Podcast Summary

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, Justice, and the Courts

Slow Burn: A Podcast About Watergate | Martha
Host: Leon Neyfakh (Slow Burn)
Date: November 28, 2017

Episode Overview

This episode, a crossover from Slate’s miniseries Slow Burn hosted by Leon Neyfakh, centers on Martha Mitchell, a flamboyant political spouse whose ordeal during Watergate was both sensational and tragically overlooked. Neyfakh uses Martha’s story to open the Watergate miniseries, emphasizing the lived, real-time experience of the scandal, and raising the question: What was it like to live through Watergate—utterly unaware how it would unravel or what its repercussions would be?

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Martha Mitchell and Her Place in Watergate (00:23–02:51)

• Martha’s Background

  • Wife of John Mitchell, then Attorney General and campaign chair for Nixon’s 1972 reelection.
  • A southern belle and D.C. celebrity, infamous for being outspoken, brash, and talkative—a media favorite, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South.”

• Early Warnings

  • Historians disagree on how much Martha knew, but Nixon’s aides treated her as “someone who knew too much” in the immediate aftermath of the Watergate break-in.

• Quote:

  • Martha (to David Frost): “That was the beginning of my being held a prisoner.” (01:14)

2. Martha’s Ordeal During the Break-In (06:42–11:21)

• The Break-In (June 1972)

  • Five men are arrested at Watergate, and John tries to keep Martha away from news coverage, assigning ex-FBI agent Steve King as her ‘minder’.
  • Martha, upon discovering the mugshot of James McCord—a family acquaintance—becomes suspicious and tries to call the press.

• Forcible Silence

  • Steve King physically rips the phone cord from the wall to prevent Martha from leaking information to UPI reporter Helen Thomas.
  • Martha is locked in her room, is injured (breaking glass), and is ultimately subdued by being forcibly injected with a tranquilizer.
  • Nixon’s men label her as “crazy” and an alcoholic to delegitimize her warnings.

• Quotes:

  • Helen Thomas recounts: “‘Get away, get away.’ And I didn’t know what was happening. And then there was a phone disconnect.” (09:48)
  • Martha: “This King rushes in and jerked out the telephone, like he literally tore the cord out of the wall.” (10:24)

3. The Personal and Political Fallout (12:19–13:42)

• Public Gaslighting

  • Martha’s claims are dismissed or consigned to “women’s pages,” not considered serious news.
  • Her reputation destroyed; John Mitchell resigns “to be with family” but their marriage crumbles due to his complicity and silence.

• Discrediting & Isolation

  • The administration systematically paints Martha as unstable, adding to her isolation and reinforcing her public persona as “drunken and crazy.”

• Gendered Dismissal

  • The story is not taken seriously due to Martha being a woman—and a ‘difficult’ one at that.

• Quote:

  • Martha: “I played into their hands beautifully … and all the while, these White House rumors are persisting: Martha Mitchell’s crazy, Martha Mitchell’s an alcoholic … and it added to the beautiful little story.” (12:35)

4. The Forgotten “Canonical” Players—and Martha’s Legacy (15:11–17:20)

• Erasure from History
  • Neyfakh remarks how Martha’s ordeal is generally omitted from Watergate’s public narrative, overshadowed by figures like Woodward, Bernstein, and ‘Deep Throat’.
• Pop Culture Parallel
  • Martha is compared with brief Trump-era communications director Anthony Scaramucci—both iconic for a moment, quickly discarded from the public memory.
• Narrative Aim
  • Neyfakh intends the podcast to resurface “subplots” and “bit players” from Watergate whose stories have been forgotten but shaped events as they unfolded.

5. Watergate as a “Live” Crisis—Then and Now (18:40–21:09)

• Contemporary Parallels

  • Dick Cavett and Gore Vidal reminisce about the addictive, even exhilarating pace of Watergate news (‘my Watergate fix’), paralleled by modern obsessions with political scandals (e.g., Trump-Russia investigation).

• Quotes:

  • Dick Cavett: “I must say I miss it terribly … like you spent a year in Paris and can never go back.” (18:54)
  • Gore Vidal (quoted): “I have to have my Watergate fix every single morning in the paper.” (18:57)

6. Martha’s Fate—And The Martha Mitchell Effect (21:09–22:54)

• Martha’s Downfall and Death

  • After her husband left, Martha’s life was shattered; she died of cancer in 1976.
  • Honored at home as someone for whom “freedom and honesty meant more than protocol and appropriate behavior.”
  • At her funeral, an arrangement of flowers spelled “Martha Was Right.”

• Historical Irony

  • Nixon, in his 1977 Frost interview, suggests if not for Martha, Watergate “would never have happened,” bizarrely blaming her for the scandal his administration engineered.

• Quotes:

  • Martha: “Those were the last decent words we ever had together.” (About her last sane conversation with John.) (20:44)
  • Nixon: “If it hadn’t been for Martha … there’d have been no Watergate.” (21:09)

• Terminology—The Martha Mitchell Effect

  • Psychologists use her name for the phenomenon whereby a person telling the truth is dismissed as delusional due to the seeming implausibility of their claims—later proven true.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Martha on Her Confinement:
  • “That was the beginning of my being held a prisoner.” (01:14)
• Helen Thomas’s Call–Dramatic Cutoff:
  • “‘Get away, get away.’ And I didn’t know what was happening. And then there was a phone disconnect.” (09:48)
• Discrediting Tactics:
  • “Martha Mitchell’s crazy. Martha Mitchell’s an alcoholic. Martha Mitchell’s this, Martha Mitchell’s that.” (12:35)
• Nixon’s Blame:
  • “If it hadn’t been for Martha, … there’d have been no Watergate.” (21:09)
• Martha’s Legacy:
  • “She was a kind of a dippy saint, a dizzy yet right on the target woman to whom freedom and honesty meant more than protocol and appropriate behavior.” (Letter, cited at 20:44)

Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------|-------------| | Intro & Martha’s Background | 00:23–02:51 | | Watergate Break-In & Martha’s Treatment | 06:42–11:21 | | Media, Marriage, and Reputational Fallout | 12:19–13:42 | | Erasure, Pop Culture Parallels, Podcast Aim | 15:11–17:20 | | Watergate as Lived Experience | 18:40–21:09 | | Martha’s Death, Nixon’s Blame & The Effect | 21:09–22:54 |

Tone & Presentation

Leon Neyfakh delivers the episode with narrative clarity—wry, direct, often incredulous at the cruelty and misogyny endured by Martha, but always measured and journalistic. Martha's own voice, when present in archival audio, is candid, proud, and anguished. The episode moves at a brisk pace, mixing gripping storytelling with dark humor and poignant observation, especially when highlighting the parallels between Watergate’s information chaos and today’s political news cycle.

Conclusion

“Martha” reframes Watergate by placing an oft-cast-aside character at its tumultuous heart, using her story to illuminate the scandal’s real-time confusion, its weaponizing of misogyny, and its erasure of inconvenient truths. Martha Mitchell’s ordeal not only shaped the events of Watergate, but inspired the term “Martha Mitchell Effect”—a lasting testament to the perils of dismissing women’s voices (or anyone’s) as mere hysteria. Neyfakh's reporting makes clear: to understand Watergate in full, one must remember Martha.