Carter Roy

This episode was written and researched by Connor Sampson, edited by Mickey Taylor, fact-checked by Sophie Kemp, and engineered, video edited, and sound designed by Alex Button.

I'm your host, Carter Roy.

One of those green ones, one of the blue ones you see at parties around the Fourth of July.

Have you seen these things like this your whole life?

Glow in the dark, stars on your ceiling, exit signs in every building, totally harmless.

Pretty, right?

There's something almost magical about it.

The stuff that makes this glow today is called strontium aluminate.

Totally safe.

Technically, you could eat it and it's likely nothing would happen, although I don't recommend it.

But a hundred years ago, this glow came from something else.

Radium.

It was everywhere, in toothpaste, face creams, health tonics.

The public thought it gave them energy, cured their ailments, and made them beautiful.

And during World War I, it was painted on watch dials so soldiers could tell time.

In the dark trenches, pilots could read their instruments at night.

It was helping win the war.

The women who painted those watches were the envy of their town.

They glowed when they walked.

It was glamorous.