Sept. 8, 2025

Icky Fishy: Karen Silkwood

Icky Fishy: Karen Silkwood
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What happens when a lone whistleblower challenges a powerful nuclear corporation? The story of Karen Silkwood unfolds like a thriller, but with deadly real-world consequences that forever changed workplace safety standards.

At just 28 years old, Karen found herself working as a laboratory technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in Oklahoma in the early 1970s. What she discovered there would shock her conscience—and eventually the nation. Routine radioactive spills, falsified safety records, workers contaminated with deadly plutonium, and approximately 40 pounds of weapons-grade material mysteriously missing from inventory.

The young chemical technician meticulously documented these violations, joining the local union and becoming an outspoken advocate for worker safety. But when she began experiencing bizarre contamination incidents—plutonium mysteriously appearing in her apartment, even on her food—it became clear something sinister was happening. Was someone deliberately exposing her to radiation to silence her?

On November 13, 1974, Karen was driving to meet with a New York Times reporter, carrying a folder of incriminating evidence, when her small Honda was found crashed into a concrete culvert. She died at the scene. Suspiciously, not a single document was found in the wreckage. The official ruling called it a simple accident caused by sedatives in her system, but independent investigators found evidence suggesting her car had been struck from behind and forced off the road.

Karen's death sparked a landmark legal battle that reached the Supreme Court and ultimately forced significant safety reforms throughout the nuclear industry. Though Kerr-McGee never admitted wrongdoing, they eventually paid a $1.38 million settlement to her family and soon exited the nuclear business entirely.

Whether you're fascinated by corporate coverups, whistleblower courage, or the human cost of industrial negligence, Karen Silkwood's story will leave you questioning how far powerful interests might go to protect their bottom line. Subscribe now to hear more stories where ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances.

Encyclopædia Britannica – “Karen Silkwood”.
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Texas State Historical Association – “Karen Gay Silkwood”
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Wikipedia – “Karen Silkwood”
 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists+15Wikipedia+15Encyclopedia Britannica+15

Wikipedia – “Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site”
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00:16 - Episode Introduction and Pet Update

04:14 - Introducing Karen Silkwood's Story

08:08 - Working with Plutonium: Dangers Explained

14:11 - Safety Violations at Kerr-McGee

20:04 - Union Activism and Whistleblowing

27:16 - Mysterious Contamination Incidents

36:45 - The Fatal Car Crash

43:07 - Investigation and Aftermath

50:31 - Legal Battle and Lasting Impact

56:02 - Episode Wrap-up

WEBVTT

00:00:16.211 --> 00:00:17.972
oh, hey, there, oh hey there.

00:00:17.972 --> 00:00:21.196
I'm kate, I'm bradley and this is history.

00:00:21.196 --> 00:00:23.818
Buffoons, huzzah, how are you?

00:00:24.221 --> 00:00:24.963
I am well, how are you?

00:00:25.123 --> 00:00:26.509
I'm doing pretty good.

00:00:26.509 --> 00:00:27.964
Excellent it's been kind of a weird week.

00:00:28.981 --> 00:00:32.329
Yeah, it's been felt like a long, long, long week.

00:00:32.871 --> 00:00:44.813
Yeah, well, he knows I do but my senior cat, Frankie, he was 14, he did pass away this last Sunday.

00:00:44.993 --> 00:00:45.895
Which is super sad.

00:00:46.155 --> 00:00:50.731
Yeah, we decided to take him in and do it on our terms.

00:00:51.381 --> 00:00:52.906
Well, he, just he wasn't doing well.

00:00:53.006 --> 00:00:53.247
Yeah.

00:00:53.981 --> 00:00:59.159
Losing a lot of weight and fur and he wasn't eating and everything.

00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:07.063
So, yeah, it was really unfortunate, because he was such a good boy and he would be greatly missed, as anyone who knew him really liked him.

00:01:07.063 --> 00:01:10.317
He was a good, good boy he definitely liked you oh, he was my buddy.

00:01:10.498 --> 00:01:24.893
Yeah, I loved coming up here and uh recording because before you would even greet me, he would greet me so it was always really sweet that he would come up and he'd just squeak and he would not leave me alone, he would follow my feet everywhere, until I acknowledged and picked come up and he'd just squeak and he would not leave me alone.

00:01:24.893 --> 00:01:28.180
He would follow my feet everywhere until I acknowledged and picked him up and give him some pets and stuff so.

00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:33.692
I will definitely miss him very much because he was he was my little buddy, so um.

00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:45.890
So within about 30 minutes after my husband and I got home, uh, from the vet, we had four kitties show up at our back door, just four kitties.

00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:51.191
Four kittens four kittens show up at our back door which is like what the hell?

00:01:51.191 --> 00:01:56.965
I I don't know whether to be happy, sad, grieve, joy.

00:01:56.965 --> 00:01:57.365
I don't.

00:01:57.365 --> 00:01:58.067
I don't know.

00:01:58.429 --> 00:02:08.782
I was having a weird mix of emotions yeah when that happened and I'm still kind of in shock well, yeah, because it's like well, where did these come from?

00:02:08.782 --> 00:02:13.520
And you know, I know you said nathan, put on the whatever facebook group for the area.

00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:17.088
If yeah, hey, anyone missing kittens and nothing's come with that.

00:02:17.188 --> 00:02:36.096
And yeah uh, so on so yeah, we got on a couple apps yeah um a facebook group discussion, and then the next door app, and yep, yep but uh, they were so clean and so sociable like they couldn't have been outside for more than like 12 hours or so it seems that way because they weren't dirty at all.

00:02:36.135 --> 00:02:37.801
You said right no, they weren't dirty at all.

00:02:37.801 --> 00:02:51.812
Um, so they've been living in our basement and the four cats grown cats that I've still have um, they're very curious at what's happening downstairs but because they're not, I mean before they were even down there, they're not.

00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:53.043
They weren't allowed to go down there.

00:02:53.043 --> 00:02:55.489
No, but they know they hear something.

00:02:55.949 --> 00:02:59.725
They're, they're not dumb but, uh, they have a vet appointment.

00:02:59.725 --> 00:03:06.471
Uh, the kittens do, and we just want to make sure that, since they were outside, they aren't going to transfer something over to our indoor cats.

00:03:06.471 --> 00:03:08.400
So they have been kept separate.

00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:19.551
But we have two Calico females and a black and white male and a really blonde orange cat male, for sure.

00:03:19.551 --> 00:03:25.663
And the black and white and the darker of the two, calicos, are going to Bradley and his family.

00:03:26.104 --> 00:03:27.088
My kids don't know yet.

00:03:27.088 --> 00:03:29.031
No, the good thing is they don't listen to this.

00:03:30.100 --> 00:03:32.368
Yeah, I'm so excited for them, to see them.

00:03:32.368 --> 00:03:42.193
They're about eight weeks old or so, and then the orange cat and the lighter of the calicos are going to our friend Tara and her two boys.

00:03:43.641 --> 00:03:49.211
And my son, xavier, has been wanting a cat for a while and he he took.

00:03:49.211 --> 00:03:53.931
Uh, when we had to put our dog down almost a year ago now, he took that kind of hard.

00:03:53.931 --> 00:04:10.663
And I mean Vesper misses him too, but he, he, he definitely misses that and he kind of wants his own little thing because you know, like wicket's, mine pickles and mo or basically sarah's, and he, I mean he's, doesn't really have his own.

00:04:11.084 --> 00:04:19.569
yeah, so he's gonna be super excited yeah, so we'll fill you in on what their names are once they get to their forever homes, but exactly um.

00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:32.466
So bradley and I were invited to a birthday party of a mutual friend in Whitewater and she had this for me and I was like this, I really liked it, so I picked up some more of this.

00:04:32.466 --> 00:04:34.767
This is the Cerveza Pacifico Clara.

00:04:34.767 --> 00:04:40.851
It is brewed in Mexico, but it's similar to like a light Modelo.

00:04:40.851 --> 00:04:43.021
I guess it's part of the overall Corona Modelo family.

00:04:43.041 --> 00:04:44.663
It's an offshoot of it's all made the the overall Corona Modelo family.

00:04:44.663 --> 00:04:44.925
Okay, it's.

00:04:44.925 --> 00:04:47.988
It's an offshoot of it's all made by the same company.

00:04:48.009 --> 00:04:51.593
Yeah, and I really liked it, so that's what I'm having today.

00:04:51.853 --> 00:04:52.735
I told you, you would too.

00:04:52.735 --> 00:05:06.252
I thought you wouldn't, and I'm surprised it took us this long to have you try it.

00:05:06.252 --> 00:05:09.016
But they were good and uh, that was a fun party.

00:05:09.016 --> 00:05:15.713
Got to see some people I haven't seen in a bit that I know out there and uh as well, and yeah it was, it was kind of fun.

00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:40.062
So, I have um hazy beer, hug uh uh from goose Island out of Illinois and um side note, I used to sell goose Island a long long time ago and I kind of grew up on their IPA.

00:05:40.062 --> 00:05:47.574
My dad loved their IPA and, um, I drank quite a few of those back in the day and then Budweiser bought them out and I you know, but I'm giving them another go because I do like Goose Island.

00:05:47.819 --> 00:05:51.810
So this is a Hazy IPA, their Hazy Beer Hug line.

00:05:51.810 --> 00:05:52.360
I know they have.

00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:56.711
If I'm not mistaken, they have a couple within this line, but it's 6.8.

00:05:56.711 --> 00:05:58.987
So it's got some kick to it.

00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:00.665
Oh, I don't know what mine is.

00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:02.343
Yours is probably like a 4.2.

00:06:02.362 --> 00:06:03.283
4.4.

00:06:03.564 --> 00:06:06.149
Okay, I would say 4.2 to 4.5 was my guess.

00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:13.492
but all right, cheers delicioso.

00:06:13.492 --> 00:06:20.026
Oh no, he's got three with him today.

00:06:20.026 --> 00:06:26.333
Folks, it's beer, oh dear okay let me.

00:06:26.392 --> 00:06:28.995
Let me have a few more sips before I you come.

00:06:29.016 --> 00:06:29.961
Well, we'll bring it around.

00:06:29.961 --> 00:06:31.122
At the end it's got a weird.

00:06:31.142 --> 00:06:46.750
It's got a weird back end taste that I'm trying to wrap my head around okay, let's move on, because the story can get kind of long okay so this is about karen silkwood karen silkwood.

00:06:46.771 --> 00:06:54.367
Okay, um she was born in 1946 in longview, texas, and she was really into chemistry.

00:06:54.367 --> 00:07:05.017
Oh, she attended lamar college in beaumont, texas, on a scholarship, but she left within a year because she ended up marrying someone um a pipeline worker.

00:07:05.017 --> 00:07:14.254
They had three children and it was fairly common at the time for like women to kind of drop out of college to marry and have kids and well, yeah, especially that time, that time for you.

00:07:14.274 --> 00:07:22.250
So you said she was born in 40, what seven, 46, 46, okay, so she would have been going to college roughly in 65, give or take.

00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:34.327
And by 1972, her marriage kind of fell apart and actually her ex-husband lived with the kids, the kids lived with them, and so she kind of went off on her own.

00:07:34.327 --> 00:07:51.014
Oh, not sure the circumstances it's not necessary in this story Sure, so in 1972, silkwood moved to Oklahoma and she was hired as a laboratory technician at Kerr-McGee-Simmerin Fuel Fabrication Site.

00:07:53.101 --> 00:07:54.045
That's a mouthful.

00:07:54.045 --> 00:07:57.490
Yeah, I hope you don't have to say that again, jeez.

00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:02.800
It is near Crescent Oklahoma, so I think it's close to Tucson.

00:08:03.944 --> 00:08:05.949
Have you ever been to Oklahoma?

00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:07.425
Maybe driving through.

00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:08.646
I've never even driven through.

00:08:08.646 --> 00:08:10.887
I'm almost 100% sure I've never even driven through it.

00:08:12.141 --> 00:08:29.788
Kerr McGee is an energy company known mainly for oil and gas and at this time it had ventured into more of a nuclear fuel production and it was a fairly big player in oklahoma nuclear industry until the late 1980s.

00:08:29.788 --> 00:08:43.328
Wow, okay so karen silkwood's job was to help manufacture plutonium fuel pellets, okay, and rods for nuclear reactors, right.

00:08:43.328 --> 00:08:49.556
So like these little pellets develop, not develop, but they like make out the fuel rods.

00:08:49.755 --> 00:08:49.917
Yeah.

00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:53.067
Which would be like wooden logs to a fireplace.

00:08:53.067 --> 00:08:54.091
The nuclear reactor.

00:08:55.121 --> 00:08:55.543
Have you ever?

00:08:55.543 --> 00:08:57.549
I know you've seen some of the Bond movies.

00:08:57.549 --> 00:08:59.788
Have you ever seen the World is Not Enough?

00:09:00.880 --> 00:09:01.885
Who's the Bond?

00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:04.222
That would be Pierce Brosnan.

00:09:04.222 --> 00:09:05.083
It's his last one.

00:09:05.264 --> 00:09:06.265
I might have then yes.

00:09:06.265 --> 00:09:09.392
And it's got um is that with Halle Berry?

00:09:10.313 --> 00:09:11.504
No, that's die another day.

00:09:11.504 --> 00:09:13.927
Um, the one world is not.

00:09:13.927 --> 00:09:15.326
The world is not enough.

00:09:15.326 --> 00:09:20.264
I'm drawing a blank on her, uh, on the girl on there, sophie Mars.

00:09:20.264 --> 00:09:21.405
No, that's not the right name.

00:09:21.405 --> 00:09:23.549
That's a different person, I think, or was it?

00:09:23.549 --> 00:09:24.772
Shit Doesn't matter.

00:09:24.772 --> 00:09:29.701
Robert Carlyle, you watched Once Upon a Time that TV show.

00:09:30.721 --> 00:09:33.602
Yes, rumpelstiltskin, okay, yeah.

00:09:33.682 --> 00:09:34.484
That guy was in it.

00:09:34.484 --> 00:09:35.504
Yeah, he was the bad guy.

00:09:35.504 --> 00:09:44.629
And at the end of the movie they're in the submarine and they're trying to make it nuclear, basically, and he's putting these rods in there.

00:09:44.668 --> 00:09:46.970
So that's all I'm picturing, yeah, yeah.

00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:49.791
So maybe I'll have to put a picture in the video for this.

00:09:49.791 --> 00:09:51.491
Yeah for sure, or something.

00:09:52.432 --> 00:09:58.875
So, like I said, like the fuel rods were like the wood logs to the fireplace, which would be like the nuclear reactor.

00:09:59.076 --> 00:09:59.336
Yeah.

00:10:00.057 --> 00:10:03.398
And that fuel then turns into like atomic power.

00:10:03.398 --> 00:10:06.349
Sure, so sounds like a big deal.

00:10:06.349 --> 00:10:09.408
I keep holding back burps already, that's all right.

00:10:09.408 --> 00:10:11.686
So what is plutonium?

00:10:11.686 --> 00:10:12.207
Real quick.

00:10:12.207 --> 00:10:15.405
Do you know what the elemental symbol is for?

00:10:15.426 --> 00:10:15.886
plutonium.

00:10:15.886 --> 00:10:17.210
I have no idea If you had to guess.

00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:18.091
P.

00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.384
P plus a second letter.

00:10:20.384 --> 00:10:24.312
T U P-U P-U.

00:10:24.312 --> 00:10:32.820
Why?

00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:34.261
Because, again, letter t u p u p?

00:10:34.261 --> 00:10:34.302
U.

00:10:34.302 --> 00:10:36.283
Why because again, um so the atomic number for plutonium is 94.

00:10:36.283 --> 00:10:45.836
It is mostly man-made, it doesn't occur in large amounts in nature and it's produced by, produced by they call it bombarding uranium.

00:10:46.115 --> 00:10:46.417
Okay.

00:10:47.019 --> 00:11:01.394
So scientists fire neutrons into uranium atoms at very high speed, and when uranium absorbs these neutrons, its atoms can transfer into other elements like plutonium.

00:11:01.394 --> 00:11:11.772
It's way above my head, but for those science people out there who listen, hopefully I got that right yeah, and I am not one of those people same I like math, but science that's.

00:11:12.212 --> 00:11:16.432
That's above my pay grade so, basically, plutonium is made with neutrons and uranium.

00:11:16.432 --> 00:11:17.274
Okay, I guess.

00:11:17.274 --> 00:11:27.715
So there are several different types of plutonium, but the two that I'm going to briefly mention is is plutonium 238 and plutonium 239.

00:11:27.715 --> 00:11:45.333
So 238 is used in space probes as a heat source okay and plutonium 239 is important for nuclear weapons and and reactor fuel oh okay, it is a silvery metal that tarnishes quickly.

00:11:45.474 --> 00:11:58.400
It's both radioactive and toxic sure, okay um, most of the nuclear bombs in world war ii or since world war ii, I guess um are made of plutonium, right um?

00:11:58.400 --> 00:12:02.886
The nagasaki fat man bomb, that's plutonium gotcha, okay?

00:12:02.886 --> 00:12:04.788
Um.

00:12:04.788 --> 00:12:11.643
So as far as like uses, it's really too dangerous to use in a commercial setting.

00:12:11.643 --> 00:12:14.467
In a medical setting, that kind of thing.

00:12:14.467 --> 00:12:17.274
They don't really use it, right um?

00:12:17.274 --> 00:12:19.542
So, like I said, it is radioactive.

00:12:19.542 --> 00:12:24.248
It emits um particles that cannot penetrate the skin.

00:12:24.628 --> 00:12:24.969
Okay.

00:12:25.168 --> 00:12:28.393
But it is deadly if ingested or inhaled.

00:12:28.633 --> 00:12:31.556
I would imagine yeah, it's got to fuck your insides up real quick.

00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:33.701
Exactly so.

00:12:33.701 --> 00:12:40.010
Skin contact, like I said, it doesn't pass through skin, but if you have cuts on the skin, isn't that wild?

00:12:40.010 --> 00:12:42.835
Yeah, like my little bug bites that I keep scratching it.

00:12:42.855 --> 00:12:49.562
Yeah, you got a bunch of when we were at that party.

00:12:49.562 --> 00:12:50.807
There was, you know where it was outside in her backyard.

00:12:50.807 --> 00:12:51.572
So it's like getting eaten up.

00:12:51.572 --> 00:12:54.806
You definitely got some bug bites, but isn't it wild to think that this thing can't even pass through your?

00:12:54.806 --> 00:13:01.842
Skin it's just, I don't know, that's just too big of a particle I guess I don't know again above my pay grade, but same I.

00:13:01.842 --> 00:13:03.684
I just find it funny that I can't.

00:13:04.345 --> 00:13:18.456
So, if you ingest it, some of these particles can pass through the gut, but a small amount can lodge into liver or bones and stay there for decades, irradiating the tissue, oh shit.

00:13:18.456 --> 00:13:21.708
Inhalation is the most dangerous route.

00:13:21.708 --> 00:13:27.509
Tiny particles can lodge deep into the lungs and create a high risk of cancer.

00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:29.653
Sure, okay, um.

00:13:29.653 --> 00:13:34.331
So decontamination is basically stripping.

00:13:34.331 --> 00:13:47.722
If you're decam, decaminate, decontaminated on the clothing, you have to strip and then, like, scour your skin with harsh soaps and you mean if you're contaminated?

00:13:47.942 --> 00:13:56.201
yeah, then you have to decontaminate, that's kind of like when I was, when I was younger, I was like I gotta thaw.

00:13:56.201 --> 00:14:02.466
It's like no, you gotta defrost, defrost, not, you're gonna thaw, you're not going to dothaw.

00:14:02.525 --> 00:14:05.788
Exactly, exactly so.

00:14:05.788 --> 00:14:18.417
There's also a drug which binds to plutonium and can help the body excrete it through urine, so that would be like a medical treatment side of it.

00:14:18.576 --> 00:14:19.236
Wow Okay.

00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:24.364
So lots of organ dysfunction.

00:14:24.364 --> 00:14:27.190
Long term the cancers are typically long bone and liver.

00:14:27.190 --> 00:14:28.032
Okay.

00:14:28.032 --> 00:14:39.120
So there really is no way to reverse this damage once it's lodged into the tissues and you kind of just have to try to limit further harm.

00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:51.892
So, karen, her typical work day and this is not directly from Karen, this is from worker accounts, reports and testimonies from the union.

00:14:51.892 --> 00:15:11.187
Okay, so her daily activity most likely looked like clocking in, undergoing a radiation survey before entering certain areas, so like handheld detectors to like for whole body testing to see if there's any radiation.

00:15:11.187 --> 00:15:16.820
Okay, she would put on lab coats, gloves, shoe covers, masks.

00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:23.071
She wore a film badge or a dosimeter to track radiation dose.

00:15:23.912 --> 00:15:25.394
So basically, I've heard that word before.

00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:33.163
So basically it's like this little photographic film case that, um, if exposed to radiation, it actually turns dark.

00:15:33.565 --> 00:15:37.014
Oh yeah, so they like if they see that they're like shit.

00:15:37.073 --> 00:15:37.355
Yeah.

00:15:37.355 --> 00:15:43.192
Or like, if they develop the film and it's dark, you were exposed to radio or radiation.

00:15:43.192 --> 00:15:44.097
That would suck.

00:15:44.097 --> 00:15:45.383
Yeah, so it's dark, you were exposed to radiation.

00:15:45.383 --> 00:15:45.803
That would suck, yeah.

00:15:45.803 --> 00:15:48.451
So the radiation is absorbed into the film.

00:15:48.451 --> 00:15:50.787
The blacker it gets, the worse.

00:15:50.787 --> 00:15:51.830
It is Gotcha.

00:15:51.830 --> 00:15:56.831
So Karen's main job was working with plutonium oxide powder.

00:15:56.831 --> 00:15:58.423
Oh, don't you dare yawn.

00:15:58.725 --> 00:16:01.024
I wasn't yawning, it was like a weird burp yawn.

00:16:01.024 --> 00:16:02.928
Sure, sure, sure sure it was a bond.

00:16:02.989 --> 00:16:08.783
Sure, okay, a burn, a weird burp yawn.

00:16:08.842 --> 00:16:17.206
Sure, sure, sure, sure there's a bond sure okay, a burn a yarp, she would work with plutonium oxide powder and remember inhalation is the worst is the worst, yeah, and powder is obviously going to get in there a lot easier than something else.

00:16:17.226 --> 00:16:20.764
Can we say radium girls radium girls yes, you can.

00:16:20.764 --> 00:16:21.164
Good job.

00:16:21.164 --> 00:16:31.091
So this, the powder, would be to manufacture these fuel pellets which would then be assembled into the nuclear reactor rods, exactly okay.

00:16:31.091 --> 00:16:35.969
And then there were these like sealed um workstations called glove boxes.

00:16:35.969 --> 00:16:51.402
Um, if you've seen like any kind of medical show where there's like a big toxic contaminant and they have to like there's this big box and they have to put like their hands through gloves and the gloves don't get removed or anything that's like a glove box.

00:16:51.481 --> 00:17:03.464
It's like it's like a part of the wall, if you will that they reach in yes, exactly yeah, for sure so, um, she would work in this environment with the plutonium powder and pellets inside the box, gotcha okay?

00:17:03.464 --> 00:17:08.493
Now the problem with these boxes is the seals often leaked or tore.

00:17:09.142 --> 00:17:10.140
Well, that seems like a poor construction.

00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:11.644
So plutonium, dust sometimes escaped.

00:17:11.806 --> 00:17:22.823
Exactly, yeah, wow, she also inspected fuel rods for cracks using x-rays, and we'll talk a little bit more about those in the future here.

00:17:22.823 --> 00:17:23.083
Okay, okay.

00:17:23.083 --> 00:17:24.384
We'll talk a little bit more about those in the future here.

00:17:24.384 --> 00:17:24.584
Okay, okay.

00:17:24.584 --> 00:17:32.308
So after her shift, before leaving the controlled area, workers were scanned with Geiger counters for plutonium contamination.

00:17:32.308 --> 00:17:32.709
Right.

00:17:32.709 --> 00:17:44.076
If hot spots were found, they'd be sent to scrub down with abrasive soap, sometimes multiple times, and Karen personally went through these humiliating decontamination several times.

00:17:44.498 --> 00:17:47.539
Okay, Well, I mean yeah, humiliatingontamination several times.

00:17:47.559 --> 00:18:01.153
Okay, well, I mean yeah, humiliating but you kind of have to do it because you're otherwise transferring and you're fucking up yourself plus other people potentially if you don't get scrubbed down.

00:18:01.153 --> 00:18:03.098
So many employees that they had here at Kern McGee were fresh out of high school.

00:18:03.098 --> 00:18:05.827
Oh boy, they were trained on the job.

00:18:05.827 --> 00:18:08.948
Okay, and I keep burping, I'm sorry.

00:18:08.948 --> 00:18:09.569
It's okay.

00:18:09.569 --> 00:18:12.789
And they are unaware of plutonium's dangers.

00:18:12.789 --> 00:18:18.426
Like they aren't trained in the possible toxicity of getting this on your body or whatever.

00:18:18.426 --> 00:18:23.653
Sure the turnover 60% yearly.

00:18:24.034 --> 00:18:24.395
That's insane.

00:18:24.395 --> 00:18:25.378
Yes, wow, that's insane.

00:18:25.419 --> 00:18:25.700
Yes.

00:18:26.326 --> 00:18:27.519
Wow, that's a lot of turnover.

00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:34.834
So that meant Karen Silkwood often worked alongside really inexperienced young people.

00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:36.263
New people, all the time.

00:18:36.263 --> 00:18:37.468
Wow, that sucks.

00:18:37.689 --> 00:18:45.433
Yeah, so only within a few months of her working there, she started discovering some things that weren't quite right.

00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:47.445
And do tell what those things are.

00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:52.791
She was alarmed at the lacks of safety and quality control at the plant.

00:18:53.539 --> 00:18:54.763
And this was mid-70s.

00:18:55.827 --> 00:18:56.028
Yes.

00:18:56.108 --> 00:18:56.569
Ish right.

00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:15.876
Yeah, early to mid-70s she started documenting numerous violations routine spills and leaks of radioactive material, shoddy cleanups, inadequate worker training and falsification of critical records.

00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:18.388
Oh God that seems like a bad fucking thing.

00:19:18.388 --> 00:19:28.661
Yeah because I mean All right, yeah, all right, yeah.

00:19:28.661 --> 00:19:38.773
It's funny how I mean I know we have a lot more standards and practices these days, but even back then it was all just like ah, you're good yeah fuck it, just sweep it under that rug and let's just move on right, keep making money and or whatever.

00:19:38.795 --> 00:19:43.587
The fucking scenario is right, but that they just did not fucking care?

00:19:43.587 --> 00:19:52.862
No, especially because most of the people who made those decisions to sweep it under the rug, literally, literally, um, weren't, wouldn't be affected by it, because they weren't there.

00:19:53.143 --> 00:20:11.769
Yeah, they're like well, karen's got it, let her fucking figure it out yeah so it's just fucked up that they would allow that so workers were frequently being contaminated with plutonium, sometimes breathing it in and requiring urgent medical treatment to scrub it from their bodies, and there were inventory controls.

00:20:11.769 --> 00:20:19.114
They were so poor that significant amounts of plutonium were unaccounted for.

00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:22.446
So would people just walk off with plutonium?

00:20:22.547 --> 00:20:23.308
It's unknown.

00:20:23.851 --> 00:20:38.550
Wow, I mean you would think that would be a very regulated portion of your business, because A that's what's well in essence, making you money, yeah Right and B it's very fucking volatile really.

00:20:38.711 --> 00:20:38.912
Yeah.

00:20:40.163 --> 00:20:40.747
And dangerous.

00:20:40.747 --> 00:20:46.510
So I don't know, maybe put a little more, put an extra padlock on that locker over there.

00:20:46.590 --> 00:20:47.472
I don't know, fuck.

00:20:47.472 --> 00:20:54.813
So within two years of Karen working there, about 40 pounds of plutonium had mysteriously gone missing from their inventory.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:56.285
That is a lot of plutonium.

00:20:56.500 --> 00:21:02.483
It's enough material for several, sorry enough material to fuel several nuclear bombs.

00:21:03.484 --> 00:21:07.788
Do you think that's where doc Brown really got his plutonium for the?

00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:09.711
do you think he worked at the plutonium plant?

00:21:09.971 --> 00:21:12.354
Well, I mean he said he got it from the Libyans and he well.

00:21:12.354 --> 00:21:16.086
But maybe you know that was a cover, but they did try to attack him.

00:21:16.086 --> 00:21:20.788
So, I don't know, maybe Libyans worked at this plant who's the actor?

00:21:21.691 --> 00:21:23.215
christopher lloyd yeah, should we ask him?

00:21:23.215 --> 00:21:25.382
I mean I got him on speed dial.

00:21:25.382 --> 00:21:27.988
You really don't I know, because I had asked who it was.

00:21:27.988 --> 00:21:43.788
I know I couldn't remember his name okay so it wasn't just like trivial bookkeeping error, like it meant either leakage into the environment, inaccurate measuring or potential theft, exactly no shit.

00:21:43.788 --> 00:21:50.513
Yes, so Karen found evidence that quality control reports on fuel, not production, were being doctored.

00:21:50.513 --> 00:21:54.297
Sorry, fuel rod production were being doctored.

00:21:54.637 --> 00:21:59.902
Oh, so basically they're like we don't know where the shit is, but we made it kind of thing.

00:22:06.964 --> 00:22:07.625
Well, there is one infamous thing.

00:22:07.625 --> 00:22:15.159
So a technician literally used a felt tip pen like a sharpie, yeah, to color in cracks visible on an x-ray image of these plutonium fuel rods.

00:22:15.159 --> 00:22:17.748
Oh my god, they allowed that to happen.

00:22:17.748 --> 00:22:26.179
That's what he chose to do what a dumbass, because that okay jesus fuck.

00:22:26.179 --> 00:22:41.172
So these inspection records meant potentially defective fuel rods were approved for use right, posing risk not just to plant workers but to any reactor and community where that fuel might have been shipped.

00:22:41.712 --> 00:22:43.036
Did they ship it to Chernobyl?

00:22:44.538 --> 00:22:44.878
I don't know.

00:22:44.878 --> 00:22:53.815
So Kerr-McGee's management appeared either negligent or willfully blind to these problems.

00:22:53.944 --> 00:22:55.853
I'm going to go willfully blind, honestly.

00:22:56.065 --> 00:23:03.035
Yeah, because training for handling these radioactive materials were really minimal and many hires were these young people straight out of high school.

00:23:03.204 --> 00:23:05.311
Yeah, like you said, they had 60% turnover.

00:23:05.311 --> 00:23:09.375
So I mean these new kids cause again just out of high school.

00:23:09.375 --> 00:23:10.849
They don't.

00:23:10.849 --> 00:23:12.365
They don't know what the fuck they're doing.

00:23:12.484 --> 00:23:13.047
And if you're not going?

00:23:13.067 --> 00:23:14.010
to train them properly.

00:23:14.010 --> 00:23:17.746
Yeah, there's going to be some shit happening here man.

00:23:17.905 --> 00:23:23.557
It said that there was an average of 90 to 150 workers quit each year.

00:23:23.557 --> 00:23:28.559
God damn, that's how many new people would like come in to replace them every year.

00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:29.865
Well right, that's just wild.

00:23:30.885 --> 00:23:36.498
So, rather than address the safety issues, bosses often downplayed the dangers.

00:23:36.924 --> 00:23:43.018
Well, of course, because that will cost them money if they have to shut shit down or whatever investigation, so on, whatever.

00:23:43.605 --> 00:23:56.135
So time is money, Exactly so one one plant designer reassured employees that plutonium wasn't causing cancer and that, from human experience to date, we have nothing to worry about.

00:23:56.685 --> 00:23:58.251
This is like the new age radium girls.

00:23:58.251 --> 00:24:00.991
It really is, because that's pretty pretty much what they said.

00:24:01.065 --> 00:24:02.227
It's like yeah, it's not.

00:24:02.227 --> 00:24:02.887
What was that?

00:24:02.887 --> 00:24:03.388
The twenties?

00:24:03.388 --> 00:24:04.550
I think yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:24:04.570 --> 00:24:09.159
It was in the twenties and they're like no, it's not causing, even though their jaws are falling off Right Right.

00:24:09.159 --> 00:24:10.039
Fucking idiots.

00:24:10.785 --> 00:24:19.626
So, shortly after starting at Kerr McGee, um Karen joined the oil, chemical and atomic workers union, the OCAW.

00:24:20.208 --> 00:24:22.369
So she joined this while she was still there.

00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:22.971
Yes, okay.

00:24:23.030 --> 00:24:27.596
So, like fairly early on in her employment, she was there for about two years.

00:24:27.596 --> 00:24:42.880
Okay, so this was the labor union representing the plant's employees, sure, so in the fall of 1972, she took part in a nine-week OCAW strike protesting the poor working conditions and safety standards.

00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:51.092
Now she started in 1972 and that fall, yeah, she had already started noticing all these things and she joined the strike.

00:24:51.092 --> 00:24:52.355
That's crazy, yeah.

00:24:53.196 --> 00:24:53.478
All right.

00:24:54.045 --> 00:25:00.471
So Kurt McGee broke the strike by bringing in replacement workers and imitating current employees.

00:25:00.724 --> 00:25:01.708
They brought in the scrubs?

00:25:01.708 --> 00:25:05.307
They did Fuck yeah, and they imitated current employees.

00:25:05.307 --> 00:25:06.396
Intimidatedrobes they did fuck yeah, and they imitated current employees.

00:25:06.396 --> 00:25:10.380
Intimidated, oh intimidate, I'm sorry intimidate.

00:25:10.380 --> 00:25:20.586
Maybe I misspoke, that's okay, yeah or I misheard, because I'm hearing shit, but uh, so they intimidated them by bringing in like you're gonna lose your job.

00:25:20.666 --> 00:25:21.849
Here's the replacement.

00:25:21.849 --> 00:25:22.913
Replacement, wow, yeah.

00:25:22.913 --> 00:25:29.134
So afterward the company actively pushed to decertify the union.

00:25:29.134 --> 00:25:37.095
Okay, the campaign that left the union with only about 20 loyal members out of 150 workers by mid 1974.

00:25:37.404 --> 00:25:39.531
So they bailed because they didn't want to lose their job.

00:25:39.531 --> 00:25:40.996
Fuck, that sucks.

00:25:40.996 --> 00:25:42.772
Because I mean I get it, People got to work.

00:25:42.772 --> 00:25:44.964
Yep, I mean I get it, People got to work.

00:25:44.964 --> 00:25:53.636
I mean I don't want to work but I have to work and if you know, hey, you're going to lose your job if you don't basically leave this union.

00:25:53.636 --> 00:25:56.810
Yeah, A lot of people couldn't afford to do that.

00:25:56.991 --> 00:25:57.132
Yep.

00:25:57.132 --> 00:26:13.707
So, despite pressure on workers to abandon the union, karen actually became more involved good for her so in august 1974 she was elected to the plans bargaining committee, the first woman ever at the role at kermagee.

00:26:13.707 --> 00:26:22.932
Her main assignment was work safety and health, an area in which she was already gathering a bunch of evidence against the company for sure.

00:26:22.932 --> 00:26:25.116
So it was a critical time.

00:26:25.116 --> 00:26:30.155
There was a decertification vote okay looming in the fall of 1974.

00:26:30.215 --> 00:26:44.454
That would determine the union's fate right so karen and two fellow union activists traveled to washington dc and met with oCAW's leadership to plan a strategy.

00:26:44.454 --> 00:26:56.425
Okay, there was also a legendary union safety advocate there named Tony Mazzucci Mazzucci, I don't know, but I really like that name.

00:26:56.445 --> 00:26:57.486
What's up, Tony Mazzucci Mazzucci?

00:26:57.566 --> 00:26:59.227
Hey, I haven't seen you forever.

00:26:59.227 --> 00:27:10.992
So while she was in DC she learned even more about the risks of working with plutonium and became furious that Kern McGee had not warned or protected its workers.

00:27:11.252 --> 00:27:12.413
No, because again they didn't care.

00:27:13.153 --> 00:27:22.657
So Karen and OCAW made workplace safety kind of the rallying cry to back the people at the plant.

00:27:22.657 --> 00:27:24.519
So this is how we're going to save the union.

00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:25.439
Gotcha Okay.

00:27:25.439 --> 00:27:34.123
When the decertification election was held in October 1974, employees voted 80 to 61 to keep the union.

00:27:34.123 --> 00:27:42.518
Wow, so many who hadn't cared about the union were swayed by revelations that, hey, your lives might be at stake.

00:27:42.597 --> 00:27:45.261
Yeah, it's like hey, this is a good thing for you.

00:27:45.261 --> 00:27:48.452
Yeah, because a lot of people could die from this Exactly Mainly.

00:27:48.896 --> 00:27:54.250
So, and by standing up about radiation dangers, Karen helped turn the tide, essentially.

00:27:54.451 --> 00:27:54.674
Yeah.

00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:57.230
One union leader noted later.

00:27:57.230 --> 00:27:59.057
Her experience was not unique.

00:27:59.057 --> 00:28:07.012
Many workers faced retaliation for raising safety issues, except that she ultimately died for her cause.

00:28:07.012 --> 00:28:09.077
Karen did Karen.

00:28:10.306 --> 00:28:11.530
How did she die for her cause?

00:28:11.631 --> 00:28:12.192
I will tell you.

00:28:12.746 --> 00:28:13.991
I mean, I expected that.

00:28:15.246 --> 00:28:18.955
But first you have to listen through in order to figure out how she died.

00:28:18.955 --> 00:28:21.641
Okay, so in early November.

00:28:21.661 --> 00:28:22.005
Her liver.

00:28:23.606 --> 00:28:31.700
In early November 1974, karen became contaminated with plutonium under strained circumstances.

00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:40.795
What strained circumstances were they?

00:28:40.795 --> 00:28:53.712
Routine testing showed astronomically high levels of plutonium in her body, up to 400 times the legal limit there's a legal limit for plutonium in your body.

00:28:53.772 --> 00:28:54.935
I think it should be zero.

00:28:54.935 --> 00:28:55.778
What?

00:28:55.778 --> 00:28:59.990
The 400 times zero so that do you know what that equals?

00:29:01.131 --> 00:29:10.000
yeah, zero, zero okay four hundred thousand four hundred times one okay, there we go.

00:29:10.125 --> 00:29:16.415
So now I lost my question because of that math hey god, let me continue.

00:29:17.217 --> 00:29:30.212
Karen was working in a glove box on day one yeah handling plutonium pellets when an instrument that she was wearing detective radioactivity, radioactive material on her hands.

00:29:31.464 --> 00:29:40.192
So she discovered so the gloves weren't sealed, she discovered a rip in one of the gloves and the plutonium had leaked out.

00:29:40.192 --> 00:29:50.832
Oh boy, she underwent a strenuous decontamination scrub, yeah, and went home thinking that the problem was was contained, it was done, okay.

00:29:50.832 --> 00:29:56.507
Day two she was assigned paperwork away from the plutonium lab.

00:29:56.507 --> 00:30:18.701
So working with just paperwork, and all of sudden she tested, even higher than the day before, how, even more bizarrely, monitors found plutonium on the exterior of her gloves with no punctures or tears in the material on this particular day.

00:30:19.207 --> 00:30:20.491
I feel like this is a setup.

00:30:20.865 --> 00:30:31.192
The contamination appeared as if it had been placed there yeah so karen began suspecting something rather icky fishy, icky fishy.

00:30:31.192 --> 00:30:40.806
Either the equipment was tainted or someone was deliberately contaminating her to me it sounds like someone's fucking framing her here yes or not.

00:30:40.826 --> 00:30:43.914
Maybe not framing isn't the right word, but setting her up.

00:30:43.934 --> 00:30:44.596
Setting her up.

00:30:44.744 --> 00:30:53.268
Because there's no fucking way, especially, yeah, if there's a rip which sounds convenient but there's a rip and then the next day.

00:30:53.268 --> 00:31:01.578
I mean it's even higher, seems a little weird Day three.

00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:24.981
So November 7th 7th she was again found contaminated, despite not handling plutonium at all that day, bioassay tests which I'll explain what that is I hope so tests plutonium levels in the body by urine sample and it was indicated that plutonium had made its way inside her lungs at this point, oh fuck, so obviously raise a red flag.

00:31:24.981 --> 00:31:27.788
She somehow inhaled plutonium recently.

00:31:27.788 --> 00:31:29.593
Yeah, she's like I was at.

00:31:29.593 --> 00:31:34.871
I was doing paperwork, I wasn't even in the lab maybe the pencil shavings were.

00:31:36.213 --> 00:31:36.595
I don't know.

00:31:36.595 --> 00:31:37.478
That's fucking.

00:31:37.478 --> 00:31:42.348
See, to me I'm I'm leaning towards and I mean I don't know if you have this.

00:31:42.348 --> 00:31:43.310
Hopefully you do.

00:31:43.310 --> 00:31:47.421
I'm leaning towards this and I mean, I don't know if you have this hopefully you do I'm leaning towards.

00:31:47.421 --> 00:31:48.703
This is a setup to try and take Karen out.

00:31:48.923 --> 00:31:54.182
Yeah, so the cumulative dose she'd received was extremely dangerous.

00:31:54.182 --> 00:32:07.188
Okay, los Alamos scientist which is where she went after her testing she went there on, like November 11thth later confirmed she had a significant internal dose of plutonium in her lungs.

00:32:07.188 --> 00:32:27.198
Wow, okay, the situation escalated from the plant to karen's home so they even sabotaged her home potentially holy shit that's a dick move man exactly after the work incidents, her apartment was checked and found to be highly contaminated with plutonium in several spots.

00:32:27.945 --> 00:32:29.652
Do they have specific spots or no?

00:32:29.731 --> 00:32:30.795
Her refrigerator.

00:32:31.365 --> 00:32:32.652
Well, where she gets food, yeah.

00:32:32.825 --> 00:32:37.053
A package of bologna and cheese was laced with plutonium.

00:32:37.133 --> 00:32:38.013
Did it have a first name?

00:32:39.576 --> 00:32:39.757
What.

00:32:40.018 --> 00:32:41.039
What, anyways what?

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:43.167
Bologna has a first name.

00:32:43.268 --> 00:32:44.892
That's O-S-C-A-R.

00:32:44.892 --> 00:32:47.237
Yep, okay, cool, cool, cool.

00:32:47.237 --> 00:32:50.944
So they also found Bologna and cheese.

00:32:50.944 --> 00:32:53.193
Her bologna and cheese sandwich was laced.

00:32:53.546 --> 00:32:57.074
Oh my fucking God, I don't ever think I can eat bologna and cheese anymore.

00:32:57.685 --> 00:33:02.135
They also found plutonium traces on her bathroom toilet seat and several surfaces.

00:33:02.135 --> 00:33:07.548
Okay, so the bathroom toilet seat and several surfaces.

00:33:07.548 --> 00:33:08.550
Okay, so the contamination was so extensive.

00:33:08.550 --> 00:33:16.550
It was a rental house and it was later stripped and essentially destroyed because, as a radiation hazard so okay, go on.

00:33:16.550 --> 00:33:27.189
I'm just I'm curious to see where this plays out so I can ask some questions karen, along with her boyfriend at the time, drew stevens and their roommate sherry ellis, both had to well.

00:33:27.209 --> 00:33:52.175
They all three of them had to undergo medical checks at los alamos because all of them showed signs of exposure so okay, if this, if this is a plant like they're trying to take karen out and those other fucking people got, that is fucking diabolical, because you know Karen's bringing up these problems, you want to take her out, just fucking shoot her at this point.

00:33:52.175 --> 00:33:53.770
Don't fucking bring in other people.

00:33:53.770 --> 00:33:56.683
Yeah, if you're going to be that much of an asshole, yeah again.

00:33:56.683 --> 00:33:57.946
I don't know if that's where this goes.

00:33:57.946 --> 00:34:03.094
I am leaning to that side of it, but, um, continue the.

00:34:03.314 --> 00:34:24.295
The rash of contamination right when um karen was gathering evidence was deeply suspicious exactly like I just said to the least to the least she believed kirk mcgee executives had deliberately contaminated her at work or by burying into her home to immediately silence her I mean I I don't know if I'd go with immediately.

00:34:27.144 --> 00:34:28.708
It's taking a bit.

00:34:28.708 --> 00:34:31.512
Like I said, get a gun then if you want to immediately do it.

00:34:31.873 --> 00:34:41.251
So not only was the timing convenient for the company, but analysis showed that the plutonium found in her apartment came from a batch she did not even work with.

00:34:41.724 --> 00:34:43.331
Oh, they can trace that Mm-hmm.

00:34:43.331 --> 00:34:44.014
Oh wow.

00:34:44.224 --> 00:34:46.233
Remember I said there were a couple different isotopes.

00:34:46.233 --> 00:34:47.909
I just highlighted two.

00:34:48.125 --> 00:34:50.920
Oh, so one was 238, one was 239, kind of thing.

00:34:51.101 --> 00:34:51.844
There's multiple isotopes.

00:34:51.844 --> 00:34:57.175
I just mentioned two, so it was just another isotope that she did not work with.

00:34:57.175 --> 00:34:57.615
That's my point.

00:34:57.684 --> 00:34:59.126
So she was working with 238.

00:34:59.126 --> 00:35:02.253
This could have been 207, as far as we fucking know.

00:35:02.253 --> 00:35:06.559
Whatever number you want to give it to, which suggested it was planted.

00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:08.474
Interesting.

00:35:09.079 --> 00:35:14.568
Company officials, however, were like no, no, no, no that wasn't us, we would never do that Safety.

00:35:15.581 --> 00:35:17.170
Employee safety is paramount here.

00:35:17.391 --> 00:35:20.329
In fact, they flipped the narrative Of course they did.

00:35:20.329 --> 00:35:28.175
They accused Karen of contaminating herself to fabricate a crisis to make her McGee look bad.

00:35:29.336 --> 00:35:32.552
Wow, talk about dumb fucking people.

00:35:32.552 --> 00:35:37.512
I'm sorry she's trying to make things better.

00:35:37.512 --> 00:35:42.215
Do you think she would contaminate herself, knowing what this could fucking do?

00:35:42.215 --> 00:35:47.012
Because she probably knew what this could do at this point you know, just to prove a point.

00:35:47.012 --> 00:35:55.739
I'm sorry, but I I believe in things, but I'm not gonna fucking kill myself for those things, fuck that, that is asinine.

00:35:55.739 --> 00:35:59.827
And if anyone bought that fucking uh, flip the script as you say.

00:36:00.528 --> 00:36:07.985
They're fucking ridiculous so the executives theorize without proof by the way, of course why would they?

00:36:07.985 --> 00:36:23.036
Have proof that she might have sneaked out a bit of plutonium and accidentally spilled it at home while trying to like stage evidence of unsafe conditions or whatever so she accidentally spilled it on her bologna and cheese right and her toilet seat.

00:36:24.179 --> 00:36:26.465
Was she making a fucking sandwich in the bathroom?

00:36:26.465 --> 00:36:29.652
I mean, what the fuck gross?

00:36:29.652 --> 00:36:31.297
Well, but you know what I'm saying.

00:36:31.297 --> 00:36:38.635
There's no way that was accidentally dropped, yeah, in these specific fucking locations.

00:36:38.675 --> 00:36:55.570
Yeah, somehow it ended up in my coca-cola bottle it's like no, yeah fucking idiots so an atomic energy commission report noted that karen's urine samples taken at the plant were normal, while those she took at home were much more radioactive.

00:36:55.590 --> 00:37:07.168
Okay, so this fueled speculation that she could have spiked her own samples off site sure, and I don't get me wrong, I'm not saying karen couldn't have done this, it's just I don't know.

00:37:07.168 --> 00:37:11.418
It's just the evidence I've been given so far is not leading me that way.

00:37:11.418 --> 00:37:12.686
Yeah, so it's a.

00:37:12.726 --> 00:37:17.998
Basically he said, she said and it's never been conclusively resolved, right, okay.

00:37:17.998 --> 00:37:27.260
So on november 11th 1974, silkwood, her roommate and her boyfriend are flown to Los Alamos National Laboratory for in-depth examination.

00:37:27.260 --> 00:37:37.300
Experts reported that Karen's exposure levels, while elevated, were within quote-unquote acceptable limits for immediate health.

00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:41.235
Perhaps to calm public fear.

00:37:41.295 --> 00:37:42.947
We don't know, of course, yeah.

00:37:42.987 --> 00:37:49.396
At Los Alamos they also began treatments to reduce her body's plutonium burden using that medication I told you about.

00:37:49.396 --> 00:37:50.599
That came out through the urine.

00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:50.960
Yep.

00:37:52.085 --> 00:38:01.036
In other words, by the second week of November, karen knew for sure that her body had been compromised by plutonium and that someone possibly herself, because we don't know.

00:38:01.036 --> 00:38:13.208
Possibly her employer, because we don't know was responsible yeah, possibly herself, because we don't know.

00:38:13.208 --> 00:38:16.777
Possibly her employer, because we don't know was responsible yeah, karen was scared angry and motivated more than ever to blow the whistle on kermagee.

00:38:16.777 --> 00:38:17.860
Oh for sure, yes, despite the trauma.

00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:18.663
Yeah, of the contamination incidents.

00:38:18.682 --> 00:38:20.586
Silkwood did not back down jesus.

00:38:20.586 --> 00:38:26.978
She collected documentation to support her allegations of safety negligence at kermagee.

00:38:26.978 --> 00:38:51.702
Okay, this reportedly included handwritten notes, internal memos, qa reports, sample test records basically a paper paper trail of the malfeasance right, right, so key among these documents showing inspection record tampering like those X-rays and evidence of the unexplained plutonium losses.

00:38:51.702 --> 00:38:58.876
She kept these papers in a manila folder or a large binder and it never left her side for several days.

00:38:59.597 --> 00:38:59.898
Okay.

00:38:59.978 --> 00:39:00.340
Okay.

00:39:00.340 --> 00:39:04.097
So between like the 11th, which is their testing date, through like the 13th or so, so only a couple of days, she's got that by her side, okay.

00:39:04.097 --> 00:39:09.552
So between like the 11th, which is their testing date, through like the 13th or so, so only a couple of days, she's got that by her side, right?

00:39:09.552 --> 00:39:17.679
Coworkers even recall her thick notebook of notes on everything, sure, so lots of witnesses.

00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:20.873
Karen decided to go public with her evidence.

00:39:20.873 --> 00:39:27.865
Okay, public with her evidence.

00:39:27.865 --> 00:39:45.958
Okay, ocaw, the union arranged for her to meet david burnham, a journalist from the new york times, on november 13th 1974 in oklahoma city okay also present would be an ocaw union official from washington, steve wodka gotcha and he had been coordinated with karen on this campaign.

00:39:46.177 --> 00:39:58.197
Okay, so plan was simple over dinner she would hand over the documents, tell her story, ensuring that that the nation's biggest newspaper would expose kermickey's practices.

00:39:58.197 --> 00:40:03.974
Right, okay, it was basically like the 1970s edition of Erin Brockovich.

00:40:03.974 --> 00:40:06.309
Okay, have you seen Erin Brockovich?

00:40:06.710 --> 00:40:07.855
Julia Roberts no, I have not.

00:40:07.945 --> 00:40:10.092
It's actually a really great well-done movie.

00:40:10.092 --> 00:40:11.447
Didn't they win awards?

00:40:11.728 --> 00:40:12.250
I believe so.

00:40:12.250 --> 00:40:14.094
Maybe I believe so, I don't know.

00:40:14.094 --> 00:40:16.545
I just I never Erin.

00:40:16.545 --> 00:40:19.007
She was holding the baby on the cover or something.

00:40:19.007 --> 00:40:19.706
I was like I'm good.

00:40:20.268 --> 00:40:23.190
So in the days leading up to this meeting, tensions were really high.

00:40:23.190 --> 00:40:26.672
Karen confided to friends that she felt she was being watched.

00:40:26.672 --> 00:40:33.856
Sure, it later emerged that Kerr-McGee had agents keep constant surveillance on her and her roommates.

00:40:33.976 --> 00:40:34.336
Weird.

00:40:35.277 --> 00:40:43.182
So, whether out of paranoia or precaution, karen made copies of some of these documents and even stashed them with union colleagues, just in case.

00:40:43.182 --> 00:40:55.159
Okay, on November 13th she did attend a union meeting after work, then set off alone in a small white Honda towards Oklahoma City for the meeting with the New York Times Right.

00:40:55.159 --> 00:41:04.976
So the evidence she carried could not only embarrass Kerr-McGee but potentially shut down its multimillion dollar operation.

00:41:04.976 --> 00:41:09.114
Karen Silkwood never made it to the meeting.

00:41:09.706 --> 00:41:15.599
Yeah, so I don't know if this is the same thing or if it's very just similar.

00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:28.726
I've heard something like this, so I don't know if it's this particular story, but yeah, and then, like, the paperwork was never found right Weird, but uh yeah.

00:41:28.746 --> 00:41:30.248
And then, like the paperwork was never found, right weird.

00:41:30.248 --> 00:41:36.945
At around 8 pm on november 13th 1974, karen's car was discovered wrecked in a ditch off state highway 74, about 30 miles from her destination.

00:41:36.945 --> 00:41:41.713
The car had smashed into a concrete culvert or abutment.

00:41:41.713 --> 00:42:01.507
It's um, like a square underpass where the the, the banks are like angled this way sure so it's like wider on the bottom and narrower on top with the bridge anyway, I'll post a picture, um, but uh, it was noted that it was like considerable force into this culvert.

00:42:01.588 --> 00:42:07.867
Oh, I bet karen was deceased, slumped over the steering wheel which had impaled her.

00:42:07.867 --> 00:42:10.067
The steering wheel did Mm-hmm.

00:42:10.067 --> 00:42:12.025
That's how violent like this crash was.

00:42:12.025 --> 00:42:24.201
Fuck, guess how old she was 29 28, god damn it.

00:42:24.382 --> 00:42:28.929
I second guessed the her birth year 28 years old fucking hell.

00:42:28.989 --> 00:42:41.862
It was a single car accident, no other vehicles at the scene, quiet, two-lane stretch of road at night you know damn well it wasn't caused by herself.

00:42:41.862 --> 00:42:50.557
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol investigated and initially concluded that Karen had fallen asleep at the wheel and simply drifted off the road.

00:42:50.557 --> 00:42:56.443
The theory was supported by an autopsy and toxicology report.

00:42:56.443 --> 00:43:05.864
Karen's blood contained 0.35 milligrams of Quaalude per 100 milliliters, and that's acceptable.

00:43:05.864 --> 00:43:08.550
It was a hefty dose of sedative.

00:43:08.871 --> 00:43:09.996
Oh, it is a hefty dose.

00:43:10.429 --> 00:43:12.617
And she had a small amount of alcohol in her system.

00:43:12.617 --> 00:43:14.577
She just had dinner with her union friends.

00:43:15.070 --> 00:43:16.496
Oh, so she's on her way back.

00:43:17.492 --> 00:43:19.579
She had a union meeting, oh, oh.

00:43:19.730 --> 00:43:22.882
She was on her way to Oklahoma City to meet.

00:43:22.882 --> 00:43:24.025
I mixed that up.

00:43:24.025 --> 00:43:25.090
Yeah, that's okay, gotcha.

00:43:25.431 --> 00:43:29.922
So she had Quaaludes, the sedative, in her system and a little bit of alcohol.

00:43:30.510 --> 00:43:31.976
Does it sound like someone might have put that in?

00:43:32.237 --> 00:43:32.396
there?

00:43:32.396 --> 00:43:32.818
We don't know.

00:43:32.818 --> 00:44:13.550
She had the equivalent of almost twice the normal prescription dose for Quaaludes in her blood system system, enough to cause drowsiness or impairment now, additionally, another 45 milligrams of undissolved quaaludes were found in her stomach, indicating she had taken a pill not long before the crash that hadn't fully absorbed yet interesting given this, the medical examiner concluded she was likely under the influence at the time of the accident, like the sedative influence okay no skid marks were initially noted on the road, reinforcing the idea that she simply nodded off and drifted into the culvert.

00:44:14.271 --> 00:44:17.056
The cause of death was listed as a one-car accident.

00:44:17.056 --> 00:44:21.583
And for oklahoma authorities, that's, and for Oklahoma authorities that was it Case closed.

00:44:21.603 --> 00:44:22.045
They were good.

00:44:23.510 --> 00:44:28.280
Despite the official ruling, many found the crash highly suspicious.

00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:35.722
I wonder why None of the documents Karen had were found at the car or the crash site.

00:44:35.869 --> 00:44:44.353
See and that's what instantly is like eh, yep, okay, her folder papers notebook.

00:44:44.353 --> 00:44:46.159
Everything was gone.

00:44:47.250 --> 00:44:51.016
And her union members at the dinner were like no, she had them.

00:44:51.590 --> 00:44:52.876
Yeah, because she carried them with her.

00:44:53.710 --> 00:44:56.032
She's literally going from this meeting to Oklahoma.

00:44:56.072 --> 00:44:56.373
City.

00:44:56.373 --> 00:44:59.581
She's eating her dinner Exactly With dinner.

00:45:01.251 --> 00:45:17.951
So this immediately fueled theories that someone had intercepted the papers either before she left or right after the crash I'm guessing right after the crash yes, moreover, physical evidence on the car did not completely jibe with a simple doze off and drift scenario.

00:45:17.951 --> 00:45:18.391
Weird.

00:45:18.391 --> 00:45:25.751
So investigators later high, later hired by the union, noticed dent damage on the rear bumper.

00:45:25.751 --> 00:45:30.822
Yeah, because she was pushed that wasn't obviously explained by the culvert crash.

00:45:30.822 --> 00:45:39.072
Right, they did find skid marks, whereas the state, when they investigated, did not find skid marks well, that's weird.

00:45:39.914 --> 00:45:44.748
This was on the road that might indicate that she braked suddenly or swerved.

00:45:44.748 --> 00:45:45.630
Sure, okay.

00:45:45.630 --> 00:46:03.186
A private accident reconstruction expert concluded that Karen was, quote unquote, spooked or startled by something, possibly another vehicle, hitting her from behind, causing her to lose control and run off the road.

00:46:03.186 --> 00:46:05.675
Yeah, not an accident.

00:46:05.675 --> 00:46:06.177
No.

00:46:06.177 --> 00:46:20.063
In the years since fierce debate over this, many of Karen's allies, her family, union colleagues, investigative journalists, believe that she was killed because of what she knew.

00:46:20.590 --> 00:46:31.146
Of course that someone perhaps Kermagee contractors or goons, hired hands, whatever followed her and forced her off the road, taking the documents to hide the proof A hundred percent.

00:46:31.146 --> 00:46:44.353
So this theory is bolstered by the fact that Silkwood had received threats and was under surveillance, as I said before Yep, and by the undeniable convenience of the most incriminating papers disappearing, yes.

00:46:44.353 --> 00:46:57.884
On the other hand, skeptics point out the lack of direct evidence of a second vehicle no paint scratches from another car on her bumper, no eyewitnesses on the dark road.

00:46:57.884 --> 00:46:59.697
Yeah, but that's, that's okay.

00:46:59.797 --> 00:47:13.922
And no one was charged with foul play well, yeah, because there was no eyewitnesses to see anyone else but explain the dents on the back of her exactly exactly that seems weird so new york times reporter that she was supposed to meet david burnham.

00:47:14.911 --> 00:47:22.181
Um, he later expressed doubt that kermagee's top brass would orchestrate a clumsy murder plot, okay.

00:47:22.181 --> 00:47:26.166
Or that they could ensure collision would kill her without fail Okay.

00:47:26.166 --> 00:47:31.554
He noted the difficulty of arranging a crash.

00:47:31.554 --> 00:47:38.838
So, precisely the FBI and justice department investigations at the time could conclude that there was no proof of homicide.

00:47:38.838 --> 00:47:42.179
Sure, like, that would be a pretty, like, picture, perfect.

00:47:42.179 --> 00:47:59.059
Quote-unquote stage crash okay, yeah, we'll continue it is possible that karen already stressed, took a took a quaalude to calm her nerves and simply nodded off I mean, that's very obviously possible.

00:48:00.702 --> 00:48:03.965
But the suspicion on Kerr-McGee never faded.

00:48:03.965 --> 00:48:10.061
Sure, aside from drugs, karen's autopsy had one more surprise.

00:48:10.061 --> 00:48:16.481
Remember how Los Alamos said that she was kind of quote unquote.

00:48:16.481 --> 00:48:27.039
Fine Revealed that she had the highest levels of plutonium ever seen in a human at that time In her lungs and in her gut Right.

00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:34.021
She had indeed absorbed a dangerous dose of radiation in the days before she died.

00:48:34.021 --> 00:48:41.182
Sure, if she had lived she would have faced radiation poisoning or cancer.

00:48:41.463 --> 00:48:41.583
Yeah.

00:48:45.250 --> 00:48:49.059
It also raised the question if someone did want to silence her, could they not have simply let the plutonium play out?

00:48:49.059 --> 00:48:51.833
But they were on a time crunch, I'm just saying.

00:48:51.833 --> 00:48:52.635
Well, she had.

00:48:52.755 --> 00:48:58.762
She had meetings and you know she's being followed, and so they knew this and they're like no, we can't let her talk to this person.

00:48:58.762 --> 00:49:02.876
So no, that that's not feasible, that they would just let it play out.

00:49:02.996 --> 00:49:03.217
Yeah.

00:49:03.478 --> 00:49:03.880
Honestly.

00:49:04.251 --> 00:49:09.159
But so, with Karen gone and her evidence missing, there was an immediate public outcry.

00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:11.719
The story made national news.

00:49:11.719 --> 00:49:22.480
Young nuclear worker dies under strained circumstances and route to meet a reporter to highlight the malfeasance of a plutonium plant.

00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:29.398
The oklahoma police stood by their accident report, but others launched deeper probes.

00:49:29.398 --> 00:49:38.177
The atomic energy commission, the aec, sent investigators to kerr mcgee plant to verify her claims.

00:49:38.177 --> 00:49:50.608
They did confirm serious safety issues, including the inventory discrepancy of approximately 40 pounds of plutonium missing, which is a lot of plutonium the fbi.

00:49:50.829 --> 00:49:57.481
I don't know how much plutonium is worth in weight I no idea yeah, that would be interesting.

00:49:57.481 --> 00:50:08.199
Yeah, no idea the fbi opened an inquiry into whether any federal laws, like civil rights or like crime statutes, were violated in connection with her death.

00:50:08.199 --> 00:50:19.262
In 1975, members of congress held hearings of to grill officials about karen's charges and the crash.

00:50:19.262 --> 00:50:25.112
However, these official investigations ultimately fizzled out because they couldn't.

00:50:25.193 --> 00:50:31.378
They had no proof in any of this yeah, they just they had no more evidence to like back what they're looking at.

00:50:31.378 --> 00:50:34.949
So it's like, well, this is what it is, because we don't, we got nothing.

00:50:35.670 --> 00:50:40.697
So in the aftermath, karen mcgee and even some government officials tried to discredit Karen.

00:50:40.697 --> 00:50:47.264
Company smokesmen imply that she was unstable drug user troublemaker who would just?

00:50:47.264 --> 00:50:49.027
Sabotage her own workstation.

00:50:49.027 --> 00:50:52.259
That's why she kept coming to work for two years.

00:50:52.449 --> 00:50:54.036
Yeah, because she was a drug user.

00:50:54.036 --> 00:50:58.898
I mean, what hey, do you want any more of those plutonium cigarettes man?

00:50:58.898 --> 00:50:59.510
I'm jonesing for one.

00:50:59.510 --> 00:51:01.273
Not anymore of those plutonium cigarettes, man, I'm jonesing for one.

00:51:01.293 --> 00:51:07.760
They highlighted her alleged pill use, pointing out that her doctor had reprimanded her for overusing sedatives.

00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:20.295
As the autopsy was to confirm, the AEC and FBI publicly concluded that there was no foul play, and obviously that put a lot of doubt on Karen's whistleblowing.

00:51:20.315 --> 00:51:20.675
Yeah.

00:51:21.757 --> 00:51:25.481
Essentially the narrative from Kerr McGMcGee was there was no conspiracy.

00:51:25.481 --> 00:51:26.742
She did this to herself.

00:51:26.742 --> 00:51:29.666
She sadly died in a drug induced accident.

00:51:29.666 --> 00:51:37.014
Wow, karen's father, bill, and her family were not satisfied.

00:51:37.014 --> 00:51:51.041
Of course they weren't because they knew better In 1976, they filed a civil lawsuit against Kerr-McGee, accusing the company of gross negligence and allowing Karen and her home to be contaminated with plutonium.

00:51:51.202 --> 00:51:51.541
Yeah.

00:51:52.222 --> 00:52:00.286
The suit sidesteps the car crash, sure, and basically went after the company for the malfeasance.

00:52:00.286 --> 00:52:01.188
Okay Okay.

00:52:01.188 --> 00:52:07.219
The trial took place in 1979 and became a media sensation at the time.

00:52:07.219 --> 00:52:07.641
That's a good year.

00:52:07.641 --> 00:52:10.592
It was one of the first times a major corporation was held to.

00:52:10.592 --> 00:52:21.099
Oh, you were born that year I just got that yeah, it was it was one of the first times a major corporation was held to account um in court by the family of a whistleblower.

00:52:21.318 --> 00:52:21.599
Okay.

00:52:22.019 --> 00:52:25.405
So evidence presented showed the mean safety lapses at the plant.

00:52:25.606 --> 00:52:25.766
Yeah.

00:52:26.210 --> 00:52:51.697
And the jury was sympathetic to Karen's situation Sure estate, $505,000 in actual damages for personal energy, uh injury and property damage to her contaminated belongings, and $10 million in punitive damages.

00:52:51.797 --> 00:52:54.436
Oh shit, that's a significant chunk of change.

00:52:55.610 --> 00:53:04.429
So the $10.5 million judgment um basically sent sent shockwaves throughout the nuclear um industry.

00:53:04.429 --> 00:53:25.373
Right, it signaled that a company could be publicly um punished, essentially for endangering endangering its workers in the public, publicly liable for stupidity kermagee, unsurprisingly, appealed the verdict and, of course, for years it passed through appellate courts.

00:53:25.373 --> 00:53:36.878
Of course, at one point, in 1982, an appeals court overturned the 10 million punitive award, reducing the total judgment to just five thousand dollars.

00:53:36.878 --> 00:53:37.438
What?

00:53:38.541 --> 00:53:44.922
that is insane difference but karen's family persisted and the court went all the way to the US Supreme Court.

00:53:44.922 --> 00:53:58.226
Good In 1984, the Supreme Court Silkwood v Kerr-McGee Corporation ruled that awarding punitive damages under state law was valid even for a nuclear incident.

00:53:58.226 --> 00:54:05.652
Sure, a huge precedent, since Kerr-McGee had argued that federal nuclear safety laws preempted any such state tort claims.

00:54:05.954 --> 00:54:06.454
Okay.

00:54:07.717 --> 00:54:15.237
So Kerr-McGee opted to settle Of course they did rather than face a retrial on damages Yep.

00:54:15.237 --> 00:54:25.523
In 1986, the company agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $1.38 million to Karen's estate without admitting liability.

00:54:25.809 --> 00:54:27.195
Of course, that's usually what they do.

00:54:28.271 --> 00:54:29.938
The family accepted the settlement.

00:54:30.409 --> 00:54:31.474
Well, yeah, because they got paid.

00:54:31.690 --> 00:54:33.856
Twelve full years after Karen's death.

00:54:34.338 --> 00:54:34.920
That's crazy.

00:54:35.871 --> 00:54:39.802
So the Kerr-McGee Corporation never admitted any wrongdoing?

00:54:39.802 --> 00:54:40.913
Of course not.

00:54:41.014 --> 00:54:41.496
Why would they?

00:54:41.670 --> 00:54:44.378
Obviously it left a permanent black mark on their reputation.

00:54:44.378 --> 00:54:51.242
Of course, the plutonium plant was shut down in 1975, just months after Karen's death.

00:54:51.882 --> 00:54:52.264
Oh, wow, really.

00:54:52.829 --> 00:54:55.378
The official reason was a downturn in orders.

00:54:58.032 --> 00:54:59.438
We're not selling enough plutonium here.

00:54:59.438 --> 00:55:00.380
Guys, We've got to shut her down.

00:55:00.489 --> 00:55:09.425
Yeah, by 1983, kerr-mcgee had exited the nuclear fuel business entirely and they ceased nuclear operations by 87-88.

00:55:09.425 --> 00:55:15.170
The company did continue in oil and gas for a time but it never shook that association.

00:55:15.489 --> 00:55:16.632
Never recovered, yeah.

00:55:17.353 --> 00:55:26.465
In later years, Kern-McGee faced other lawsuits, including environmental claims, and eventually ceased to exist as an independent entity.

00:55:26.465 --> 00:55:31.164
It was bought and absorbed by other corporations in the 2000s.

00:55:31.164 --> 00:55:31.507
Sure.

00:55:32.208 --> 00:55:32.409
Oh, wow.

00:55:34.692 --> 00:55:38.076
Even that long, let's see.

00:55:38.076 --> 00:55:46.985
Even before the final ruling of the $1.38 million to Karen's estate, a 1983 movie was made.

00:55:46.985 --> 00:55:49.675
Yes, it is called Silkwood.

00:55:49.675 --> 00:55:53.179
Yeah, and it stars Meryl Streep.

00:55:53.179 --> 00:55:59.682
Meryl Streep, kurt Douglas I like Kurt Douglas and Cher Cher Mm-hmm.

00:55:59.682 --> 00:56:03.380
Streep was actually nominated for an Academy award.

00:56:03.380 --> 00:56:04.755
When is she in hot, though?

00:56:04.755 --> 00:56:11.559
But to this day, decades later, no one knows exactly what happened to Karen Silkwood.

00:56:11.559 --> 00:56:12.211
Well, how would they?

00:56:12.954 --> 00:56:18.157
mean and no one's ever going to know honestly except for the guy that pushed her into the.

00:56:18.157 --> 00:56:19.000
I'm just kidding.

00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:23.635
I have no proof, it just it leans in my brain.

00:56:23.635 --> 00:56:24.257
It leans that way.

00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:24.759
Yeah.

00:56:25.099 --> 00:56:25.902
I understand.

00:56:25.902 --> 00:56:30.317
Well, there's no skid marks or second car Like yeah, well, you know, things can be done.

00:56:30.317 --> 00:56:31.460
Yeah, but okay.

00:56:32.391 --> 00:56:35.521
Did you have all three of your beers Maybe?

00:56:37.250 --> 00:56:39.355
So I have half of one.

00:56:39.355 --> 00:56:47.460
I think what the issue was is I had recently brushed my teeth, oh, and that gave a weird mixture on the back end.

00:56:47.460 --> 00:56:50.436
Sure, it definitely got better by the third one I'm glad.

00:56:50.536 --> 00:56:51.900
Yeah, I'm glad, perfect.

00:56:52.750 --> 00:56:58.081
So for a hazy bear hug, hazy IPA from Goose Island, I will give it.

00:56:59.182 --> 00:57:03.764
All right, I like my Pacifico Clara, yeah it's, it's a good beer.

00:57:04.186 --> 00:57:05.570
Um, my dad liked that one.

00:57:05.570 --> 00:57:09.297
Definitely, um it again.

00:57:09.297 --> 00:57:24.943
It's part of the corona family and it's it's definitely darker than a medello and or corona, but it's not like dark that's a terrible word to use for it, because it's not a dark beer, but, um, it's really good, I like it I rather enjoy it.

00:57:25.063 --> 00:57:27.985
So yeah, so that's the story of karen silkwood.

00:57:27.985 --> 00:57:28.610
How'd you like it?

00:57:29.172 --> 00:57:50.356
that was interesting because and I'm I don't know if it's just got some similarities to this other thing where this person all their uh, information, documents, documents, evidence, maybe that's a better word uh just disappeared, like I'm sorry she gets into this accident.

00:57:50.356 --> 00:57:53.103
No one else is there, but none of her shit's there.

00:57:53.103 --> 00:57:55.534
Doesn't that seem fucking fishy?

00:57:55.534 --> 00:58:01.663
That alone is like okay, could she have just crashed on her own, sure we?

00:58:02.023 --> 00:58:03.405
but why is her stuff gone?

00:58:03.405 --> 00:58:06.269
We desperately need deathbed confessions.

00:58:06.269 --> 00:58:14.242
We need whatever goon did this on his deathbed to say I did this.

00:58:14.242 --> 00:58:15.304
Here's the documents.

00:58:15.304 --> 00:58:17.693
Well, she took copies and gave it to other people.

00:58:17.693 --> 00:58:21.661
But yeah, but I want a deathbed confession.

00:58:21.681 --> 00:58:23.824
Can you stop hitting.

00:58:23.844 --> 00:58:27.512
Sorry, jesus I want a deathbed confession.

00:58:27.532 --> 00:58:32.652
There it is I just keep hearing the ringing of the the table desk and in the, in the microphone.

00:58:32.652 --> 00:58:39.362
Um no, I yeah, that would be great, but it just it's, it's fishy.

00:58:39.362 --> 00:58:42.626
Yeah, it's icky fishy, it's icky fishy.

00:58:43.307 --> 00:58:43.487
Yeah.

00:58:44.250 --> 00:58:49.922
I mean, unless it went to Doc Brown, I don't care.

00:58:49.922 --> 00:58:54.775
I guess Back to the Future is awesome.

00:58:55.090 --> 00:58:56.335
I want to go play with the kitties.

00:58:56.335 --> 00:58:57.960
Well, I suppose.

00:58:58.230 --> 00:58:58.972
All right, buffoons.

00:58:58.972 --> 00:59:00.378
That's it for today's episode.

00:59:00.971 --> 00:59:04.219
Buckle up, because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you.

00:59:04.219 --> 00:59:12.262
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00:59:12.510 --> 00:59:13.835
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00:59:13.835 --> 00:59:18.541
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00:59:18.541 --> 00:59:22.639
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00:59:22.639 --> 00:59:24.552
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00:59:24.552 --> 00:59:26.177
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00:59:31.561 --> 00:59:34.590
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00:59:35.012 --> 00:59:37.175
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