Some cursed objects are ancient, mysterious, and covered in centuries of folklore.

And some are a softball-sized hunk of plutonium that very smart people kept poking at until it tried to kill everyone in the room.

In this episode of Cursed...ish, Daniel and Angela dig into the terrifying story of the Demon Core, the radioactive plutonium core created during the Manhattan Project and later involved in two deadly criticality accidents at Los Alamos.

Originally known as Rufus, the Demon Core was meant to be used in a third atomic bomb after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Instead, after Japan surrendered, scientists kept it for research, which is a polite way of saying they decided to keep testing one of the most dangerous objects on Earth with deeply questionable workplace safety protocols.

We talk Harry Daghlian, Louis Slotin, blue flashes of radiation, “tickling the dragon’s tail,” tungsten carbide bricks, beryllium reflectors, the infamous screwdriver experiment, acute radiation sickness, Los Alamos, Project Y, nuclear hubris, and why maybe, just maybe, nobody should ever be that casual around plutonium.

Was the Demon Core actually cursed, or was it the inevitable result of brilliant people becoming way too comfortable with forces no human being should treat like a desk toy?

Maybe it was science. Maybe it was hubris. Maybe the real curse was building the apocalypse and then thinking, “Let’s see what else this thing can do.”

Maybe cursed. Maybe not.

https://nuclear-news.net/2022/12/12/a-the-demon-core-the-14-pound-plutonium-sphere-that-killed-two-scientists/

https://thedebrief.org/tickling-a-dragons-tail-the-physicist-who-tangled-with-the-demon-core-and-lost/

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/manhattan-project-scientists-harry-daghlian.htm

https://losalamoshistory.org/the-slotin-accident-inside-the-archives/

https://home.nps.gov/people/manhattan-project-scientists-louis-alexander-slotin.htm

https://losalamoshistory.org/the-slotin-accident-inside-the-archives/

https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/16/the-third-cores-revenge/

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2024/ph241/granowitz2/

Questions, comments, or your own accursed tales to share? Send us a hex at uhoh@cursedish.com.

The hosts of Cursed...ish are not responsible for any misfortunes that may befall you while listening to this podcast. By listening to Cursed...ish, you assume all risk of bad luck, ill omens, and unexplained catastrophes.

*Terms and conditions may be upheld by unknown forces.