Radium Girls & the Failure of Unregulated Capitalism

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#radium #RadiumGirls #latestagecapitalism
----
Music:
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/livio-minafra/stile
License code: TSQWXQRRJCPXR3EP
uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/line-o...
License code: OA0XQCNIWAGETQDY
Jazz Recordings from: www.jazz-on-line.com/
Chick Webb - Blue Lou, Clap Your Hands, Don't Be That Way, Go Harlem
Fats Waller - Loveless Love, Go Down Moses, Love Me or Leave Me, Savannah Blues, Star Dust, Tea for Two, That's All, Tiny's Tempo
Jimmy Dorsey - Chimes Blues
Django Reinhardt - Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup, Hands Across the Table,
Count Basie - Exactly Like You, Fare thee Honey Fare thee Well,
Bix Beiderbeck - In a Mist,
Thelonius Monk - In Walked Bud
Dizzy Gilespie - One Bass Hit Part 2, Ow!,
---
Sources:
[1] Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
www.kate-moore.com/the-radium...
Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-S...
[2] US Radium Corporation - Historic Engineering Record - memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/hab...
[3] Inflation Calculator www.usinflationcalculator.com/
[4] Handbook of Labor Statistics 1936 - babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...
[5] A Glow in the Dark... NY Times - www.nytimes.com/1998/10/06/sc...
[6] A Most Valuable Accident - Dr. Sohocky New Yorker - www.newyorker.com/magazine/19...
[7] Radium Girls - Environmental History - environmentalhistory.org/peop...
[8] History of Workplace Safety in the US - eh.net/encyclopedia/history-o...
[9] Preservation Snapshot: Radium Girls - www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1iden...
[10] Taking Measure - NIST - www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-mea...
[11] A Dazzle in the Bones - WIRED - www.wired.com/2011/03/a-dazzl...
[12] Radium Dial Company (blog) - raddoc1947.com/2016/07/17/rad...
[13] Library of Congress: Radium Girls: Living Dead Women - blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandher...
[14] The Radium Girls - An Illinois Tragedy - www.nprillinois.org/equity-ju...
[15] Radium Girls Legacy - radiumgirls-nhd.weebly.com/sc...
[16] The tragedy and courage of CT's “Radium Girls” - www.ctinsider.com/connecticut...
[16] Global economic downturn linked with at least 260,000 excess cancer deaths - www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/pre...
[17] Impact of 2008 global economic crisis on suicide: time trend study in 54 countries -www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f...
[18] Did the Great Recession increase suicides in the USA? Evidence from an interrupted time-series analysis - pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28625...
[19] Radiation Basics - EPA - www.epa.gov/radiation/radiati....
Table of Contents:
Intro: [0:00]
What makes Radium so Dangerous?: [4:17]
The Dial Painters of US Radium: [8:46]
Exploitation & Lies: [14:51]
The Living Dead Lawsuit!: [25:49]
The Radium Girls of Ottawa: [34:33]
Legacy: [47:17]
Injustice!: [51:23]
Conclusion - What Comes Next?: [59:14]

Пікірлер: 114

  • @Meromorphic
    @Meromorphic9 ай бұрын

    Hope you guys enjoy this one! Very different from my normal stuff. I'll be going back to Unpacking videos and other such after this! One small correction: Mae Keane was an employee of Waterbury Clock Co. in Connecticut, not Radium Dial. (Of course only realized the error after uploading 😢)

  • @Oig-ln7ep

    @Oig-ln7ep

    9 ай бұрын

    It is downright criminal that this video doesn’t have more views. This is absolutely incredible.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Oig-ln7ep thank you friend!

  • @feathersfororphans
    @feathersfororphans9 ай бұрын

    Christ. Can the algorithm show this man some love already?

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Appreciate it my friend. It'll happen. I believe. Lol

  • @fisher123fisher
    @fisher123fisher8 ай бұрын

    Unregulated capitalism = worker exploitation

  • @mOOOp42
    @mOOOp429 ай бұрын

    Wow just wow. As a guy who works and complains about too much regulation in the USA this video was a nice refresher as to why these policies exist in the first place. Thank you, I needed this and I'm always amazed that our world just barely holds on to society with small checks and balances like this.

  • @thewandering01

    @thewandering01

    8 ай бұрын

    Every regulation is written in blood. None of them is adopted just for fun. It's because things were so bad (and went on so long), that the regulations were made despite the will of the wealthy and corporations.

  • @weylinwebber4180

    @weylinwebber4180

    6 ай бұрын

    Bro I had a guy put rat poison in the air quality tester while I was working at Tesla in a week later and the technician told me all the results were stellar. That is when your soul gets litmus test and unfortunately many seem to fail while telling themselves they're doing the best they can. They are all evil and they are all complicit unfortunately.

  • @Sandvichman.

    @Sandvichman.

    5 ай бұрын

    i take it you're a completely average, working class person? how do you come to any of these conclusions, especially as someone who BENEFITS from regulation? do you know what the early 1900s looked like? i just dont get it

  • @weylinwebber4180

    @weylinwebber4180

    5 ай бұрын

    @@Sandvichman. Sir coming from the standpoint of a child who grew up in a conservative military family and then spent three years at the hell hole called Tesla Fremont stamping,. The simple answer is that it's cultural. You have guys who complain but then they act like being put underneath these conditions also makes them tough. The same guy is that constantly bitch and moan about not making enough money will still stop you from causing too much trouble because they feel their job is at risk. Dude I just confronted my supervisor for my time there telling him about sexual assault and drug dealing and the fucker told me he already knew about it but couldn't do anything. Which of course he already knew about it I told him in 2017 but I don't think he gave enough of a shit to even remember that. Put all that together and you get some terrified hardworking people because they literally believe their lives depend on it. And from that perspective it does. Please let me know if you have any questions.

  • @Sandvichman.

    @Sandvichman.

    5 ай бұрын

    @@weylinwebber4180 i think you described it perfectly

  • @jacobweeks777
    @jacobweeks7779 ай бұрын

    Woah Mero, you can't just show up with that luscious mane all of a sudden

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    😅🤣 Sorry man, I'll put a blur and NSFW tag on it.

  • @crimsonlancer8610

    @crimsonlancer8610

    9 ай бұрын

    2mm . ?2😮

  • @theodorixjohnson4336
    @theodorixjohnson43369 ай бұрын

    This is one of the first horror stories we are taught as occupational health and safety engineers this triangle shirtwaist, Chernobyl and Bhopal and my god I hope I never allow something this horrific to ever happen

  • @Tiger74147

    @Tiger74147

    8 ай бұрын

    I haven't heard of Bhopal. I should look that up. ...then again, maybe I've had enough gloomy reading for a lifetime haha.

  • @fisher123fisher

    @fisher123fisher

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Tiger74147 there was a phosphene? gas leak in the union carbide factory. It killed hundreds around the town

  • @rogelioestrada4530
    @rogelioestrada45309 ай бұрын

    I was in a play about this story and it was really eye-opening to read about the messed up stuff these companies were doing to these girls. I really love how you covered this topic and the empathy you showed to the victims of these companies

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Hey thank you so much! I'd definitely like to see this play!

  • @wowimsatan2802

    @wowimsatan2802

    7 ай бұрын

    I was also in this play!! Who were you? I was Roeder (super emotionally intense)

  • @rogelioestrada4530

    @rogelioestrada4530

    7 ай бұрын

    @wowimsatan2802 It was years ago but I was one of the board ppl and also the factory manager telling the girls off about the rags

  • @wowimsatan2802

    @wowimsatan2802

    7 ай бұрын

    @@rogelioestrada4530 thats fun!!! its such an emotionally heavy production and its so hard to put yourself into the role of the people who knew they were causing such evil

  • @inz1
    @inz19 ай бұрын

    This is quite literally the best content you’ve ever put out. Bravo. Encore.

  • @kathymueller639

    @kathymueller639

    9 ай бұрын

    It is really incredible!

  • @kathymueller639

    @kathymueller639

    9 ай бұрын

    BRILLIANT History is so incredibly important! I have learned so much today, and thank you for your dedication to gathering FACTS😊

  • @ArsenicArtist
    @ArsenicArtist5 ай бұрын

    I'm currently in my final year of high school, and I've chosen to have my English summative be about this video essay. It is truly the most detailed video I've seen on the subject, you did an amazing job!

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    5 ай бұрын

    Aww this is so freaking cool!! I actually teach HS Math and Physics for my day job. Hit me up at the email in my profile or on insta if you have any questions, and good luck!

  • @ArsenicArtist

    @ArsenicArtist

    5 ай бұрын

    @@Meromorphic Thank you, I'll be sure to email you with any questions I may have! Have a wonderful day/night

  • @neplvr
    @neplvr9 ай бұрын

    Woaahhh KZread recommendations are really good

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Oh hell yeah! Good to hear it's being recommended!

  • @Tom-bs3zh
    @Tom-bs3zh9 ай бұрын

    Still, after all this, hardly anybody got the hint, as Eben Byers' doctor prescribed him Radithor (radium water) for a broken arm in 1927. He died jawless in 1932.

  • @chrispylee1019
    @chrispylee10196 ай бұрын

    So, thanks to this video, I found out my grandma grew up in the same town all of this happened. Crazy.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    6 ай бұрын

    Oh damn! You should ask her about it!

  • @coloronmyarm
    @coloronmyarm9 ай бұрын

    Good job man. I know you worked on this one for a while. Keep up the good content

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks brother. Love ya buddy

  • @Abrahamwaffle
    @Abrahamwaffle3 ай бұрын

    I cannot tell you how shocked i was when i saw the view count after finishing the video, holy shit this deserves so much more

  • @lemonlordminecraft
    @lemonlordminecraft9 ай бұрын

    Damn, this is a crazy piece of history and I'm glad you jumped out of your usual stuff to pen it. I clicked on this after watching another one of your videos and was initially going to click off of it because, quite frankly, I was in the mood for more cartoon unpacking but I am so glad I stayed. Bravo, my good sir, bravo. Wish this had gotten the attention it deserved 💔 all the other videos covering this are not nearly as in-depth

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    8 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Hopefully one day the algorithm will deign to shine it's light on it. Lol

  • @thatjojolesbian
    @thatjojolesbian6 ай бұрын

    it is a crime that something this high quality doesnt have more views

  • @honey-bagder3451
    @honey-bagder34519 ай бұрын

    Thus far in, this documentary is way better than the movie.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks. I meant to say in there somewhere that I do not recommend the movie. It's pretty bad. But honestly, I just forgot. 😅

  • @greekandbulgariangamertv8633
    @greekandbulgariangamertv86339 ай бұрын

    That an interesting topic if you ask me also think some times of how many stuff that we today say are bad for our health back in the day they think it was perfectly healthy or at least not that could cause a health related illness it makes me wonder what staff do we day use today that in the future will find that it is actually bad for us in the end of the day we are not that different with the 20s we are both parts of history that that will one day become the past and in the future people will call as stupid

  • @JDogVids
    @JDogVids2 ай бұрын

    Wtf bro this video needs way more recognition and you deserve way more subscribers, this is such a high quality video and I can tell you put alot of work into it, im subbed and glad I found this channel!

  • @three_iii9198
    @three_iii91989 ай бұрын

    What a painful listen, my heart breaks for the girls 😢 you did an amazing job with the video tho! Awesome work, keep ot up 😄👍

  • @Eainai
    @Eainai3 ай бұрын

    How in the actual ass did a well-written, accurate, beautifully animated, extremely informative documentary get so few likes? I'd give more than one like if I could, but since I cannot, I hope you'll accept my subscription.

  • @thequeenofcringe1585
    @thequeenofcringe15855 ай бұрын

    The fact that lip pointing was a practice is insane to me. You don’t put paint in your mouth no matter what’s in it. Just get a brush better suited for the job. A thin brush with short bristles is much more effective for painting small things.

  • @carborundorum

    @carborundorum

    4 ай бұрын

    Lip pointing was outlawed in Europe. Instead of brushes, glass applicators were used. USRC switched to glass but the painters couldn't work as fast or as precisely, so they switched back to brushes because they were paid by the piece.

  • @alexispartee4086
    @alexispartee4086Күн бұрын

    The picture of Catherine Donahue is actually Grace Fryer. I just finished reading Radium Girls. This was a great follow-up to the book!

  • @beannathrach2417
    @beannathrach24178 ай бұрын

    A further obscenity is the liability of an offender can depend on their knowledge. If you can show you didn't know about the danger, you might be able to evade. So businesses don't want to know about dangers they create because they can't be sued for dangers they don't know about.

  • @kelsoistired
    @kelsoistiredАй бұрын

    I own one of the clocks produced by radium dial for westclox and I'm always filled with anger and sadness when I think about its history for too long

  • @RowieSundog
    @RowieSundog9 ай бұрын

    I can't believe you have so few subscribers n views your videos are so well made!!

  • @MosesMoss-uy8sd
    @MosesMoss-uy8sd9 ай бұрын

    The vibes i get from this video oddly resemble a potato. I don’t know what or why or anything, it just gives me potato vibes. So yes, communism = 🥔 in my book.

  • @MosesMoss-uy8sd

    @MosesMoss-uy8sd

    9 ай бұрын

    shoot i ment capitalism not communism

  • @abbygarrett154
    @abbygarrett1549 ай бұрын

    Insane story and sick edit!!! Thanks for sharing.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks home slice!

  • @lavalamp1
    @lavalamp18 ай бұрын

    this is insanity that all this happened right after one another and it still went on this long

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    8 ай бұрын

    Yuuup. ☹️

  • @wowimsatan2802
    @wowimsatan28027 ай бұрын

    I had the privilege to play Arthur Roeder in my high school's production of Radium Girls a few years back and it was one of the most emotionally intense roles I had ever done, especially learning the history of the true events. I can't even begin to imagine how horrific it would be to live through these events.

  • @weylinwebber4180
    @weylinwebber41806 ай бұрын

    Hey morphic, really really well done quality video about how those are the top are always protected against the cataclysm that they've create and it brought into an uncomfortable realization that while working at Tesla they were basically doing the exact same thing and yeah about every month a guy would lose a leg or lose a hands lucky if they didn't get electrocuted or had something just straight up to crush them. Biggest problem was getting respirators for the aluminum dust and we had one guy who just decided nah I don't need it and would sit with his face at part lay level and then come back up looking like he was huffing spray paint. I expect a lot of my compatriates at that factory now have shortened lifespans. And actually my dad ended up dying as results of the harassment that he faced at the Sparks Reno factory at the age of 47 so I guess that's my data point right there. Anyways good job man let me know if you want to work on something about Tesla together.

  • @larshogan1275
    @larshogan12759 ай бұрын

    Momma Mero!!

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Shut up! My name change was supposed to be a secret

  • @HamboogyYT
    @HamboogyYT9 ай бұрын

    Based Meromorphic

  • @xardiesn.o.o.b4971
    @xardiesn.o.o.b49719 ай бұрын

    Oh new video to spam watch at work thanks

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Of course. Happy to help 🤣

  • @xardiesn.o.o.b4971

    @xardiesn.o.o.b4971

    9 ай бұрын

    @@Meromorphic I've watched the moral oral videos more times than I'd like to admit look forward to any video you upload

  • @LOVEWORMZZ
    @LOVEWORMZZ7 ай бұрын

    bro, ty for this, I've read SO MUCH about the radium girls and so many video essays on here skip the part where they STEAL THEIR FUCKING BONES thanks for not leaving that CRITICAL detail out, excellent work!

  • @martin90000
    @martin900008 ай бұрын

    Awesome documentary, I really like your approach and angle. A bit long, but worth it :-) KZread needs more content creators like this, fewer like SSSniperWolf lol!

  • @1234567890sunshine
    @1234567890sunshine9 ай бұрын

    How were the people who wore the watches affected? Did everyone wearing the watches also get poisoned?

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Great question. I didn't come across any data on the subject, but if anything, they probably had burns on their skin and were at a higher risk for cancer. However, they weren't constantly injesting material. They had a single, trace amount of radium on their person. Alpha and beta decay would have been negated by the bottom of the watch and skin. So they'd still be getting a higher than background radiation pretty constantly, but probably not enough to be life threatening outside strange cases.

  • @MarcUK

    @MarcUK

    8 ай бұрын

    Wearing the watches was perfectly safe. The danger would come later on for anyone that had to open them up to do repairs/maintenance and not know the coatings were radioactive. Worst case is that the majority of those watches made are probably in landfill now.

  • @ArsenicArtist

    @ArsenicArtist

    5 ай бұрын

    I don't belive so! My grandfather owned one when I was a child, and he lived to 93 with no complications. The watches were safe unless you opened them to conduct repairs and came into direct contact with the paint

  • @Lexxxxiii
    @Lexxxxiii27 күн бұрын

    Hi. i love this video, and am saddened to see it is not being reccomended more. Comment, comment, i am commenting to boost engagement

  • @Skokapus
    @SkokapusАй бұрын

    oh cool i did this play a couple months ago

  • @lucasbroto7928
    @lucasbroto79285 ай бұрын

    I am in complete disbelief with the girls situation

  • @YasugoLiehu
    @YasugoLiehu4 ай бұрын

    25:46 Could you imagine his reaction? “Heh heh! Alright, alright, let's see how _high_ my levels are. He heh ha haaaah … … … oh… o-oh…”

  • @riki4644
    @riki46448 ай бұрын

    underrated

  • @joeport1570
    @joeport15709 ай бұрын

    Recently saw a play about Radium Girls, was fantastic and extremely brutal.

  • @Gnomageddon
    @Gnomageddon8 ай бұрын

    I grew up in Waterbury CT, they NEVER TOLD US about this messed up thing.....man.....i'm shocked.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    8 ай бұрын

    Honestly not surprising. I grew up in one of the last towns in America to desegregate. They hung an effigy of a black schoolchild from the High School. Never heard a peep about it until I left the town for college and started looking into it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_school_desegregation_incident

  • @conniethomas4753
    @conniethomas4753Ай бұрын

    Blimey those poor girls.

  • @hexoskeleton
    @hexoskeleton9 ай бұрын

    A bit late to this one but Oof, ouch hate to hear it.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    8 ай бұрын

    Lmao. Only 100 or so years, but can't fault ya

  • @Cheng-jq6fc
    @Cheng-jq6fc8 ай бұрын

    #RADITHOR was also terrifying case..

  • @youtubeuniversity3638
    @youtubeuniversity36387 ай бұрын

    Subscriptioned did.

  • @genx7417
    @genx74173 ай бұрын

    Calling US Radium evil is not simplistic it's 100% accurate 😑

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    3 ай бұрын

    Except that isn't what I said. I said attributing their actions to pure evil is simplistic. The doesn't mean it *wasn't* evil, it just misses the point entirely.

  • @bksellers64
    @bksellers64Ай бұрын

    The similarities between this and the mRNA vaccines is uncanny.

  • @kathymueller639
    @kathymueller6399 ай бұрын

    Thanks! BRILLIANT

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Holy crap. Thank you!

  • @danstevens6515
    @danstevens65159 ай бұрын

    We have plenty of jobs now that are legal and ruin people’s lives, too

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    9 ай бұрын

    Yup. Unfortunately why this story is still relevant.

  • @Vextonomy
    @Vextonomy9 ай бұрын

    O

  • @user-dc4ok8im3u
    @user-dc4ok8im3u6 ай бұрын

    I think it mainly just means we didn't know about how dagerous radium was, I don't think a communist utopia would have known about the dangers of radium before... knowing about dangers of radium.

  • @Meromorphic

    @Meromorphic

    6 ай бұрын

    Except, ya know, they DID know, as was proven in court. They knew, and yet did nothing. Less than nothing, even. **Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video.**