TLDR: Seeking to broaden my horizons by reading entertaining non-fiction books as someone who is newish to non-fiction.
I love reading fiction (specifically fantasy) and one of my New Year's Resolution is to read more non-fiction. Specifically, I'm looking for books where (1) I can learn something and (2) the writing style is compelling. Basically - I need to be entertained.
At the risk of sounding like a total narcissist, I have difficulty reading books that don't have a strong narrative component or that contain lots of irrelevant details. For instance, I tried reading A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson and really struggled in the section where he listed scientists names and their discoveries - why should I care that scientist X stole scientist Y's thunder by publishing first? Why is this relevant to my life?
Some non-fiction books I have enjoyed in the past:
- The Woman They Could Not Silence (dw, Radium Girls is on my tbr)
- How To Hide an Empire
- Sapiens (Homo Deus is on my reading list)
- The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (I think everyone I know has read this book lol)
- Digital Minimalism (turned out the book was basically self-help, but close enough, right?)
Thank you for all of your help!
Audition advice for Radium Girls Drama?
Like many stories of corporate abuse, the tale of the radium girls has no single villain. Rather, this is a story of multiple bastards.
The U.S. Radium Corporation hired hundreds of women in the 1920s to paint radium-lit watch faces and instruments. The women were advised to "point" their brushes on their lips in order to give them a fine tip, ensuring the ingestion of deadly amounts of radium. At the same time, the owners and the scientists familiar with the effects of radium carefully avoided any exposure to it themselves... The reason behind this decision was the usual classic: PROFIT. Wiping the brushes on rags or in water used more time and material, thus it cost less.
Or it cost the company less. The costs to the health of the women slowly began to emerge; initially women started to suffer from dental pain, loose teeth, lesions and ulcers, and the failure of tooth extractions to heal were some of these conditions. Later other symptoms emerged, such as anemia, bone fractures and necrosis of the jaw. The first dial painted died in 1923, just before losing her jaw. The company ensured her death was blamed on syphilis, smearing her reputation.
By 1924, 50 women who had worked at the plant were ill, and a dozen had died. And yet, the company still denied culpability, ensuring doctors, dentists, and researchers complied with requests from the companies not to release the data of the dial painters. Thus, began a long struggle by the dial painters to claim compensation from the company before they succumbed to radiation poisoning.
The story of these women is one of immense bravery and resilience despite horrific suffering and gaslighting by the U.S. Radium Corporation. It is excellently documented and told by Kate Moore, who excellently captures the humanity and individuality of the women involved. There were multiple factories with hundreds of women women who were impacted by the lies and trickery of the Radium Corporation. I think this is a story that more people should know.
See:
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (goodreads.com)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
https://images.app.goo.gl/opkBpbU2SinZFkZNA
July 13, 2021 • 50 min
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.
So basically movies in which people were tricked/ (not told it was harmful) into doing stuff that's harmful for them.
This movie is about the fight of female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. It was such a good movie.
Can you please suggest more movies like this one? Even better if they are based on true stories.
Hello Mr. Ballen!
After watching the Eben Byers story, it reminded me of the Radium Girls, who I think pre-dated the Eben Byers case. The Radium Girl's story was both sad & tragic.
First time I heard of their story was via AFN-Pacific, when I was stationed in Oki.
Thank you!
CW: death, graphic description of radiation poisoning
I knew nothing about this dark period in American history, and nobody I know had heard about it, either. This is misogyny at its finest.
During WWI, 1000s of teenage girls and young women were hired to paint watches & aircraft dials with radium paint. The men who ran the painting companies knew the risks of exposure to radium, but assured the female painters it was perfectly safe, because profits. When the girls inevitably got very ill, the companies did everything they could to keep it hush hush. Only when a male company founder and a male socialite became ill and died, the world took notice. The women were expendable. The companies had lied and said the girls died of syphilis. It took years to settle lawsuits and this shameful thing led to the development of OSHA.
Edit: clarification
