.

While Nixon's resignation now feels as though it was the logical, natural outcome, Neyfakh paints a far different picture of the four years that followed the Watergate break-in. The efforts to investigate and impeach the president faced almost insurmountable obstacles --including Nixon trying to shut down the investigation while firing people -- which have taken on a new resonance in 2018.

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