Decades after Karen Silkwood died, her mysterious death remains the subject of public interest. The details surrounding her death, 50 years ago this November and made famous by the movie “Silkwood,” continue to be a mystery that haunts Oklahomans and the nation. Now ABC Audio is releasing a new podcast series that re-examines Silkwood’s story and her death.
“Karen Silkwood’s story remains one of the most haunting mysteries in American history,” said Laura Mayer, Executive Producer of Podcast Programming at ABC Audio. “With new revelations and key interviews, we hope to provide fresh insight into this decades-old case and its lasting impact.”
Journalists Mike Boettcher and Bob Sands host the four-episode series Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery. The 28-year-old plutonium plant worker died in a fatal crash. Silkwood was reportedly on her way to meet an investigative reporter with The New York Times to hand over documents she’d secretly been collecting at her job.
The four-part podcast unearths newly discovered and never-before-heard audio tapes recorded by two investigators decades apart. The podcast includes rare interviews with Karen’s son, Michael Meadows, who was 5 years old when she died, and Karen’s sisters, Rosemary Silkwood Smith and Linda Silkwood Vincent. The podcast will also feature Steve Wodka, who worked for Karen’s union and launched her on the risky mission to gather evidence about problems at the plant, and David Burnham, The New York Times reporter Karen was driving to meet the night she died.
The ABC Audio podcast is also part of a Walt Disney Company cross-promotional strategy. It drops as the film “Silkwood,” starring Meryl Streep, Cher and Kurt Russell, is now available to stream on Disney-owned Hulu for the first time ever.
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