Advertise on podcast: Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order

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4.7

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1676 reviews

Description

"Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order" is the story of one of the most shocking decisions in American history: the executive order to target and round up innocent citizens, Japanese Americans, at the outbreak of World War II. This six-episode narrative podcast will examine and shed new light on how that policy came to be, who was behind it, who attempted to stop it, and the heroism needed to end the policy for good. Brazen lies and stereotypes about a minority group being pushed by senior government officials. Desperate efforts to prevent the policy from going into place. A community terrorized on the streets by the U.S. military, grabbed from their homes and sent to faraway, hastily built detention camps. Government reports gathered up and set on fire to suppress the truth behind the policy. And a bombshell discovery in the unlikeliest of places that would ultimately expose it all. This is the story of the American government's decision to pursue and carry out an extreme and unconstitutional policy against its own citizens, and it's the story of what it finally took to stop it. Rachel Maddow's previous narrative podcasts -- "Bag Man," "Ultra," and "Ultra: Season 2" -- all reached #1 on the Apple podcast charts and have received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award, a Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism, and most recently, a 2025 national Edward R. Murrow Award. Her new series, "Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order," premieres December 1, 2025.

Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order podcast

Episode 1: Safecracker

2025/12/01

The bombshell discovery of a report that U.S. government officials had ordered burned has the potential to expose the truth about one of the most radical policy decisions in all of American history. A policy that one young Naval intelligence officer desperately tried to warn his superiors was unwarranted and unnecessary. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 2: The Jitters

2025/12/01

In the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack, the man in charge of defending the American west coast has a serious case of the jitters... and also a bright, young aide who is busy drawing up plans to target a racial group in America en masse. With the clock running out, lawyers inside the Justice Department mount a furious effort to stop the policy from going into effect. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 3: One Drop

2025/12/08

The U.S. military is deployed on the streets of America, tasked with carrying out the mass round-up of innocent immigrants and American citizens labeled by the government as the "enemy" within. Tens of thousands of American families are forced to live in hastily constructed prison camps — enduring inhumane conditions — while government officials scramble to figure out what to do with them all. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 4: "Like an Ordinary American"

2025/12/08

A principled politician puts his career on the line to stand up against the authoritarian actions of an emboldened federal government. While Americans largely sit by and watch their fellow Americans rounded up and stripped of their rights, a small group of brave resisters sets out to challenge the aggressive actions of the U.S. government and bring an end to them for good. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 5: Sheep and Goats

2025/12/13

As the cases of the four Japanese Americans challenging the U.S. government's mass incarceration policy arrive at the Supreme Court, a crisis suddenly erupts inside the Justice Department and the War Department as the true motivations behind the policy are now at risk of being revealed. A fierce battle is waged inside the government over whether to disclose the information to the courts, or cover it up. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 6: A Reckoning

2025/12/13

An incarceree-turned researcher and a federal inmate-turned Harvard educated lawyer comb through the archives and begin to peel back all of the layers of the government's program to mass incarcerate Japanese Americans. With their startling findings in hand, they and the Japanese American community set out to force the U.S. government to directly confront its actions. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Live community event: Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order

2025/12/30

Rachel Maddow hosts a special conversation with guests from her "Burn Order" podcast, live from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles to discuss the fight against the race-based incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II and how lessons from that episode in American history apply today. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Introducing “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order”

2025/11/20

Bonus Episode: "You Get To Do What's Right"

2026/01/09

MS NOW PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Maddow discusses "Burn Order" with former Acting Solicitor General of the United States Neal Katyal, who issued a remarkable "confession of error" in 2011, formally acknowledging wrongdoing on the part of the Justice Department in withholding key government documents from the Supreme Court in the 1940s.

Get Insider Access to MS NOW Podcasts

2026/01/09

Listen to this special invitation from Rachel Maddow and sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to take advantage of a 3-month free trial! With MS NOW Premium, you can get our entire suite of podcasts – everything from “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” – all ad-free. As a subscriber, you also get early access to select shows, plus exclusive bonus content – like a new episode of this show, “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order,” out today. There’s a lot in store for 2026. So to celebrate the new year, we’re giving away 3 months free if you sign up by the end of January! It’s just $2.99/month or $29.99/year after that. Thanks for listening! Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

MS NOW Presents: Clock It with Symone and Eugene

2026/02/05

Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels were once at odds as White House staffer and White House reporter. Now they’re friends and colleagues—each co-hosting their own shows at MS NOW. But their off-air conversations are where the real action is. Their new show, “MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to their groupchat, the liveliest—and most informative—in news. Whether it’s ICE getting dispatched to the Super Bowl because Bad Bunny’s doing the halftime show, or Nicolás Maduro’s Nike Tech fit, or Michael B. Jordan’s sole Oscar nomination despite playing three roles in Sinners, there is no collision between culture and politics that this show won’t document and decipher. Symone and Eugene see exactly what’s going on—and they want you to clock it, too. New episodes drop every Thursday, starting February 12th. Search for “MS NOW Presents: Clock It” and hit “follow” so you don’t miss an episode. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early-access to this show. Plus, receive bonus and ad-free content from this and other podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Read Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order podcast reviews

4.7 out of 5

1676 reviews

Saurolophus 2026/01/24

Grim & sober, but true

Tough subject, but every American needs to hear this. Thank you, Rachel!

Ellisbee99 2026/01/21

Thank you, Rachel

I appreciate Rachel bringing light to this subject to her audience. This was only 80+ years ago in our history. Despite this injustice, the Japanese A...

Denbud61 2026/01/21

Dennis

After listening to Burn Order I just have to say, as a 64 year old retired teacher and student of history, that I cried at the end. This lesson could ...

Sportynerd 2026/01/19

We can learn from our history

This is a compelling true crime story that demands us to stand up to the crimes of today

444angels 2026/01/17

History repeating

As with everything Rachel does… amazing! I knew some of this history but nowhere near this much detail. Listening to this podcast was painful but nece...

JMT0828 2026/01/17

Connecting the dots…

So grateful to Rachel Maddow for continuing to shed light on these dark days in our history. It is critically important for our citizens to understand...

@KatRuth 2026/01/12

THE BUILDING NINE IMPLOSION NEEDS RACHEL’S REVEAL

Will be binging BURN ORDER this week. I am still celebrating your ( Rachel’s) most recent interview/discussion with Stephen Colbert. The Russian polic...

Micahawaii 2026/01/12

Phenomenal

This podcast series was truly phenomenal. I don’t normally listen to historical podcasts like this, but as a Japanese American, the history of internm...

Moniclazo 2026/01/11

Haunting awe-inspiring

Rachel Maddow gifts us a history lesson with a blend of profound sadness and uplifting beauty, taking us on a parallel journey of our nation’s past an...

Coochy00 2026/01/11

Visited the site in Wyoming

I heard about this from my father in Law, who has passed, but was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. He served until the end ...

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