In the 1920s, painters of luminous watch dials began to fall mysteriously ill

In 1917, a New Jersey company began hiring young women to paint luminous marks on the faces of watches and clocks. As time went on, they began to exhibit alarming symptoms, and a struggle ensued to establish the cause. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Radium Girls, a landmark case in labor safety.

We'll also consider some resurrected yeast and puzzle over a posthumous journey.

Show notes

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