The Thiokol Weapons Plant Explosion (1971) w/ Patrick Longstreth
This Day
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2024
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1971, a massive explosion at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine, Georgia shook the small town and killed 29 workers, injuring dozens of others.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by director Patrick Longstreth to talk about how the plant provided good jobs for the rural community, but lax safety standards ultimately led to one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history.
Patrick's new short film is called "The Day That Shook Georgia," you can watch it online now!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | My name is Jody Avergan. |
| 0:10.0 | This day, 1977, a judge by the name of Alexander A Lawrence, filed a 75-page opinion which determined |
| 0:19.1 | that the U.S. government was at fault in the explosion at the Thiocall Chemical Corporation plant. |
| 0:25.0 | This was part of a long legal battle in the wake of the disaster at the Thiocall plant |
| 0:30.6 | near the town of Woodbine, Georgia, which is southern Georgia, pretty close to the Florida border. |
| 0:35.2 | The plant was manufacturing trip flare devices that were being used in the Vietnam War, |
| 0:40.1 | and in February 1971 a fire at that plant got out of control leading to a massive explosion. |
| 0:46.8 | Dozens of workers killed and injured a fire that burned 200 acres of forest and of course had a huge impact on local residents. |
| 0:55.4 | The explosion at Thiacaw and the aftermath is the subject of a new short documentary |
| 1:00.4 | on PBS called The Day that Shook Georgia. |
| 1:03.9 | It is from Patrick Longstreth, who joins us now |
| 1:06.9 | as special guest. |
| 1:08.3 | Patrick, congrats on the documentary |
| 1:10.4 | and thank you for telling this story. |
| 1:11.5 | Super fascinating. Thank you for having me. Thank you for telling the story super fascinating. |
| 1:13.0 | Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about it. |
| 1:18.0 | Yeah and here as always Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. |
| 1:22.0 | Hello Jody. Hello there. |
| 1:23.2 | Hello Jody. |
| 1:24.6 | Hey there. |
| 1:25.6 | So Patrick, I know the doc is called the day that shook Georgia, but as you chronicle this |
... |
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