The Radium Girls painted watched with glow-in-the-dark radium in the 1920s and '30s. Most got sick, many died. This is their story.
Mar 2023
The Radium Girls
we all know today that radium in a very dangerous substance , but way back in the early1900s , it was seen as a miricle element , a health suppliment , and even could increase sexual vitality ,
it was also used to paint watch dials and many other instruments for the army ,
and th ... Show More
25m 37s
Dec 2023
How the Radium Girls Fought Back
Cautionary Book Club: Mollie Maggia's dentist planned to remove a painful abscess from her mouth. But to his horror, her jawbone disintegrated at his touch, crumbling and splintering until it resembled ash. Like hundreds of her colleagues, Mollie had been slowly poisoned by her w ... Show More
40m 46s
Oct 2025
That Time Everyone Loved Radium: What Could Go Wrong?
Fellow Ridiculous Historians, we all know the inspiring and tragic story of Marie Curie -- however, not everyone is familiar with the absolute boom in radium-associated merchandise, which took the world by storm before the public understood the dangers of radiation. In today's ep ... Show More
50m 45s
May 2022
EP320: An "Ordinary" Cloth With An Extraordinary Story, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women and Family is at the Heart of this Brewing Icon, The Coors'
On this episode of Our American Stories, Chris Graham of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia tells the story of one of their objects on display with an extraordinary story we're just now finding out. Kate Moore, author of “Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s ... Show More
38m 15s