241 - Militant Chemistry (feat. Alice Lovejoy)

Dominic and Cymene talk about AI and other chowhounds to kick off this week's podcast. Then (12:46) we welcome the wonderful Alice Lovejoy to talk about her new book Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War (U California Press, 2025). We begin with the materiality of early film and how it became intertwined with the industry of chemical warfare. At stake in the making of this militant chemical complex was chemistry's fundamental principle of transformation, which brought materials like film into close alignment with a burgeoning plastics industry. We move from there to talking about the forms of expertise involved in militant chemistry, the relationship between chemistry and empire, and the politics of labor in factories operated by firms like Kodak and AGFA. We close with the affinities and disaffinities between militant chemistry and the nuclear industry. Hang in there, everyone, peace and love.