In 1974, a federal judge ruled that Boston’s public schools were unconstitutionally segregated. The solution? A controversial experiment in desegregation known as “busing,” which would take children from majority-white schools and bus them to predominantly Black schools, and vice versa. What followed was a year of upheaval, violence, and fierce protests, as Boston became a battleground for the heated national debate over school integration and racism in the North.

In this dramatic audiobook, journalist Leon Neyfakh (co-creator of the podcasts Slow Burn and Fiasco) unpacks the history of busing in Boston and brings to life the human stories behind the headlines. Listen on Pushkin.fm, Audible, Spotify or wherever you get audiobooks.

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Attorneys David Boies and Ted Olsen, who represented the Gore and Bush sides, respectively, talk about the unique challenges that came with representing their clients before the Supreme Court.

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An interview with Ralph Nader on his role as a “spoiler” in the 2000 election, and historian Mary Frances Berry, who led the 2001 commission looking into the impact that ballot box irregularities involving Black voters may have had on the outcome in Florida.

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A conversation with Craig Waters, spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court, about becoming the face of an embattled, apolitical institution during a partisan battle.

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Conversations with Florida’s former Secretary of State Katherine Harris, the Bush supporter who presided over the 2000 recount, and self-described Republican operative and “Bush liege” who embedded in Harris’s office during the recount and helped her bring the election “in for a landing.”

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An interview with Brian Noyes, who worked on the Bush 2000 presidential campaign, and what it was like to feel like an election is being stolen. Noyes oversaw an oral history project with recount alums from the Bush campaign.

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In the season finale: How the 2000 presidential election was distilled and decided in a case called Bush v. Gore.

For a full list of sources, check out the Fiasco website.

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Democrats and Republicans hope for the best and plan for the worst.

For a full list of sources, check out the Fiasco website.

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