In the spring of 1936, the producer of King Kong hauled a film crew to the desert of Arizona to shoot a sweeping romantic epic. But the heat was so punishing that it melted film stock, caused the lead actress to pass out, and killed the production’s mascot – a baby camel. 

It was the beginning of a heat wave that parked itself over America for months, quickly becoming one of the deadliest natural disasters in our country’s history. It blew up sidewalks, cooked onions in the ground,  claimed at least 12,000 lives, and turned the United States into a literal frying pan. 

Host Nate Hegyi talks with Geoff Williams, author of the forthcoming book The Summer of Death, about a ‘heat horror show’ that transformed American life 90 years ago, and what lessons it gives us on how to survive a hotter world today.  

Featuring Geoff Williams

Produced by Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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LINKS

You can check out Geoff’s book, The Summer of Death, here. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech about the impacts of the drought and heat wave in the fall of 1936.

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