Episode Revisit: The Radium Girls

Episode of Morbid · June 18, 2026 · 1 h 22 min

Morbid hosts Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley revisit the Radium Girls, dial painters poisoned by radium paint whose lawsuits reshaped workplace safety laws.

Summary

In this revisited episode, Alaina Urquhart recounted the history of the Radium Girls for co-host Ash Kelley, after an opening segment of banter about astrology and a Chiron retrograde. Urquhart began with Marie and Pierre Curie's 1898 discovery of radium, its rarity, early evidence of its dangers such as a scientist burned by a sealed vial, and its adoption for luminous paint by Sabin Arnold von Sochocky, co-founder of what became the United States Radium Corporation.

Urquhart described how young women, including 14-year-old Katherine Schaub, were hired in New Jersey as dial painters and taught to 'lip point' their brushes, while managers assured them the paint was safe amid a national craze for radium products like Radithor. She detailed the resulting 'radium jaw', sterility and deaths, including the gruesome death of Mollie Maggia in 1922, and the spread of the same practices to the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois, where Peg Looney died in a company hospital. She argued the companies knowingly concealed the danger, misdiagnosed workers with syphilis, and falsified a consultant's report, while medical examiner Harrison Martland proved radium poisoning.

The episode covered Grace Fryer's 1927 lawsuit with four other women, the delay requested because company witnesses were vacationing in Europe, Vice Chancellor John Backes's statute of limitations ruling, and the eventual settlement. Urquhart then covered the Illinois case led by Catherine Donohue, the resulting occupational disease laws, Superfund contamination, and a 2021 Senate resolution honoring the women. Both hosts expressed outrage at the companies, praised the women's courage, recommended Kate Moore's book The Radium Girls, and said the story should be taught in schools.

Chapters

0:00
Intro and astrology banter
The hosts open with jokes, a morning manifestation ritual, and a reading about the Chiron retrograde.
4:39
What radium is
Urquhart explains the Curies' discovery of radium, its rarity, and early signs of its danger.
12:04
U.S. Radium and the dial painters
Von Sochocky develops luminous paint, founds U.S. Radium, and hires young women like Katherine Schaub.
18:17
Lip pointing and the radium craze
The painters are taught to wet brushes with their lips while radium is marketed as a miracle product.
29:21
Glowing girls and first symptoms
Painters become local celebrities for glowing, while sores, blood anomalies, and company denials emerge.
35:27
Radium jaw and Mollie Maggia's death
Dental and fertility problems spread, culminating in Mollie Maggia's horrific 1922 death misattributed to syphilis.
46:27
Radium Dial Company in Illinois
The same practices take hold in Ottawa, Illinois, where Peg Looney dies in a company hospital amid a cover-up.
53:17
Cover-ups and Harrison Martland
U.S. Radium falsifies a consultant's report while Martland proves radium poisoning in living workers.
56:54
Grace Fryer's lawsuit
Fryer and four women sue U.S. Radium, fight the statute of limitations, and face delays for vacationing witnesses.
1:08:04
Settlement
U.S. Radium settles without admitting fault, and the women die by the mid-1930s without an apology.
1:10:49
Illinois case and legacy
Catherine Donohue's suit, new occupational disease laws, Superfund sites, and a 2021 Senate resolution are covered.
Linked moment · 1:16:48Skip to 1:16:48 using a listen link in the info box.
1:16:48
Reflections
The hosts recommend Kate Moore's book, argue the story belongs in schools, and reflect on the women's fear.

People

In the conversation

Alaina UrquhartCo-host of Morbid, autopsy technician and author of the Butcher novels
Ash KelleyCo-host of the true crime podcast Morbid

Discussed

Marie CuriePolish-French physicist and chemist who co-discovered radium
Pierre CurieFrench physicist who co-discovered radium with Marie Curie
Sabin Arnold von SochockyPhysician who developed radium luminous paint and co-founded U.S. Radium
George WillisCo-founder of the Radium Luminous Materials Corporation
Kate MooreBritish author of The Radium Girls
Grace FryerU.S. Radium dial painter who led the 1927 lawsuit
Katherine SchaubU.S. Radium dial painter and plaintiff who offered herself for study
Mollie MaggiaFormer dial painter whose 1922 death was the first among the Radium Girls
Peg LooneyRadium Dial Company painter who died at 24
Catherine Wolfe DonohueRadium Dial painter who led the Illinois lawsuit
Harrison MartlandEssex County medical examiner who proved radium poisoning in dial painters
Timothy JorgensenGeorgetown University radiation expert quoted in the episode
Clarence LeePresident of U.S. Radium at the time of the settlement
John BackesNew Jersey vice chancellor who ruled on the statute of limitations
Bob MenendezU.S. senator from New Jersey who backed the 2021 resolution
Richard BlumenthalU.S. senator from Connecticut who backed the 2021 resolution

Topics

From the publisher

Today we are revisiting a tragic case of negligence which originally captivated us back in 2024. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, the chemical element was quickly adopted by manufacturers for its luminescent properties that would go on to be used in, among other things, the painting of clock faces, watches, and instrument panels, allowing them to be seen in the dark. At the time, the introduction of radioluminescent materials into manufacturing was hailed as a scientific solution to an age-old frustration, but it didn’t take long before that solution was shown to have terrible consequences.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: History·True Crime·Medicine