The Radium Girls were a group of women in the 1920's who thought they had just landed the best job in the world - only to find their shortened lives spent fighting the bastards who hired them. Dawn's guest is her real-life mom, who recorded with her while visiting from her small Wisconsin town.
Dawn's mom, Lana Adams, was roped into recording with her while on a visit to Los Angeles from the small town of Wisconsin Rapids - in central Wisconsin. We learn that Lana is a little shy, but very smart, well-traveled - and wise in the ways of packing 'a roadie.'
00:09:13 - Dawn asks Lana why she chose The Radium Girls as her HILF and she gives her primary sources and plan for the episode:
00:16:13 - To grasp the setting and time of this story, Dawn begins with the history of the Industrial Revolution which was introduced the factories in which such stories were even possible.
00:21:16 - A little about the history of the element, Radium, itself. It was discovered by Marie Curie and before she knew how dangerous it was (spoiler alert, it would kill her) she called it 'my beautiful Radium' because it glowed in the dark. As factories were working out how it could be used and more importantly marketed, WWI gave them a perfect use: watch faces for our guys in the trenches.
00:25:46 - The first signs that the women who worked as painters for the various Radium Corporations, was jaw and tooth pain. It was so extreme and debilitating that one woman died shortly after her entire jaw fell off. Miscarriages, still births and cancers were rampant and the women began to ask for answers from the factory heads... which when things got really scary.
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Listen to MAY IT DISPLEASE THE COURT hosted by Attorney, Mary Whiteside.
00:36:00 - Dawn checks in with Mom to see how she's feeling about her first-ever podcast experience and she's doing great, sober an' everything!
00:38:33 - The Radium Girls' story inspired Dawn to go down some rabbit holes in history to discuss some of the other worst work-place malfeasance of the past and woof... buckle up. We start with The Breaker Boys whose case was brought to (literal) light by the intrepid photographer, Lewis Hine.
00:45:24 - Dawn asks Lana what was the worst job she's ever had. She confesses she's always been really lucky and has truly enjoyed her work... but she's never worked retail so...
00:48:27 - Next is the story from 1897 in Pennslyvania: The Lattimer Massacre. Unarmed men, shot in the back by deputized posse. All but one of them were Slavic, German immigrants. Many of them had been scabs during a previous strike by the “English-speaking” miners but then joined forces as a large miner collective that was attacked brutally.
00:51:45 - It's Dawn's turn to talk about her worst job ever and although it involves cold, and fear, and isolation - Lana loving reminds her that her jaw didn't fall off and it all has a bit more perspective.
00:55:00 - The very last workplace disaster the two discuss is included in this episode if only for the incredible scope of the destruction. In the Texas City Industrial Disaster - when (among other things) a freighter full of fertilizer explodes - over 600 people are left dead and over 1,000 injured. Holy shit, right?
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