Did Nuclear Fallout Kill Hollywood's Biggest Star?
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- Опубликовано: 13 янв 2023
- Almost half of the people who worked on John Wayne’s “worst” film - The Conqueror - eventually died of cancer. Was it because the movie was shot downwind of an infamous nuclear test site? Or is there something more to the statistics?
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*Thanks for watching.* Wanted to try a premiere for the more premiere content we're focusing on for 2023. Hope you enjoy this [HALF-LIFE HISTORY]. Feedback welcome. (And make sure to watch in 4K if you can!)
Great work!
Feedback on the premiere thing: I find it entirely useless. It just clogs up subscription feeds with thumbnails that "are not actual videos yet." As a feature, it's honestly more irritating than interesting, especially if used hours or days in advance. Not trying to be negative though, I do love the interesting content. Keep it up! ;)
I am always giddy when a new episode of your Half-Life History series appears. Thank you for being awesome and inspiring my son to be himself. Since finding out you are Autistic, he has been able to feel comfortable about his own diagnosis.
John wayne was a racist POS.
@@simplylethul Those were the times he grew up in, you completely blame him for something society was doing
Honestly, I'm impressed John Wayne even lived to 72 with that truly heroic level of smoking
And drinking!
Yeah no shit, actually incredible he lived into his 70s
@@ttrestle and racism.
@@JohnSmith-im8qt haha. True dat.
@@JohnSmith-im8qt yeah but 50 years after his death he still a legend, and slayed way more tang than any of us lol while doing all that smoking and drinking. Besides what exactly makes him racist? He requested black people and Indians actually be used on set for accuracy, usually against the directors wishes, so whose racist?
I very much appreciate that you make a difference in narration style between these serious stories and the more light-hearted science thought experiments. Jokes would just feel out of place and insensitive here, but one can see you treat the subject matter of your Half-Life Histories with respect and care
Very, very well said. I couldn't agree more.
The contrast in tone 100% makes you sit up and pay complete attention-
The internet historian actually manages a similar effect in contrast, in the same video in his one on the costa Concordia sinking-
He’d treat the bridge crew, which was mostly a clown show (aside from maybe the safety director) with exactly the ridicule they deserved-
And would be completely, soberly solemn, serious when talking about both the risk to the innocents, and the members of the crew who were genuinely heroic/trying to help people-
I mean this as a genuine, sincere compliment to Kyle, it works so well..
Sometimes AIDA takes a backseat with her sass. She gets it
Well said, completely agree.
That said “Fear and Loathing 65 miles north of Las Vegas” is a nice little joke 😅.
Interesting stat about Utah having a low cancer and mortality rating. Makes me think there might be a higher number of people getting regular testing, and thus catching anything before it gets bad. Being aware that you might get cancer makes you do something to prevent it.
Another well done video, your work is always entertaining and informative.
While some people might avoid known carcinogens if they live in the area, that would surely be counterbalanced by another group of people who would say to themselves "well I'm probably going to die from cancer anyway, so why bother with that hassle?"
Aaaaaah, of course I didn’t scroll far enough to find someone making this point! Yeah, one would assume a population paranoid about developing cancer would simultaneously end up building a very good infrastructure to screen for & treat it, thus reducing the number of deaths from cancer
Interesting point you made
I want to say that you are correct in your guess there. I should know as a Utahn myself, but I believe the Downwinders thing did start a huge scare and testing and screening is commonly done here. The University of Utah's medical department has one of the better programs studying cancer cures/countermeasures in the nation. Probably because of this. But I think you are right in that more of the state's populace get screened more often than any other state.
Areas will a higher level of natural background radiation tend to have a lower than average rate of cancer.
Thanks for the video. My dad died in 2015 from cancer. He grew up in southern Utah and is a "downwinder" from nuclear blast. All his brothers and sisters (5 im total) have died of either esphogeal or stomach cancer. All except my father lived in that area their whole life, my father moved away in 1979 (almost 30 year living in the area). This has brought awaeness to have me be more aware that I might have a genitic disposition to caner instead of blaming enviromental factors. Thanks for really helping explain this and bring awareness of downwinders and clarifying everything.
I'd still be more on the downwinder's side if it wasn't for this video AND the fact that St. George is currently one of, if not the, fastest growing metropolitan areas in the nation. I get that the various mental and emotional blows cancer can have on someone and their family, but if the fallout was the cause then St. George wouldn't be growing that fast. It's either that or all the retiring people that seem to move there (because that seems to be a large demographic of the city) just don't care. The fact that there are also a lot of couples and younger families also moving in down there makes me think it's the former and not the latter.
That aside, did I see correctly on that map that Utah has a uranium mine? If anything, that would contribute more than fallout would in my opinion.
I read that anyone that dies of leukemia in St. George, even today, receives a $50k pay out from Government to the family.
@@steeljawX Fallout doesn't last forever! The last atmospheric test in the NTS was July 17, 1962. After 62 years of exponential decay, I doubt you could easily detect anything radioactive in St. George these days
Please never stop making these videos until there is nothing more to say. Every single one is a Gem.
I agree
Agreed
kyile is one of those youtubers you watch because you know every video is gonna be some fresh and new and not something covered by 1000 other people
@anOrnithologist Yes
A replica of that nuclear cannon was made into a toy vehicle in 1989 for the GI Joe line. It was called Thunderclap and it was awesome.
That's one of my ex girlfriends nicknames.. along with Trainwreck, Waspnest and oh yes, Satan.
@@Hiatus-Humanus there's a Soviet missile whose NATO codename is Satan.
Don't forget the edited picture of it used as the unit icon of the Nuke Cannon from the China faction in the old game C&C: Generals.
@@Hiatus-Humanus but was it the jamocan thunderclap?
Wasn't it also an inspiration for the fat man in fallout?
I had no idea this was how John Wayne died. I mean yeah, it was clearly him smoking a cigarette every 5 minutes, but still, this was fascinating to hear.
Cigarettes typically don't give you stomach cancer
@@SonofSethoitae but can't having 2 other cancers lead to stomach cancers
@@_ee75 It can, though we obviously don't know which cam first. Stomach cancer can just as easily give you other cancers.
Likewise, radiation exposure can give you throat cancer just as easily as cigarettes can.
Considering tobacco has uranium and thorium in it, we _can_ say it was from the radiation... just not from fallout.
Also smoking 120 cigarettes on average per day will have a slight impact on your health. FYI.
@@SonofSethoitae a meta analysis of 108 studies show that there is up to a 25% increase in just one type of stomach cancer, compound this with the other 30 or so variants and you get a potentially pretty raised chance of stomach cancer (and most people in these studies probably didn’t smoke 6 packs a day for 50 years)
P.S. smoking cigarettes is also shown to greatly increase the likelihood of developing anal cancer
Gonna argue the following: The downwinders may be mistaken, but:
1: They still got a point in that nuclear weapons tests weren't exactly a good thing.
2: Considering the sorry excuse of a public health system in the US, I'd argue that these payout funds may just be what people with cancer need to afford their treatment.
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they were way more than mistaken they were outright insane.
It would be interesting to see another discussion on the Downwinders for children that grew up in the shadows of places like Hanford while it was in it's heyday to see what the ratios are there versus the general population. My mother grew up in Dayton, Wa - downwind of Hanford during it's peak times, and there was quite a bit of discussion about her classmates and their personal rates of cancer and cancer related illnesses, but as pointed out, the number can be skewed into the wrong direction if not being compared to the national average.
My dad grew up - among other places like the White Bluffs area -in the Richland Area, and his father worked at Hanford as a Nuclear Chemist. I wont get into exactly what he worked on, but it involved uranium-plutonium processing. He died of Brain Cancer in the early aughts. I would not be surprised to find out that my dad's years-long fight with a pancreatic ailment was not related to spending time in that part of Washington. Whether by proximity to the site, or association with his father who worked there.
nah we shold build nurseries out of fallout. We cant prove its bad.
The hell does the national average have to do with changes in cancer rates in one area? If an area has low rates of cancer, fallout “bringing it inline with the national average” still means that it increased the rate of cancer.
Hanford is contaminated with gravitational waves.
My dad did alot of roofing on Hanford decades ago. He now has to go in for radiation checks every few years
My dad always assumed it was from White Sands Missile range and the Trinity Site. I corrected him on where the actual fallout was from.
Did he back hand you and say "shut up boy!"?
They killed a bunch of some farmers sheep with VX gas out in Utah, they denied it and still do, but the sheep were definitely killed by the governments VX chemical agent.
Yeah, IIRC White sands housed the first nuclear tests(actually got to visit the site which is safe for short visits) but were not a constant nuclear testing site like nevada was.
@@jaymanier7286 I hope not.
@@jaymanier7286 no he was not abusive. Why would you automatically assume my dad would abuse me for correcting him on such a trivial mater?
An incredibly bold statement that went unsaid, because it did not have to be said, is that the exact area where the nuclear tests happened is today safe enough to explore that Kyle quite literally filmed scenes for this essay on location. An unspoken demonstration, an unspoken statement, but the words were loud and clear.
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Dig he dig into the soil and do tests?
Except hiroshima is also safe enough to love in today.
Nuclear bomb radiation contamination dosen't last nearly as long as people think it does
@homemovelha4173 Kyle actually did a video on this. The Japanese cities were effected significantly less because the bombs were detonated as air blasts.
So they could actually have been irradiated much longer and much more severely.
Your half-life histories are BY FAR my favorite content on this channel. All of your content is done incredibly well, but the care and style you put into the half-life histories is incredibly informative, interesting, and respectful to the people it discusses. Please keep doing what you're doing!!!!!!!
I really enjoyed this video! My grandpa, who lived in Utah, was John Wayne's driver and although I never lived in Utah, I developed childhood leukemia. I'm sure it's an odd coincidence, but it made this video that much more interesting for me.
@@Hiatus-Humanus lmao
ya let this youtuber tell you its just a 'coincidence'.
@@TheHikeChoseMe yeah, let tinfoil folks tell you it's plutonium in your blood...
In many poorer regions of rural america. It is not uncommon to also live close to other cancer causing things like Ash piles.
@@TheHikeChoseMe I don’t say that because of the RUclipsr, Teresa. I say that because I’m not a perfect genetic replica of my grandpa. I have to account for the MANY genetic factors on both sides of my family as well as environmental ones. I say that because while he was Wayne’s driver, I don’t know if he was his driver during the filming for this movie. He lived four hours North, so he may not have been to St. George during that time. I say that because I’ve seen my own cytogenetics report explaining the exact translocations and deletions that occurred. Please don’t make assumptions about total strangers.
This video alone is an example of documentary videos done right. You made us believe a narrative half way thru, that John Wayne was killed by nuclear tests. To then pull the metaphorical rug out from under our feet to see the actual many possibilities to his death.
120 possibilities everyday apparently.
Kyle, you've really nailed your role as an educator. You've managed to find your comedic feet, but you've also really gotten your Cousteau/Attenborough tone, and your research is nonpareil. I applaud everything you do.
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Kyle, you're so good at what you do, it's almost illegal. I love the heck out of the Half-Life Histories series, but this video was just another highlight for its nuance, its candid way of approaching a sensitive topic and for how well it is illustrating and explaining confirmation bias and the correlation vs causation fallacy. This is education and clarification done right. Thank you!
One can only appreciate the research, dialogue and overall professionalism you apply to your videos. Thank you for the hard work and dedication.
nice gt500
Yeah, i also love how the cuts between he talks outside has the same audio volume as the inside narration, it makes the hearing experience pleasing, unlike many other youtubers that make the same type of content where they make cuts where some bits are extremelly loud compared to the rest of the video.
With this series, the terrifying realization that I’m coming to is that we’re slowly, but surely approaching the true horror of radiation-related stories. Like the very infamous story of Hisashi Ouchi. A part of me can’t wait to see you cover it. Another part, however, wishes to forget.
This episode comes to totally different conclusions from what I expected it to do, being these stories about people who were damaged by radiation in some way or another. It is, however, exceptional at showing how our minds work. I didn't know about this story, and I initially came to the same conclusion of the downwinders. It took all the video with the data it showed putting the situation in the right context for me to accept the right conclusion
This was the first time besides hearing my father tell me the phrase "There are 3 types of lies, Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics." It's always fun hearing what I consider dadisms in other contexts.
Fun fact: the phrase originated with Mark Twain.
I'm sure him smoking like 100 cigarettes a day, and drinking like a sponge had nothing to do with his cancer in his throat and stomach, it was all that soil he ate on that one movie
Lot of people who did that lived for a long time. Those were probably contributing factors sure but I think the radiation finished him off.
@@theysellsoulscheaphere8501 Lots of people also never smoke and never suffer worse than background rate exposue and develop cancer. You're an outlier if you dont develop cancer smoking 6 packs worth of cigarettes a day for years.
@@sovietmoose5624 yeah no kidding. Not getting cancer from smoking an average of 120 cigarettes a day would be practically miraculous.
Love this series.
Given the amount of pollution and the nocive habits people had at the time, nuclear fallout was the least of their problems apparently.
Now, six packs a day? That's an overkill. And for the most part of the '50s, cigarettes still were of the unfiltered type.
And he also lived in L.A. during the worst smog years. It was estimated that just breathing in the air in L.A. during that period was the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, and that included children on playgrounds.
Kyle. Such a great video. I’m so glad you found the downwinders book. I live literally 1 mile from the north entrance to Snow Canyon where the movie was filmed. I love referring neighbors to the book to bust some worldviews and now I have an excellent quality video to use as well. The real effort shows. Quality of this video and the importance of the message are off the charts. Absolutely stellar job this time.
I always heard that he died from the radioactive soil used in Gengis khan which apparently was from a nuclear test site
That's the power of media
Dude got cancelled before it was cool.
@@darkhelmet436ify either that or the movie was just so bad that it created cancer inside their bodies.
@@Epoch11 Maybe so bad even the reviewers got cancer .. :-)
@@darkhelmet436ify ??? Do you know how many people alive still love John Wayne? Saying he got cancelled is like say Dave Chappell got cancelled. People disagreeing with something isn't being cancelled. You have to actually be remove from a position or lose your money. People just going "hey that's messed up we should talk about it" is not being cancelled. Not that cancelling is anything else except for consequences for your actions.
Well done. This is the first of this series I’ve seen from you, and I appreciate the somber tone you took the narration, in addition to the presentation of the facts.
The rest of the series is just as good, and some are better. I'd highly recommend any and all of them, though I was particularly moved by the "Ghosts of Fukushima" doccumentary, as well as all the videos made with the wonderful footage he shot on a trip to Chernobyl last year, just months before the war began. All of them are fascinating, well explained, accurate, and respectful, with some beautiful, haunting visuals as the cherry on top.
Highly recommend the rest of the series! My favorite is probably the one about The Elephant’s Foot.
You'll love the rest of the series.
I'd not say somber, it's a serious tone.
This series really is great, I like the demo Core Video the most
On the same line of nuclear, would you ever cover the story of Hisashi Ouchi? I love your videos on how nuclear disasters can effect people's physical bodies so would love to hear you cover his story!
I don't even have the right words to describe how grateful I am with this series of histories. You're a great narrator and objective mind scientist that just impresses with giving the exact and even technical information without getting confused. I will be looking forward for this series to never end because it just keeps getting better (on the matter of the information and history told, not the tragedies). Thanks, Kyle.
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie. But I'm glad you done real science on a world where confirmation bias runs rampant.
Ya extremely heavy smoking kinda tends to lead to cancer. What's amazing is he lived to 71. My grandmother who was a heavy smoker died in her mid 50s so he got 20 years more to live.
Yeah. 20 more years of misery and pain from 3 cancers. I'm sure he was very happy. /s
I see uncritical repetition of government self-exoneration, not real science. 🤷♂️
I would love to find that map that you used at 24:02 of the US fallout being pushed across the nation by the wind. If you could start providing links for your sources in the description it would be super helpful. Or maybe a link to your personal site that would show all of the links there. Great video tho!! I truly enjoyed it
You mean 19:30?
If you mean 19:30, there's actually text in the bottom right of the screen with the reference.
or... or, you can use that Google machine you used to make this comment to, ya know, goggle it.
My grandpa is a radiation physicist so I've always been very knowledgeable about radiation, so I find these videos very entertaining as I already fully understand the concepts but am unfamiliar with the events.
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Kyle, this video is one of your best. As someone who loves your videos, this challenged my preconceived notions about this test site and John Wayne as I've heard these stories my whole life. Thank you for continuing to be an educator and putting out this content, truly!
My main takeaway from this video is that lifetime cancer rates are much higher than I thought. An eye opener for sure.
Sounds like the Children of Atom are onto something if those closing stats are true. Another great video, made great background while doing stretches. Thanks for the years of insight, Mr. Hill.
Probably has something to do with easier access to the relief fund money, allowing them to afford cancer treatment visits, in turn decreasing the likelihood that they die from it. Or simply a raised awareness in the area of cancer symptoms in those geological areas which help people catch cancer in an earlier (and more treatable/remission-able) stage.
The chart/map he mentioned is of cancer mortality rates, not the rate of people who developed cancer. I personally think the graph is kinda irrelevant to his point, but he's well more versed than I, so I'm sure I just missed or misinterpreted something.
Regardless, A+ reference is worthy of praise...Praise be to atom!
@@howbownah Utah has a higher, if not the highest, cancer screenings per populace in comparison to other states. I think the Downwinders spurned on awareness because the University of Utah actually has a really good medical program studying cancer, treatments, prevention, and countermeasures. It's not THE best in the nation, but it's a really good one. I only know this because I'm a local.
But in some senses, we are kind of paranoid. We're a bit like other people.
Feeling chills, it'll probably be gone tomorrow.
Deep cut, nothing a band aid and few day's can't solve.
Weird bowel movements and bleeding in places blood doesn't belong, I'll wait it off.
A small lump on you leg, I'm going to get that checked right now. Move it everybody! Strange lump on my thigh! Don't know if it's a tumor or a bug bite, but I'm not taking any chances!!!! (I'm exaggerating of course.)
@@steeljawX "bleeding in places where blood doesn't belong.. "
Ummm....
This was an incredibly well put together video. Well done.
You should have your own TV series. These are amazing. My cousin shared the link yesterday and I'm already half way thru this playlist. You have a great voice for narration as well.
Seems like it's far more dangerous to be living around an industrial chemical spill/run off site than in/around former nuclear test sites.
Pretty much. The scariest thing about radiation is the fact it's undetectable without specialized equipment and the weaponization potential. Both of which can apply to chemical contamination as well, which gets the added benefit of not being nearly so high profile when it happens so people affected don't even know about it in most cases.
@@johnnydjiurkopff
Aren't Geiger counters really accessible and affordable, though? I'm no expert, but I'd think radiation would be a lot easier to test for than some non-radioactive carcinogen.
@@eyesofthecervino3366
==========> The point
Your head
thats true, kyle is even thinking about moving to the bikini islands, such a beautiful place, and no chemical industry near for thousands of miles in any direction. completely safe.
Is bad that my first thought after hearing John Wayne died of throat cancer was, "well no shit, actors smoked like chimneys during the time."
You can state whatever statistics you want and whatever studies or quotes you want: I STILL don't want to watch that movie.
My friend, I appreciate that I can see your passion. I know multiple takes and editing can strip some emotion out of a delivery but your eyes say so much.
Thank you for continuing to teach me, Kyle. You make peoples lives better.
Love this Series Kyle. You are a great narrator
Zombie with that flag
@@balthiersgirl2658 go lick putler shoes
@@balthiersgirl2658 "sHoWing sUPport fOR a cOUntry wEaKeNIng yOuR coUnTrIES gREatEsT eNeMy mAkEs yOU a zOmBIe"
@@balthiersgirl2658 not to mention were supporting ukraine for such a small amount comparativly to other less protested conflicts that have accomplished far less. for example we spent 2.3 trillion dollars in afghanistan and lost 2.5 thousand soldiers and had 20,000 injured with far more being lost at home to mental health. in ukraine we have spent 50-70 billion (with our 1 trillion dollar defense budget thats 5% of the defense budget for halting russian expansion) severly weakened russia, and lost *0* may i reiterate *0* american lives. so i dont care what you have to say about ukraine and its government. from a tactical and moral standpoint this is a good thing for the US. thats not to even mention helping the suffering people of the country and the fact that as humans we should be sending aid.
Fantastic, entertaining, and educational. Great work, as usual, Kyle!
You should do a video on the Tularosa downwinders, or any of the various down wind communities
(Towns that were down wind from nuclear test sites. Tularosa is on the side of the mountains from the Trinity site)
Been a long time fan and im always super excited when i get that notification that you posted a vid. Keep up the great vids and thank you for all the information you are giving us i love everything that has to do with radiation .... nukes ... nuclear energy... fallout ...nuclear accidents... something soo powerful im surprised we as humans havent wiped ourselves out permanently yet. I look forward to your next vid!
Wayne is famous for taking one hit and tossing the cigarette away…
Damn, what a MAN.
Born and live in St. George and the radioactive fallout is still talked about today! Nellis AFB still conducts tests nearby that will audibly shake houses. Anyone who lives in St. George is just used to their house shaking at random lol. You hear so many jets and helicopters here that it pretty much becomes white noise.
Wait they still test nukes? Or just conventional explosive ordinance?
@@Hiatus-Humanus the last us nuclear test was in the early 90s
Hey Kyle. I’m also on the spectrum. I wanted to let you know that watching your channel makes me want to create my own content.
I appreciate your approach to education, and your ability to tell a story.
Trey - get after it, brother! Looking forward to what you'll create, my friend.
Everyone's on "the spectrum"...That's why it's called a spectrum lol Me too though buddy...Me too.
@@jeffdroog thats not true lol
@@Enzo187 How not? You're either at the lowest end of the spectrum,0%,or at the furthest end,100%?
Very well done. You did a great job gathering all the facts.
Another great Half Life video, Kyle. Loving these documentaries. The presentation is always great, interesting to watch, and informative. I look forward to many more.
Hey Kyle, I absolutely love your HLH series as I'm just fascinated with science and radiation history, please keep up the good and informative work
I love how you explain these incidents or perceived incidents in some cases. It really puts into perspective what actually happened and you do a good job at explaining it to those of us who know nothing about these events.
I love your fun stuff, but I also love your serious stories. You do your research, and you do a fantastic job. Thank you for all your work, Kyle.
Agnes Moorhead, who you mention here, allegedly spent years referring to "The Conqueror" as "that damn movie that made us all sick". She was of course a moderately heavy smoker herself. Anyway, causation/ correlation etc. It would be very tempting, with limited understanding of the fallout levels involved, that working downwind of the test sites made you ill when that wasn't necessarily the case.
Could be that Moorhead's allegations were the source of a lot of the claims prior to the article in the wake of Wayne's death. That article was far from the first time the claim had been made, but of course it got a lot of attention due to the connection to Wayne's recent passing.
I looked up the type of cancer that agnes had, uterine cancer which obviously doesn’t sound particularly smoking related. What’s more shocking is when you look up whether there’s any correlation/causation between smoking, there is but it’s negative. Smokers were less likely to get that type of cancer based on the sources that come up. They specifically bring it decreases it the most in postmenopausal women which she definitely was. Not really what I was expecting to find
Was she a smoker though? All the sources I can find on her describe her as a non-smoker. Actually many of them describe her as obsessed with her health.
One thing is for sure: it can't have helped. Even small doses of radiation over a long period have a negative effect on people's health and immune system. So even if the radiation from fallout isn't directly to blame, indirectly it can make a person more prone to diseases.
@@damouze Now you've mentioned it I can't find anything either. She certainly was on screen, but that may have just been for publicity photographs & some roles she played. It's possible the source I originally read about this from just assumed that she was, as smoking was so prevalent in that era.
The thing is though that so many did back in those days & although the scientific community had proven the links between smoking & increased cancer risk, thanks to the efforts of the tobacco companies, public opinion was decades behind. As such a lot of people may have thought that what would be considered moderately heavy smoking by today's standards wasn't even worth mentioning.
Smoking is now so demonised that I regularly see official fan outlets of classic movie stars, who definitely were regular smokers, telling the new generation of fans that the stars weren't really smokers, they just did it for the cameras, etc. With that in mind it can be difficult these days to verify such a fact.
Anyway,, as someone else has mentioned, spending weeks running around in radioactive dust wouldn't have helped. In retrospect it's probably fair to say that the cast & crew who got the greatest exposure had their risk of developing cancer raised regardless of other lifestyle factors, but also fair to say that it was a contributing factor as opposed to the sole cause.
@@tjroelsma For sure. If it had been me I'd certainly be thinking that it wouldn't have helped.
This is why radiographers etc use lead shielding or just straight up leave the room when X-rays are bouncing around. As you say, small doses over a long period.
Incredible video once again, educational, interesting, and thought provoking as always, keep up the great work!
Thank you Kyle for a well-researched and presented video. One of the best on the channel.
After a couple of days thinking about this, I do wonder if the people who worked on the Manhatten projects suffered a similar faith with cancer rates? A follow up video would be great, Kyle.
I know Richard Feyman was diagnosed with liposarcoma, (a rare form of cancer) and died in 1988 because of it , but he claimed he was never near nor handled any radioactive material while working at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge. However, it is highly likely the labs and facilities he worked at were contaminated. Similar to how Marie Curie's lab, notebooks, and equipment are still dangerous to handle to this day!
Robert Oppenheimer was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965 and died in February 1967, but like John Wayne, he was a heavy smoker too. In most photos of him, you will either see a pipe or cigarette in his mouth or hand.
Enrico Fermi died of inoperable stomach cancer in 1954. Fermi suspected working near the nuclear pile involved great risk, but he pressed on because the benefits outweighed the risks to his personal safety. Two of his graduate student assistants working near the pile also died of cancer!
Leo Szilard was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1962. He underwent successful treatment and the cancer never returned, before his death in 1964.
To name, but a few!
And let us not forget about the tragic deaths of Cecil Kelley,Harry Daghlian, and Louis Slotin. The last two working/playing with that damn cursed Demon core!
Ty so much for this series. It’s informative and also soothing. I can seriously play this series on repeat.
Upshot knothole sounds like the perfect insult.
I really appreciate the effort and research you put into these videos. Nuclear energy is the way forward for the future and dispelling some of the fears and misconceptions regarding nuclear energy is truly important. Love your work Kyle. Thank you.
You’re an amazingly brilliant and extremely compelling story teller. I’ve been a fan for almost 8 years now, it’s been awesome watching you grow and transform into who you are. You are the reason my love for science is what it is now, I was never really good at academia and the way you break everything down and use examples and household items as models really just clicks for me. I can’t wait for more content and what we’re going to learn next!
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Such an eerie calm voice narrating such a deadly, scary topic. I absolutely love this series, please keep them coming.
I won't say fallout couldn't have been a contributing factor but you don't smoke and drink as much as he and so many of his generation did without consequences. No matter how you juggle things though he exceeded the average life expectancy for men in the US both for the year he was born (by decades) and the year he died by living to 72. RIP Duke.
One can only hope 🙏
Bruh
Based
Yeah, worse things have happened to better people.
Thank you so much for clearing misconceptions like these. This work is really important, it happens often that we don't even think of questioning urban legends like this just because "it makes sense". I just heard this story being quoted in a podcast and I spread the word.
I've been told about this story for years and it seemed legit, but I'd never looked into the details about it like in this video. Good on you for doing the research and showing where this story really came from.
My interpretation has always leaned toward smoking. Everyone in Hollywood smoked back in those days. Everyone smoked A LOT back in those days.
@Cat Buddha More likely the other way around. I can see cigarette companies pushing a connection between cancer and nuclear testing to cover their own cancer connection.
And to top it off, breathing in the air in L.A., during their worst smog years, was the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day.
Excellent work, as always!
Always comin' at these subjects with data points, nuance, and sensitivity. I appreciate it, man. 🤝
Nuclear science, Kyle Hill's somber narration plus some Aquarium Channel music always makes my day a little better.
They should also compare the Conqueror crew with other film crews as even if there was a cancer risk it might have been some chemical used in film making, as this is something that all the Conqueror crew had in common with each other.
Thank you kyle, now you have turn me into a nuclear science freak. I have watched all of your nuclear related videos and as a guy with ADHD ,as i am, thats basically all i can and want to talk about with people in conversations. Make more videos like this, my hypefocusneed this.
I usually watch your vids in bursts and then not for a while, I must say the hair game continues to impress each and every time
I had this exact discussion with my 7th grade science teacher in like 2002. He was a runner up for the nasa teacher in space program from the challenger disaster and taught me how to think scientifically. Great video.
I really loved the on-site filming for this video. HLH is my favorite RUclips series right now, thank you for providing it to us.
Honestly I just assumed that the government was to blame because that's usually a pretty safe assumption. Thank you for checking my biases.
Well they did explode nuclear bombs not caring about people living in the area
I love these documentaries of yours. You’re doing some great work here.
Kyle Hill has my favorite documentary voice and his writing is just perfect.
His ability to simplify and communicate what are, to a layman, content that likely feels nigh-on-impossible to consume in to delicious chunks of information that make you excited to learn more is a gift I think isn’t appreciated enough.
This video is amazing. The story about the shooting giving the cast cancer is so well known and just accepted as truth. I had no idea that it was all just hearsay and theories. Keep up the good work.
I love all you do bub. Keep it up
Fantastic documentary! Please take my subscription. I look forward to more like this. Absolutely well done. My only critique is to put your sources into the video's description. Many of us like to do further study and your sources will help us allot.
Your videos have really shaped my views on atomic energy and the like. A lot of the studies and information out there really goes way over my head, but you're always able to break it down in such a way that's easy to understand. Thank you for your work 🙏
A 41% national average cancer rate seems pretty high to me. Cancer charities in the UK quote a figure of 1 in 3 (33%) these days.
I'm sure that just down to lifestyle differences, reduced rates of smoking, and reduced use carcinogenic chemicals compared to 50/60 years ago.
I thought the same, but it was in the 60-70s so surely it has gone down since. I checked, based on the NCI number the current lifetime cancer rate in the usa is 39.5%. In Canada, even worse based on the CCS it's 43.5%. Quite the eye opener, especially since smoking in Canada as almost disappeared. I didn't expected Canada to be higher than the USA, but It could also be a difference in reporting too, I haven't read the details.
@@FG-418 This is pure speculation on my part, but might people in Canada live longer than in the USA, on average? -(somethingsomethinghealthcare)-
AFAIK, the main reason cancer seems more common now than in the past is that it typically takes a long time for cancer to develop and people are now living longer than ever (the past 2 years excepted). i.e., _far fewer people die from other causes before cancer ever has a chance to kill them._
So if Canadians live a bit longer, they have a bit more time to develop cancer.
But yes, there are no doubt myriad other factors, including reporting methods, as you mention. More widespread screening leading to higher reported rates, perhaps (and thus fewer "unknown cause" deaths that were actually cancer but aren't included, I'm guessing).
One of the biggest Mexican stars at the time was in this movie, Pedro Armendáriz. He got terminal bone cancer apparently from that radiation merely 6-7 years after the release of this movie. Dude didn’t allow it to finish the job. He left on his own terms.
He shot himself after asking his wife to get him a sandwich
@@kylehill must‘ve been a bad sandwich
@@raymondjunger4742 HAHAHAH
@@kylehill was the sandwhich similarily cancerous?
@@kylehill obviously didnt trust the wifes culinary skills..i sometimes get the same thought after asking my mrs to cook 🤣
Ngl, that transition of your narration is one of the biggest plot twists I've watched. The fact that it takes place in the first minute makes it even better. Excellently executed.
I really like your solo stuff, you're an amazing narrator and your personal knowledge makes you a trusted source. I feel that I can trust your information without going through cited resources and that's so rare these days.
The radiation didn't help but people tend to forget how much people smoke and how many people cancer by smoking took.
Smoking only increases cancer risk by a small percentage. Ots mostly genetics.
I just barely learned about this last week! I happened to be scrolling the Wikipedia page for my hometown of Saint George, and went down a quick rabbit hole. I've lived my whole life around where the movie wash shot, super fascinating to learn about the history :D
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Thank you once more for these quality documentaries. You're a real hero.
Man, you’ve done a wonderful video here! This is one of those weird stories to come out of the Atomic 50’s of which most people aren’t aware. Thanks for a masterful telling of the tale!
I always liked to say that The Conqueror was a movie so bad that it gave its cast cancer.
Way to take that from me, science.
That opening was beautiful
I love these articles of yours more than anything else on RUclips. They're outstanding, simply outstanding.
Hey! Saint George, Utah local here! thanks for the shoutout and all the info! its a very common thing around here to hear stories from the older local folks of them going to the local mountain tops and watching the nuclear blasts. its definitely a part of the local history!
He died from the most dangerous substance know to the man: tobacco...
You do know that tobacco is classified as an herb with medicinal properties? Go read the history of tobacco, you might learn something.
16 half life history videos, and I've watched them all. I'm always pumped when I see a new HLH video from Science Chris Hemsworth
I always appreciate the gravitas you bring to discussing the science and history in these videos. Your other videos are fun but these are why I sub
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@kyle your channels is a priceless jewel, thank you for your amazing hard work
I think people get nuclear radiation and nuclear fallout confuses which leads to much fear of nuclear fallout that doesn’t actually exist
It's also complicated because people compare the worst case scenario of what could have happened at Chernobyl to nuclear bombs, but they're very different. Bombs are obviously much more destructive as an explosion, but they are actually much "cleaner" than Chernobyl because a much higher percentage of the fuel does undergo fission, compared to just scattering the unspent nuclear fuel. IIRC the vast majority of nuclear fallout from a bomb will have decayed to a point of no longer being a health risk within about 48 hours. That's obviously very different to Chernobyl where the core is going to continue to be a major radiation hazard that needs to remain contained for thousands of years.
There’s another confounding factor in your statement that Utah has the lowest rate of cancer mortality in the country. Utah also has the highest population of Mormons, and one of the tenants of their religion has strongly discouraged smoking for nearly two centuries.
Thanks for the deep dive, Kyle. I've had friends argue this back and forth for years. I'll link your video and hope they actually watch it.
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Kyle, thank you for your commitment and passion for nuclear power knowledge and information. This series is so fascinating.